An article about a racer that is changing his life goals as well as a photo gallery at the end.
RENO – Anyone competing in motor racing knows there are risks. Most don’t dwell on that because it’s so much fun but sometimes they are bitten by this part of the sport.
For one local it’s been a case where injuries have caused a Racer Reset.
Alan Cunningham stands by some of the trophies he’s won over the past decade of motorcycle racing.
Reno resident Allen Cunningham a native of Scotland and now an American had his first experience with motorcycles came right after his birth.
“When I was brought home from the hospital as a child I was in a sidecar,” he said. “Dad had a Triumph Tiger 750 with a sidecar on it and that was our mode of transport for three or four years until my sister was born and we couldn’t fit two kids in a sidecar. My mom would be on the back of the bike and that’s when my dad got his first car.”
At age 13 he got his first motorbike and later moved up to a Honda CB 50. He explained that due to the restrictions on getting a license in Europe a bike is usually the first form a transport a young person has.
“So the only way of getting around is either public transport, which isn’t great, or a bike,” he said.
As a college student he rode his bike to school which took 30 minutes rather than face a three-hour one-way trip by bus.
After moving here he continued to ride street bikes.
Asked when he got interested in racing Cunningham said, “Actually it was here a friend that was renting next door and believe it or not my whole racing career got started by a set of heated hand grips on a bike.”
After fitting a set on his road bike he and that friend went to test them at the Reno-Fernley road course.
“And there were people out there running around so I got talking to people and I did a couple of track days on my street bike, which was an 02 Honda VFR 800, great bike,” he said. “Then my buddy next door suggested we get a track bike so I stared looking around and we picked up a SV650 Suzuki and started to get it ready for the track then he promptly moved to L.A.”
After doing track days and improving his skills Cunningham wanted to race so he joined the American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM).
“That was 10 almost 11 years ago,” he said.
Later he became interested in one of the two motorcycle races held annually on the Isle of Man. The most popular is the Isle of Man TT run in the spring and on TV.
“And you have another one called the Manx GP in August/September. I’ve ridden the Manx GP three times and went the fourth time this year,” he said.
The Manx GP medal Cunningham won after his best showing.
The course uses public roads that are only shut down about an hour before the racers ride them. This means it’s very different as far as traction goes every time the racers are on it.
The course itself is 37 and three quarter miles long and there are 230 corners. So at speed there’s a lot happening for the rider.
On the Isle he’ll usually turn a lap in just under 20 minutes or at an average speed of 105 miles an hour. The fastest riders are usually doing around 133 miles an hour on factory BMW motorcycles.
First week is for practice and qualifying while the second is for the race. The format is like a time-trial as the racers are launched every 10 seconds, so while a rider might pass others they are actually racing the clock for a good elapsed time.
Any rider can’t just show up, as there are qualifications to be met.
Cunningham explained that every day for the past five years has been about getting there and racing. He first got his racing license from the AFM, then he got one from the AMA and finally his international one from the FIM.
All these require so many race weekends and finishes to qualify for each license. Then a rider has to overcome the obstacle of getting a bike to the island, not an easy task but Cunningham found a way around that.
He bought a Kawasaki ER 650 that was on the island and a fellow racer Shawn Webster sponsored him on his spare GXR 750 for this year. Besides the usual expenses all Cunningham needed to buy for the second bike was gas and tires.
“I was lucky enough that 2014 was my best season with the AFM as I was one of the top 10 riders in the club,” he said. “I won my 500 twins class, was unbeaten the whole season so they look at that at the Isle of Man and go, ‘at least he’s a decent rider.’ But then you have a week of qualifying so you go out most nights depending on the weather and usually you’ll get two laps depending on what bike you’re riding.”
He intended to ride the 650 in Super Twins and the 750 in the Senior Race. So he began to practice with both of them.
“I would ride two laps on one, stop, jump on and ride two laps on the other one,” he said. “That was so much fun, it was really good to get that many laps a night.”
The 650’s engine was done by Slick Performance and it was just getting past the break in stage when second day’s practice started.
“The bike was getting tuned in fine, it was Tuesday night practice, done two laps on the 750 and I was out on the 650, the engine had been done and it was only the second night I had been out on it and the motor is starting to come in.”
Going up the mountain he passed Gavin Brown and then soon after Cunningham nailed the corner at the 31st Milestone.
“And before you come to 32nd,which is three left hand turns there’s a slight right hand kink in the road. I set up the way I normally set up not taking account that I had way more speed than I normally have coming out of the corner,” he said.
Having that extra speed caused things to go very wrong.
“So I came into the corner and like, ‘I’m not going to make it,’ so you can either lay it down or stand it up and try and ride it out. So I tried to stand it up and ride it out cause us motorcycle riders always think our skill is better than anything else in the world,” he said.
The front wheel went into a little ditch on the side then back end flipped up and sent him sliding down the road. That’s when he remembered not to try and stand up as many have been injured doing just that.
