GRAND National.

My first season of racing BMX seriously is over and culminated at a race called the GRAND national in Louisville KY. Christine and I camped from early Thursday morning to Sunday afternoon in between two awesome white pines which were about 100 yards from the track. Waking up to the announcer on the mic every morning was a real treat as I would rub my eyes of excess sleepy dust and start the camp stove rolling in order to make my morning coffee.
Practice Thursday was a very good idea because I got 22 runs on the track on my cruiser (24 inch BMX bike) and my PK Ripper which definitely gave me an edge on the competition all weekend long.
This year's track was awesome. The first and second straight were the same as last year's track but the third and fourth straight got totally changed around. The third straight was a step with a deep landing into three large doubles. The fourth straight was a rhythm section that was pretty deep but was still very fast and very flowy. All in all, it was a great track to race on.
My novice motos went as expected and I breezed through them. However, my cruiser motos were a complete confidence booster because I won my first one and got seconds in the next two. Cruiser is basically an open class that is set only by your age, not your skill level so I was racing some very fast people, and beating them. S-T-O-K-E-D!
On Sunday my family (Mom,Dad, Nux, Isa, and Angus) came to watch me race which always helps me to step it up. In the semis, I took it from line to line in my novice race and in my cruiser semi I was the "bubble boy" and made it to the main.
You can check out the semi videos at GO211. videos are below.
cruiser semi
http://www.go211.com/u/nblgrandnationals2009/videos/17906
novice semi
http://www.go211.com/u/nblgrandnationals2009/videos/17831

As the mains rolled around, nerves set in a little more. However, once I was out of staging and walking out of the tent and up the hill to the starting gate I got my focus back. That is one of the many things i love about BMX racing; it teaches you to really put everything out of your heard and focus on one thing at a time... getting a good snap and pedaling as hard as you can to the first turn.
A couple of months ago I was practicing my gate starts out at the Weaverville track and I realized that my snap was way better when the wait for the beeps was longer. I had real problems getting a good consistent snap when the beeps started right after the recorded voice. It was at this point that I knew that my gate in the main of my novice race at GRANDS was going to be immediately after the voice recording. And was I ready. Sitting in the gate as the voice was working its way through the cadence... "Alright riders, random start... riders ready, watch the gate..." and immediately the beeps go off and I snap... the rest can be seen on GO211.
Novice main
http://www.go211.com/u/nblgrandnationals2009/videos/17879

My cruiser main was shortly after my novice main. I was in gate 1 which got cut off about 25 yards down the first straight. I had a good snap but couldn't elbow my way into a good line in the first turn and took it super slow. Well, you can see it at GO211. I finished 7th which I am happy with cause it isn't last.
Cruiser main
http://www.go211.com/u/nblgrandnationals2009/videos/17727

All in all, it was a very fun exciting, nerve wrecking, family and friend filled weekend. Many nights were spent at the hotel pool that Christine and I would sneak into every night. Many a meal was multiple burritos from Qudoba. And many a dream was had in which I missed a moto, semi or main. Thanks Subconscious for making it so easy to sleep at night.

2010 looks to be a tough year in BMX racing as I am now an expert and the bar has been raised, very high. These guys are fast... but with a lot of determination and plenty of support from awesome people like you, I am sure that I will be able to reach some goals by this time next year. Thank you.

