dropping into the rocks
This was the first national race for all the gravity folks. it was cool to see everyone again. especially somewhere so close to my house. i only live about an hour away from fontana. So i guess you could consider it my local race course(s). me and kyle adams had our own place to stay in Ontario about 10 minutes from the venue. it was actually really nice! except we had to go there in Kyle's trooper. i thought it would explode for sure.
Thursday: i arrived at 6 in the morning after dropping my dad off at work. i went into a nearby parking lot and crashed for around an hour. then went and got some french toast breakfast!!! so GOOD! after that went into the pits where everyone was still setting up. then i started working on my/ Donny's new Turner DHR (38.5 lbs) bike. i had to ride Donny Jackson's( southridge usa) dh bike cause mine wasn't ready yet. during DH practice i absolutely hated the bike. and i don't know why. after that we had 4x practice that was actually a pretty fun course!
Friday: i had DH practice in the late morning and i figured out the bike. Actually started to love the bike. then second run in i was trying a new line in the rock section when my rear wheel got bucked up somehow and before i knew it i was on my face! nothing really bad but a good sized chunk out of my tooth! i was really shaken up and pretty dizzy too. so i went back to my pit and popped some aspirin and got ready for 4x practice. by the time qualifying for 4x came around i was feeling ok. then i qualified 3rd with a mistake. so i felt good about that. for finals in my first gate i was with my best friend JD but when were in the gate JD is no longer my bestie! i slipped my pedal out of the gate and JD got the snap but i stayed in second and didn't push just so i could move on. that put me into the semis where JD and i were in the gate again plus bmx'er erik nelson and canadian chris meyers. and i got an ok gate but of course bmx'er was quicker. i could of gotten him in the first turn but i still have yet to learn aggressiveness. plus i don't want enemies this early in the season. so i was sent into the constellation round where i got the gate and lead the whole way. so that placed me in 5th for 4x. ok start for the season!
Saturday: this is real race day for me! no joking around today. practice went very well, i hit all my lines and felt like i had everything dialed. confidence was not 100% since my bad fall on friday but i couldn't really complain to much. race time came around way quicker than i expected it to. before i knew it i was in line for my race. i was 4th in line and i felt really good. i don't even remember being nervous. out of the gate i felt the wind and i just tried to relax and make it happen. first few turns were fast and flowy. then my front tire slipped and scared me but i kept it all under control, it just slowed me down a bit. then i went into the rock section that i fell in. it felt like a thousand eyes were watching me but i couldn't hear anything. i stayed relaxed and didn't try to go fast. i just wanted to hit my lines smoothly. everything went perfect! the only person i heard was my mom at the bottom of the rocks. it felt like she whispered in my ear, "GO BRAD!" then came all the pedaling. i felt like i was on a motorcycle and i just accelerated then into the next rock section perfectly. the next pedaling section came and as i rounded the corner i see a red shirt. its none other than Hank Cadle. he starts running with me and yelling PEADEL PEADEL then screams WORLDS, WORLDS! and it totally inspired me and i just got on the gas! did the last turn and gave it my all to the finish line. i then hear the announcer say, "we have a new leader, Brad Oien!" best feeling EVER! i then got up onto the winners seat and watched the rest of my class come down. no one else was faster than me. I WON! and i was stoked! i couldn't even find my parents. i told everyone i saw and everyone was super pumped. especially my teammate David K. i finally found my dad and i could tell he already knew. i hugged my mom and my dad and we just went on being stoked together! ha!
great time!
Sunday: i stayed around sunday to watch pros and just hang out with everyone. SANJAY came back from south america! YES YES YES!!! so i went with him and caught up on stories at Denny's. plus i ate till i could eat no more! then when we got back i heard the terrible news on my good friends Alfonso and Hank. Alf gashed his forehead and could no longer race. and Hank broke his hand and was at the hospital. those are pretty much the only people i stayed for. So that was way lame! then while waiting for the race to start i went and played basketball with David k, Steve Smith, and Nathan Rennie. i dominated! anyway the pro race ended with Cody C-dub Warren winning, congrats to him!
overall a great weekend with the exception on alf and hank!
looking forward to New mexico!!!
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