Shuttle Runs!

TUESDAY!!!! Do you even know what this means!!!! It means that I'm not in the shop for a day and.... if someone, hopefully like 2 other people, anyone... has the day off.... were goin downhillin!!!!!!! This means that all the paultry bullshit and rediculous things that occur in life (ie: work, home, life) are gone (maybe momentarily), and they vanish.... in order for a more perfect union between my soul and gravity!!! Collocting all the required articles feels almost like the preparation for an expidition through the heart of the jungle. The journey is exciting, thinking abour all the little features that are waiting in store!!! Berms and drops and launches and logs and rocks and dirt!!! F-ing FAST!!!! So fast it's not even funny, and the sensations just tingle.... but I must focus!


After reaching the top and conversing about the driver rotation, we send the truck off and prepare! All the straps are tight! Nothing dumb is clicking on the bike! Hey, it's actually kinda hot up here (as i'm wearing a suit of armour that would rival the most illustrious knight). Some one calls... DROPPING.. and were off, 0 to 60 in a few seconds!!!! Ha ha 60 might be an exageration but seriously f-ing fast!!!! Bobbing and weaving like an real athelete for once ha ha, floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee! The trail straightens out... the trees blur and the rocks fade away and the dirt that's oftens time flying by vanishes as though i've entered warp speed in space!!!! (I love space so much! That's tight that downhilling and space are so similar!)

Oh no.... it's a sweet feature! Well no sweat... I'll just lift off! Thats just it.... when you're riding you make simple, effective decisions! Turn right here, bunny hop that, suck your legs up, throw your weight, back pedal.... all these decisions affect the now.... that very split second that you make it, it has passed and a new decision needs to be made!!! So on and so forth.... that is the order of things, and while in most sports, there is fast paced action.... when your riding a downhill bike... it isn't action.... it's survival. And it's not just the elements, it's you competing against yourself..... me against me.. and that makes it challenging, because when you know what to do, but can't... it makes you want to become better and faster and stronger and inherantly stronger in that specific enviroment

Once a few runs, the arm pump starts to set in.... just the sensation of being able to close my hand becomes the only neccessity in life... squeezing the bars and brakes with that intensity takes it toll. The veigns are throbbing, the tendons are swollen and enflamed, how much longer can I take it! I know that now more than ever I must hang on to that damn bike! It's going to pull me through whatevers in front of it... so it's time to aim it and send it!

If you can't see the beautiful agony (O face!) that downhilling (and most bikes for that matter) entails.... then I must beg you to experience it. Just cuising down the street with your hair swept back is a close feeling, but it's when your cruising with no shirt, no shoes, and a 30 pack in one hand that the same feelings return and life sways in my actions!!!

Pure Bliss!!!

(one of my) Greatest Stories Over Told!

So this occurred quite a few months ago, six an one half to be exact, but never the less it was (what I feel like) my crowning achievement.  I was invited to ride Copper Mtn. on December 11, 2008 with Jake Burton (none other).  To put it lightly I was F-ing stoked!  And I know that this story is "old" now, but I needed to put in print and actually read it to make sure that I didn't just make it up!   

So I invite my homie Mil and our other roommate Drew.  We saddle up in Mil's FJ Cruiser and hit the road!  We arrive in Denver the evening before and shack up with LB.

She's our gracious host, who not only puts us up for the night but also was our liaison on the hill to meet Jake! (if you ever read this LB, thank you again!!!!)   Once arriving, we are quick to get to bed, to be sure to get a jump on the morning and get out of town with haste!  Sure enough the morning comes far too early and we are getting ready to ride for the day but first we must meet up with the group and head to the hill! 

After we head out of Denver, it's only a short ride to Copper Mtn, about an hour if you lucky!  But upon arrival see over a foot of ultra fresh fluff that fell the night before, and become even more stoked that not only were we  getting super fresh in Copper, but doing do with Jake Burton!  It was the raddest feeling.... and everything seemed to fit.  Boots... tied... check, pants... just bellow the ass.. check, gloves... both... check!  I was quick to jump off the bus, eager to meet Jake and the rest of the Global Team that was there (I had actually already met Jussi at this point).