Summer is in full swing

HEy yall, Sorry it has been so long since any of us (aka I) have written on here. If you are still reading it, awesome! thanks for coming out and checking out what we are up to.
Things in the house have been all over the place.
Mitch has just spent a week following Phish and having the time of his life. There was a show in Asheville in which they closed off four major city streets in order to accommodate to those that don't wear shoes and always look like they have been swimming in a pool with too much chlorine. After the Asheville show Mitch was off to Knoxville and then off to Bonnaroo where he got super dehydrated and super super tan. I thought he was just covered in dirt when he got home but his actual skin turned a deeper shade of Caucasian. The sun did him wonders until he came down with something awful that wiped him out for a whole week. Thank god the PGA Tour was going on that week or else I don't think that he would have survived.
Sarah's family is town and even though they haven't stopped by the house yet I am sure that we are going to be having an awesome time together this weekend. A big family dinner party on Saturday night to celebrate Sarah's family and Christine's 24th birthday party. Stayed tuned for pictures and hopefully some stories if we can remember what happens that night. Sarah has recently got into App State for a Master program in counseling. She starts in late August and will be moving to Boone sometime around then. And since it is only an hour and a half away I am sure that the boys will be heading there in the fall to crash some football games and sleep on Sarah's floor.
Lateef is "shadowing" a lot these days which makes him sound like a ninja, but in nice dress clothes. On top of spending a lot of time at hospitals seeing blood all over the place and people screaming in agony, Lateef has also been studying his rear end off for his MCATs which just got scheduled for the middle of August. Good luck Teefer! He is also soon to be off on an adventure out to Colorado where he is going to be working as a camp nurse at a summer camp that he has been apart of for the past few years. And I am certain that there will be a large spike in the number of young girls needing band aids when Teef shows up to camp and puts on his nurses smock. Go get em Teef!
As for me, I have been working with trees as much as possible and also spending a lot of time at the track helping Jamie Bravo keep the place running as smooth as possible. I have got a national in two weeks out in Nashville TN. It looks like it should be a lot of fun.

Hope all is well in yall's worlds. Thanks for checking this out.

Morristown Spring National

Every fall and spring Morristown holds a BMX national. It is an indoor venue and the track gets built within a few days before the race and then disassembled that Sunday and Monday after the races. It is traditionally known by the Blue Chip Racing team as a must-go event because the track is always fun and it is also the closest national all year. This spring was no exception. The team was there in full force and everyone was pumped on this year's track layout.
Coming out of the gate was a small roller, a short table top, and then a double into the first turn. The first turn was a tall bowled out piece of work, however it was damp during the first 100 motos on Saturday and people kept on washing out in it while trying to make passing moves. The second straight went double, double, step up right into turn two. It was really inspiring to see the pros and experts land sideways on this step up and immediately rail the second turn. Talk about fast! The third straight was one of the best rhythm sections I have ever hit because it had a ton of flow and it all linked up very well. Roller, camel hump into a roller and then another camel hump. Turn three lacked any definition and was also wash boarded out which made it the weak point in the track. The fourth straight was a step up step down and then two rollers... about a hundred feet pedal space and then the finish line.
Practice started at 2 on Friday and since there was only a couple hundred riders it was an open practice which meant that you could do laps on the track and not have to wait fifteen minutes between runs. Jamie, Josie and I rode like banshees until 6 trying all of the different lines there were and then packed up the car with Jack "I don't need to practice" Ritchie and went back to the hotel for a meal of runny alfredo that ended up more on my chin and shirt than in my mouth. Josie and Jamie wouldn't let me live it down.
Saturday started with an amazing breakfast at the hotel. Real biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit, real eggs, bacon, and more bacon. It was time to rock out. We got to the track at 8 which gave the grommits a chance to practice before the old guy practice started at 8:30. A few laps and a couple hours later racing commenced with the Elites going at it and taking each other out in the first turn. If the Elites are wrecking in the first turn you know that it is a tough turn to pick and hold a line through.
My class this weekend consisted of 9 guys which meant that we were split up into two motos; one moto of four and the other of five. On Saturday I was in the moto which had the fast riders in it which meant that I had a chance to check these guys out before it came down to the showdown throwdown in the main. However, it is hard to see how people ride when they are behind you. Oh SNAP!
The first moto started off as a disaster because I came unclipped out of my left pedal on my second pedal stroke. However, instead of sitting up and accepting defeat I clipped back in as fast as I could and went into the first turn in the back of the pack. Picking lines through turns around 200 pound guys is quite a lot of fun when you have confidence in you bike handling skills. By the third straight I was back in first and took it to the line. The second moto was a lot smoother and faster in that I didn't come unclipped and took first from the gate to the finish line. It was shortly after this second moto that my room mates Sarah and Mitch showed up to check out the scene and see what BMXing was a lot about. I have been talking their ears off for months about my bike and it was wonderful to have them there and finally see what I am so excited about all of the time. My second moto started off with a poor gate snap which put my in the middle of the pack. I held my line through the first turn and chased down the race leader down the second straight. I knew that if I didn't make my move in the second turn that this guy would take the moto win and I couldn't handle having Mitch and Sarah show up and watch me lose... and also the embarrassment and brow beating I would get from Mitch and Sarah for the next few weeks would be unbearable. Heading into the second turn I am on the outside and start railing high as the leader takes the inside line and holds it. At the apex of the turn I dive down into the bottom of the turn and start cranking my rear end off. I edge up next to him and from there it is all about trying to be smooth and consistent through the rhythm section. As we head over the first roller to camel I see him backing out of my peripheral. Manual up, manual down, pump, pump and into the third turn. I don't feel him underneath me and I come out of the third turn in the lead and take it to the line. Dang, that was a close one. Can't let that happen again.



