A delicate sense of imbalance

I refuse to believe that the slide into being terrible on a bike due to old age is something dramatic and all encompassing. I prefer to think that my bad outing was the result of my configuration, my extreme lack of sleep, my having lost a lot of strength due to the flu that wiped me out last month or something similar. I came home tonight and put the top load back on and took the trick sticks back off. The balance of the machine feels a little better and I hope that translates into some better days out there. This has been a rough winter and I think that this is the most I have looked forward to the arrival of spring in a long time...

Garrett got a Black and Decker tool set for a belated xmas present from Anna's Kay and it he said, "this is the biggest toy ever."

The goggles! They do nothing!


Snaps from today's session...

Timmy Lewis would like you to know that he has never done commercials for Six Flags over anywhere.


Adam gets excited about damn home haircuts.


This is probably the best pic of a table that I have ever gotten from Adam. Who knows...I am old and probably forgot the other ones that were better.

2009, we hardly knew you.

It's been a rough year, no question about it. We've pulled through and the prospects from 2010 look decent. I managed to make A's in both classes this past semester, something that I had not yet accomplished (always an A and a B). Mica graduated from UT this past semester, so the future will hopefully be bright.

Here are a couple of the last shots of 2009. We got the the skatepark Sunday morning and the gates were locked, which caused some consternation because the thermometer was actually above 49. This concrete wall on a column for the interstate is right outside of the park and it gives me a laugh to see how much we ride that when we have this nice park 100 feet away.


It seems like if you are gonna hail from Knoxville as a BMX'er...you better be able to do a hop wallride from flat. The ghost of Bobby Fisher mandates this. Lumberjack enthusiast Corey obliges...


I am thinking about doing some different stuff with the blog in 2010, so we'll see what happens. Stay tuned.

Thanksgiving...or the day my appendix died.

I got up this morning to some pretty sharp pain in my side...where my appendix is...and I know that I still have mine, so I am a little worried that I am about to visit the hospital over the next 24 hours. Sweet.

I rode the other night at the park and several of the dudes were in attendance, so that was pretty good. A healthy mix of skaters and BMX all getting along. I can only assume that it was due to the holiday season being upon us.

Out of all the pictures I snapped, this one of Neebo is my favorite. He was working on these over-footjams and the emptiness of the park in the picture really looked nice.


I really enjoy riding with Tim; he's got a good style and a pretty good attitude about things.




Adam might have left cougar-town, but he's still a funny retard that makes a session interesting. Even if he's uglier than Dak...



David is now the unofficial local park shredder, I reckon. He's got a hand-me-down bike and makes me feel bad for owning a dialed machine, but I'll get over it.


My daughter cleaned up her room in anticipation of getting more stuff to fill it with for Christmas. I was standing outside helping Mica with the lights when I took this. Creeping...


In the process of cleaning, she found her Curious George that I got her some time ago...like 2 years...and Garrett took over.


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

So I got to thinking...

about getting to meet the man that inspired me in such a way after posting about it earlier today. I had met Joe before when he rode for Standard while Bobby rode for them and he was nice as could be back then. That was during the Superdome days, and I can still see Taj doing downside whips on vert while "We Are 138" plays in my head. The next time I would see the Ultimate Male was on New Year's Day, 2008. It was cold and he was busier than he'd have liked, but he still obliged my visit to Terrible One and let me ride the ramp, albeit by myself. I was so awestruck by everything that I never thought to get my picture taken with him or anything like that. In fact, this is the only shot I have of him...


Oh well. If I ever meet him again, I'll be better equipped mentally.

As I was flicking through my pics of that day, I ran across this...Joe Rich poops there...

10 years later and I still wanna live lightly...

A friend put up the Joe Rich Props interview on youtube today (see it here)and there is not really a way that I can quantify how much these 9 minutes shaped my BMX life. I never managed to grow any dreads or get tattoos, but I did try to stay positive in the face of some pretty harsh things (two knee surgeries) and when confronted with trying a new trick, I would ask myself, "would Joe Rich hesitate right now?"

It was a seminal item for me. These days it feels like Terrible One is more of an ideal than a company, but what Joe and Taj put out there at the end of the 1990's was real and tactile and had more of an impact than I think they realize.

Now I want to build a street spine.

My appearance is substandard.

I have now given three speeches in my public speaking class. On the two of them, I have had points deducted for my appearance being "substandard". Nice.

Garrett is getting more and more capable. This is truly a joy to see and I am thankful that I have people in my life that we able to help me get things back in order.

I guess he owes Ocean some strings, but damn, he really likes that guitar...


They are getting bigger and I am getting older.


My arm is really sore right now, but I tried to ride anyways. Things are stabilizing in my head, but I still feel a little off. I took some pictures...Adam getting radical...


Tim has these tire slides in the bowl that are a delight. The Sword would probably approve...

Getting back to normal...

It's been a crazy last few weeks, but we are getting back to it. Garrett is doing so awesome with his potty training...he gets up on his own (usually by calling for one of us) in the middle of the night to make deposits in the pee bank, which is excellent for a three-year-old.

Anna is killing it in school and was a great zombie cheerleader for Halloween (pics later). I am so very proud of that kid.

Ocean has switched back to skateboarding again. This would be frustrating as hell were it not for the fact that his bike was so unbelievably inexpensive.

Phoenix needs to use less conditioner.

This "house check" for the BMX house in Austin, TX was awesome. I lived in a rider house for a bit and looking back...it was probably some of the best fun I had in my 20's. God, that was a long time ago.

http://www.odysseybmx.com/dailyword/2009/11/austin-bmx-house-check/