San Francisco is cold...

It is ALWAYS cold- in fact Mark Twain said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." He wasn't kidding either. San Francisco is surrounded by water on 3 sides which means you get really cold wind blowing in from the water year round. Even in the middle of summer I found myself wearing long pants just trying to stay warm. I thought that San Francisco was the worst place on the face of the earth. Then one day my dad mentioned that he had heard that some people get together on Sundays in Golden Gate Park. I thought that it might be worth checking out so that Sunday I was dropped off at the park...

My first site when I got into the park was of the best freestyle riders in the world (at the time) doing tricks that people STILL can't do easily today. I saw something called 'scuffing' for the first time... The person who invented scuffing was the person who was doing it... I saw Aaron Dull ride... Aaron Dull's name was said with the same reverence as Kevin Jones. Kevin and Aaron were the ones taking top honors at their very first freestyle contests that year. It was unbelievable to see someone of that caliber riding when all I could do was bunny hop and endo. All I could do the first day was sit on the grass and watch people do what couldn't be done on a bike.

I went down to Los Angeles and competed in my first freestyle contest. A local event that was being sponsored by the governing freestyle body at the time the AFA (American Freestyle Association). There were about 100+ riders that showed up in Huntington Beach for this small, local event. I didn't practice at all... Just sat and watched. Nevertheless I was lucky enough to get 3^rd place in my run and still have the trophy sitting on my wall.

Contests became a regular part of my life and I discovered the fun of just going to hand out and ride for a weekend with friends old and new. But I realize now that I was still clueless when it came to bikes. I had the heart that I needed but never had anyone that was good that sat down and told me what sucked and what was good. Pete Brandt changed that for me. Pete is one of the best riders ever. In my years riding with him I saw him invent tricks such as the cow maneuver (now called the smith decade), the crack packer, and the jack-in-the-crotch. He gave me my first set of chrome plated rims- and suddenly my brakes worked. He introduced me to the concept of the freecoaster 3 years before there would be a company called Standard Industries making an unbrake. He also showed me what was possible if a rider has the dedication, heart, and determination to learn new tricks. It was incredible and some of the best years of riding in my life.

But I wasn't happy on the West Coast- My friends and life was 3000 miles away. I made the trip to the East Coast 3 or 4 times over a 3 year period and had the chance to ride and make even more friends on the East Coast. I saw several shows at the number one rider shop ever- Rockville BMX... I saw a kid who was sponsored by Skyway on his first tour ever- Matt Hoffman... I saw a guy who was recently off of GT and riding in what was his last big time tour- Eddie Fiola. I took pictures and recorded it all forever.

In late 1989 there was an earthquake that burned down buildings and was the last straw for me in a city that I couldn't quite get the feel for. I packed my stuff in the back of a U-Haul and strapped it to my 1980 Dodge Colt. I said goodbye to Pete and my other friends and headed home. 3000 miles East with nowhere to live and no job I knew that I was going to find what I wanted.