Seven months ago, we spoke with Josh Hill about his attempted back flip and the resulting injuries, as well as his entire career up until that point. (You can read our first interview with Josh here>>) During that two and a half hour conversation, I wondered—despite the fact that he was sure he would race again—if we’d ever see Josh back in a AMA Supercross race. To be honest, I wondered if Josh would ever be strong enough to race at all.
Back then, Josh had just gone through another round in a series of battles to regain feeling and motion in his severely nerve-damaged ankle and foot, and while he sounded positive, the prognosis was sketchy at best. Seven months later, everything has changed, and Josh is back on a bike working towards a 2012 comeback at Anaheim 1. With an incredible drive, a new found work ethic, and the unwavering support from Hart and Huntington/Dodge/Kawasaki, Josh now has what many people do not get in life: a second chance.
We gave Josh a call to find out what he has been doing to get ready for his upcoming 2012 Supercross campaign and what his pre-season goals are.
So, what’s been happening with Josh Hill lately?
Just hanging out, finally starting to ride and feeling decent on a bike.
We talked about seven months ago, and things were pretty rough for you then. Is the prognosis a lot better now as far as pain and feeling in your leg and ankle?
Well, yeah. The feeling’s come back some since then. I’m able to move my ankle better, and it’s getting stronger. The surgery I just had with my Achilles’ tendon—that I had to get lengthened and clipped—actually took well, and I’m getting stronger every day.
I read about your last surgery, and it sounded gnarly.
Yeah, at first they were just going to go in and do the Achilles’ tendon, but as I was going into surgery, I said, “Look, just do what you have to do to let the ankle get loose.” I didn’t want to have to get one surgery and come back and get another one, so the guy ended up doing four different things at once to get it done. It took all that to get my ankle loose ’cause it was just so fused up together.
If people knew half of what you’ve been through over the last year and a half, nobody would ever question your love for the game. At this point, does it feel like you can see the light at the end of the tunnel finally?
Yeah, I do! Well, not when I’m trying to run. (Laughs) If I’m trying to run, I feel hindered—or going down the stairs some days. When I’m on the bike, though, I’m starting to feel better and better every day. I’m hitting all the jumps, skimming the whoops good, and now, I’m just building my fitness. I know my speed will come with it because I can do certain things on a bike that feel back to normal. I just need to get that consistency back and my conditioning to where it needs to be.
Nice. Does the lack of feeling in your toes bother you at all?
You know, with the toes, it sucks! (Laughs) I mean, I wish I could move my toes. I can move them up and down a little bit, but I don’t have that side to side movement. Basically, just the top half of my foot is basically paralyzed. It’s still coming back. It’s really hard to explain without showing people. I mean it works at the ankle, I can move my ankle up and down. I can move it side to side. But my biggest problem is parts of my feet are numb still because of the nerve damage. One of the things I’m struggling with a little because of that is grabbing gear real easily, like shifting gears and feeling that click. So now I have to rely on the engine—really listening and being in tune with my bike and making sure I get the right shift. Again, though, I think that’s going to come back with time. Every time I ride I feel more comfortable. When I first started riding again, I had my shifter two positions up from normal, and it looked goofy, but I just wanted my shifter to be out of the way. Now, I have it back in the normal position and feel confident with my foot and where I’m standing. Right now, I can do ten laps on a Supercross track pretty fast—at least normal speed—and not look too funky when I’m out there. (Laughs)
(Laughs) Who have you been riding with lately to kind of gauge where you are at—some of your teammates?
Yeah, and there have been some of the Pro Circuit guys out there. I’ve ridden with Blake Baggett, and Durham was out there—also, riding with Tedesco, Partridge. And I’m feeling good. I know what it takes to get up there and run with those guys. I’m not worried about where I’m at lap times wise, and I’m not worried about what anyone else is doing. I’m just worried about getting my body strong enough to race when I get there. When I get to the gate, I think I’m going to be alright.
I saw some pics of you riding, and that Josh Hill style hasn’t changed.
When I’m riding I feel good—and really smooth. My timing is surprisingly good actually. On the stuff that I’m doing, I feel good—like flawless! That’s the good thing that I have to keep doing: keep riding those smooth laps and just build myself up without any big crashes. You know, when I’m on a bike, I feel good! Talking to my physical therapist and everybody, it seems like riding is the only thing that’s going to save me from later on in life. As long as I keep moving, keep riding, and keep myself busy, it will be better off than if I took the easy route: just did my physical therapy and sat on the couch. It’s easy for me to make excuses right now with all the pain I’m going through, but that’s not the best thing for me. I need to keep these joints moving and working, and build up the muscles in my leg. I feel like if I do the right thing now, later in life I’m going to feel a lot better.