So in the main instead of messing around, the gate drops and I am gone all of the way to the line. A "perfect" Saturday. I pick up my trophy and Sarah immediately wants photos of me and "Coach" Ritchie because "your mom isn't here and she needs to see this!"



Saturday went well for the Blue Chippers and we ended up third in the team rankings. So to celebrate (after a pinball tournament back at the hotel in which Josie slaughtered Jamie, Jack and I) the Blue Chippers all met up at a Mexican restaurant for cervezas and some good food. I won't go into detail about how long it took us to find this restaurant but let me say that by the time we got there we were very very very hungry, and very thirsty. "Food will be down!!"

Sunday started early with another delicious breakfast of bacon, biscuits and eggs. Also, since the team got third the day before the Blue Chippers got a free lap around the track in the parade lap that occurs during the singing of the National Anthem; just another chance to check out lines and feel the track out before the motos started at 8.
The way my class was set up on Sunday was two racks of us and this time I was in the slow moto. Sweet! I took first in all of the motos and when it came time to the main I was awake and ready to rock. I was in gate four and the two fast guys were in gate 1 and 2. All I had to do was beat them to the first turn and I would be able to smoke them through the rest of the track. The gate drops and we are off. However, by the table in the first straight I see some shaky riding to my right and two people tumbling off the track. I hold my line through the first straight but the guy in gate three is right next to me. He has the inside line and pushes me high in turn one. We make contact with our elbows, but since my elbow is in front I can get on the gas faster and come out of the turn spinning and take the lead. Manual, manual, jump through the second straight and by now I have a substantial lead and take it all of the way to the line.
Dang! A "perfect" weekend.
Once again, the Blue Chippers take a third in the team points due to some outstanding finishes. Antonio "The Rocket" got his first ever win in his 11 Expert class. And Josie "The Pinball Princess" got a solid second again behind her arch nemesi. All around a good weekend of racing.
And now as the points are standing I am leading my national class which is a good feeling even though this makes me a marked man for the rest of the year.
So it is back to the training room (aka my basement) to get ready for the Freedom Nationals (I think Braveheart with be there to hand out the trophies) in Woodbridge VA in late April. The timing is perfect because I can now take a week off of the bike and rest up a little bit. It also just so happens that I have a case of the "Crud Lung" which is supposedly a rite of passage for those whom race in Morristown due to the dusty indoor conditions. What a great time to curl up on the couch with a good book and hack away the day!

Spring Nationals, McDonough Georgia

Two weekends ago I went to McDonough Georgia which is just outside of Hot-lanta and raced in the Southern Charm National BMX race. The weather both days was pretty much perfect in that it was brisk enough for a hoodie in the morning but come 10 am you could be in your race jersey and feeling fine.

The track was a lot of fun. It had a lot of jumps on it which was fairly disappointing because that doesn't leave a lot of room for imagination and different lines.

