It Just Keeps Coming

I continue to be amazed at the opportunities that are before me. I'm so thankful for where I'm and what I (typically) spend my days doing. As I sought to move out from where I had previously been living, God opened up a door through a bible study I was attending and it's been the most radical living situation I could have asked for. My roommates are awesome Christian guys, two of which attended the local Bible college so they're sharpening me as I continue to ask questions and seek to deepen my own faith.

This past weekend I got to attend the X Games in Los Angeles and what an experience that was! I've only ever seen it on TV and I usually miss most of it because living in good old Dufur, basic cable doesn't include ESPN!!! I attended the freestyle event and watched as Travis Pastrana took a "fun run" after already securing the Gold medal. That guy is an outstanding human being for many reasons, one of which because he pulled a double backflip, solely for the delight of the crowd. He'd already wrapped up the medal before he took to the dirt. On the podium after when they were asking how he felt about another Gold medal, he wished his mom happy 50th birthday twice, praised Robbie Madison for his exceptional freestyle run as well as Ashley Fiolek for winning the women's supercross race and gave mad props to Cameron Sinclair for coming back to X Games to attempt the same trick that almost took his life a year before. He didn't really say anything about himself or his run.

I was able to secure an industry guest pass for the weekend so the following day I was pretty excited to cruise right into the athlete section at the Staples Center and find a seat 5 rows up from the dirt. An added bonus was my friend, bandmate and X Games competitor Ronnie Faisst was sitting a few seats to my left. (It took me I while to figure out who was shouting my name because I still can't really hear out my left ear haha) To those that are unfamiliar with the industry, Ronnie is without a doubt one of the pioneers of the sport of freestyle motocross and is recognized worldwide for his skill on a dirtbike. Whats more, several years ago he came to know the Lord and is now on fire for Christ.

So here I sit, nearly ground level at X Games, next to a guy that up until recently I'd only ever seen on television and in magazine's. The event was awesome and I came away with a few ideas for articles so be on the lookout for those.

Another funny story, Ronnie called me a few days after I'd returned home and I congratulated him on winning a Bronze medal in his speed and style event. He asked if I knew the whole story on how he was even able to compete and I said I had no clue. He told me the story and I was completely in awe as it was a God thing from the word go. I'm working with him and film maker Joseph Ray on putting together a video of the whole story. It's a crazy story about God moving in Ronnie, taking an obedient step of faith and God rewarding him in an awesome way. When we finish it up I'll post the video on here.

If you're reading this I hope you can hear the excitement in my voice. I was excited about all this before I had this traumatic injury, now I'm just beside myself as I continue to get opportunity after opportunity to do things I never dreamed I would. Again I can't thank you enough for all the prayers, calls, texts, emails, facebook messages and well wishes. It's so humbling to see that so many people care. Side note, one of my buddies shared with me that he got a voice mail from some dude ranting and raving and not making a great deal of sense and at the end of the message I identified myself and told him I'd see him soon. SO if you happened to get a response from me via text, phone call or facebook any time during that ten day stint and it didn't make sense, please forgive me....I wasn't firing on all cylinders :)

Another adventure awaits...

I'm really excited. Next week I leave for Texas to do a couple shows over the 4th of July weekend and then spend two weeks working in the foam pit followed by two more shows at Texas Motor Speedway. Our team manager called me yesterday and said he's pleased to see me working hard and ready to get me to the next level. I'm super excited for this next adventure that is before me depending on how things go in Texas, this could open a whole new realm of opportunity. Right now there are probably less than 10 people in the world that are flipping quads. There certainly are more that have done it in the past, but probably fewer than ten that could show up right now and do it at a show. Soooo, we shall see what comes of it.

I've spent the last couple of weeks since returning from Mexico catching up on stories, videos and website stuff. I recently received a few issues of ATV Insider, a magazine that I did a story on the Matlock Racing team for. I'm still at the stage where I get super excited any time I see some of my work in a magazine or on a website. I love going out to a track or to a show and hanging out with a bunch of the top FMX guys that up until 8 months ago, I only saw on TV and in movies. Some people I've met since coming down here say that the excitement wears off eventually but I really hope it never does. I don't ever want to take for granted all the opportunities I have to do things and meet people in this industry. I got to ride with a couple of dirtbike FMXers last week and it was one of the coolest experiences I've had since coming down here. A young guy from Oklahoma was out here filming for a video he is producing and came out and filmed me and these bike guys. I'm excited to see how that comes out.

Right now I'm spending my days updating websites, riding here and there and spending time with my friends from the bible college. I'm truly blessed by the relationships I've made through the Bible college. I went to Starbucks last night with a couple guys and we just chatted about everything from the sovereignty of God, to where His will and our desires intersect and Gods plan for us in terms of marriage. Ha Ha the marriage one is a big topic of discussion among young Christians...especially in the church but that's another discussion for another time.

Thank you again for joining me on this journey. I continue to be blessed by hearing of the number of people that follow this blog. Please feel free to leave comments or feedback, shoot or even ask questions. It'll give me topics for more blogs!