I was home and my life in freestyle was going to hit its peak in the next few years.

This was the low point for freestyle and all the people that I used to ride with were now driving and NOT riding. They just weren't into it anymore. I was. I loved it and rode alone for the first 8 months. At the end of my first summer home I did a safety demo/show for a local school and met a kid named Eric Mitchell. He knew me and had known me for years. At 15 he had already been riding for about as long as I had. But he was in the same situation- he didn't have anyone who knew about bikes to help get the most out of his bike. So the rims that Pete had given me- I handed down to him. They were pretty beat, but they were the best he had ever ridden at the time. I still have weeks where Eric and I ride together every single day.

I began competing on an almost monthly basis locally. I won titles 3 years straight and the death of the AFA led to the birth of the NBL freestyle series. I went to contests for my last year as an amateur and made a decision- if I won the expert class in the finals at the NBL contest I was going to go pro. A flawless three minute run gave me the win and thus my pro career began. The next year was the last year that the NBL was going to hold contests... I captured second place in the pro class for the year and actually won a couple of the contests. I was loving every second on my bike and was about to get the chance of a lifetime during the worst period in the sports history.

I got a phone call one night and a week later my car was packed up and I was out on tour. The tour was the best and worst year of my life. I didn't get paid enough and ended up in debt at the end of the tour. I had to drive my car on tour- the same car that now has 300,000 miles on it. The tour was nine months and I was stuck with the same person for breakfast, lunch, and dinner- we rode all day, we spent the nights in the same hotel room. In just a few months we were ripping each others throat out. But that was while we were on tour and we knew it. Courtney Banks is a friend of mine and I would be happy to ride and do a show with him anytime.

There were definite perks to being on tour though- For 9 months I was able to make riding my life. No school, no 'real' job, no home, no girlfriend (with me), just my bike. Courtney introduced me to the fine details of truing wheels and fine tuning my bike even further. I may have done about 400 shows with him. At the end I was riding the most consistently that I had been in my life and still liked riding. I got a set of Super Pro Wheels (still using). About this time Standard Industries came into existence and released a heat treated axle for the Peregrine Super Pro wheel and a peg called the hand grenade. I had quickly stripped out my original Peregrine axle and called 9 shops before I found one that had nine Standard Axles in stock. I got seven of them ($13.00 each). I was going through axles at the rate of one a month and wasn't going to get caught short handed again. I put the first one in my wheel and haven't broken it yet. That was over five years ago. I came off tour and decided that I would never tour again unless it was a summer thing or just a few weeks of individual shows.

I began competing in a new contest series called the BS Series. Matt Hoffman was an absolute superstar and made a series that drew the lovers of the sport out to have fun. I went to SCRAP and Oklahoma City as well as some other locations. I was running about the middle of the pack of pros and loving every contest. I would spend my days working and making money to pay rent and then ride during the evening. For about two years I followed this pattern before time caught up with me.

I ride about three or four times a week now. I am a part-time student and a full-time employee of a technology company. I own a house and am married (no kids). I am not who I was three years ago- I'm not who I was ten years ago. I still compete in the pro class but the new generation of riders are coming in that are able to dedicate their lives to riding the way the I was able to five years ago. I just pray that I don't get last place. It doesn't always work. Sometimes it does.

In 1998 I was the 34^th ranked pro in the BS Series or X-Trials or B3 contests or whatever they want to be called in 1999. I am going to go to several of the qualifiers for the 1999 X-Games and I will keep making new friends. Here, at shows, at contests, wherever. I hate to compete- but I love going. I love riding well. I love to ride at all. I am not the same as I was 13 years ago. I but part of me is. I love to ride. ~P~