Journal Archive from September
September 20, 2001
No chance to ride today unfortunately. I have been running around all day before this weekend. I should be riding as much as I can because there is the dual trials event at the Sunapee event this year. Hopefully tomorrow.
September 19, 2001
Today I only had a lunch time ride. Nothing too strenuous because it doesn't feel good going back to work after a hard ride. Out front we have these parking guard rails anywhere from 1 foot to three feet off the ground made of wood. The tops are about 2.5 inches wide so it makes an awesome balance beam. Not only that, they zig zag at 90 degree angles. How much fun is that. So you guessed it, it was balance practice. I enjoy this stuff, I have to hand it to riders like Jeff, Ryan, JJ, Jeremy being able to ride and balance on this stuff as well as they do. It isn't easy, but by the next bikemoves I hope to be as proficient as they are. Other than the ride, later today I went back to work on my entertainment center. Well the drawers are finished, but they still need to be mounted. So I was working on putting some frames together to mount the drawer slides to inside the cabinet. They are all done! Now later this week I have to clean them up and finish them. But for now it's time to sleep.
September 18, 2001
Ahhh, finally a fairly decent ride where some new headway was reached. I didn't have too long of a ride today, about an hour to hour and a half, although it was a good ride where I worked on technique. I have made it my goal to reach greater height in my bunnyhops, three pedals and sidehops. I have noticed even though the three moves are different, the body movements are basically the same. I have been working on making my body movements much smoother and more efficient. I feel I have a tendency not to "follow through" fully with my body to complete the moves. Therefore I'm limiting myself on getting that much higher. So that's what I worked on. This is what I plan on working on in the next few days to come. It's kind of going back to basics. Tomorrow I hope to set up the video camera to help me visualize these movements a bit better. I'll let you know how it goes.
September 17, 2001
This week we changed around our work schedule a bit. We have a revolving week which I work 9 to 6. Now the nice thing is getting to sleep a little later. But I still rather go in early in the morning and be out by 4:30. It's not all that bad though and it's every third week I have to do this. I just never signed up for this, so that part kind of bites. Got to be flexible sometimes. On the riding front still have the flat tire with no tubes and a dried up patch kit. Tomorrow I am heading to the LBS and stock up on some tubes. I have been using this new tire that Tim brought in from China. All I can say is the tread pattern looks like the pattern of a rear mod tire. It is very nice and very grippy. The tire is pretty light, the sidewalls are nice and rigid (that's the reason for the flat tire, I kept lowering my pressure to see how low I could go!) so I could even run a pretty low pressure on slick terrain. I would highly recommend these for your stock bike! I like it a lot, give Tim a call if you would like to get your hands on some!
September 14-16, 2001
This weekend was a weekend to get many many loose ends tied up around the house. I had so many projects to get done, but I have been on the road all this month. Would like to also wish one of my riding friends a Happy B-Day, got that Gary! So it was a pretty wasted weekend for doing anything outside. I'm lucky because on my Friday night ride I must have blown out my rear tire because when I woke up Saturday morning it was totally flat. No problem it just helped me get the stuff I needed to get done out of the way. But other than that back to our regularly scheduled program. Over the next few days I am planning on getting my site updated with loads of new information. It's tough when your never home! Especially keeping my journal up to date.
September 13, 2001
This is just a quick update. Due to the unfortunate happenings this week, the show in Reston, VA has been cancelled. My condolences go out to all the families and friends these events impact. Let's all stick together and our country will be avenged!
September 9, 2001
It was another incredible day of shows. They were held at the same time, 12, 2, and 4 with an even hotter day. It actually hit 98 degrees! Hot, Hot, Hot! I think today's shows were even better than yesterdays. This was because of the intense and fired up crowds we had. It was unbelievable. As I stood on top of the 5.5 foot box for the introduction, I looked over a sea of people. They stretched from one side of the beach to the other, with many rows deep. Hundreds of people, and what a great feeling. We were sore, we were tired but it just didn't matter! The shows were more than 20 minutes in length and I don't even remember any one of us repeating a move. These people kept wanting more. It was so nice after the shows meeting many of the spectators, but especially dousing my head with ice cold water! Phew it was hot. I would look at Andy and Trev's face and they were beat red. I could just imagine how I looked. So one show goes by, the next one goes and the last one is done. It's kind of a bummer in a way because it was so much fun. There was so much energy, and we all worked incredible together. We wanted to do more shows! Well there will always be next weekend in Reston, VA. But we packed up and headed for the trip home. It's nice to come home also though, ahhhh good night.
