ABA Grands 2008

What a trip huh? Things started out last tuesday in Fresno loadin up Robs Tahoe and the trailer for a few guys' virgin trips to the greatest race on earth and my 3rd. The crew was Dave and Becka, Rob, Me, and Roybal. 24 hour drive was like 26 when you factor in the time zone changes and stuff like that, plus with a girl in the car you tend to stop quite a bit more. No worries though got to the La Quinta and settled in the room for a few days of the best BMX racing ever. I shacked in with Adam Finch from Wa and Lisa who flew in because she ducked our drive LOL. Thnaks again Adam! Practice went off without a hitch I felt slow as usual but thats pretty much the norm lately and I wasnt too concerned with it. Lots of AA guys casing the pro section was pretty entertaining. The first official joke of the weekend was me "ducking" riding 19-27x and bringin my cruiser only. Little did we know that cruiser was only gonna be mine for about 3 more days anyway! Aflac is an ABA sponsor so the jokes were endless but all in good fun and we enjoyed it at my expense. Nag 5 race was pretty good and showed that 19-27x is no joke currently as they took all 5 of their entries into the main, except for KJ Romero taking Thomas Vallejo to the moon in the last turn, KJ's my boy and Im glad to see him back. Nic Long would win it and take the first huge win of the weekend. Saturday morning I get smoked pretty quick in my first rack of cruiser and Im watching Roybal get his 24" action on. This guy is runnin 3rd and lookin to make a move for the lead bumps his a$$ on his back wheel which happens alot if you just ride 20" most of the time, and gets sent over the bars in the rhythm section. Not too big of a crash but he crawls to his knees and I can tell hes gotten the wind knocked outta him. I hop the guard rail and tell him to sit up on a chair right there and raise his arms... hes bitching about his back and still very very short on breath. I get his shirt off and its obvious his collarbone is broken. :( His weekend is done IMO but nothing too bad. Hes still in tons of pain and Im thinkin its just a collarbone man relax... We get hime moved over medics check him out and were talking ambulance now? WTF? Turns out this fool gets 12 broken bones? 4 of his ribs are broken in 2 spots (8) collarbone in 2 spots (2) and 2 "normal" broken ribs (2) makes 12! Haha geez louise man! Cherry on top sure why not- One of his ribs or him taking a gasp of air before impact has made his lung collapse... Hes off to the hospital and I stay to race my 2nd round. I get worked again and the thought of getting moto'd out dawns on me. Lately Ive been slow since being off my bike but I aint gonna get moto's that cant happen. The racing day is done and we head to check out Al. Hes got a neck brace on because he mentioned back pain so he looks really bad. Chest tube is going on to keep his lung inflated and let the fluid flow out. Once again it looks really bad but the doc says its fairly routine and he'll be fine. Dinner at Applebees me and Alan meet a cool waitress chick who we end up talking to the whole trip and Im psyked to make another friend in another state :) Dreaded 3rd round of qualifying! I have gate 8 no help there but takin 2 out of 5... Its ABA Grands and the cut is always low from motos, Pretty stacked every guy in it has a good shot at the main and a NAG # to boot so I know Im in for a rough lap. I get out good and get into the turn in 3rd which is no good Im not much of a passer and I suck on my cruiser track speed wise get to the 3rd straight and Ive made my mind up to hit the last straight pro section without even looking at it prior, Luckily Jacob Griffith bobbles in 2nd place and I get by him so now Im on the bubble spot, no need to bomb the last straight! I was psyked, so psyked I puked :) haha If you know me when I do a full lap rest assure Im puking at the line. Got that taken care of felt like crap and waited around all day for the mains... More story to come its lunch time :)