Out of order but who cares :)

Finally getting closer to home, sitting in the terminal in Sydney and really wishing I would have had some cash to blow and stay over here for a few more days. The scenery across Australia is in ever bit of the word Beautiful. They have forest like green areas that run right up to sandy beaches that collide with clean blue water. After the shady weekend of racing I definitely feel I should have stayed a few more days but no worries. I truly enjoyed myself on this trip and solidified friendships with the Avant Garde crew, rode my bike and competed on the biggest stage in BMX and experienced the culture of Australia which is truly a unique, friendly, place that I can only hope more of you get to experience. Looks like South Africa next year is going to be a stop on my places to travel as Im still lurking a W1 title :) I guess to truly appreciate something like a W1 maybe you have to go through the up and downs of getting to that goal. I am 95% sure Im going to keep the lil sprint program going but Im definitely going to finally get to ride park at the level that I like to, and it will be very nice to not have a big race hanging over me and not having to play things cautious... Work all week but Im sure Tuesday night I will get a shot to get ride after I send everyone home- should be good and Im fairly excited. Miss Bailey that lil shit I feel like I never get to play with her enough but Ill grab her sometime this week and make up for my missing days. Ummmm what else? I still have to do my big THANKS blog post for everyone who helped me little and big with my trip, maybe I can type that out on my way SFO haha I do have 14hours LOL


Thanks! Gotta always take the time to say thanks to the many people that help me out in my pursuits and support me in little but huge ways alike.

Avant Garde Intl- J, Max, and Los' were all good company and help cut my costs in Aussie land from 100% down to 25% I had a great time chillin with them and we have similar personalities that blend well. Bay shit what can I say.

Jon @ Sun Ringle Wheels- Once again always has my whips rolling smooth on the best equipment in the market. My rear 24" wheel got pretty banged up after a rough sunday but its not a big deal at all because with those guys backing my play I know Im taken care of. Thanks for everything Jon!

George @ Knight- Stems and sprockets that are on all my bikes and a long time sponsor of mine. www.knightbikeco.com

Al @ Jump2Jump- Roadtrips and more roadtrips because if you aint experiencing your surroundings then you aint experiencing all that life has to offer you. Thanks for all the random entries and all the unseen support bud.

You! Like always I leave a space for you to put yourself in there, Im sure Ive bummed a million rides to a million races, stayed on hotel couches thanks to you, borrowed $2 for a gatorade, drank your water, etc. etc. etc. Thanks for helpin me out and I sincerely appreciate it! -Nick

Pics?

Finally back into the home swing of things, work is back to norm and I rode the park last night for a bit- Probably gonna ride before I start today for a good 1/2 hour as well. Enjoy the pics I borrowed from Jerry @ www.bmxmania.com

Ridiculous.

72 hours ago if you said whats worse case scenario for you in Australia, I would have told you 2 8th place finishes. Boy was I wrong. Haha Got murdered by a French rider on my first mot so started with high points, the ate it all by myself in the lead second round so chalk up another 6 score. Finally put a lap together in the 3rd round and missed the cut by 1 point. Joking... Im Not.

Cruiser Moto 76 or 78

Thats right if ur catchin the stream tomorrow Im in either moto 176 or 178 and their is no motos 1-100 it starts at 101. So im at the later end of the first round again gates 5,1,7 in rounds taking 4 out of each round. Denim with my USA top of course. Yeeeee

Grrrr.

So raced 20" today and was really excited finally and got off to a good start going 2,3,2 in the motos behind 2 australian pro's who are reclassed for Worlds (pretty weak they let you do that I agree but I aint bitchin) So I knew I was fairly on point and running well. I checked the motos and found out that my quarter and subsequent semi were going to be fairly stacked aka hard. So I make the 1/4final which is final 24 guys they take 4 out of each rack of 6 to the semis. I have Tim Sonner from the USA and 4more Aussies, I know me and sonner will get in and the other 2 guys from my previous motos. It aint rocket science get in where you fit in you know? Gate drops I get going and Tim blows his gate, Im runnin 3rd and he's pssing people in panic mode to get back into top 4. He pulls up next to me in the rhythm so hes basically in 3rd since he was in my inside so were set to transfer out. This goon bobbles the last roller in the section, explodes left and guess whos there to catch him and break his fall? Yep good ol nick :) Worlds 20" dreams dashed. Haha whats a joke I was pissed and 2 slow ass guys made the semi. The guys in my first initial moto rack ended up going W3,4,5 in the main so Its annoying knowing I was beating 2 of them but just shady luck had me watchin the final. More update to come I need time to zone out n chill. Thanks for the support everyone and expect a detailed thanks later!

