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...

she's a beaut mate

Taken me a couple of months to squirrel away the pennies and build her up, but at last the new Clayborn is ready to ride... well apart from some DMR Chain Tugs that are in the post I hope..

At home right now with a lousy cold and sore throat. Tomorrow is a fun day of Red Team Proposal reviews.. what a joy and how much am I going to concentrate knowing my new bike is in the basement wanting to be ridden??

Long time no speak

Well, it appears to have been an age since I last updated. My parents have come and gone, I've still not built the new bike, it's bloody freezing, and I have been up my own arse writing two proposals, although today they come to a stop for a short while which is nice.

So Mum and Dad came. It was a fantastic couple of weeks, but over too soon. Still, I did get some time off to spend with them. We hit up Mount Vernon, in VA, George Washington's home. Well worth a visit, very interesting and in a beautiful setting. We had a great day, but it was probably below 0c outside, so it was a bit nipply.

The good thing about having Dad here is he can't sit still, which means odd jobs get done round the house. This time round he; painted the kitchen, put new skirting board around the kitchen to stop cats climbing into the walls and cupboards, raked the garden, installed new taps in the bathroom, fixed my leaking sunroof on green gerty (the envoy) and a host of other things as well. Lovely.

Thanksgiving was fun. It was the first time for Mum and Dad, and 27 Laurences, McNevins, Deux's, Miles and other families certainly made an entertaining day. It was good, the weather was nice and we finished the evening off with a bonfire outside which ended a great day. Of course there is always a 'but' with the Thanksgiving, and in my case it's another 10lb! Well, not just Thanksgiving, but I am 205lb, well I was last Friday anyway. Feel free to call me 'fat knacker' or 'fat bastard' when you see me. I have deliberately cut back on usual fare this week to lose a few pounds, its helped, but 205lb!!

So my training has to start in earnest now. I have been procrastinating and have not been motivated, mostly cos of hours working, but it has to start otherwise I'll throw the good results from Woodward in Sept. This week I've taken it light on the squats, although having now not done them for so long, light probably also meant maximum too! oh dear. I had a good 45 mins on the road bike on the turbo trainer to get a sweat up and my legs spinning again, and then squats last night. I need a routine, like I had last yr and early this yr, once I have that going again I'll be fine. Still, my legs feel weak, and I have no lung capacity whatsoever. If I race at the Christmas Classic I may well puke in THE helmet. I might sit in the stands and watch the pro's I think..

Some good news, Matt 'Bo' Allen is coming over to stay in March hopefully. He is hitting up the ABA/UCI race in DeSoto, TX, also the USAC Cycling Champs weekend (like our British Champs) and then is driving across country and will hopefully stop with us. Looking forward to that already. Aaron Shrosbree is coming too, so should be fun. I might well fly out and race with them.

If you happen to be in Florida at all check out the new St Pete Bmx track, (www.stpetebmx.com) looks fooking awesome, and I plan on racing there in Jan, if I don't go to Vegas with the family.

C is in LA this weekend visiting friends. I had a weekend of riding planned, but the weather may make a mess of that. Still, if no BMX, I should get out on the road bike for an hour or two each day, better than nothing. I do hate her not being here, I am not very good at being apart from her I've learned. I thought having the house and time to myself might be fun, but in fact it's an empty box, well except for the cats, so I guess I just love my wife very much.. a good thing then! :)

nothin' new

Quiet weekend for the Hopkinson household. We, well by we I mean 'I', did very little. Saturday I cleaned the house in preparation for mum and dad coming tonight, whilst C was throwing a 'baby shower' for Mo. That went well and everybody had a good time by all accounts. Of course C was stressing about it all, what's new?, but it went off without a hitch. Saturday evening we headed over to Mo and James for a few beers with a bunch of their friends from NY and out of towners. We head a great evening, Kimi was thoroughly pissed and was funnier than ever, and as soon as the Champagne bottle opened my wife's louder, more belligerent, alter ego joined the party too. Thanks James! One sip of Champagne and it's like Jekyll and Hyde, still she did fall asleep in an instant when we got home.

Sunday we headed to the Irish pub for breakfast. In theory it was a great idea - a full Irish with all the trimmings - black and white pudding, tomatoes etc - but they let me down. The bacon was tasteless, only one banger and about 7 baked beans. We won't be going there again.

Sunday afternoon consisted of quality napping, watching the movie Sin City - great movie, I love the visual affects, and the fact that some incredibly hot women wear very little for about 2hours. Truly marvellous. Bean slept all afternoon with all 3 cats so she was perfectly happy. I could have made a purr-fect joke there but I restrained myself.

I hit the weights in the evening and got a bit carried away on the squats. I normally to 1 light warm up set, and then three heavy (for me) sets. I ended up doing 6 sets. I'm surprised my knees even move today. I've changed my squats a little, I put my bench behind my arse now, as my knees can't go past about 90 degrees with any significant weight on the bar. Good thing, is my leg curls are increasing in weight on my bad hamstring, but I still can't curl very much. Once they feel good again, I'll start doing dead-lifts once more. I ought to consider doing up body. I don't want to be fast and fat!!! Got to look buff for the wife.. or bmx moms! I only said consider, so I'll procrastinate for a few more months..

The new Clayborn cruiser frame should be here this afternoon, looking forward to that. Put the One up for sale, almost complete bike for about $300. It'll pay for the Clayborn and then some I guess.

My team idea is starting to take shape. I have made some good contacts and got some people interested in supporting me. I'd like to do something to help other kids out, get them to races, help with fees or kit or something. I love riding for Groove Merchants, Jamie is awesome, but I think so much more could be done, and I'd love to be able to get enough support that I can do something for those less fortunate than myself. We'll see, it may work out, it may not, but no harm in trying right..

Mum and dad here soon, very excited. Sod work this week.

$300. Tires also to go with wheels. Get in touch if interested.

new forks and bars..