The way a national races works is that it is a two day, two race venue. Each day is a separate race, so if you crash and do terrible on Saturday you have a chance to redeem yourself on Sunday... and vice versa. Each class, which depends on your ranking (rookie, novice, expert, and all of the variations of pro) and age (my class being 19-25) has three motos which are three qualifying runs to see who moves on to the "main event" which is known as the main. Depending on the class size there can be quarter qualifiers and semi qualifiers in between the motos and the main which weeds out the slower racers (generally). For example, my class which is 19-25 novice, only had five racers this weekend which means that we didn't have quarter or semi qualifiers and everybody moved into the main.

Alright, sorry for the boring rules and regulations part of the story, but it helps to know how it all works or else the jargon through the rest of this story is going to be a lot like a different language.

So Saturday started off bright and sunny with a three hour practice before the racing actually commenced at 11. The track was perfectly groomed and everyone was looking fast. prior to the races my class all found each other and talked about who the fast ones were and who to look out for and all of that jazz. Since we didn't have more than 8 people, we would all move onto the main which meant that the motos were going to "just for fun" (or so I thought). Saturday's finishes in the motos for me were a 3rd, a 4th, and a 2nd. Not really too good considering I was way faster than the guys I was in the gate with. When it came time for the main though I was ready and completely gameface. I had talked to my coach a lot before the race and figured out a strategy that could work... don't give up first place. Sounded simple enough. Also, the fastest guy out of the other riders was in the far outside lane and I was in the inside lane which gave me a better line down the first straight and into the first turn... if I could just hold my speed and control the lead into the first turn.

So we are sitting in the gate and the cadence starts... "Alright riders let's set em up... riders ready, watch the gate... ... " and we all take off. I got a pretty good snap out of the gate and took off. Out of my peripherals I saw the riders next to me falling away out of my sight. As we come down the backside of one of the first obstacles I just barely see Josh (the fast guy) moving closer to me. But I pump super hard down the backside and he disappears. So now all I have to do is step it up a bit and make sure that he stays behind me into the first turn. Up and over another obstacle and we all fly into the first turn trying to pick and hold our lines for position. Josh is still on the outside of me and I try to hug this really nice bowled out asphalt turn as low as I can. The philosophy is, the lower you stay in the turn the less distance you have to travel. We shoot out of the first turn and head down the second straight which is a lot like a drag race because there is a lot of open space to get pedals until the first obstacle. I take and hold the inside line through this straight as well and pump everything as hard as i can. It is at this point in the race that a song pops into my head... a song which has never failed me and only makes me go faster and ride more aggressively. "Jack of All Trades" by Hot Water Music. It is super melodic and very fast which makes it perfect for an all out 30 second sprint. Thanks to this song I take off through the second straight and hold my lead all of the way through the last turn. The last straight in a BMX track is often a rhythm section which means that you have to stay consistent and smooth or else you are going to get passed. So I am going through the last straight as smooth as I can and I see Josh start moving into my vision as we are coming over the last couple of rollers. We drag race for the finish line and both do a bike throw, but it was way too close to call. I immediately congratulate him and tell him that was an awesome move he made coming for the pass at the finish line. But still neither of us knows who won.
I go back to Jamie, my "coach" and he tells me that they announced me as the winner of the main. i was stoked and went to go pick up my trophy. As I am heading over to the tent I see Josh standing in line to challenge the call made by the officials. The NBL (National Bicycle League, which is the race league I race in) has video cameras placed at the finish line so that when discrepancies like this arise they have video footage from several different angles to figure it out. I stand in line with Josh waiting to see what the outcome is. Our main was main #29. The guy in the booth has the finishes from main #28 and main #30, but the video cameras shut off or stopped taping for main #29. "Ruling on the field stands" and I go to pick up my trophy (which is huge by the way, 3 ft. tall). I was really excited and went back to Jamie with a huge shit-eating grin on my face.
It turns out that most of our team (Team Bluechip Racing) did really well and scored a third for day.
We go back to the hotel and go swimming to celebrate. And then go out for an amazing pasta dinner. Can you say "good healthy food"?

