Troy Lee Designs – Maxima Zero Seven Motorsports Kawasaki’s Kade Mosig has made his welcome return to the racetrack after fracturing a vertebrae in a horror first-turn pile-up at Wonthaggi near the beginning of the Monster Energy MX Nationals.

The 23-year-old is always up for a chat, so we hit him up to get his thoughts on his season, his injury and rehab, and what if feels like to finally be back on the pegs.

My expectations and goals for this year before the MX Nationals started…

I had a great off-season that included some valuable time in the US. It felt like I was more prepared and put in more training and bike-time than ever before; I wasn’t prepared for anything less than moto wins.

But the season started off rough and it had a snowball effect. It’s part of what we do and it’s one of those aspects of racing everyone has to deal with.

Everyone knows consistency is the key to winning a championship, but consistently winning is always better than consistently being in the top three! Last year I didn’t win a moto at all, although I came close at Appin where I had a huge battle with Ford Dale. I’ve used that as motivation this year – I want to experience that winning feeling again.

My Wonthaggi crash and injury…

At Wonthaggi my good buddy Josh Cachia and I got a great start, but he slid out in front of me in the first turn. I had nowhere to go and went down behind him. Because we’d both got a good start we had the whole field behind us and I got ran over by a few guys. I don’t have any recollection of it, as I got knocked-out for a minute or so.

My body got rattled hard in that crash. I had tyre marks all over my back and I fractured a lower vertebrae in my back. That meant I had to rest up for five or six weeks before I could get back into the thick of the action.

I actually was in hospital at the same time as my brother, Chase. He hurt himself quite bad while riding the week before, so for the first time in 17 years we were both in at the same time. I probably could’ve yelled out and he would’ve heard me!

The recovery…

The recovery from my crash went really smoothly. Not many people know this, but after the Conondale round I was scheduled to have a little shoulder clean-up to resolve a niggling injury. I opted to bring that forward, seeing as I was sidelined anyway. I had that surgery two weeks after Wonthaggi and have used this six-week break to my full advantage and bring my body back to 100 per cent.

The doctors were surprised at how fast my body healed and a couple days after my surgery I was already on the wind-trainer and cycle bike to try and stay half-fit. I got back on the bike after five-and-a-half weeks and felt really fresh and comfortable. Looking back, I was pretty lucky to dodge that bullet. I’ve lost close friends in first-turn crashes like the one I had, so I’m grateful to still be able to return to the racetrack.

My first ride back at the VIC titles at Swan Hill…

My return to the racetrack was amazing. I drove up to Swan Hill with Jacob Wright, who’s staying with me at the moment and my family and was originally going to use it as bike time and not set any expectations upon myself.

But in the first MX2 race I got the lead and won by 10 seconds, then got a great start in the second race and rode a solid, consistent 30 minutes to win that race and the MX2 overall.

The next day I was surprised that my body was still feeling pretty good, so I lined up for the MX1 class with Adam Monea, Sam Martin and Jacob Wright and finished second in both motos on the 450! I had some great battles with the boys and it felt so good to be back out there mixing it up.

I can’t wait for the MX Nationals to start back up in a few weeks’ time. I feel like I’ve got some points to prove this year and am excited for the second half of the championship.

Instagram’s new video feature…

This has been one of the hottest subjects around here the past couple of days. Everyone’s an Insta-fiend and I think it’s starting to take over Facebook. I haven’t used the video feature yet; I wanted Jake Wright to make a vid of me yesterday but we haven’t got around to it yet. I’m not a Snapchat fan though. I’ve got my hands full with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and I honestly get sick of looking at my phone. I don’t have time for that Snapchat business.