Champ, & 2009 HARDCORE RIDER OF THE YEAR!!!

www.sebikes.wordpress.com!!! Check it out!

your support! ABA DISTRICT #1 ... NBL NATIONAL #2!

I've been complaining about my right wrist for a while now, but it seems like no one was taking me too seriously. Well, finally went to get it all sorted out and it seems that I have busted my right wrist, same as two years ago. It's in a pretty hefty air cast that makes it look as though I broke my whole arm. Hurts quite a bit as well. With the NBL Grands being next week, it's hard to believe that it's come down to this.

Most hilarious quote of the week: Doctor: "Have you fallen off a bicycle recently?"

Ha. Haha, ha. Are you referring to a certain track, or day of the week, or...?

It's alright though... broken wrist, just another obstacle. I'll ride regardless. I've come this far, I won't quit now! I'm pre-registered for Grands so I am coming home with a national numberplate no matter what!

The past week has been a whirlwind, and more than a little harsh on the ol' body. To start things off, last Saturday I crashed in practice before a semi-mud race at our track, just going full tilt into Turn 1 without much consideration for the track's condition. Then Wednesday I also took a spill when two kids banging bars in front of me locked up and went tumbling down Turn 1 in front of me - that one was a little harder. I rung my bell pretty good. Wednesday night just turned out to be not my night at all as then after battling to qualify for my main event with much younger riders, my crank arm literally fell off in the main.

Hoping that my bad luck was over before my last NBL National race of the year, we got up super early (I was awake at 2:00 a.m.!) and headed for Akron, Ohio yesterday morning. It was an easy trip and the weather was dry, if boiling hot. I was thrown in with the 17-24's and found myself keeping a much better pace than I did in Waterford Oaks. At the end of the day I had a 4th place finish, but more importantly, I was elated that I was now qualified for the NBL Grands.

As if to prove my obsessive love for BMX racing, we headed straight back to Toledo after our trip to Derby Downs, and 15 minutes after arriving in the Glass City, it was back to the starting hill to catch a couple of ABA gates before racing a total points race with the cruiser bruisers at home.

Needless to say, the long hours of work recently (frequently 10+ hour days) and the couple of times I've wrecked have really worn me down. But after a good night's sleep, here I am contemplating some practice time on my clips before I call it a day. So close to the dream... so much accomplished... and so much to thank Dave for. It's been a long road, it's been sort of chaotic and very difficult at times... but right now I'm sitting in that National #2 spot and it feels pretty darn good.

It's been a busy, busy summer here in T-town, and a little too long since I wrote anything here... so here comes the big update...

July absolutely BLEW UP as now we have our track up and running at home (www.toledospeedwaybmx.com)... it's been a blast. We're pulling more motos than last year with lots of new faces for sure... as a matter of fact, I'm racing all new faces myself except for my good pal and Fluid team mate Julie Rittenhouse... she's still with the program!  The other riders are 10+ years younger than me in my motos now which means I have a carrot dangling out in front to make this horse run a little harder!

The national weekend at Waterford Oaks was a dream come true... last year Waterford was the first national I ever saw Elijah compete in, and just over a year later, there we were riding it together. Elijah had super motos on Day Two and was literally inches from first place on both his 20" and his cruiser. The way he never gave up and pedaled til the end made me so incredibly proud of him.  I ended up with 4th and 3rd myself, getting thrown down with those super fast teenagers, but I still had a BLAST as I made some friends and got to ride my favorite NBL track all weekend long!

Back home, we had our Redline Cup Qualifier / State Race the next weekend, and it was off the hook... thanks to LIPZ PANELZ (www.lipzpanelz.com) who donated a HUGE supply of T-shirts and numberplates for the kiddies, no one went home empty handed! Also thanks to SIX FEETDEEP (www.sfdclothing.com) and ODI GRIPS (www.odigrips.com) for their generous donations for our prize raffle! It was a huge success for sure. I came in second all weekend long and had a smile on my face while doing it!

Now it's been back to local racing for a little while... got some plans up my sleeves for that as well. I hope to be heading out to see our friends at C & W Cycle in Morenci, MI tomorrow if all goes well (check 'em out at www.bmx-guru.com), so I can rock some new gear and hopefully get a little faster.

As far as the state of points and standings and whatnot... currently I am leading track points at home, # 2 in ABA district points, and what I really, really care about this year... I am # 2 for the moment in NBL National Series Points! One more race in Akron next weekend and I am qualified for the Grands... and then it's on for that national numberplate!

The summer isn't winding down yet... 5 weeks til my first GRANDS!!!

That's how much time the countdown clock on my profile page says is left until the NBL Grands. I added the clock months ago as a little novelty widget on my homepage here, when the Grands seemed so very far away. It was nearly intangible at the time.

Now I happened to glance at it as I logged on today to check my messages, and I was stunned. Two months and eight days?! As in just over NINE WEEKS? As I've gotten older, I've learned how fast weeks and months fly by, and now I know that the Grands will actually be here before I even know it.

That's more than a little nerve-wracking.

I feel like I'm stuck in some sort of grand waiting room, just chilling, waiting for the REAL STUFF to happen. It's been a blast so far this year for sure. Ever since it was decided that I was going to run the NBL National Series, things have been blowing up. I'd like to think that my skills are way better than last year after my few weeks of racing BMX. I've also been blessed to hook up with the best sponsors around. They really have been nothing short of both supportive and generous. Not to mention that last year I was stuck on the sidelines watching all the action, and this year I have ridden so many tracks already - Steel Wheels, Dayton Indoor, Michigan Indoor, Waterford, Grand Rapids, Morenci... holy cow. Last year I rode pretty much exclusively at home and it took me most of the year to get sort of comfortable on that track. Now I am stoked to show up anywhere and JUST RIDE.

But like I said, now it's down to the waiting room, watching the clock, waiting for the moment when the season is going to open wide up in front of me and I can start racing my heart out at home, hanging with the awesome girls I race with in the mom's class. Not only that, but Waterford's National event is coming up, and that is for sure my favorite NBL track. So it's only days now... the clock's ticking...

We traveled up to Grand Rapids, Michigan this past weekend for the Regional there, and I was pretty bummed on the way up. I'd been up since 2:50 in the morning, and 45 minutes away from GR BMX, it was pouring buckets. Luckily for us, the NBL folks were smart enough to anticipate the precipitation, and they had covered the track the night previous. We arrived at 6:30 in the morning, but had to wait until after 11 a.m. for a decision on whether they were going to conduct the race or not. We hung in there, camped out under our 10x10's, and finally, racing started around 2:30 p.m.

I was the only women's cruiser in town for the weekend, so I got tossed in with the big boys. I was in a class with some fast men like Mike Rincon, Tom Wagner, and John Wagner - those are some fast, and super nice, guys. I brought home 3rd place on Day One and 4th on Day Two. The track was fairly nice, but it was a long weekend and I was ready to come home Sunday afternoon. We came home to some great news, too. We took a ride out to Toledo Speedway and our track had been rolled for the past 3 days by track operator Brad Moore. So next week we'll have some special practice days and then it's back to racing locally on June 27th at our new track! I couldn't ask for more!

Next big race... Nationals at Waterford Oaks, 4th of July weekend! Stay tuned!