So the next day, after spending the night on a fold out cot that was seriously two feet too short for me, we head to the race track at 7 in the morning to start racing at 8. My class on Sunday was only 3 riders because two of them went home, Josh being one of the two who left. Sunday's racing went by very quickly because there were a number of racers who left after Saturday's racing. My motos were pretty easy due to really good snaps out of the gate. However, in the second moto I jumped the last obstacle into the first turn and did a stylish little tuck, which enabled this guy Dan to shoot to the inside and take the lead for the rest of the moto. I finished 2nd. Upon seeing Jamie after this moto he asked me if I was trying to give away points. I looked at him blankly. I didn't realize that motos were worth points that would affect my end of the year placing. I immediately felt like a "jackass", a word that Jamie is not scared to use for situations like these, and in the next moto powered through the entire course to a 1st place finish. So my moto finishes were 1st, 2nd, and a 1st. Everyone in my class on Sunday transferred to the main and it worked out that we were all right next to each other in the gate. As we are sitting in the gate at the top of the hill, the cadence starts. "Alright riders, let's set em up... riders ready, watch the gate...... ". Two pedals out of the gate and I can't see either of the two riders next to me. I take it all of the way to the finish line. This time no discrepancies and I go to pick up my first place plaque which is now sitting on the air conditioner for all to see in my local bike shop, Pro Bikes.

The race is over by 11 am which is pretty darn quick for a national. Everyone packs up and hits the road to get to wherever home is. About fifteen miles down the high way Jamie sees Mex Mex Frontera. Jamie is a sucker for mexican food. He can also eat a horse if it would sit still long enough. We roll into the restaurant and start looking through the menus. I notice a 16 inch burrito called "El Gigante" and if you eat it in one sitting you get a T-shirt. Jamie puts down his menu and when the waitress shows up, he orders "El Gigante" and a large t-shirt. The huge plate of food shows up and Jamie asks "Is this it?" He throws it down the hatch and is done with the entire thing before I am done with my four fluetas and before Josie (Jamie's daughter) can finish her nachos. Neither Josie or I hear the end of it the entire ride home as he is sporting a shirt that says "I survived El Gigante" with a huge shark on it coming out of the water and looking menacing. The significance of the shark, I still don't understand. But the shirt is destined for the walls of the Bluechip Hall of Fame.

Lexy.

a kick ass weekend

sometimes we rock out

a few photos from the Weaverville track. it is more than fun...

sometimes we rock out

a few photos from the Weaverville track. it is more than fun...

state champ

Today was the North Carolina and South Carolina state finals in Lexington SC. It wasn't a race series that I was really into until Jamie pointed out to me that we both had a chance at getting #1 finishes if we raced the final.
This morning I packed my stuff into Jamie's car and I hit the road with him and his two kids, Josie and Jack whom, I am convinced, are angels in disguise. I had to drive the 2 1/2 hours since Jamie recently broke his collar bone at the Hendersonville race last weekend.
We get to the track and my god it is beautiful. The entire thing is very well kept and is smooth as all gid-up since it was made of truck loads of dirt that are of the same consistency as baseball fields. Practice starts at noon and it turns out that the track is just as fun to ride as it is to look at. We all find our lines that suit our respective riding styles best and the races start.
It turns out that I am in the running for #1 with another guy named Brian who is a really nice guy. We spent a lot of today talking about bikes and family and all of the good and bad things in life. For example, he told me about some very bad burns that he got on his legs while trying to start a fire with gasoline. He hasn't been able to ride for the past four weeks because of the burns. Just another example that the easiest way to do things sometimes isn't the best way to do things.
But anyway, we are racing each other for the state #1 plate and the first moto starts off very heated. Into the first turn I am a wheel ahead of him and he pushes me way up and out almost off the track. But I stay on the pedals and focus on being smooth and pull past him into the second turn and hold the lead all of the way to the end.
The rest of our motos are actually pretty anti-climatic in that he didn't have enough gas to stay fresh for his motos and I pull ahead by sizable leads in every moto and take the W for the day.
So I am the state champion in the 25-29 cruiser class. cool, eh?

big daddy oaks?

