As I get older and better, motocross and sports like it have done nothing but improved my health. Stressing out my heart and lungs is the only way to truly survive. I've taken more than my share of hits and crashes, but I took them each like a champ. I've never suffered a broken bone as a result of my extreme sports adventures, unless you count a broken toe I suffered while surfing in Oceanside, California. Even then, that was a long time ago, and I didn't even know it was broken until I got back to the hotel. It wasn't anything some gauze and medical tape from the pharmacy store couldn't fix. 

My body is seared in scars, but I take pride in them. Clarke and the rest of his family are definitely scarred too, but I automatically win when it comes down to "who has the most/coolest scars?". Not only have I survived the stuff doctors put me through over the years, but I've survived every crash, every fall, and every other injury and never once did I go to the ER. I treated the broken toe myself, just like I have every other injury.

In fact, injuries are a source of humor for me and everyone else who knows me well. I mean, most of the scars and injuries we've had over the years have been from ridiculous fails. The scars on my arms were caused by the gravel I skidded on after I failed a wheelie in North Dakota. The skin on my knees will never be soft again after what I put them through. My knuckles will soon look like Clarke's if I continue to do my own work on my dirtbike and my jeep. (Clarke played hockey for a long time and got in a lot of fights. He never threw the first punch, but he almost always threw the last). And my left foot will forever be branded after I crashed and destroyed my pitbike, which resulted in my boot getting stuck between the muffler and the rear tire for 45 seconds, before my dad could make it up the mountainside and rescue me at Thunder Valley Motocross Track.

I'm not sure if people can find such injuries funny like I can, but I have to admit, both my dad and I limped down that mountainside laughing, even though I my foot was in terrible shape. In fact, whenever I get hurt, my first instinct is to laugh and celebrate. I guess it's just something those of us in extreme sports do. We laugh instead of cry, and don't go to the ER even if we probably should. The only time we really panic is when we're stuck somewhere and/or can't move. 

But no matter what happens, we're back doing what we love as soon as possible. I never gave up my love for extreme sports even when I got hurt. Sure, my interests have shifted over the years, but I've never lost my love for adrenaline-inducing sports, and I hope to God I never will.