Tuesday, July 27, 2010

I Love Colorado...






I am literally in shock right now, I am on my way home from my trip to Denver, and cannot believe that I just had one of the best trips of my life, and I didn't even have surfboards with me. Able Planet had me completely dialed in from the moment I landed in DIA. It was really cool because While I was there two of the other Able Planet Athletes had events running and I was able to experience a little bit of both. The first day we all went to watch Ashley Fiolek race in an AMA outdoor moto event. It was pretty intense and definitely my style. I felt right at home pretty much tailgating on the side of an incredible mountain mixing it up with all of the locals. Even though Ashley crashed in her first moto and got completely ran over by another racer, she managed to fight through the pain and take 2nd overall for the day. It actually got pretty intense for the women's second moto, because it started pouring right before the gate dropped. The tracked was soaked in no time, and all the girls were completely covered in mud by the end of the race. It was an insane first day in Colorado and we called it a night after celebrating Ashley's podium finish over some Mexican food, margaritas, and some in house illusionist entertainment. I literally watched this black man bend a quarter directly in half just by rubbing it on the end of my finger....ha A perfect end to an awesome day.
Day 2 in Colorado started with a road trip to the top of pikes peak where Able Planet rally car driver Jimmy Keeney had a race. I found out pretty quickly that my Florida boy lounges were not quite cut out for those high mountain altitudes. Within the first hour of cruising around the pits, I was getting dizzy, and having trouble breathing. Luckily for me the Keeney's were prepared with an oxygen machine, so I laid low for a little while puffing on that. This was the first Auto race I have ever been to that was on an actual local road, that spiraled up the Pike's Peak mountain with deadly consequences for a miscalculated turn. It was pretty nerve racking just watching these guys, and It didn't help that Jimmy looked as nervous as I did on my first day of school.ha When it came time for his run, he put that all aside and hammered the gas to come within 5 hundredths of a second of winning the race. Pretty good couple of days for Able Planet with two second place podium finishes in two days.
After the events were over I decided to stick around and hang with a couple of my friends from the Able Planet family, and see what else Colorado had to offer. I was not disappointed at all with my decision to stay because the next few days were filled with life changing activities. I now have a new love for an inland state that I never thought I would ever really travel too. I am on my way back to California to hang for a while longer and get some more work done, and I can honestly say that I have already started to plan a trip back to Colorado in the winter time when everything will be painted white....

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Visiting Able Planet headquarters in Denver....


California has been awesome, making tons of good connections and friends, surfing my brains out, filming as much as possible, and trying to keep myself from falling in love with the state that is home to my least favorite basketball team in the NBA, the LAKERS.....haha. In a couple days I will be headed out to Denver to meet up with my newest sponsor Able Planet Audio. Not going to lie, I think this will be my first trip ever to a landlocked destination, and I am actually pretty excited about it. haha Stay posted and I will keep you updated on how the trip goes and what adventures I get myself into while I am there.

Friday, July 16, 2010

East Coast tour with a Kiwi...

I have a couple events coming up on the WAPSS tour and it couldn’t have come at a better time for surf. We are right in the middle of the hurricane season, and already have a promising forecast for the first event. Decided to invite fellow Astars rider and pro wakeboarder Jeff Weatherall (aka macgyver) along for the mission. Over the next couple weeks we will be headed up the coast to New Jersey for the Belmar pro, then work our way back to Hatteras for the OBX pro before making the trek home. Stay tuned for updates from the road, and the adventures we encounter….