Tough Breaks

I heard from my buddy, NMKY, that Kelvin Batey has been cut from the UK team to go to the BMX Worlds in 2 weeks. 2 weeks! What kind of notice is that? The BCF are a bunch of feckers sometimes, cos that's pretty harsh, that gives him very little time to make alternative arrangements. If they were thinking of ditching him, what warning did they give him and more importantly how long were they considering this? I'm bummed because I have a lot of time for Kelv, we came to the States together in 04 and had a great trip, and even though he wants to bone more BMX moms than Dale, he is a good guy! :) I hope he gets out there and proves his worth. There is nothing more motivating than someone saying "you can't".

However, I do have one point to make in defence of the process, but not BCF though, and I guess this comes because I write and reads contracts on a regular basis. If the BCF are funding Kelvin and they are doing so with the criteria of him achieving certain goals throughout the year and he's not met them, then he hasn't lived up to his part of deal/contract. And, so to spend money on somebody who hasn't delivered wouldn't make any business sense. I can see that, and maybe that is there justification. But sport is more than a business, sport is an emotion, thats why it exists; as entertainment for some and competition and achievement for others. And if Kelvin's past Worlds performances are anything to go by, well BCF has just made one rather large cock up!

Enough, but Kelvin I am behind you all the way buddy. And that's all I have to say on that.

So, I didn't got to NBL Howell. I wanted to, but my back was killing me, still is, and the weather has been atrocious, so Jason and I made the decision not to go. I don't know what the weather was like up there, I hope it stayed dry and was a good weekend, but I am glad of the rest and a great weekend with the in-laws. Papa Laurence is doing good after his hip operation and as usual Christa: aka Marie Barone, fed me wonderfully and sent me home with a load of goodies. One thing you can never say about the Laurence family is they skimp on food. Mother in law serves up some doozies for sure. Also Beps parents were over and Eric got the BBQ going so it was a good day and nice to be with the family. Still, I am not convinced about Grappa. Anybody had that sh*t? Fook me, it melted my toe nails and I was burping it up for the next hour. It made Christa and Kathy giggle for ages which was fun.

So, no riding in a little while for me. The weather is poop and my back is fooked, so I am taking it easy. I am up to my nuts in work right now, so I am not too bothered, I just don't want to get out of the habit of sprints and squats that were paying off for me. Maybe I'll hit the trails this week and have some fun.

Sad news, I sold the Honda dirtbike. I made about $200 on it though, I just never used it. Silly waste of money, but I learnt a ton and that will be good for when I buy my road bike. Gas is crazy so something that does 45mpg makes more sense and the simple fact is I want a road bike. i've wanted one my whole life, i've bought every book and magazine on bikes since I was old enough to read pretty much, so I think it's about time. I'm looking at used Hondas, the CB919 or CB600 ideally or maybe a Yamaha Fazer 600. What ever comes up. Got to go through the whole licencing thing again, even though I have a UK licence. They'll give me a car to tear up the road on without re-testing me, but I have to on a bike! Not sure of the logic there. You can probably do more damage not being able to drive properly than ride properly.

toodle-oo