Benjamin!

Pro-Am was tonight and boy was it a doozy. Haha 7 guys went for it with the payout being about $60 to the winner and $40 to the 2nd place guy and $100 to the best finishing amateur...Everyone got paid all the way to last place as well. I had 7 which was not bad because into the turn lanes 1-4 were mushy anyway... Got a shady late gate Austen blows his 3rd pedal and I scoot by to catch a glimpse of Niko coming hard, I had a wheel on him so I let him stay inside which was no good because it was mushy. He rode the line hard and made it work because he started to blow by me on the 3rd straight, luckily he blows a pedal and im back in the lead with Zack Riessen all over me lookin for that Hundred bucks. he shoots to the inside of the rhythm but doesnt get established before the turn so I close the door which lets Austen rail the turn and pass me down the last straight. 2nd Place was cool but best amateur was better so $100 courtesy of Jump2Jump and none other than Al Roybal :) I swear Al needs to just sponsor me rather than force me to ride and puke to earn cash LOL Love ya buddy and keep it up your a true riders rider and I appreciate everything you do for me and the sport in general.

Smoothing things out...

Woke up bright and early and headed down to Livermore Parks and Rec, for a pow wow with Jim, Frank,Shane and Karen. The meeting was aimed at smoothing out the differences of opinion and Jim had alot of questions for me about all types of BMX stuff and the program. He seemed pretty receptive to the ideas and opinions that I laid out and hopefully the spark is going to work for a better overall program. Karen was pleasant as usual but kind of quiet, and Shane was about the same. Things are looking good for the program at least I came away from the meeting thinking that and I have relayed to them and to everyone since this drama broke out. This is not a personal vendetta myself and Shane have differences but are working through them and if both of us are focused on the overall betterness of the program things should work out great. So please for everyone who emailed me and commented saying how professional I was last Saturday do me a small favor and show that professionalism at the upcoming events which we will all be at. Livermore IS RUNNING tomorrow saturday so all you little young guns who worked hard for those LEAP awards come on out ride your bike and collect the hardware and congrats on a great accomplishment! Jim wasn't so sure that running a race just 7 days after the drama was a good idea but I told him to trust in me and believe in the overall scene that we will be professional in all aspects and the day will go off without a hiccup like 95% of races do on a daily basis. Jim is a vital piece of the puzzle for some changes and Id like to show him that the BMX community is very worthy of his attention and support. With that being said I also want to briefly thank my sponsors for their support and letting me be myself and be vocal about something dear to my heart and knowing that my passion sometimes leads to events beyond my control. I feel I was in a bad situation and handled it as best as I knew how and encourage everyone to use that as an example as it will take you far in life to always try and keep composure and think before acting. See you guys at PAL tonight for the Pro-Am and for early morning gates and LEAP plates at Livermore.

...Change...

Been riding park alot lately since the race stuff is all muddy and somewhat drama anyway. Nonstop being off and on the phone and talking with this and that person. Kinda crazy to see how this stuff plays out their is a ray of hope that the programs will have a shot at growing under some new leadership that is proven.But I never count my chickens early and not sure which way anything is going to go. Turns out "supposedly" I didnt check in with Karen in the morning and that was the reason for me being asked to leave. BS I checked in and held a conversation with her singed the 09' city waiver and gave her the nbl number 559976 to enter me in she said "we dont charge for practice anymore" so that was that. And apparently the records dont show me there anymore? haha Meeting on Friday with the powers that be Im draggin along someone to go down in flames with me, and hopefully its not another band aid job and something really turns around out there. Kinda crazy but park has been fun and it dries alot faster than dirt :) Thanks for checking in I know alot of you have wondered if I died off lol just keeping drama in check and workin a bunch...


P.S. I need an Evo so if anyone has one get at ya boy!

Ha sorry for the wait...