He wound up in the road with his bike behind him.
“I was stopped and the next thing is get off the road cause there are other bikes coming as I just passed Gavin and he was behind me somewhere,” he said.
This meant there was a gap between the bike and the edge of the road so when Brown arrived and saw him in the road he aimed for the gap as he was doing just over 80 miles an hour. Unfortunately Cunningham rolled into the gap trying to get off the pavement right when Brown reached it.
“I spoke to Gav afterwards and he said, ‘I saw you laying there and I was going for the gap because I couldn’t stop,’ Cunningham said. “Five seconds earlier or five seconds later I would have been looking for bike parts instead of getting flown off the mountain to the ER then getting flown to England and having a neurosurgeon operate on my back and having 12 screws, two plates and two rods in it.”
The impact broke three of his ribs on the right side, injured his right shoulder and, he said this was the worst, broke his sternum in two. But the worst was breaking the T4 vertebrae, which is between the shoulder blades.
“Five millimeters either way I would have been either dead or paralyzed from the chest down, so I had the best outcome of them,” he said.
In the surgery the doctors fused T3 through T5 vertebrae. Then a lung collapsed during surgery and he spent four days in ICU at a Liverpool hospital.
“It was a nightmare,” he said.
At that time his wife Beth was stuck in a foreign country without an idea of what is going on. However his parents drove down from Scotland and helped her for which Cunningham is extremely grateful.
When this interview was conducted he was about 13 weeks into recovery and feels things are going very well.
“I’ve got pretty well 100% range of motion. I’ve got a few really sore spots in my back. Don’t know if the screws aren’t right but I’ve got a follow up appointment with a neurosurgeon at the end of December.
What helped save him was an airbag vest he wore that day. It’s made in Japan and inflates when a rider is separated from their bike and it keeps the shoulders, neck and head moving as one unit, which helps protect against Traumatic Brain Injuries.
“That had deployed when I came off the bike so Gav hit me on the top, left hand side of the helmet and the force didn’t all go down my spine. The stuff that did caused the T4 and the rest of the force was spread out over my shoulders because the air bag was up underneath my helmet,” he said.
Now back home he’s realizing one of the benefits of not racing.
“The first thing you really notice is ‘man, I’ve got all this money in the bank.’ Where did that come from? As a racer I never looked at what I was spending it was just ‘I’ve got to get it,’ cause I’ve got to race next weekend and I need that part or I need that part,” he said. “This year I was well prepared, my wife had me on a fitness program for three and a half months, lost a bunch of weight and I was really looking forward to going. And then I blew it in a corner but that’s racing.”
The experience and injury has caused him look at his passion for motorcycle racing in a very different light. This has meant a reset now that his life has changed.
“The racing is over. As much as I have a passion for it I can’t see my wife go through that again. When I saw in the hospital how my wife was, my family was I’m like I can’t do that,” he said. “Luckily for me I came out with the best of the three different scenarios.”
While some people have talked about racing cars Cunningham is looking at different things but someday, when he’s fully recovered he might entertain competing again but not on a motorcycle.
He would like to still be involved with the AFM but since they have their meetings in California on Wednesday nights its very doubtful.
“I’m a tech guy in cyber security, I like toys and computer stuff so I bought a drone so I’m teaching myself how to fly the drone correctly and I’ll start doing photograph with that and video,” he said. “Whether I go back and go to race weekends and hang out cause I love the family, people who are there are fantastic but I’m not sure if I can do that or not. And I’ve sworn off the track days as well.”
While injuries has caused this racer reset, Cunningham knows how lucky he is and it’s time to change his life’s path.
“I like to walk around and I like to breath so I’m really lucky that I can walk and talk,” he said.
If you enjoyed this article please “like,” and share it as widely as possible. Comments are welcome.
Subscribers have articles posted to their inbox as soon as they are on the site.
We now have four very appreciated sponsors that are helping support this site.
The newest is familiar to anyone in the riding lifestyle. It’s PJ & Co Restaurant and Saloon located at 1590 Wells Avenue in Reno.
Good food, great place and they have Bike Night every Wednesday. For further information please check their website at, www.pjandco.net.
Concours Body Shop, owned by racer and race supporter Gil Grieve, is a business doing quality repair work on cars and trucks.
The business is located at 240 Telegraph Street in Reno and their website is, www.concoursbodyshop.net.
If you are into karting or want the most cost effective way to start racing then check out Nevada Kart Sport, our only full service kart shop in this region.
They are located at 1220 E. Greg Street in Sparks and their website is, www.nevadakartsport.com.
Into riding or racing a motorcycle? If so Reno Motorsports is for you as they have a full service shop as well as about anything a rider could want.
They are located at 964 Terminal way, by Mill Street and their website is, www.rms-renomotorsports.com.
Have a business targeted toward the motorcycle or motorsport demographic? Well we are looking for more sponsors. You can contact us either through the comment section of the site or our Face Book page.
Photo Gallery:
