New Richmond, VA track and sun, and the new HBR jersey too. I think this might have been the final but not sure where everybody else went!!

The new .38Special in limited edition Chrome.. sweet!

And the car we want to buy, depending on time of day, latest forecasts from the doom and gloom merchants controlling the economy and the sphincter muscle in my bottom that might well let go at any moment if I don't stop worrying about things that I can't control.. :)

NMKY bloggin no more

He's quit, the slacker. Now I have no idea what goes on in the land of the Wigan Big Mac, wrestling mums in Tesco's (not that NMKY wrestled mums, it's just that the women oop north are a bit tough) and how many times he'll tell me he's going to order a new bike.. which by the way he finally did, a Dialled at that too - though he doesn't have a blog anymore to post about the purchase.. When did he start talking about the new bike, longer than me wanting a Standard? I think it must be last year some time, still if he has the bug to race again and leave the mic alone that'll be a good thing.. Come on the NMKY, top 10 in 30-39cr I think this year.

Quicky

Think that's the second time I've used that title.

The weekend has been and gone, in the 70's for the most part, was lovely. Saturday we managed to achieve very little, although I did my first Sushi meal on Friday night and my stomach was not feeling too chipper. In theory I love the idea of Sushi. I love fish, I love all the things that go into the ingredients, but I just could not get rid of the fish smell 24hours later, so that's kind of put me off. Still, I did it, and although we had a little 'earnest discussion' on where to park going to Silver Spring we had a nice evening. Saturday was all but done by lunch time, as we accomplished little, other than play with the cats and enjoy the warm air in the house for a change. The afternoon we headed over to Mo and James, and I promptly fell asleep on the couch, guess I must have been tired. I am not sure what happened Saturday night, we tried to watch Schindlers List, but that's a tough movie so I think we caved in and read in bed! Life of a rock star I lead.

Sunday was funday, all about the bmx in the nice weather. I spent pretty much the whole day down at Severn. Track was in great condition, a bit soft on the first straight, which was tough going on flats, but the rhythm section and third straight were flowing nice, so after a lot of gates I spent some time working combinations on that. I was planning on riding the new Richmond track, photos look great, but heard all sorts of conflicting stories about how good it is. NBL have employed a new track builder and I am not convinced by him, his tracks appear to be very very tame. Riders need pushing, not multiple rollers and 10ft wide doubles. I heard the Morristown indoor track was easy too, soo glad I didn't waste my money there. I read what people write on Vintagebmx about awesome the track was but all the riders that post are 30 something novs and cruiser riders. It's not about our age groups anymore, it should be about the young kids and giving them the opportunity to aim for Olympics etc, a dumb indoor track isn't going to create the next Mikey Day, they just get bored and quit. Ah well.

Work is good, busy, but manageable, hence the update this morning.

Nothing new on the car front. If something pops up I like then maybe I'll swap, truth is I can't decide what I want. Well, actually I can. I want a Ford Explorer to get my bikes in, just one that does 25mpg and no stupid door handles! Ford have taken to putting the door release on the end of the door armrest, but no handle to hold on to, it's below and in an awkward position. It's dumb, really dumb, and not at all natural. Christine nearly let the door swing into the wall when we tried one for 24hrs as she didn't know! I suspect Ford have had a lot of complaints.

Ok, back to my North Carolina proposal, ta-ta for now..

Camp Woodward, PA.

This thing was huge, and in the mist too, couldn't see the landing on the first few laps. On my way to first national win on cruiser back in Sept 08.

Just got back from Vegas with the Mrs and brother in-law and his wife. Great weekend, although we all got ill with the squits and farts. It was like a pig pen in our room after 24 hours.

Got snowed in on Monday, as our connecting flight was through Boston back to DC, so we had to drive to LA and then get a flight home on tuesday. We did see Martin Sheen though, and some other actor dude, who was senile and giving his little dog a hard time! If I ever find his pic I'll name and shame, but I can't recall his name right now.

Richmond BMX has a new track rebuild, looks great, with a pro section too, can't wait for that. Also a new track is being built the other side of Richmond at a MX park, so that should be awesome. Although I've heard rumours the guy is playing politics already by not letting vendors in to trade! Don't know what thats all about but last time I looked a 520 Renthal chain for a Honda CRF doesn't fit a 44-16t on a bmx! Muppet. Hope it's all hearsay and BS, but it's good to have another track to ride and another track for the state series.

Loads of snow right now, but should be in the 70s by the weekend, hopefully I may get out on the BMX. If not will dust off the road bike for a couple of hours.

Work is super busy, really have gone to the other extreme compared to this time last year, so it's great considering how tough the economy is.

I am still looking for a new car, but with the previous comment in mind, slightly scared of dumping my money into anything in case things go pete tong. No job is safe and after watching a report this morning on tv about high salaried professionals resorting to janitorial work just to have money coming in, it might not be a risk worth taking. We are trying to re-mortgage though at a better rate, but with house prices dropping they are looking for people to have 20% equity in the house, we are almost there, but it's proving tough. My thought is, if they want our business and the $100,000's in interest they will make from us over 30yrs they can bloody well flex the $8000 we need to meet that 20% mark. It makes sense to me, everything is negotiable right now, especially with the money lenders I think. They are up sh@t creek like the rest of us, so for the sake of $8000, I would have thought they would be happy to help. Maybe our broker has no balls, we'll see.

DC, get in touch mate, let me know what your plans are, if you want a weekend to explore Washington DC come down. We can ride, you can borrow my S&M, and we can hit a few tracks. Glad all is going well for you up in NY buddy.

Just want to send my love to my Grandma, its my blog so I can. She lost her younger brother and sister last week. I'm glad she lives round the corner from mum and dad now. love you Nan.

Finally, an Australian I like..

..other than Dame Edna Everage of course.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

- Australian Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.. Separately, Rudd angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians. ' 'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom' 'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!' 'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.' 'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.'

'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.''If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'

Now if only 10 Downing Street and the White House had the bollox to be that brave eh?

Genius..

BEST LAWYER/INSURANCE STORY OF THE YEAR, DECADE, AND POSSIBLY THE CENTURY.
This took place in Charlotte North Carolina. A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against, among other things, fire.
Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.
In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost 'in a series of small fires.'
The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.
The lawyer sued and WON! (Stay with me.)
Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company, in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable 'fire' and was obligated to pay the claim.
Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars that perished in the 'fires'.
NOW FOR THE BEST PART...
After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him
arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!! With his own insurance claim and
testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.
This true story won First Place in last year's Criminal Lawyers Award contest.
ONLY IN AMERICA .......... NO WONDER THE REST OF THE WORLD THINKS WE'RE NUTS!

Pic is of sunnier days, with my mates Joel (far left) and Jason in light blue. Good times, good mates.

Quick update, we have a new President, yay! I am very excited about this and totally support him. Hopefully good things will come. The wife and I spent the day in our jamas with laptops, coffee and the big screen watching the inauguration. It was pretty fantastic, lots of pageantry. Felt sad for Bush, not because he was leaving, but because he never commanded this sort of attention and interest.

Anyway, to more pressing matters. Apparently a behavioural psychologist has concluded that more English, as a percentage, died on the Titanic because, wait for this... we like to bloody queue! Seriously. Our politeness and "after you sir" killed more of us than our dear American, Swedish and Irish cousins on the Titanic because we were too busy keeping up appearances and it would not be British to jump the queue. I would like to say it's all BS, but somehow I really can imagine it and I can totally imagine me doing it too. Well, once I get my Visa and citizenship I shall become loud, rude and belligerent, drop the accent and wear bad clothes. I'm not going down with a sinking ship.

Hit the weights yesterday. Got a pic of Shawn DePrete as my motivation in the basement. You're not going to bet your dollars on me against him, but I need a target and he's it. Last it was win nationals, this year to see if I can get on his back wheel at some point.. that or get C to distract him as she has a little crush on him and his tattoos! 5x10 on the deadlifts, getting closer to my 300lb goal to. I'll get there before April I hope.

Bloody freezing here, I could etch glass with my nips this morning..

Please sign and help stop the morons!

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/BMXCPSC/

Please sign the petition.