So Im sure most people in the loop, the circle, whatever you wanna call it have heard about my eventful saturday morning. Crazy. Wake up early I have work at 12:30 so I figure im gonna go get some gates at SR. B-rad has been training and I gotta go keep him in check and make sure he doesnt smoke me someday. Show up check in with karen and get all padded up, head up the hill and start riding. Typical livermore/sr session Shane never runs gates even those starts are like 90% of BMX racing but whatever Im waiting around for about an hour to get a gate. Finally he decides its time to run some and I get next to Niko in 7 and 8. Shane walks over and is like should I be excited your here? Im thinking in my head be excited be happy be sad I dont know what you want to be just run the gate im ready to cut Niko off 2nd pedal! haha Shane is rambling about how im no good for BMX and im this and that and just bein a loony about it. He drops the gate with no cadence which is stupid when you have kids on the gate, dropping it without warning isnt the smartest thing in the world. So me and Niko roll down the hill and he is fuming about it but Im chill nobody is gonna piss me off its finally sunny and dry so im riding not worried. get in the next gate about 5 minutes later and wallaaaaaaaaa here comes shane. thsi time hes going crazy tells everyone hes not running the gate or the race until i leave and nobody wants me there and all this soap opera stuff that should be left at home. I decide not to ruin everyones morning and say whatever im over it im gonna leave and ill talk to karen and see what the deal is when i leave. say goodbye to the boys and start walking toward my backpack. This goober Shane runs up behind me pushes my bike down and starts pushing me? Like WTF are u doing dude theirs kids, adults, parents like are you serious? If you want to fight...
A) It solves nothing.
B)Your twice my age buddy...
C) We can walk to the backside of the hill and get it on?

Parents come and break up the skirmish and I finally let loose and say great example track operator... Dip out talk to karen tell her she should call me later and smooth it over or whatnot. Its ridiculous how some guys are.

"Nothing can prevent ego's from clashing" Jim Jones

"Never let emotions overpower your intelligence" ?

Crazy right? Im banned from the forum to boot. LOL

Work Ethic

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me how the hell I travel here and there to whatever races Im interested in Id be rich. Haha well the fun times are over Im finally broke and gonna have to hustle cash for the next few weeks. Got a landscaping job lined up and knocked it out today for $300, then when it comes time to get paid the guy asks me what about the sideyard... Im stumped because I quoted the front yard and I was thinking he expected the side yard to be included maybe? So I hit him up and let him know the side yard was going to be a bit more ( i really didnt wanna do it) so I told him $400 for the side... Haha joke was on me he said sure do that as well. So 2 days of work will net me $700 after materials Ill walk with $600 cash not bad at all, That should get me a healthy start for my worlds tickets that are going to be about a grand. Check the pics and see what I did today and the clouds on one of many flights...

Vegas...

Got smoked in Vegas... Its alright Ill get my cash back next month haha! Anyway Im finally broke LOL after a few months of round about traveling gotta stay home for 2-3 weeks and hustle my ass off to make shit happen for the month of March- 5 races in 5weeks why not right? All day landscaping tomorrow should help the cause. Check it out Bailey is now a pink belt karate bulldog and has been meditating, check her paws and overall position she just lays weird sometimes its hilarious. Anyway tons of RAIN in the area so no track for a bit and Cunningham will be rained out for the time being as well... Weak shit.

Avant Garde International

Sat down with Max today and got the details on the clothing co. I had mentioned earlier in a post. Ive known Max for a bit now just being around the scene we have crossed paths quite a few times and I know its a good look messin with him. Got the lil product shipment together and gonna knock out a photo shoot for them later in the week. Boutta get the boys Kurtis and Kevin involved too. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled and get fitted up when things are available- www.avantgardeintl.com

Got home from mudfest 09' last night and shout out Kevin Zondervan for gettin ya boy from the airport and givin me a lift back to the bay as well. Hung out with Mike/Kev/Kyle this weekend and had a few laughs and clowned around way too much but all in all made the best of a wet situation. Pretty pissed off I took some good pics that I planned to post here but memory card decided to take a shit when I tried to upload them. One second they were loading then they were corrupted then the card wanted to format? Annoying and im not psyked because you cant rewind time, but rest assure Ill get a few of them recreated.

Hustlin Never Stops

So I get a text from my boy Max from the city today and he just finally got all the strings together for this new company he had an in with and thats now good to go m in the midst of settin up a photo shoot and picking up a ton of new product from them early next week. It never stops I swear, but its what you have to do to stay relevant and round up the support you need to be a factor in the game. I dont mind it at all :) So keep an eye out for Avant Garde International Ill be rockin it through 09 for sure. Finally got the first straight away figured out at Bills place tonight and I was riding a bit faster tonight then I decided to unclip in the middle of a high speed tap manual and crash out while we were gettin gates. No fun I bled alot here and there but it was good anyway. Bills the real deal and I wish i could find somebody with his commitment level to ride with locally. He is crazy focused and wears like 15 different hats at his place and fits in time to ride and entertain me when Im in town. Props Bill Madden your the man dude. Lastly rain is lookin to come down this weekend so not sure how I feel about that but whatever should be good anyway and Im lookin to get horsed haha. I have pics dont worry this blog hasnt gone pictureless I just dont have the cord to upload em with me but pics soon to follow I promise! See ya this weekend boys- Deeeeeezy