You talk about how easy it is to make excuses, and nobody would blame you for calling it a day. What is it that keeps you motivated to go after it after all that you’ve been through and are still currently going through?
I love dirt bikes, man! It’s so tough for me to sit at my house and watch all these guys race that I grew up racing with—and seeing them at the pinnacle of the sport. I’ve never really been that driven of a racer. If I had a good weekend or a bad weekend, I still went home a happy kid, but these days it really eats at me. To see all these guys doing what I really wanted to do with my life but didn’t work hard enough at eats at me. I really just want to get up there, put in the work to get back up in that spot. I know it’s not going to come easy, and I may struggle for a couple of years, but I’m going to do everything I can to get back up to where I was before. I want to be better than I was before.
So you don’t think you worked hard enough before? Really? That just blows me away that you could do what you did and not be working hard.
That’s just because I was better than those guys. (Laughs) You want me to be honest? (Laughs) I didn’t work. I rode my dirt bike, and—I guess if you call work not partying—I worked the last year. In 2010, I didn’t party, and I kept my nose clean, but I didn’t work. I mean, I rode my dirt bike and worked out a little bit, but I could have done so much to make myself ready and fit. I just got through those twenty laps because I had a stronger will than some guys. I don’t know how to put this. It wasn’t that I was in nearly as good of shape as the other guys, it’s just that I wanted it more for those twenty laps, and I just made myself get through it. Now, I just need to get my physical fitness up to where it was and surpass that. Now, all I can think about is how I can work. I mean, I come back from the gym and think, “What should I do now?”
That just blows me away because we know how hard some guys work, and before your back injury when you were riding for San Manuel, you were matching the best in the World blow-for-blow. I know James was hurt when you beat him, but Dungey has definitely proven since then that he’s the best in the World on any given day.
Yeah, I don’t think James Stewart, Chad Reed, Villopoto or Dungey are worried about me in any way right now. They’ve gotten better since that point. They’ve gone on, worked harder and figured out their formula better. I’ve actually gained a lot of respect for those guys while sitting on the couch and watching them. I kind of used to clown Dungey from time to time, and I really didn’t think he was good enough to be there. At the time, I was thinking this is my championship, because all I have to do is beat Dungey. Now I’m sitting on the sidelines and have gotten to see Villopoto and Dungey and those guys progress to where they are, and they’re the real deal. I’ve gotten to race with them my whole life, so I look at racing them a lot differently then I look at racing guys like James Stewart and Chad Reed. I kind of put those guys on a pedestal. I’d just kind of let those guys go by because I wasn’t even sure I was good enough to be racing with them. Now, I’ve had a chance to sit back, and I’ve just had a lot of time to learn, think about and analyze everything. It’s funny; I care a lot more about racing now than I did when I was racing. I guess I’ve grown up and realized how good of an opportunity I had, and I just want to make sure I do everything I can to fulfill the God-given talents I was given.
I’m sure watching your little brother win in front of a sold out stadium at the Monster Cup even opened your eyes more. It had to be a surreal experience and a very proud night for a big brother.
I think watching my brother and talking to him over the last two years has been a big eye opener because I see where he’s at in his career. He’s doing all the things and more than what it took me to get my factory ride. He trains with the Carmichael mentality. He trains in sweat shirts when it’s 95 degrees out on a summer day and rides his bike until it runs out of gas. He does consecutive 50 minute motos all day long and then trains. (Laughs) When I watch him, it’s like watching myself, but he’s progressing and getting better and better. He’s going to surpass me just because of his work ethic, unless I get on the ball and start doing some stuff. (Laughs) He has the same talent I had, but with the work ethic to go with it. I don’t know, I guess I just wasn’t driven enough or didn’t want to win bad enough. I mean, everything was cool. I made a lot of money, hung out, always a bunch of chicks around. I mean, whether I got first or tenth, my World never changed. Having my little brother around and seeing how hard he works and how good he’s going to be has been the big eye opener.
He definitely showed he has the talent at the Cup. He and Zach Bell weren’t far off the pace of the big boys.
Yeah, I think everyone’s really pumped about how he rode at the Monster Cup, but those were just four lap sprints. He or Zach Bell didn’t really have a chance to showcase their talents. Both of those kids are so talented!
Yeah, Zach, your brother and Jeremy Martin in the B class at Loretta’s were running as good or better times than Bogle. They’re are some very quick kids.
Yeah, that B class are some good kids coming up. That’s a good group of talent. They’re all good kids, too. I’ve watched them all grow up, and they’re all real good kids. American motocross is in good shape, another big resurgence of talent coming through.