Trevor Young's viewpoint: Sunday was a little more difficult than Saturday as far as the shows went. We were all pretty sore after riding so hard the day before, but once the first show started, we went off. The three shows on Sunday were even better than Saturday. We pulled out all the stops. Kevin pulled super smooth 180's on the triangles, Andy impressed me like always with his speed and finesse. I did a few moves which I never tried before, like dropping down the boxes without a front wheel. The crowd went nuts with that, but I wouldn't recommend trying it! All in all, it was an increadible weekend. I want to thank everyone at Subaru who helped us set up and were just all around friendly people. I definitely look forward to next year!
September 8, 2001
Wow, the first day of the Outback Rendezvous was incredible. We pulled out three awesome shows. Today was a little warm, actually it hit the 90's so pretty darn warm and rather humid. The shows were 12, 2, and 4. Of course we always use the first one as a tickler show, but even then we had more than 300 spectators! The second and last shows were jam packed with even more. Subaru had a guest count of 3,000 people just for today. So you can imagine how large our audience was for the final shows. After the last show we ran back to the hotel to take fast showers so we could meet all the workers for a happy hour at 6:30. It was a great time. We got to know many of the Subaru and American Canoe Association people much better, and enjoy some good food and beverages. The get together lasted until around 7:30 when a few people began to head out. We were still a bit hungry so we wanted to order some pizza. There were also talks of heading to a place called Armory Square. My take on it sounded like it was a type of Bourbon St. or Duvall St. We played that by ear. We headed back to the hotel ordered some food and chowed. We were still toying with the idea of going out knowing the consequences of tomorrow if we did. So we just said, "If they come and get us, then we'll go out." Thank goodness they didn't because I'm going to bed right now! I'm sore and exhausted and it's not even 9:00! Until tomorrow.
Trevor Young's viewpoint: We set up, then looked around the venue a bit to see what else was there. It was cool to see all the different activities they had. We did three shows Saturday in 100 degree weather, which made each show feel like a marathon. I was glad to go back to the "Microtel" and get a shower! Saturday night was spent trying to get some of my homework done and chowing down on some pizza.
September 7, 2001
SUBARU OUTBACK RENDEZVOUS! Phew, it was a bit of a drive, but Andy and I made it. It was pretty a pretty standard trip to Syracuse, just the usual trials talk of course, and getting psyched up for this weekend. We are scheduled to perform three shows Saturday and three on Sunday. The crowds are supposed to be huge this year, 5.000 people plus. It's going to be an incredible time. We met up with Trev at the Microtel hotel this evening. He infact made it there first. He called me and said there was no reservation for us. Oh boy. We were only ten minutes away, so he waited until I arrived. All I can say thank goodness for confirmation numbers! So we got our keys and gathered our gear and headed up. We opened the door and now I know why they call it the Microtel! Very nice but very uncomfortable pillows. So now it's time to settle in and crash! I'll let you know how tomorrow goes.
Trevor Young's viewpoint: I finished my last class at 3:00 and was on the road by 4. I just moved here to Gettysburg College a few weeks ago, so Im still getting used to the whole idea of college. Its going well, but I don't have nearly enough time to ride! Anyway, after about a 5 hour drive, I arrived at our motel in Syracuse. The name "Microtel" should have given it away...this place was tiny! I actually ended up sleeping on a window seat both nights.This was my first Subaru Rendezvous event, so I was excited. I love doing shows and this weekend was no different!
September 4, 2001
OK this is going to be a quickie update. Things have been going very well and also very busy. I'm still planning on filling in some of the blank spaces from August and September, but you know how it can be this time of year! Now for the important part of this posting. Once again I'll be performing at the Subaru outback Rendezvous. The first one is this weekend in Syracuse, NY. Actually it is in Fayetteville, just outside of Syracuse. You can get more information from www.acanet.org and click on the Rendezvous logo. The following weekend will be the Reston, VA Rendezvous. Don't forget this event is free to all! It's an excellent opportunity to learn some new things in the outdoors. Climbing, biking, fishing, etc.
SO if you think you can make it please drop me a line! Hope to see you all there.