Ontiveros Podium

Lil Damian Ontiveros won every lap from start to finish until the main where he nailed a 3rd behind defending champ Brock Heffron and another USA rider. Good job Damian, and welcome to the club of fools with W's.

Also noted was Matt Sterling who took 4th possibly 5th at the line congrats as well!

Practice!

Blog Update #57 from Aussie land haha. Practice went well today and I was actually kinda irked because after the deaths of many yesterday including myself they made the call to fill in the rhythm and shave down some of the high spots. Meaning i got broke off yesterday for no reason. grrrr. Did some helmet-camera filming for Avant Garde Intl and it was cool to see the footage when we got back to the apartment. Everyone was gettin through the rhythm without ridin the bull so that was good, I have everything fairly wired and my knee is swollen as all hell but its a little looser today than it was yesterday so thats looking like it should be ok. All my local boys were lookin good Matt Trujillo was sending the first straight like a G, and D'Zapo was getting around well on his 24" so hopefully those guys can get deep in the weekends events. Kory Cook is stil my main pic for the win in 17-24Men I gated with him today and he was all over the first straight shooting the jumps low and fast, so Im picking him to be in the main and go podium for sure. Korben Corbett is still on a hot hand and got things together today for sure. Brock Heffron owned me down the first straight this one lap so I had to lurk him in practice and get him back LOL Tim Daniels is still the nicest guy in BMX.

Pics coming soon!!! Team Usa!

skyline-evo wagon- SFO

pics?

Jump jump lawn dart! Ouch.

Finally! Got into the apartment spot for just $89 a night which is alot cheaper then what we got knocked for last night at the downtown spot haha. Check the pics below and heres brief descriptions. Just got back from practice, people still missing their bikes? WOW... Thats seriously sucks. The track isnt bad but its very very far from good. Ol Tom Ritz built once again what can be only cnsidered a dysfunctional "rhythm" section down the 3rd straight. I was one of the early casualties as I flipped the bars trying to double through the section. Bashed my knees into the back of the bars and I aint gonna lie Im limping kinda shitty and my left knee is wayyyyyy sore and swelling :( Got 2 days to get it worked out though so might juss relax at the track practice tomorrow :) Alot of people are sweating the first 2 jumps but fairly easy IMO and the second straight has some decent jumps but once again if you aint jumping you have problems, steep and very deep. Rhythm is where the races will be won and lost and nobody has figured anything out at the end of day 1, I got it started with my lawn dart and then a long list of USA riders tried to go through at decent speeds and learned how shady it was setup.

I asked Donny for a tip on doing well- he said sleep with your mouth open and showed me how... Haha

Lots of dope cars here in AUS and they are all Right Hand Drive- Got off the plane and saw an Evolution in a Wagon version... Sick, Skylines and Nissan's galore too.

We were downtown and took pics with these big brass pigs?

Met up with Jenny, who is the chick in the picture- she saved our ass by lending us her phone and shes stuck with us for the week. Carlos loves him some Jenny- Ha

Papered up livin big in Australia. Fake it til you make it I guess?

Airport had alot of marketing stuff for the Worlds it was a big deal and kinda cool- Kevin O'Brian even had a cabbie guy with his name on a sign it was pretty legit. He is racing as well, said if Roybal ducked him he might as well take the title.

Checked into the team hotel and got the gear setup- Apparently im #40 for class and #25 for cruiser. Guess ill be shedding quite a few digits off both :) Showed up to practice and didnt have my team USA gear which wasnt a big deal or so I thought, I got yanked from practice 2x once for no team jersey, second time for not the official plate on. Weak as shit, surprised I didnt get called out for the denim rolled up :)




EDIT- Pics wont load for some reason check back later...

practice today gettin credentials after practice, cities good I slept like 18 hours yesterday and last night haha, 20" is built and im ready to trip around taxi status to get things done today before hittin the beach apartment later in the afternoon... updates soon apparently wifi aint free out of the usa. ha.

