It was seven years ago today that I was laying face down in the dirt with shooting pains going up my legs and into my spine all the way up my neck and into my head. Pulses of intense sharpness that radiated my core. I was hurting and I knew right then and there I had a long road to recovery. The date was February 26, 2009 just 1 year after officially retiring from professional competition on the PWA tour. My competitor side of me was still running strong, I was in the best shape of my life and feeling like superman….. nothing like a hard landing to take the wind out of my sails, breaking both of my legs that required some serious surgeries and a solid year of intense rehab. A wheelchair for 6 weeks, crutches for 4 more months, a baby on the way….. Life was getting exciting!
People always ask why do you do that to yourself? Motorcycles have been a part of me since I can first remember anything. I need adrenaline I guess……I also believe motocross was one of the best tools to learn to fly, how to control the body, instill sharp and quick reflexes all of which are required to do just about anything. My dad was on the verge of a professional motocross career until I showed up! Our entire family lived in the dirt and loved every minute of desert camping and traveling around riding different tracks and racing in local competitions. I will never forget my dads advice when telling me how to race, “you should be either full throttle on the gas or slamming on the brakes as hard as you can!” It took me a couple races and some pretty good crashes to work out that exact technique but in the end it has served me well, not just in motocross and windsurfing, but life itself.
Windsurfing started for me at 11 years old trying to flex every single muscle in my body to lift up a full size windsurfer one design sail! This addiction led my entire family into the world of water, searching for wind and waves every chance we could all across the state of California and beyond. A passion turned into an amazing career traveling the world there and back again. Meeting great people and creating friendships that will always be. Learning the ropes of life by living it! Windsurfing is where I got my university degree.
What’s the point? Life is short, play hard.
OUCH!!!!