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!