Some brainless moron has lumped BMX Racing in with kids toys. This means that all new products entering the country will have to be scrutinized for lead and other chemicals in the paints, in the same way toys do. Reason being kids chew toys and it's dangerous. Now, I've not seen to many kids eat a bike, eat dirt occasionally when you crash, but not chew a frame. Anyway, this is already having serious repercussions on manufacturers, so please sign the petition and put pressure on a waiver being included in the proposal to make bikes exempt.

thanks, Nigel

30 second update

Ok, it's been an age, kind of lost interest a little in blogging. I did say I would at some point, but I've also been super busy at work and with Chrimbo got out of the habit.

So what has changed in my world - not too much to be honest.

Christmas came and went. We had a nice time with the in-laws, no UK trip this yr, not enough money, but we had a nice break nonetheless.

New Year fun and frolics were at Jacey and Amit's and we had a good time. I now want a Wii thing. C is a genius on Rock Guitar or whatever it's called. I have no sense of rhythm or timing so sucked horrendously at it. I can't even tap my fingers in time to a simple beat I make up in my own head, so I have no idea how to play a guitar game.

Raced the Christmas Classic in Lexington, VA. Only raced the Sunday as I had to work. The track was awesome, fast, some big jumps, great rhythm, every thing you want on a track. Chad Powers did a great job. I grabbed second place on the new Cruiser, and on flats too. Maybe I could have won, but getting over from gate 8 was tough, I got the snap and hole shot, but could only get half a bike in front of Ezell who did enough to push me up the berm and I had to fight me way through the pack a little to get on him, just ran out of track.

Good news is I picked up a new sponsor. I am riding for HBR now, and they pay my race fees and kit, which is great, all helps. I have to give a huge thanks to Jamie at Groove Merchants though for hooking me up with everything all yr. I am still running Jamie's stuff and support him 100%, he's a great guy to ride for and totally understands me accepting a ride with HBR. Kids get your parts from www.groovemerchants.net
HBR have offered me an SE, but I think I'd rather walk, so I am sticking with the S&M and Clayborn which so far have both served me well. Speaking of the S&M I've just put on a set of DXR's feels very good, def stiffer for sure. Looks a little different, cromo frame and big beefy ali cranks, but I like it.

Saturday just gone, Joel Clark and I hit up Hampton for the day. It was 60f, so nice to be able to get out and ride, gave the bike a good thrashing until the wind took me out in the rhythm and that was kind of the end of my day. Hopefully Joel and I are hitting up the Georgia National in a few weeks. Looking forward to that, as the track looks good. First race in 35x too. I think it's going to be super tough for sure with Thompson, Meaker, Cross, Deprete, Gomez. In fact it might even be tougher than 26-34x. Just got to be smooth, that's my only hope, cos I ain't going to pull any of those guys from the gate that's for sure.

I am back on the weights again. Had some real trouble with squats, my knee was swelling up and making it unbearable, so I have dropped them for now and am doing dead lifts instead. Not heavy weight, just more sets. I'd like to hit 300lb though and I think I can do it, so that's my target before the warm weather arrives and I switch back to daily sprints.

Job is going well, tough, but we are hanging in there. I am always slightly on edge about my role, as often a Proposal Manager is a luxury to small companies, but we are starting to make some headway and I hope the last few months efforts reveal some fruit for us.

Car is in for a service today. CV boots needed replacing. I didn't know my car wore boots, but there you go. I still want a pick up truck though. Should a miraculous windfall endow me with many coins, I shall be off to the garage to buy a pick-up truck.

We went to the DC motorcycle show on Sunday, starting to get an itch for a bike. Save money and miles on the Envoy, which is rapidly approaching 100,000 miles, and cheaper to run and buy than a new car too. So the Envoy can have a semi retirement and become the bmx wagon, well it is anyway. I'd like the new Yamaha FZ6r street bike, but something second hand will do just fine. And, if it's something I can rebuild and work on all the better.

I'll get some pics up shortly. Rich, we should be around this weekend if you want to call. Sorry we keep missing you and thanks for the card too. I do in fact have matching socks...