Conor and I have been playing music together for years... and every time we have talked about being in a band. a serious band.
We both graduated this year and now we are living about a half mile from each other in West Asheville. This gives has given us the opportunity to actually be able to play with each other consistently. and we have. a couple a week (and some times more) we get together in the basement of 17 Nebraska and just go at it. Conor generally brings the new song sounds and I lay a quick bass line to it so that we can play it on repeat until we like the sound.
And the past few nights that we have played, regardless of how much beer is in us, we have been on it... playing almost exactly what the other wants to hear and bringing something to the table that gets the other one giddy... (yes, we do get giddy about songs... but then quickly affirm that we are men).
So far we suck at getting lyrics nailed, but the sounds coming out of Conor's guitar and my bass are starting to work really well together. by now I think we are up to 9 pieces that we can play, know where the other is going and lock it down solid.
Tonight as we were taking a break from playing to step outside and get some fresh air Conor mumbled something that sounded like "Big Daddy Oats" and I joked about how good of a named "Big Daddy Oaks" would be for a band. "Well that is what I thought I was saying," said Conor... and now I think we have name for the band. It encompasses quite a bit of what we like to do and also plays into the sounds that we both like to hear.

Saturday race report

I am a bike dork.

But yesterday was an awesome race between me and Devin in our second moto. He was gate 3 and i was gate 8. He had the inside line into the first berm and we both rode really hard. He got ahead of me with a low move in the first turn. We both came out of the first turn with equal speed and he had the inside line again (little did he know about riding high in the second berm and being able to shoot out of it into the thrid straight). So we rode the second straight going as fast as we could... second berm, I pedal around the top and he takes the low inside line. I cut down early in the berm so I am coming out with a ton of speed.. we drag race down the third straight which is huge and super fast now... Devin still on the inside, me riding the outside and trying to focus on the next berm because that is where the race will be won and lost. we come over the doudle into the third turn and Devin cuts way below me and rides to the end of the berm. I am caught above him in the berm and have to brake check super hard in order to avoid making contact with him. We both almost come to a stop and from there it is another drag race down the last straight. super rhythm and super flowly. Way fast too. So we hit it hard, Devin on the outside this time and me on the inside. We are pedaling like crazy bastards out of the last turn and we hit the first three rollers with Devin a bike length ahead of me... we blast over the table top and I am catching up and almost passing him. roller step... we are even... step down... over the step down I pedal and throw my momentum forward as we both manual over the last two rollers. as we are crossing the line both throwing our bikes I hear one of the line judges call out "Lexy" and bam! race over. I had beat Devon by no more than 6 inches. I am not kidding six inches. fucking awesome! and then we all go out for mexican after an awesome photo shoot.
I am a bike dork.

drizzly day check up

So Asheville is out of gas. Which is the catalyst for this blogin.
I woke up this morning at 6:30 knowing that I might have the day off from tree work due to rainy weather. The sky looked like it could go either way, so I packed my lunch, pumped up my tires and took off out of the door.
Since Asheville has been out of gas and there is a 2 to 3 hour wait for 10 gallons of dead dinosaur juice, I have been riding my bike to work which has been a good eye opener. But this morning ride was a little warmer than the past rides I have done and so my spirits were high as i pedaled down the long hill of State St. I was just getting passed by a trash truck and flying the bird when i heard the fun little jingle of my cell phone going off in my backpack. I pulled over and got the call from ym boss that it was raining like hell in Swannanoa... no work today.
So I turn around and start heading back home in even higher spirits. The whole day to myself and a great ride ahead of me in order to think out what I might do today.

The Family

The Evolving Door of 17 Nebraska

Today our new housemate, Sarah, arrived. She is awesome. Lexy, Conor (who has recently replaced Phil and our new Kimmy Gibler apparently...), Sarah and I told stories on the porch until we all made our individual excuses for going inside (bedtime, unpacking, Harry Potter reading, the need to Blog, etc.)

