New Human.

Hey you turds!

Justin & Meghan had the baby!

Congratulations are in order or Mr. & Mrs. Hoey and their bouncing bundle of joy.

Also, in less important news: I'll be around for the week. Who can ride? Get at me!

- Tim

You know the time.

Hey Ya'll,

Just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I hope you're all having a fine time with your families. I'm in PA visiting my Mom & Sister and it's been a good holiday.

Talk to you all soon,

- Tim

Witch's Tit

Yep, I'm in Pennsyltucky visiting my family. It's about 1 degree outside and the weather people are advising everyone not to drive unless it's absolutely necessary. Unfortunately for us, we have to move my sister out of her dorm today and drive 2 hours to Pittsburgh. Yep, black ice in a U-Haul. Good times ahead, for sure.

It sounds like there was a good session this weekend. I'm sorry I missed it. Was there a new guy at this one? The Shark, perhaps?

Well, I'll be back in OR on Monday. Someone give me a call and we'll ride. Until then, I'll keep visualizing tricks...

Keep on keepin' on.

- Tim

Dodging the Ice Patches

Lots of transportation today:

I drove up to Seattle to pick up some studio gear for a photo shoot tomorrow and all I could think about was riding. I put it into high gear and hightailed it back to Portland to see if it might be dry enough to ride at Grant.

When I got there I could see the sheen on the courts and I knew it might not be totally dry but I cruised over to the light switch and hit it. When the lights came on I could see a few dry patches in the middle court and resolved to make due. Grant is like my dojo, it's the place where I'm most comfortable when I ride and it's the place that I credit most of my limited riding breakthroughs.

Anyway, I haven't really done a lot of solo riding since I re-started so I relied on the tunes for inspiration. The Shins guided me through my usual battery of tricks: FW Steams until I land a couple, BW Dork Wheelies, Cyclone to hand switch thing & then the dreaded Hang-5... Grant is so sweet for Hang-5's. The surface is just perfect. About 20 tries later and I was putting them up every time and finding my balance point. Once I got a few that I really like I decided to figure out Fire Hydrants and BW Steams. The Fire Hydrants are at about 35% right now & the BW Steams aren't anywhere near completion. I just don't know what to do with them once I'm done rolling. Side Squeaks seem natural but I can't really do side squeaks at all yet.

One thing is certain though: The was no squeaking or scuffing to be done with ice crystals on my shoes & tires.

Anyway, after I got to my utmost frustration point with the Steams I went back to the H-5's and nailed a couple of good ones. A wise rider recently told me not to, "Get Cocky" so I didn't push it too much although I did try and put both feet on the pegs on a few of the H-5's. I don't really know how to pump yet so they didn't get far, but I also didn't eat shit. Hey, I know they don't count until I grab the seat. That's a long way off...

Anyway, I have to ride as much as I can this week. Once I leave this weekend there probably won't be a bike in my life for about 3 more weeks.

UGH!

Discovery at the mall.

I'm a bit pigheaded at times. Being this way makes me do things like buy two of the wrong size wrenches for my rear wheel and waste an hour of riding time at Sears during the Christmas rush. Doh!

Anyway, I met Justin at Washington Square again and it was on. I wish the way it worked was that you learned a trick, did it once and then it was just ingrained in you. I want my tricks to just be a part of me like an arm or a finger, to just have complete mastery over them. I'm sure some people ride like that.

Justin did a couple of pretty rad links. We busted out the video camera and I played filmer for a little while. There are a lot of cool possibilities with moving pictures but please just give me a still camera any time. I like trying to capture that exact moment where the action is at it's peak. Anyway, I'll be psyched to see what Justin's video will look like.

Hey, all you dogs out there: I wish I was around more to ride with you guys. J, Sarge, Joe, Darrell, Hagnas - I have to get at you guys and ride. I ordered some new videos and when I get back we should have a riding/video session at my place. No doubt.

Tonight heralded a small personal achievement. I rode out of a front yard. It was a small burst of scuffing and then I put it down and jumped back to my pedal. I was stoked but I really can't wait to figure out how to scuff those suckers around in a circle(s). I also need to think of something to do out of a backwards steamroller - how about a backwards pimp glide? Okay, I'm dreaming... Anyway, any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Keep on, keepin' on.

Life is GOOD

The rain here is a bitch. It's a cold, hard bitch. I drove through it to Beaverton today and got lost looking for my new spot. Justin found it and found out that it's lumpy. Oh well...

A few more wrong turns and I found myself in the parking garage of Herman & Meier. This used to be one of Justin's old spots and it's still pretty good. The lights are white and the assorted characters rolling through were really entertaining. We had couples with puppies cheering us on and then a couple of crackheads looking to sell or buy some weed from us. It was pretty funny, actually.

Justin has some tricks, it's true. He's a flashy lad and it's cool to see the combos.

I landed my power trio: Steamroller, Foot Switch Thing and Hang-5's. My H-5's are really starting to feel right, it's so damn fun. I got a couple of funky chickens to roll and I worked on front yards too. I'm obsessed with scuffing right now. I'm on a mission to scuff. Where the hell is Paul? I need some scuffing inspiration.

We rode about two hours and went back to Justin's place. Megan is just about ready to pop! Regardless of not being able to breath she made us dinner, many, many thanks M! We checked out some mind blowing video with all the heavies and then I headed back through the rain to Portland.

I stopped by my office to pick up some photos and the smooth floor called out to me like a siren song. I got out the bike and worked on some stuff. I'm really just playing with different positions now. I really want to learn, so bad. A combo of sorts came to me tonight. I'm not going to play it up but I can't wait to unleash it once I get it dialed in. It's no big deal really but I like the way it feels. Killer.

Front yards are hard. Funky Chickens are hard. Rolling Boomerangs are impossible. Karl Cruisers are going to happen. Whiplashes are going to happen. If it's a trick, I want to learn it. Now.

That's not too much to ask, is it?

Taunting

My entire post was deleted and I'm too pissed to re-type it.

Anyway, let's go ride! I don't care if it's only for 5 minutes.

- Tim

I'm off to Austria for about a week and just wanted to drop all of my dogs a note:

Have a damn good time this weekend!

I'll get in touch with you all when I get back. I'm jonesing to ride someting fierce. Someone do a mega-spin for me.

- Tim