LB hooked it up with a board and Binding combo that was stolen from a top secret space agency, next level shit that was cushy and soft and lovable!  I threw it down with passion, knowing it would become my hover craft from Back To The Future II for the day.  I instantly saw him.... strangely wearing the same color as me... combo wise.. all to similar... weird, and I'm a nerd.  I shouted, "Jake, wanna grab first lift?!" and he accepted the offer!  We were on the lift!

Fresh snow, Jake Burton, Mil and Drew too, sunshine, new gear..... was this heaven.... a dream perhaps... I mean I have had them before.  No, it was really happening, and to make it better, a local homie had given me a M & M chocolate chip cookie with green butter!!!!  As we talked with Jake, I just soaked it all in... making sure to get a pic... for the kids ha ha ha!   UNREAL!!!  Once we got to the top we did a sweet run through the trees, ducking ropes the whole way down!  I made sure to ollie and tap everything that Jake did.  We rode for the rest of the day with Jake and various members of the global team (Danny Davis, Shawn White, Luke Mitrani, Keegan Valaika, Jussi Oksanen).  They even bought us dinner and beer afterwards.... Drew got a tee shirt... cool.   

On the way back to Denver I just kept reliving the moment, over and over again!  UNREAL!!!  We arrived in Denver and jumped right back into the whip (FJ) to come back to Burque.  The long haul, it was a little rough, we knew we wouldn't get back till close to 2 AM but it was worth it!!! 

We were taking turns driving, on my watch it was a gnarly freak blizzard south of Colorado Springs, and snow was sticking to the road like a gecko to a commercial series!  It was sticking... everywhere..... sketch!  Then Drewsive took over, ha ha, he mentioned how stoked he was that he had a free trip to meet Jake Burton and ride with him.  No sooner had Drew said that, when a cop lit him up and pulled him over!  He failed at communicating effectively, and the cop gave him a $240 + ticket for how fast he was going, given the conditions!  I mention this last part of the story, not because this is relevant to the earlier excitement mention on our trip, but because it's just flat out hilarious!  Ha ha, that's hilarious!  Sorry dog!

If you don't believe me, hopefully these pics will show the truth.  Greatest day ever!  That's why it's the greatest story ever told!

Hello Shit, Meet Fan... Hey No Hitting!

I'm involved, whether positive or negative, I'm involved.  I had little say, I don't have alot of sway, my opinion is of little value.  I was barely involved, besides being at home.  When push came to shove I was critical, no one would've thought that I would take the lead.  I had my hand on victory, it was tangible, I was so close to being the man.  I was undermined. betrayed, thrown under the bus.  Threw actions outside of my control I was put into a position that only led to negative.  He slammed the door and ran, I was left to my own to pick up the pieces. I was effective and active, he was in-effective and reactive.  He chose his words and I chose mine.  The consequences are just for the level of involvement that each individual had and for the situation.  My future is safe and secure still, while others futures are uncertain.  My life is not always positive but in a negative situation like now, my life is amazing.  My heart is connected to this event.  My life is altered due to human actions and reactions.  Luckily not in the ways that other people's have been.  I'm thankful that I can learn through situations without having to actually be at the epicenter of the given event.  Now hopefully everyone will understand the gravity of our actions.... we must live authentically, we must be true to ourselves and inturn with everyone we interact with, we must be aware of our surroundings and our enviroment, and respect it all with all our hearts.  We must learn that we are always living the dream, and to stop is to wake up... and in this lucid dream, I never want to wake up!

Waiting

In my life, in your life, in all lives, there is the act of waiting... some things are necessary to wait for, while others seem trifle.  Sometimes we wait in agony, sometimes in glee, sometimes in awe, sometimes in anticipation.   But we still wait... caught up in a moment, we forget about most things except those most relevant to our task.  To think that we lose our mind for the moment.  After enough time we remember that which we have waited for most, and go through the realization of our need to want... or do we realize the sweet sweet satisfaction that can come after one has waited for this long, faithfully focused on our goal?  I have faith in things I cannot see, which is how I know that I can wait if necessary.   That is the moment when we let go and believe.