Friday, January 18, 2008

California Dreamin' 99

Tough loss for the Pack...depression sets in across WI...back to livin the dream for me...

It was back in 99 that we practically lived in California. After driving to Tucson in the new Red Caravan, we blew out the white van in 97, and doing a serious early spring training campaign it was off to Cali again...this time to the Sea Otter for my first Pro race and Skylers first big win.







After that it was up the coast to Napa for a World Cup and a muddy pre -ride.










We hooked up with some clowns from Slovenia and cheered for them during the Elite Word Cup"Heidi Heidi Heidi" I guess they like Sports Illustrated. Primos Strancar, Jure Golcer, and Rok Drasler 3 pretty fast dudes - Skyler took another W.










After that we headed back to Tucson...never empty a can of tuna out the car window while driving. Blown Out Again?








After some more training in Tucson with the guys from Czech and Slovakia it was back to Cali for the Sizzler in San Jose. It was nothing like it sounded(hot) and one of the hardest crashes in my career took place. It was muddy as can be and my pads were gone...my brakes failed at the end of a really long downhill and I hit a rain ditch and landed on my head. I wanted to quit but the fastest way back was on the course. I remember the pain and I was freezing cold shivering in a blanket in the back of the van. We finished the night in Berkeley with a sweet sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge.















All this took place before May 1......WORS probably hadn't even started! From San Jose it was back to Tucson for some stuff and then a little break at home(MI) before another long drive across i-80...stay tuned for Cali 99 part 2


5 comments:

shawzam said...

Is that you???

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=14806652

Dano said...

So upset that you pulled the G-Force post?

Anonymous said...

SHAWZAM....How did you find that? My secret is out. My cross training regime is exposed. My career as a top 5 WORS is over. My mullet was pretty sweet wasn't it?

Anonymous said...

oh man!!! what amazing memories... look at how dejected walker looks standing next to me on the podium... oh it felt good to blow by him on that climb on the second lap!! i dont think he ever forgave me, oh wait, we ended up roommates like 4 years later...i have LOTS of things to add to these post so im gonna e-mail em to you tomorrow...

the MICHIGANSCENE said...

awesome simply awesome!