2017 Blogs and Pics

Ft. Wayne, Indiana

The first show of the year didn't exactly go as planned. As you can see by the picture of the brand new smashed fork. I drove down to my dad's house in Kenosha to stay the night and get a jump start on the drive through Chicago to Ft. Wayne. I arrived to the arena around 10 am and the ramps were already set in place for practice. I did a few adjustment and the new bike, got geared up and started practice. There was not a lot of room in the arena the way the floor was set up for the circus so we only got the ramps back to 60 feet. I was just starting to do a few of my warm up tricks like the heel clicker and can can and I went to do a switchblade and got my foot caught on the seat and crashed. I slid down the landing on my butt and the bike slammed into the corner of the concrete wall and smashed in the left fork right where the upper tube and lower tube meet. So needless to say that was the end of my riding for the day. So I packed up and headed home to get the suspension sent to Enzo to get it fixed. I thank GOD for keeping me safe through that one, especially with the Green Bay Monster XL tour show coming up this weekend! Come on out its gonna be a rad show!! 

Green Bay, WI

I met up with Scot Murray from SIck Air FMX thursday morning at the Brown County Arena. Scot and I have been doing this show together for close to 12 years now and we were excited to come back again and throw down with our freinds Mike Keiper and Charles Bush. We started off washing the ramp on thursday afternoon as they were bringing in the dirt to make the monster truck course. Friday morning began with a small practice to get the ramps out to show gap so the course could be built around the jump. We helped build the course and get all the cars in place so that we could get another practice in before the 6pm pit party. Our practice got cut a little short cause Charles had a small crash and we all helped get his bike straightened out. He was ok but had broken his front brake line so he would have to ride without front brakes all weekend. 

There was a good turn out for friday night pit party so we all signed autographs and mingled with the fans. The show went well friday night, we all made it through safe! Saturday matinee was packed as usual with a lot of kids excited to see some action. I recieved some new ALIAS MX gear from Tim at zerogravityoutreach.com in the mail on friday while I was at the arena so I wore it for both saturday shows to test it out. It was very comfortable and looked great to! The shows went off without a hitch and we all made it through safe. Once again we thank the GOOD LORD above for watching over us and we are looking forward to our next show!

Fargo, Jamestown, Bismark, ND

I met up with Levi Renz from Montana for a two week run in North Dakota for the Beja Shrine CIrcus. We started out in Fargo for the first weekend, with a couple days off during the week. A one day show in Jamestown then off to Bismark to finish the tour. Renz was coming off a broken colar bone the he sustained back in January riding in southern California. We knocked out practice on thursday, got the shows done and headed off to Jamestown. Had a good show there then westbound to Bismark. We set the ramp at 68' and hucked it. It was the first time in a long time that I didn't start from 40' and push the ramp back. It felt good to do that and shorten up practice a bit. The shows went awsome and I headed home for a little front flip practice at Scot Murrays training facility in the U.P. of Michigan.

Bemidji and Duluth, MN

On the road to Bemidji and Duluth with Charles Bush. I left the landing in Grand Rapids, MN at our freind Tyler's house on the way home from the last show so the drive was not bad. We made it in a couple hours and arrived just in time to get the ramps into the building. The next morning we got in early to set up and get a quick practice in. The show was scheduled for one day in Bemidji and three days in Duluth, so we knocked it out and moved on. Duluth set up went well, we've been in this building multiple times in the last couple years and the faculty and staff are great to work with and very helpful. Practice went well again thank the LORD! The shows went awsome and we had a great time. A big thanks to Dan Weeks over at ManueverMotosports.com for hooking us up with this gig. We can't wait to do it again.

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Bangor and Presque Isle, ME

Mark Merrix and I made the 24 hour drive out to Maine for another round of Shrine Circus performances. We started out the first weekend in Bangor for three days of shows then headed two hours north to finish the tour in Presque Isle. Nearly twenty minutes from the Canadian border we set up the ramps in this tiny building just barely big enough to get the gap stretched to 55 ft before we were hitting our heads on the ceiling. We stopped off in Bar Harbor for the few days we had in between shows to check out the Seafood selection and soak up a little Atlantic Ocean salt water on our feet. It rained the entire time we were there so our camping plans got changed to hotel plans but none the less we had a good time. Lord willing all of our shows went well till the last day when the clutch cable on Marks bike broke and he had to sit out the last show. We left out sunday morning for the 24 hour trip back that turned into a 48 hour trip back when the wheel bearing on my truck went out just south of Portland, Maine. We had the truck towed to a nearby shop and repaired monday morning and we were back on the road by 4pm. It was good to have Mark Merrix out of retirement and riding with us again. We thank GOD for keeping us safe and look forward to the next trip!

Lake George, NY

The next stop of our adventure brings us to The Americade Motorcycle Rally in Lake George, New York. It was a last minute call to cover this show that was scheduled for one rider with ramps 1000 miles from home. The previous weeks schedule was hectic as I was in the U.P. of Michigan at Scot Murrays compound helping put the roof on his new shop. It took longer than expected as always, with a 4 hour drive from there to Kenosha to attend my sisters graduation ceremony on Saturday, then a 2 hour drive home from there very late that night. My plan was to go to church on Sunday morning but as I reviewed my timeline I found that there was no way I would make it all happen so I loaded up and hit the road. I stopped back at my dad's house to check some trailer wiring because the brakes were not working. I tried a few things but after a hours worth of work, still nothing so I had to get the trip started. I drove through the night, stopped to get a couple hours of sleep and finished up in the morning. I made it with one hour to spare but thankfully when I finally got there it was raining. It contiued to rain throughout the day, I got the ramps set up but was never able to perform. 