What was cool about your brother winning was how proud he looked after the race to win his first huge stadium race with you there. Looking at you both after the race, it was hard to tell who was more pumped—you or him.
That was so cool. (Laughs) The whole day was rough. He had a bad first moto and kind of choked in practice. He didn’t really ride like himself. I think he was putting a lot of pressure on himself. And then that last moto. Zach didn’t get a good start, and Justin took full advantage of it. It was a cool thing to see. I was so happy for him.
Nice. Being a little brother myself, it was cool to see. Back to you, though. What would disappoint you or make you happy at Anaheim 1 performance-wise—and for mid-season? I guess it’s kind of a multi-part question. (Laughs)
Yeah, by Anaheim and by mid-season are two totally different things, for me. At Anaheim 1, I just want to get into the top 10. I mean, obviously I’d like to do a lot better than that and I expect better, but if I just go out and get into the top ten, that’s a big jump for me—especially from where I was at. A year ago at Anaheim 1, I could hardly walk. If I can get a top ten, that’s a great starting spot. I’m not coming in and peaking at Anaheim 1, but by mid-season, I hope to get on the podium. That’s my goal. I think anything less than that and I’m setting my goals low.
You on the podium after what you’ve been through physically would be the feel good story of the winter. Are you on the 2012 Kawasaki yet?
Actually, I’ve been riding the 2011, and they just built me a 2012. I’ll be on it the next time I ride. My little brother and my dad both have 2012’s, and I’ve ridden theirs, but I haven’t ridden my own 2012. Man, but I didn’t want to give the 2011 back. (Laughs) Man, that thing is so good—so fun to ride. I wasn’t bitching and begging for a new bike ’cause that bike was awesome, but from all the good stuff I’m hearing about the 2012, it’s just going to be like grabbing another gear.
The bike has definitely already proven it can win. That’s about all I got for you, but there was one thing I recently read and wanted to bring up because I thought it was cool. In an interview you did recently with Steve Giberson from VitalMX, you gave an answer that I thought was awesome. Steve asked you, “Do you wish you could go back and redo some of that stuff from the past?” To which you answered, “If I had a time machine, that would be sweet—maybe just pull a little bit harder on that one flip.” It’s awesome that that’s the first response that comes to mind, not that I wouldn’t try it.
Well, yeah! (Laughs) Going into it, I never planned on crashing. Crashing wasn’t in my mind. I thought, “I have this.” I thought for sure I’d pull a back flip, everything would be good and I’d go to X Games. I had a whole different plan than the negative naysayers. Everyone said I was going to get hurt—and I guess they were right (Laughs)—but that wasn’t my goal. I knew I could pull the back flip, and I did before I got hurt. To me, everything happens for a reason and that seed got planted in my head to do the back flip for a reason. I mean, I may never have gotten this fire and drive under my ass to go out and do something if I wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
Yeah, I liked the answer a lot—no regrets, just a simple adjustment to a miscalculation is all I’d do over. I like it. (laughs)
Yep, just a little miscue, (laughs) just a year and a half miscue, no biggie. (Laughs)
Yep, and luckily for you, you’ve had Hart and Huntington/Dodge/Kawasaki for most of that year and a half. What are their expectations, if any, at this point? I know they’re just probably happy to see you back on a bike like the rest of us.
Yeah, they just want me to work hard and do what I gotta do. They haven’t been too gnarly on me about checking up and seeing everything I’m doing. They know where I’m at in my life and what I want to do. Those guys are awesome! They give me the equipment I need. They gave me this second chance. They gave me the tool, and those guys have been awesome. I can’t thank those guys enough.
Nice. Well, I’m officially pumped. After our last conversation, I have to say I was skeptical that we’d ever see you out there again. I’m just pumped you’re racing again, but if you get back on that box, it will be one of the greatest comeback stories in the sports’ history. And we know America loves a good comeback story.
Believe me, I’ve actually noticed the love lately. People that didn’t even seem to like me come up and say they’re rooting for me and give me some nice advice. I think everybody kind of realizes where I’m at. I guess I’m just living better and have a better attitude, and they notice that.
Well, one thing is for sure: nobody comes back from what you’re coming back from for the wrong reasons—at least, not in my mind. You gotta love what you do with a crazy passion.
I’ve never loved anything more than dirt bikes. That’s what I’ve grown up doing since I was two years old begging my dad for a dirt bike.
Well, thanks for doing this interview, and good luck in 2012.
Alright, Dan, anytime.
(You can read our first interview with Josh here>>)
Feel free to comment below and let us know where you think Josh will fit in–results wise–during the 2012 season.