Like Mike "Who?!" Viertel, I also have my own blog now. In that context, I call it my blahg. It is mainly about bicycles, but also some other embarassing stuff thrown in: www.lost-in-pisgah.blogspot.com.

Lexy accidentally broke himself. That, or he was just trying to be like Geoffrey Fryer. Either way, I hope he heals well.

The lettuce in our garden looks beautiful, but everything else either looks sad or is non-existant. Oh well, there's always Ingles.

That's all for now.

farewell

I'm no longer a resident of the famed 17 Nebraska/Viertel.  Now I reside in Chattanooga, TN.  I could go into a long drawn out explanation and write a bunch of mushy stuff but I'm not.  Asheville is a cool town but it didn't "feel" right and I'll miss parts of it and the friends I made, I'll leave it at that.

I have my own blog, michaelviertel.blogspot.com, for those that have an interest in following my life.

-Michael

gleedle gleedle dee

All members of the house are home after a long weekend of biking, working and hotel staying. Kylie, Mike, Tina and Kim went somewhere in Georgia to race their bigger bikes (well, bigger than mine) and it seems as if they did well. Mike finished second and Tina was leading her race until her pdeal came off four miles into the course. Bummer, but at the same time a confidence booster I am sure.
This weeknd for me started off with a long night of sitting in Conor's house playing guitar and listening to the Shins way too loud (so loud that the neighbors came up and told to chill out). We went out to the Admirable after playing at his house and continued to buy tequilla shots until we couldn't remember out names. We split up from there and rode our wobbly bikes to our own homes.
Saturday morning didn't exist for me and I got up around 12:30 completely groggy and wondering if I would be able to do well in my races later on in the day. A subway sandwich and two hours of practice later the races started at my new home (aka the Weaverville BMX track) . My races were fun since I was racing a few of my new buddies and we were able to talk smack to each other through out the afternoon. The last of my motos ended up with a full gate (8 people) and we all had a blast jumping the second jump on the course heading towards the first turn which almost ended in a pile up due to everyone going for passing moves. It was a fun race and I came out ahead of the carnage.
But tommorow is my first day at Pro Tree Care and it must be time for me to head to bed.

I have recently decided to move to another tree company. It was a bit of a tough decision in that I was really excited to stay with Above All Trees for a while and see the business grow and potentially move up myself. But after three months of being the only consitent employee and a number of other griping points, I started to get a little fed up and needed to move on. So now I am going to be starting with Pro Tree Care on the 23rd of June. It seems as if Pro Tree is going to be more in my vein of arboristing (yes, I did just create a new verb) in that the climbing and rigging systems I am going to be using are not old school climbing and rigging techniques. So i will be learning a lot of new things and dusting out my cob webs and bad habits that I have formed with Above All Tree.

The summer rains have started. Not as consistenly as I remember them out in Black Mountain, but there are "predicted" thunder storms in the afternoon every day this week. After the past few 90 degree days it is nice to have a cool afternoon rainstorm that soaks everything.

Before it all dwindles away...

Lexy made the comment the other day that no one had been writing on the blog. It was dying. Mike came back, racing resumed,(unofficial) summer came around and I took up a 40 hr/week job (whine, whine, whine) and suddenly, writing on this silly little thing didn't seem all that important.

And then I got sad and my friend Christine asked how I was doing and I said, "not too well" and she said, "well, are you writing?" Then I remembered how I used to write a ton as a little kid and as an emo high schooler, but then sort of fell out of the habit once college and bikes took over. I try every once in awhile to write, but usually it's just poems in German that I quickly read over then crumple up less someone who knows German and can recognize terribly written poetry finds it. I hadn't actually written, pen-to-paper style, in far too long. So it's about time. Only, I suppose saving the blog isn't saving my pen-to-paper draught. Oh well. You can't win at everyting.

Sometime last week I was bombing down some trail within the Ledford Maze at Bent Creek, not really paying attention to anything apparently, because suddenly, my handlebars clipped a tree and I went flying off my bike. I tumbled to the ground, my bike a few feet beyond the tree and me a few feet beyond that. I was only a little scrated up, but I sat there for a while, feeling really disappointed with myself and hurt, and I realized that that pretty much summed up my mental state of the past few weeks.

