Went to Ramprats in Petaluma on Wednesday with Mike. Got there and really wasn't into it because there were a bunch of kids already there. really not into it and bumming because i was planning on riding there on wed and thurs. but since we were there we put on our full face helmet, elbows, knee and shins and gloves and got our mt bikes feeling like everyone was watching and they were. talk about intimidating. these kids are so good. rolled over the 5 foot high box jump first and then went back up and jumped it. and jumped it some more and just kept doing that. it was such a relief to be able to ride at least something. the thing that sucked about the box jump was as soon as i landed i would have to grab a handful of brakes and turn on the quarter pipe wallride. i wasn't even getting to the vert whereas these kids would go flying up it and turn around super high. i have never done any ramp riding so it was all foreign to me. they also had a foam pit but to get to it you had to go down this steep roll in. almost vert roll in to hit the jump into the foam pit. we did that a few times and that was hard because i was always afraid of getting hit by some part of my bike when landing. it was so damn hard getting out of the foam too. i am talking a complete pain in the ass. have to use all your muscles to get out. i wacked my ankle on my crankarm which sucked. what else? it was a thousand degrees in there. just sweating like crazy. just soaked. had to keep going outside to cool off. it was only like 90 outside. we got there at noon and stayed until around six.

went to motel 6 in Petaluma and walked over to some mexican food place and got a chicken quesadilla. it was pretty good and i planned to go back again.

Thursday- i am all sore from using all these different muscles from pumping the transitions and stuff. I ended up at some outlet mall which i happened across on the way to ramprats. I had an hour to kill so i got some Vans and a pair of shorts. got to ramprats and rode there and hung out watching from noon til 8. nothing else to do so i just watched these amazing kids ride. i was getting better but I wish i was 16 instead of 36.
one thing i did notice was that people could go hit that foam pit and do superman seat grabs and backflips and stuff and then they would go and hit the box jump and ride like shit.

Ramprats rule. Norcalramprats.com

went back to motel 6 and showered and walked over to the mexican place. they close at 8:30. damn. walk a little ways to a burger king and eat there.

Friday- Still sore. i went to the national championships at infineon raceway. mountain cross course looked decent. the last straight was complete death though. not sure what the course builders were thinking. easy going slow but you aren't going to be going slow into it. no big jumps at all. saw the pros qualify and lopes killed it like usual. watched the ams qualify and also race. fun watching the racing and seeing people.

downhill course- talk about a complete pain in the ass to walk up on the dry grass. slipping and sliding and falling down. easier to ride down the course than to walk down on that damn grass. nothing to exciting on the downhill course but they did have some triples which to hit at full speed you would come really close to the pole. and a few people smacked into that thing pretty good. somebody crashed hard enough to get airlifted out.

pits/expo area- weak! boring boring boring. i rode through there probably 20 times. there was nothing to do or watch. nothing. i would stop by the santa cruz syndicate trailer and talk to theo or taylor and then go cruise around and come back talk and then go ride around some more. some some roadies riding on the racecourse.boring.there was so much of nothing to do. i bought some tires for 24 bucks each which was a pretty good deal.

went back to the mexican place and got a chicken quesadilla and a mexican coke to go. 5 minutes of looking at the refrigerator full of beer i decided i would get one. i paid for it and then a minute later was told i couldn't have it to go so i returned it. i really wanted it too. i have like 2 bottles a year. but the food and coke was good.

Saturday- last day at motel 6 so i had to pack everything up. went to the races again and was told i had to park in lot 3 up the road. so i went up and up the road and didn't see lot 3 but i saw some rv parking and parked there. this sucks because now i am parked up some big ass hill so if i want a coke or water i have to ride up this stupid long hill. i found out later on that lot 3 was at the bottom of the hill. got there at noon and did nothing and was bored crazy.
super d was going to start so i went to watch that. super lame. downhill my ass. all these cross country dudes with their seatposts skyhigh. what i gather is a group of riders go at the same time down a super wussy downhill course that has a whole bunch of uphill and then you draft off the guy on the uphill road section into the finish. the one good thing was all these trek guys with some gay ass red cowboy hats kept saying how they want to see some crashes blah blah blah. and nobody crashed until some trek semi-pro or expert came by and he got super squirrelly and then crashed 20 seconds later. i liked that.
so i was bored. i rode on the racecar/ road bike racecourse and holy crap that thing has some steep uphill on it.rode half of it and that was not too exciting either. the pros are going to practice at 4 for the mountain cross and race at 5. it is only 2. go and watch the downhill. seen it already so i decide to see if i can park in the parking lot that is next to the course and if not then i will just leave and go home. parking volunteer won't let me in even though cars are leaving the lot and there are spaces. whatever. then i see i can go uu this road and get in the back way by the go karts. get stopped up there by some workers. my parking pass isn't good for this lot because this is for go karts. you can pay 5 dollars and park here though. i already paid 10 yesterday and another 10 today. no thanks and i left. drove home thinking this sucks and not in a good mood. hmm. I will be taking 680 home which goes by a bmx track. stop there and ride my cheeta for only like 10 minutes but i get to do some jumps and stuff. i feel so much better. go home happy now.

Tomorrow (Sunday) i will be going to south lake tahoe for some more riding.