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Heart arrhythmia not slowing down teenage motocross racer
Riley Busse is not your average teenager. At Aztalan Cycle Club in Lake Mills, you'll find the 15-year-old doing what he loves the most: Motocross.
LAKE MILLS, Wis. - Riley Busse is not your average teenager.
At Aztalan Cycle Club in Lake Mills, you'll find the 15-year-old doing what he loves the most: motocross.
There are high speeds and big jumps.
"Just whipping sideways pretty big is pretty fun," said Riley Busse, a New Berlin West sophomore motocross racer.
Motocross is Riley's passion and livelihood.
"I just enjoy it so much," said Riley. "The track is my happy place."
It turns out, the sport is a family affair.
Riley's dad Karter and his mom Jessica both raced and held pro licenses but watching their son on the dirt track is a different experience.
"I'm kind of white-knuckling," said Karter Busse, Riley's father. "I'm at the fence going oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. I'm always nervous for him, but man, he's pretty good on a bike."
He sure is. Recently, Riley qualified yet again for the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Tennessee.
It's the world's largest amateur motocross race.
"That's basically the top 40 kids in his class from the whole nation and actually outside of just the United States," said Karter. "It's pretty neat to have a kid who is a top 40 rider out of everyone."
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Riley will be competing in the Super Mini 1 and Super Mini 2 classes at the Ranch, and he's going for the title.
"I’m really focused this year, and I’m hoping to be up there," said Riley.
He's got the heart of a competitor, in more ways than one.
"I was born with a mis-beat in my heart," said Riley.
Riley's had to deal with something other riders don't.
"It’s definitely a little frustrating at times that I can’t be completely normal, but at the same time I guess it’s kind of cool that I’m different from others," said Riley.
He has a heart arrhythmia. Four procedures later, Riley has a heart monitor in his chest.
When he rides motocross, he wears a chest plate for protection.
"At night, I have to sleep next to like a little machine type thing that I plug in, and it gets sent to the doctor what goes on every single day," said Riley.
It's a small price to pay if, at the end of the day, he still gets to ride.
"Honestly, I try not to think about it and just put it to the side and just do what I do," said Riley.
"There's times when we have to take a step back from you know, how much he trains," said Karter. "He doesn't want to overdo it, so there's times we hold back a little bit, but for the most part, he's full go."
Nothing is slowing Riley down, and he hopes to earn his professional license next year when he turns 16. You can catch all his highlights on his Instagram feed: @RileyBusse404
"I’m hoping to be racing on TV every weekend with all the pros in the pro nationals and race super cross," said Riley.
An achievable goal for this motivated motocross phenom, who is all heart.
Riley will compete at Loretta Lynn's from August 1-6.