It was one of those days when almost everything went right. Great weather, amazing track, solid opponents, good health and rising confidence. With all of those pluses you could only imagine that I was shredding in style but you would be wrong. The truth is that I got smoked. Orlando BMX is a long, completely clay track with high dusty berms. It has a fantastic starting hill, perfect downward angle and an exhilarating first jump. I'll admit that it took a few laps before overcoming the fear of hitting that jump at full speed. Once the jitters were replaced with eagerness, it was on! As we lined up for the first moto I looked at my opponents - William, Rodrigo and Samuel. They were all more experienced and a couple of them knew this track by heart. Calculating my chances was easy but still I decided to use the first moto to see how we measured up. The gate snapped down but I missed it. By the time I reached the first jump they were already in front of me. I spen...

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 ...