GNCCRacing.com: So, a friend of yours recommended you as a candidate for a Tuesday Toolbox, and said you actually lost the use of one of your arms, correct?
Nate Riggins: That’s correct, yes I did. I lost the use of my right arm in a motorcycle crash, back in 2008. 

Was it on a street bike or dirt bike?
It was on a street bike. From what I can remember, a car pulled out in front of me, and I kind of like panicked a little. Hit the front brakes, the bike endoed, and I got ejected. Went head and shoulders first into the car. 

Before that, did you race motorcycles off-road at all? 
Nope, not at all! I’ve actually been riding a dirt bike a little here lately though. I have a buddy he’s got some 300 some odd acres, with eight miles of trails and a full-size moto track. I’ve been going out to his place and borrowing a 125cc Suzuki and a Yamaha 250cc two stroke. It’s pretty challenging, a lot tougher than the ATVs. But put me on anything and I’ll try to ride it! 

How did you get started riding in the first place? 
The gentleman who reached out to you to suggest the interview in the first place, Doug Morse, had purchased an ATV, and at the time I was still kind of down and out, didn’t really have much to look forward to. So I was watching him ride one day, and I was thinking to myself, “I wonder if I could still do this”. He is the type of guy that if you give him a challenge, he won’t stop until he has exhausted all his options. We used a bicycle lever as a throttle on an old Chinese ATV he had laying around, and that’s how I started riding. That quad was like the worst thing ever, but it was a life-changer for me, and things took off from there. Starting out I could only ride for a couple of minutes at a time, but over the time I’ve been able to build up so that I can go for a full two hours now.

When it comes to riding the quads, how much of a problem is it to only have the one arm to work with? 
Ehhh, at first it was challenging, but now not too much. I mean, I get your normal arm pump and stuff, but that’s about it, that’s about it (laughs). I don’t have the use of my front brakes though, I guess that’s probably the biggest hindrance that I have riding.

That’s actually something I was getting ready to ask. Have you made any modifications to your machine to make it easier for you to ride? 
The only modifications that we were able to come up with was to use a dirt bike hot start lever with an extended thumb buddy on it as my throttle, so we could convert it over to the left side.

We also put a recluse in it too so it would be easier to ride. We’ve been running that my last three years of racing. My first couple years, it was really a struggle, trying to give it gas and pull in the clutch all at the same time. It took us awhile to figure out the throttle too. When we first started, we took the throttle off the right side and flipped it upside down on the left side. Usually your throttle is underneath and you could just push it in. But for me, it was on top of the handlebars, so I could only hold on to the bars with my pinkie!

That sounds really sketchy! While we’re on the topic, what machine do you ride?
I’m on a 2006 Yamaha YZ 450cc, one of the carbureted editions. I really want a fuel-injected one, but… well, hopefully sometime in the future I’ll be able to get one. But for right now I’m just rocking with what I know.

And what class do you compete in? How long have you been around the GNCC series?  
Well, it’s been two years now that I’ve done the GNCCs, this would have been my third year. I race in the 30+ C class, in the AM morning races. But in total I have been racing about six years now. 

Where did you race before the GNCCs?
I raced at the local VXCS series in Virginia. I was going to do the whole GNCC series this year, but some unfortunate circumstances happened. 

Yeah, I heard that your race quad got stolen!
Unfortunately it did, and there was more than that too. About the quad, I had it sitting in my backyard right after the Big Buck race, and someone had taken it. I woke up the morning after the race and it was gone. And that was just devastating. That was four years of sweat and tears and long nights building that quad. A couple people chipped in and we were able to get another one and start building it. We thought I was going to be able to hit what was left of the series, but about halfway through building it, my mom got sick, and she needed my help. It was either my mother or racing, and of course I had to choose my mother. So, I had to drop everything to help her. All of that is why I ended up taking this year off, couldn’t even ride the local stuff. All I could do was go to the gym. I may not be in riding shape, but I ended up losing like 20 pounds, so I’m excited to see what I can do next year! In fact, there’s a chance I might be able to make it to the Ironman.