The Jaded Jaguar

One of the worst things you can do going into a big race is use unfamiliar equipment. It doesn't matter if it's a new bike or new shoes, when you are making split second decisions at top speed the smallest things can distract you. One distraction could make for a bad choice, the loss of a position or even a crash.
On Friday night at Sarasota BMX I used the local race as a way to test the equipment that I will be relying on at the SSA Sarasota Qualifiers.


Goal number one was to learn the lesson of the High Springs qualifier. My three rider crash resulted in a swollen knee and limited mobility. Days later on my honeymoon I was limping around the cruise ship. Unfortunately two of the ship's elevators were broken so I had to limp up and down the 9 floors.
To counter this effect I made sure to visit the gyms at both the resort and on the ship. By the time we got home I could walk the stairs again. The lesson was simple - I need to wear knee pads.

The problem before was that my…

The best laid plans can go to waste if you're lacking in luck. At the SSA High Springs Qualifier #7 I probably could have used a four leaf clover. What I needed to accomplish was to earn better than 4th in four motos to lift my score in the Florida Cup series, what happened was completely unexpected.

My nerves might have got the best of me on the gate as I mistimed it terribly. After spending the entire moto trying to find a way to pass, I found an opening in the rhythm section and went for it. This video will show you what happened.

After the crash I was pretty beat up but I had come in forth so I wasn't out of it yet. I manned up and forced my way through three more motos managing to use the rhythm section to pass at least one rider each time. I took forth place across the board despite my injuries which was a victory in itself. However, I didn't earn a single point towards my goal.
The clock resets here. Now it's a matter of healing up, training myself on the Saras…

As we walked up the hill at Tampa BMX I studied the riders I would be facing. I honestly didn't recognize any of them. One was my age, the other two were kids in their twenties. Then I spotted something odd. One of these kids was riding a Cruiser.
Why was there a Cruiser in my 20 inch class? It was a mystery. A couple other people noticed the oddity but didn't say anything. Personally I didn't care, at first. The truth is I wanted to watch him ride and see if he was going to be a threat on the track. If not then who cares but if he was fast, that's another story.

Before you assume me shallow for such a small slight, it is important that you know the details. In the SSA Florida Cup series I'm in a tooth and nail battle for the Overall Number One spot, an honor I have not yet had the opportunity to achieve. Last year I won the Championship race (Almost scoring a perfect) but I lacked the points to become the best in my class. In 2012 I was not going to make the same…

When you race in a small age group like mine, you never know who you'll be up against. At the Sarasota Race for Life it was the ultimate mixed bag of young rockets like Joey O'Connor, my good friend female rider Jada Webb and a man who helped teach me how to ride BMX - Larry Dardini Sr.
Larry and his son Pro racer Larry junior were both assistants at my very first skills clinic. The two of them introduced me to jumping and pumping and learning some of the basics. Back then I was very squirrely but at Sarasota this past weekend I was reminded that I had come a long way.
Larry is an older Expert who has tons of experience. On the first moto he blasted out of the gate and I found myself struggling to keep within 6 bike lengths. It was one of those nights were I used the motos to warm up and get used to the faster pace. Since I was relegated to 4th place, my goal was to catch Dardini. 2nd moto, 5 lengths back, still not warmed up. 3rd moto, we were even up to the first hill then …