Monster ride puts Pettis in pro position

Not many 16-year-olds in any sport consider themselves pro athletes.

Motocross rider Jess Pettis is that rare exception.

He's still officially classed as an amateur, but he's on the verge of getting paid to compete in a sport he loves.

Now in his second year riding Kawasaki bikes as a pro for the Monster Energy Leading Edge team, Pettis has to pinch himself every so often as a reminder this isn't just a dream.

When he gets to the track for his next CMRC Canadian Motocross series national event in Deschambault, Que., at the end of the month, it won't be hard for Pettis to find where his team is setting up shop. He'll just look for that bright green and black semitrailer full of bikes, his team of mechanics working in the pits, and throngs of spectators zeroed in on his teammates, Brett Metcalfe and Teddy Maier, regulars on the MX1 national podium this summer, and MX2 superstars Austin Politelli and Tyler Villopoto.

"Not many riders get the chance to be on a pro team and I'm just really stoked to be a part of the team and be with the people who are helping me out," said Pettis. "It's such an expensive sport and it's hard to do with no support from a team. Every amateur rider is out there to prove themselves and try to get on a team."

Pettis knows he's come a long way from racing mini bikes in regional races to signing pro contracts and autographing posters of himself at national race events. As one of the five sponsored riders and the only Canadian on the Kamloops-based Kawasaki team, Pettis has a four-stroke 250cc practice bike with his name on it, another bike he uses at races, and enough spare parts to last a lifetime.

Too bad his body parts aren't so interchangeable.

Pettis found that out the hard way in May 20 on a practice weekend when he broke two bones in his foot fooling around on a pit bike. He's spent the past two months with his foot in a cast and had to miss the four Western Canadian CMRC national series races.

Injuries are part of the game in motocross and, in his first year riding a full-sized bike, Pettis got hurt during a winter arenacross race in Chilliwack when he crashed hard and sustained a concussion and broken ribs. He missed two races but still claimed the MX2 intermediate season title.

Motocross is one of the world's most physically demanding sports, so Pettis works out regularly with personal trainers Mike Webber and Jay Cook.

"You won't do good by just hopping on the bike and riding," he said. "Mike and Jay have me on a real good program and I think that's changed my riding and my speed."

Pettis just got his cast off and plans to resume riding this weekend on the dirt track near his home in West Beaverly. He'll miss two Eastern Canadian national races this month but will rejoin his Kawasaki teammates July 21-23 in San Diego to test the new line of 2014 bikes, before heading to Quebec, July 27-28, with races to follow in August in Moncton, N.B., and Walton, Ont.

Pettis was away for the Prince George Motocross Association race weekend in June at Blackwater Motorcycle Park but hopes to be part of the next local races at Blackwater on Sept. 21-22.