I don't know why I think about it, but I do all the time. I miss being a kid.
For the past week or so Barnes and I have been painting the house trying to get it the way we want it. Trying to get it ready for company. Getting rid of the standard peachy/tan paint that covers every wall. We have made some good progress, but still got quite a way to go.
As I paint, I turn the sirius radio to "Hair Nation" and I swear to god... I could paint all day while listening to it. For those of you that are not familiar, Hair Nation is all 80's hair metal bands, over, and over, and over. I know sometimes it drives Barnes crazy but I think her thoughts are probably keep it on as long as it keeps me painting.
As I listened to Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Poison, Motley Crue, Ratt, Dio, etc., etc. A song came on, that I don't know why, but it really made me start thinking of my childhood and adolesence. I don't know why this song triggered all these memories but for some reason I think I went through every possible emotion in the 5 minutes I listened to it. I thought about.. My brother and I playing with our hot wheels in the shrubs in front of the house on Cortez St. I thought of waking up early on the weekends and the two of us riding our bikes across town to meet Kyle Brewer and his sister so we could go to the "Ponds". I thought aobut Mom, Dad, Jared and I piling in the Celica and driving to Grandma and Johns. I couldn't wait to get there so we could swim in their pool. It didn't open until 10am and that seemed like 5pm to me when I was a kid. Why wasn't it just open all the time? I also thought of every time we got to Grandma's house she always made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for me. Still my favorite to this day although I never eat it anymore. I thought about always being upset when I would go to my friend Scott's house on Sundays and he couldn't come outside to play because it was "The Lords Day" I thought that was a crock then and I still do. Granted I'll probably go to hell for saying that. I thought about wood cutting with my dad and Grandpa. God I hated that. I remember how excited I used to get when the family would take a trip into Reno and the best time was when Mom and Dad took Jared and I to see Hello Hollywood. That made me feel grown up and it felt cool................
Now I'm grown up and want to feel like a kid again. Kind of ironic how life works out like that I guess.
Moral to this rant..... With Sloane on her way, I really hope Barnes and I can create as many good memories for her as Mom and Dad did for me. I hope we are not to busy to remember family.
Barnes and I had very similar up-bringings. Sometimes I am amazed at how similar they were in fact. We have talked about all the fun we had as kids and the great memories we had with Jared and Teddy and our parents.
It's pretty scary how different the world is now 25 years later, but I really hope Sloane can reflect 40 years from now and have all the great memories that I do.
By the way here is the song that triggered all that......
Monday, March 17, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
The Real MVP
Boulevard. Campo California.
Team PT showed up in force for this race and with a definite plan. To win. Now this is the plan for many of our races, actually most if not all of the races we do, we like to win. The team work PT is capable of is not rivaled by many. To steal something from the Troll, we watch videos and we practice.
True to form, about 2 or 3 miles in, Robo attacks. All part of the plan. Send someone up the road and force the other teams to chase. As they chase the rest of us cover the moves. In the early stages, Wingman, The Enforcer, Dr. Bill, and Magoo all go to work and cover keeping the Mt Goats, Bully, Freeze, RS, and Chicken fresh to protect the Boss when the road tilts up. Through the attacks from the other teams our plans changed up a little. RS seeming to not have the form we are used to seeing from him, found himself in the lauging group with the rest of us flat landers.
As we were trudging along the road of anonimity in true PT TTT fashion, cars were coming toward us warning us to slow. We rouded a right hand bend to see a rider lying on the road in a pool of blood. I glanced at him as we went by and could see that his helmet was smashed and his face covered in blood. I've seen it many times before. A rider lying on the ground after a crash and a few volunteers and a ref tending to the fallen rider. Our group of about 8 or 10 guys continued on. We crested one of the little climbs on the back side of the course and I survey'd the group and noticed RS was missing. I though we couldn't have dropped him, we are not going that hard. I asked the Wingman where RS was and the Wingman said that he stopped to help the guy who crashed.
At the time, I didn't really think much of it. At that point we were not riding for a placing. Our work for the team was done. We were basically on a training ride just getting the miles in the legs to prep for the rest of the season.
I thought alot about what kind of post I wanted to do this week. Do I want to finish the Cuban interview? Do I want to do a post about the differences between the two vehicles that traveled to SoCal and how the conversations were, I am sure, very different in those two vehicles. (Trust me that one would be funny) Nope I don't feel right if I don't recognize what RS did during the race.
Johnathan said when he stopped, the guy was unconcious and not breathing. He said that the ref and the other people that were there, were just standing there doing nothing.
I think about what if that was one of us in a pool of blood and everyone around was just standing there.
