On The Pegs February 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 2 | Page 96

On The Pegs
Ben Spies may not be well known in off-road
circles, but in the glamorous realm of road rac-
ing, he’s up there with the greats. From 2006
though 2009, the east Texas native went on
a winning streak that landed him three AMA
Superbike titles and a World Superbike title.
Spies then graduated to MotoGP where he
was a top-five rider and in 2011 he won the
Dutch TT in Assen. Known as “Elbowz” in the
road racing world because of his unorthodox
“elbows out” riding style, Spies retired in 2013
after a series of shoulder surgeries. Now at 33,
Spies has annouced he is returning to racing,
and will compete in the NE Pro2 class in the
Kenda AMA National Enduro Series.
First off, how is your shoulder?
The shoulder has gotten better in some ways
and still the same in others. I still have quite a
bit of arthritis in it; just from the amount of in-
juries I’ve had and all the surgeries. Now when
I’m riding, I can hold on and I can ride hard.
At the end of the day, the next day when I do
three days in a row, it hurts like hell. I’ve got
to take Motrin and stuff like that. Now in the
recent year, I would say, since I really cranked
up hours of riding, I’m able to ride hard and
hold on. That’s why kind of I’ve been thinking
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