Neighborhood Superhero

When you hear that term it could mean a few different things to different people but at the end of the day to me it means that one guy in the neighborhood who is just "the man". Haha like the dude who you look up to or envy or seek their approval or whatever the case may be for whatever reason. I have had a few over the years and a quite vivid one was my good buddy Mark La Paglia from Az. I spent a good few years in Az and thats when I really got my start riding/racing BMX and from the jump no pun intended Mark was that dude. He worked at the bike shop we all shopped at, had a dope bike, had skills to match, had a cool car, and lived pedal distance from the local track setup that we all loved to visit. Seeing him around was mythical at the time and Im not sure when I went from thinking he was the coolest guy on the planet to riding with him regularly and traveling and eventually being on the same teams and trips together. Bauer Bikes/Second Sucks Apparel to be exact fuck good times those were. None the less it wasnt just BMX although everything for us revolved around BMX that was just our daytime excuse to meet up and then we would hang at wherever and do whatever we wanted. My parents were non existent at the time so I spent a fair bit of time at Marks house and always tagging along with him to the track and races and whatnot. I recall vividly when he gave me his Carbon Fiber frame just because I loved it so much, it was likely too big for me because mark is at least 6'3" and at my best im 5'8" LOL but that just goes to show that he just wanted to make me happy and hook me up.  Dude ripped on a bike and was always killing it and kept me pushing to be somewhat at his level. Like I said I dont recall when or what it was that took me from being a grom knowing him to being a riding buddy but fuck if im not stoked that it happened. I havent seen Mark since we both somehow drifted apart I moved after HS graduation and he did much of the same.  Now unless you come from where we come from in AZ youll never know how important it is to move the hell outta that area, but we both made it and have become good stories. He is doing well has his own shop and that doesnt shock me at all, and he still pedaling a bike just a different one than Im used to. Which to me is all good. We swapped memories all night about old times and jokes and shit from 10+ years prior and it was like we never missed a beat. I caught up on everyones current state and got updates on anything and everything AZ related. Im gonna go back there someday and just pedal around my old town like I did when I was young just to see it and soak it all in. Mark asked me last night if I ever reflected on coming from little old town to where I am now, and its funny because I think he see's things like I see them. I replied to him "man nobody understands how content I am and how I could drop tomorrow and fuck if I havent come far and had a helluva ride" I think Mark agrees with that and shares that opinion. Truly one of my best fuckin friends on the planet even with a 10 year gap we somehow put between us LOL cheers to you Mark and Im just as proud of you as you likely are of me. Much love buddy!