Arrived on time but somehow missed our flight while waiting for bikes glad mine even showed up though- ronnie evans, alden volle, and brian carrilo all fell victim to the luggage monster. DR Jason Rogers hermanator and a few other legit dudes were on our flight, and everyone was balled up when we touched down. Sydneys dope though and I now have 3 hours to enjoy it haha. Eating Hungry Jacks which is their version of Burger King, soda here is funny tasting which is good cuz I dont need to drink it anyway :) More updates soooooon!

Stream...

Enjoy me and Team USA gettin it down under- I should race USA tme thrusday afternoon or evening if Im correct and Saturday evening as well.

My gift to you today...

Every now and again someone somewhere has the opportunity to be involved in something that can only be described as Epic, maybe Timeless, etc. Thankfully this is 2009 and we have the internet to pull up a front row seat. Overseas at the BMX Freestyle Worlds what I consider to be some Epic Legendary People did some stuff which is considered possibly "old school" but is just as pure and relevant today as the first time you pop a wheelie, bunnyhop up a curb, or learn how to skid. Ladies and gents of my blog, I give you a link today which if you dont smile at the end of this video you might be in the wrong scene. Ron Wilkerson much respect as always and hats off to the true pioneers and showmanship that created what is BMX.

www.woozybmx.com/blog/woozybmx/bmx-worlds-video/

Enjoy

Pics to go with?

As promised. Enjoy.

Text overload!

Another one in the books! Ive been on the road for 5 weekends now not 5 weeks totally but 5 races in 5 weeks before taking off to Austrlia for the Worlds this Saturday night. Haha I swore my flight was Friday but turns out its Saturday so wish your boy some luck and hope the training stint does wonders. Felt awesome at Livermore yesterday and gated with Brad and Al all evening, felt really good and my gate is snappy as can be right now and 2nd and 3rd pedal strokes were coming around nice and strong. I feel good and I was on like 2-3hours sleep lol.

Nashville! Lemme explain this trip before giving the details. I fully intended on going primarily just to drive with Al so he didnt have to ride solo in his pursuit of global BMX announcing supremacy haha. We left the bay straight from my job and got on the road headed to Orange Cove for a quick little city meeting to meet and greet their city staff and pitch them on the BMX program, all went well after hearing the Mayor go off on a newspaper writer in the audience whom he has a past with. It was comical to say the least and kinda cool to see such a small town accept BMX and the new program with open arms and the ball is rolling again on what is a fantastic if not the best facility in California. Ive said it before- the Central Valley has shit dialed.

While in the meeting J Lil was texting back and forth and contributing to my 13,000 texts a month streak, and asked when we were stopping to pick her up. I told her to call our bluff as we were only driving about an hour north of Gucciland LA- Silly girl didnt know what she was getting into. She met us off the 40 west somewhere near Barstow and a far far cry from the glitz and glamour of the GT days hahaha. No first class flight, rental car, or a food budget with jump2jump's budget- simply open road good conversation and 34+ hours to figure out if you love or despise the other 2 people in the car. We stopped at the big cross off 40 west for what must be my 10th time there and its pretty cool and a reason to stretch the legs. Having J to make for a 3rd driver probably saved our tails and it was god to have a little rotation and nobody fallin asleep. We pulled into Nashville and got settled in the room just in time for a short 2 hour nap before the NBL was lookin for Al, so we got on over to the track. They had a brand new pro gate system installed the week before and it was cherry and made a great track even that much better. I personally wasnt a huge fan of the track but all in all Robert the TO there is doing an awesome job and deserves way more credit than he will ever get or accept. Great guy and proof that if you have a strong desire in your track crew you can have a great program. Al insisted that I race even though I told him I was chillin and not risking anything before worlds, but he was having none of that and signed me up anyway. I got smoked first moto and was kinda just off the back and took a 5th LOL then came some light rains and I guess the rain washed away my bad mojo because i then got a 3rd which due to the rain my 3rd counted twice and I made the semi with a 3,3,5 score. Got hooked up with some guy out of the gate and he fell pretty quickly but took my pedals away in the process got into the turn in 6th and pedaled around one kid easily, and had Joey Wolterz ahead of me and in the bubble spot. I had a good run out of the turn and moved to his outside and pulled up along side but he just held me outside so i highlowed the 2nd turn which worked well but had me on the outside in the 3rd turn, again pulled up to pass but he was inside LOL took a 5th in the semi surprise surprise, and was kinda annoyed but definitely felt ok about it all. I pulled out for Sundays race bcause I wasnt having too much fun on the track and was kinda over it. Roybal got moto'd in cruiser, in CRUISER? sheesh. J Lil anchored our team sheet and secured her very first podium on the comeback tour a 3rd with Geving and Dom alongside her. She was psyked as the trip financially wasnt in her plans so she was ballin now that she was spending alises entries LOL

