It was a bit surprising to hear McGrath was going to be back on a motocross bike after knee replacement.
“Oh, yeah. That was kind of one of the perquisites when I went in. I’m like, ‘I’m going to continue to ski. I’m going to continue to snowboard. I’m going to continue to ride my bicycle. I’m for sure going to continue to ride my dirt bike,’” McGrath said. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re good. No worries.’ I was like, ‘Sweet.’ When you first get it done you lose a lot of range of motion because it’s just so swollen and all that stuff.
“I’m still dealing with a tiny bit of swelling, but I have probably 90 percent of my range of motion. So I’m feeling really good,” he continued. “It’s weird because a month ago I was still feeling like, ‘Man, is this thing ever going to get better?’ And then it just turned a corner. So I’m looking good, feeling good. I’m able to ride my mountain bike quite a lot these days for rehab and all that and been working out and stuff. So I’m excited to get back on my dirt bike. That’s for sure.”
McGrath is approaching his 50th birthday
“It’s funny. Who would have ever thought? Even when you’re young, like 20 years old, you see someone who’s 35 and you’re like, ‘That dude’s old.’ It’s so weird how time flies and time works. I’m 48. I’ll be 49 in November. Honestly, I’m feeling really good. I’m pretty lucky because I didn’t fall off my motorcycle too many times, which is good. My body feels pretty good. After this knee thing, I think I’m going to get one more surgery, which will be on my ankle because I have some debris in my left ankle. It’s weird with me. My body, everything that’s ever happened seems like is on my left side. Left wrist, left knee, left ankle.
“Anyway, so far, so good. I’m feeling pretty good. I think riding my bicycle really helps all my joints stay in line. I really enjoy riding my bicycle, so I do that a lot. I do that quite a bit more than riding my dirt bike these days. When I do get on my dirt bike, I sure love it.”
One of McGrath’s priorities these days is trying to grow his sports nutritional supplement company called AMRA.
“We make protein powder. We make a hydration drink and we make a pre-workout,” McGrath explained. “We’ve been around about a year. It’s a tough business. This COVID thing didn’t help. But honestly, people are at home doing a lot of home workouts right now, so we’re just trying to play the social media game. But it’s going well. I have a great partner.”
The trickiest thing for many racers to navigate is making the transition to a post-racing career. McGrath has traveled that tricky path successfully.
“I was very conservative my whole career and saved and saved,” McGrath said. “First of all, what would I do if I had to go to work, other than do what I’ve done my whole life, which is ride my dirt bike? This whole brand ambassador thing, I sort of created the position. When I retired and I was kind of messing around and still loving my dirt bike, I just couldn’t race anymore at that time at that level, that’s when I got involved with Honda and we started doing the testing.
“I think Honda providing me an opportunity to test, ride, hang with the guys that are racing, and be able to race on occasion, that was a really, really good platform for me to be able to wind myself down slowly, and not have to just one day be on the pro tour and the next day be sitting at home going, ‘What the hell am I doing?’”
McGrath still loves his dirt bike.
“One of the things I told myself when I retired is, I want to retire before I hate my dirt bike,” he noted. “I never started to race dirt bikes because I loved the money. I raced because I love my dirt bike. I think that was a huge asset to my success. I have so much passion for two wheels that it just shined through in my racing.
“It’s still the same today and I was lucky enough to get out of it pretty unscathed and able to create a good workspace for myself. A lot of guys do have trouble,” McGrath continued. “I think I’m a fun guy by nature and I’ve made a lot of great relationships and that’s why I’m able to still work today. I still love it.”