I don't know what happened to the guy who crashed. All I know is that when Johnathan stopped, he got off his bike to help and could have saved the guys life. Johnathan cleared the guys air way by doing something, I don't really understand, but it worked and they guy started breathing and came to. I think by the time Johnathan finally decided to finish his race the guy was concious and coherant.
What would have happened if Johnathan hadn't stopped? Maybe the guy would have been ok. I don't know.
Many things make me proud to be on this team. From the way we race, to the way we train, to the way we lay it on the line for one another and are not affraid to sacrafice for the best interest of the team.
We all get wrapped up in the heat of the battle and get our racing brains going full throttle, but when it comes down to it, we all have jobs. Racing is a hobby for us. Racing is a hobby for 95% of the people that showed up to Boulevard this weekend. From the juniors all the way to half of the pro field.
We have guys on this team who don't lose site of the big picture..... Life. The guy who crashed has a life and I am sure racing bikes is his hobby. Maybe Johnathan helped this guy extend his life a little longer.
The entire team did a great job this past weekend. Every race we do, I get a little more excited about the potential I see in everyone and what we can accomplish as a team, but the MVP award, this weekend, goes to Johnathan Edwards and it has nothing to do with his racing. Thanks Johnathan.
A.S.
Team PT showed up in force for this race and with a definite plan. To win. Now this is the plan for many of our races, actually most if not all of the races we do, we like to win. The team work PT is capable of is not rivaled by many. To steal something from the Troll, we watch videos and we practice.
True to form, about 2 or 3 miles in, Robo attacks. All part of the plan. Send someone up the road and force the other teams to chase. As they chase the rest of us cover the moves. In the early stages, Wingman, The Enforcer, Dr. Bill, and Magoo all go to work and cover keeping the Mt Goats, Bully, Freeze, RS, and Chicken fresh to protect the Boss when the road tilts up. Through the attacks from the other teams our plans changed up a little. RS seeming to not have the form we are used to seeing from him, found himself in the lauging group with the rest of us flat landers.
As we were trudging along the road of anonimity in true PT TTT fashion, cars were coming toward us warning us to slow. We rouded a right hand bend to see a rider lying on the road in a pool of blood. I glanced at him as we went by and could see that his helmet was smashed and his face covered in blood. I've seen it many times before. A rider lying on the ground after a crash and a few volunteers and a ref tending to the fallen rider. Our group of about 8 or 10 guys continued on. We crested one of the little climbs on the back side of the course and I survey'd the group and noticed RS was missing. I though we couldn't have dropped him, we are not going that hard. I asked the Wingman where RS was and the Wingman said that he stopped to help the guy who crashed.
At the time, I didn't really think much of it. At that point we were not riding for a placing. Our work for the team was done. We were basically on a training ride just getting the miles in the legs to prep for the rest of the season.
I thought alot about what kind of post I wanted to do this week. Do I want to finish the Cuban interview? Do I want to do a post about the differences between the two vehicles that traveled to SoCal and how the conversations were, I am sure, very different in those two vehicles. (Trust me that one would be funny) Nope I don't feel right if I don't recognize what RS did during the race.
Johnathan said when he stopped, the guy was unconcious and not breathing. He said that the ref and the other people that were there, were just standing there doing nothing.
I think about what if that was one of us in a pool of blood and everyone around was just standing there.
I don't know what happened to the guy who crashed. All I know is that when Johnathan stopped, he got off his bike to help and could have saved the guys life. Johnathan cleared the guys air way by doing something, I don't really understand, but it worked and they guy started breathing and came to. I think by the time Johnathan finally decided to finish his race the guy was concious and coherant.
What would have happened if Johnathan hadn't stopped? Maybe the guy would have been ok. I don't know.
Many things make me proud to be on this team. From the way we race, to the way we train, to the way we lay it on the line for one another and are not affraid to sacrafice for the best interest of the team.
We all get wrapped up in the heat of the battle and get our racing brains going full throttle, but when it comes down to it, we all have jobs. Racing is a hobby for us. Racing is a hobby for 95% of the people that showed up to Boulevard this weekend. From the juniors all the way to half of the pro field.
We have guys on this team who don't lose site of the big picture..... Life. The guy who crashed has a life and I am sure racing bikes is his hobby. Maybe Johnathan helped this guy extend his life a little longer.
The entire team did a great job this past weekend. Every race we do, I get a little more excited about the potential I see in everyone and what we can accomplish as a team, but the MVP award, this weekend, goes to Johnathan Edwards and it has nothing to do with his racing. Thanks Johnathan.
A.S.
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