I've been agonizing over a boy. And basically, it feels like getting tossed off my bike and laying in a sorry pile of pain where no one else is aware of what's going on because I'm half-lost somewhere in some maze, alone and pissed at myself. And not wanting to get up at all.

That's been going on for too long now, and the other night, I rejected my friends' offer to go see the Sex and the City movie with them (I'm admitting right here, and here only, that I actually kind of like that show. Please don't tell anyone.) I couldn't do it. I couldn't see people run around being all happy and dumb and having their stupid little love lives work out for them in the end. So instead I did my favorite 2 hour road loop from my house and sat at some overlook on the Parkway, feeling very much like I did the other day after getting tossed, only this time there was no literal tossing. I then got a call from the very same Christine mentioned earlier (I'm admitting right here and here only that I do, also, carry a cellphone with me when I ride. Please don't tell anyone else that, either. My reputation is going down the drain...) and she said the group of girls were instead coming over to my house to make dinner. Friends. Sigh. They're there for you, sometimes, usually at key times. And I love them for that.

And today, when I frantically called Lexy to see if he could pick me up a case of Sierra Nevada Pale Ales from Ingles (because the West Asheville Ingles were plumb out, and I needed a case, NOW)...he said, "sure" with no questions asked. I'll let you know what the case is for if it winds up working out for me. The case is an integral part to a huge masterplan. Which probably won't work out at all, because I later got a call from Lexy saying the Swanannoa (or Oteen, who knows?) Ingles was also out of cases. Bad sign. I'll have to get one on the way to work tomorrow. But I'm determined to see this plan carried out, whether it works or not.

So anyway, I'm here, drinking a Keystone Light because since the end of my ride today til now, two hours later, I couldn't wait for a beer. But the Yuenglings and ESB's were gone. And who the hell else would drink the last Keystone Light? Kind of like my Banana popsicles in the freezer---there's no point in calling dibs on shit no one else likes, I guess.

I'm supposed to go meet Christine (yup, same one, props to that girl for being awesome) and Chelsea at the Admiral, my favorite bar in West Asheville because its a perfect sqaure and the name reminds me of pirates. I really just want to shower and go to bed, but I might learn something from these girls tonight. Plus, I appreciate the hell out of them.

Which is what the point of this post was, in case you missed it. I wouldn't blame you. My head's not here right now, I'm in a perpetual state of being about to crash into trees lately, becuase of this boy and my desire to make it up to him, somehow. But in the meantime...all my friends that do talk to me--I love you guys. A lot. Thanks for being there.

have you ever had fun before?

Thanks to Susan (Adam's mom) for takign this photo and sending it to me. but no, really... have you ever had fun befire?

...and some catching up....

Since the last entry there has been a lot of things that have occured at 17 Nebraska. Two of the residents, Kylie and I, graduated from the esteemed Warren Wilson College on May 17th. The weekend that surrounded the graduation ceremony was filled with friends and family and a lot of good byes to college mates who have left the nest in order to pursue "careers" or travel to different parts of the world. The graduation ceremony was quite fun with the exception of the speaker who rambled his way through fifteen minutes of tangents that didn't really link up to anything. Later on that night was a gathering of graduates and alumni at 17 Nebraska in which everyone brought beer but was to knackered from the busy weekend to drink whole heartedly. So the fridge was full for about half a week until some one drank most of them.... The weekend ended and left many a graduate wondering "What the hell hanppened?" as they tried to wrap their heads around four years (and some times more) coming to a close. But in order to uphold the Wilson tradition of being "heady dank" and "local" many graduates have moved into different parts of West Asheville. For example, Wee Dan lives about a two minute bicycle ride away and Conor, Mary and Christine live a 7 minute bicycle ride away. So when we get low on sugar we will have good neighbors to borrow some from (even though Ingles is closer... a lot closer).