Sunday- Al gets moto'd in 20" haha his bike was having all kinda of issues and I think he learned that you should take it apart unless you have to. J looked good for a top4 but Alise saw a dollar on the ground coming out of the first turn and with Redlines loyalty to riders you never know when you might get the axe so Alise decided to abort the race and grab that dollar being that were in a recession, unfortunately she killed our team sheet as Lil's was right behind her. Alise got the dollar, Dom got 375 of them and locked up the title in the NBL, and Lil took a 7.

Stayed the night Sunday and sampled Nashville and even saw midget wrestling, well we were a week early but it does go down for sure. Hung out listened to Karaoke that was sooo serious and got on the road the next morning headed west. Stopped at the Grand Canyon and took in the sights. Shits large. Pics to be posted soon- Im off to work yeah buddy!

Sure do love wifi and the new I touch toy:) got the new laptop already on tap waitin for me to get home, psyked! Didn't race today wasn't feelin the track so opted out. Long drive home tomorrow morning should be interesting and fun like always. Al has bike issues and was off the back all day gettin treated by pete d! Haha sucker! Got titanium spokes today and lite tubes so my rig should be nasty quick when I leave to Australia! Less than1 week! Pics coming soon- nick

Another Ville...

Dipset! Leaving to Nashville in just a few hours after a quick lil 5 hour shift at work. Got the bag all packed up and thankfully I have a new digicam to put through the paces so expect a slew of pics from the trip. This trip is tried and true tested road dogs only on the roster- Just me and Al haha. Nashville was good last year even though I got worked over and didnt race at all so might put a few laps in this time around and watch Dom lock up the Girls NBL title if she can double, which shouldnt be a problem. Kinda anti climactic for the NBL title but whatever she is rad and deserves it through hard work she has put in. Interstate 40 East is a shitty drive but thats the deal this time around well be hittin the road tonight after a stop in Orange Cove for some more NBL business politic stuff I think? Hopefully Al has to do that stuff and I can ramp the track hehe. Sprints have been nasty but my first straight has been slow so not sure whats up with that? Alright im off to work- text ur boy!

Roseville Ca

Braaaap! Roseville was this weekend along with the opening of Fresnos BIKE park. We'll start with the opening. Not many cities understand that bmx and skateboarding go hand in hand and most cater to sk8 stuff and leave BMX out of the loop. Fresno aint stupid and they have a smart structure in place to keep all action sports well taken care of. That park is a dream and no other city holds a candle to the things Fresno is doing. I MC'd the day so that was pretty fun I announced everything and it made my voice quite raspy the next day but was super fun and helped out my boy Ryan Garcia. Ben Snowden took the win and $700 cash for his efforts about 500 people showed up throughout the day and it was way rad. Roseville was dope got in pretty late but Jamie Lilly hooked me up with some floor space in her gucci suite and I crashed there for the night, before waking up taking 2 laps of practice and getting a weak 4th on Saturday. Went out with my boys to outback/Kims* and chilled with Rodney and Rob who both did well on Saturday. Oops before I forget Jamie flipped the bars in a basic rhythm section. Haha too funny but it was chill she was ok. Anyway planned on camping but Mike Hughes had the camp site all Lovey status with his wife so I ended up chillin with the boys and talkin shit with Shannon T, Korben/Courtney, Tuttle, and Mc Clintock back at the hotel. Courtney should stopped at a few drinks because she was way off the back Sunday morning- Korben still goin fast and called me a pussy for not ridin class. Got a 3rd on Sunday and still wasnt psyked cuz I havent been holeshotting laps at all which is weird. Anyway gettin a new laptop very soon courtesy of the people speakin and telling me the blogs lacking lately, new digi-cam already got it so expect pics soon and more randomness. Get some!