The next days weather forcast called for more rain and that there was. Rain, Rain, Rain, all through the night, until morning. The sun came out and dried everything very fast and we were finally able to get a couple performances done. Just before the last performance I noticed a crack in the metal starting right by the hitch so we checked around with all the different factorys who had brought their rigs but noone had brought a welder. I called around to some local shops and finally got a hold of someone who was willing to fix it later that night at their shop once I finished the show. So I busted out a double grab look back heart attack, packed it up and headed home, with a short stop to have someone fix the ramp....

Well, that didn't happen. The guy who said he would stay late at his shop and help me fix my trailer bailed out and was nowhere to be found when I got there. I called the number multiple times and pounded on the door with no answer. Finally after waiting for fifteen minutes I decided I would have to find a Home Depot and buy a welder and fix it myself, so thats what I did. Google mapped the nearest Home Depot, $680 dollars and about an hour and I was back on the road. Needless to say it was quite the adventure. I'd like to thank THE GOOD LORD ABOVE for keeping me safe once again and look forward to doing this show again next year hopefully!

Pleasant Grove, UT

Wi-FMX invited us out to The Strawberry Days Rodeo in Pleasant Grove, UT. Cody and I loaded up and headed out for the 28 hour drive to Utah for the four day event which included mutton bustin, Saddle bronc, team roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing and some hardcore bull riding! We met up with Alan DIxon a local rider on Wednesday and knocked out a quick practice session. The first night went awsome, there were fireworks immediately following our show then we did a few autographs and called it good. Thursday and Friday went equally well and we finished it off on Saturday night with a bang. Here is a shot of one of the trains we performed with Alan in the front coming back from a huge switchblade and Me following with a no handed flip! We had a blast on this trip and are looking forward to going back next year hopefully. We toured the Mormon Temple Square and on the way home we stopped off in Park City, UT where there is a downhill mountian biking park. We rented $4000.00 bikes for a couple hours and made a few runs down the hill. It was awsome!  We had one more stop on the way home in Park Rapids, MN to drop off Cody's landing at another rodeo that would be taking place in two weeks that Charles Bush is covering> Big thanks to Cody for hiring us for this one and Thanks to the GOOD LORD ABOVE for keeping everyone safe! 

Neenah, WI

The hometown crowd was loud and rowdy as the local crew got together for Community Fest in Riverside Park on Independence Day! Cody Cavanaugh was in the house for the first show of the day, and our buddy Charles Bush arrived just in time to jump into the second show! He drove through the night from a rodeo show in Minnesota to be able to ride for his hometown crowd. Many freinds and family of all three riders were in attendance at the three scheduled shows of the day. Cody and I set up ramps and practiced the day before and the first show was scheduled for 10:30 am. Charles came in and hucked it with no practice!! There was a great turnout for all three shows and the crowds were energized to say the least. This is the first time anything like this has been at Community Fest and we would like to thank our good friend Mike Kading from Neenah Parks and Recreation for hiring us as entertainment for this event. Everyone rode awsome and had a great time and it looks like we will be coming back again next year. Check out the review we recieved from one of our spectators in the the testimonials section of our website. We would also like to thank GOD for keeping us in one piece through this one!!

Ionia, MI

How big are them tires? Thats a frequently asked question at the monster truck shows we perform at. We didn't hear it this time but we saw some tires that were pretty big.  Charles was amazed by them and so was I. We traveled to Ionia, Michigan to meet up with the monster truck throwdown tour to perform at the Ionia county fair. We arrived around 11 am to set up and get a quick practice in. The wind was blowing pretty hard but luckily we could set the ramps with the wind to our backs so it worked out good. We jammed out practice and went to check into our hotel. 

We arrived back just before the show to listen to the drivers meeting and get the show format worked out. We were only required to ride once during the show directly after intermission then pull the ramps off. Charles rode awsome busting out some big cliffhangers and a sweet lazyboy. I followed up with a rock solid and double grab look back heart attack and finished the show with a couple sweet trains. The fans were pumped and we were happy to give them a good show. We packed the ramps and headed back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep and drive home safely. GOD kept us safe once again and we couldn't be more grateful. Off to the next adventure!

Fishersville, VA

The next stop on our summer show tour was a last minute fill in call from our old freind Casey Higgins. It was a two night monster truck show he has been performing at for many years and the rider he had scheduled couldn't make it so he called me to fill the flip rider spot. I met up with the guys friday morning to set up ramps and get things dialed in for the show. It was about 90 degrees during our practice set and as soon as we were done Casey's vision got blurry and he had a severe headache so we all went to walmart to get him some pedialite to rehydrate hime and he went and sat in the air conditioning for the next couple hours. The Friday night shoe was a success we all rode awsome and the crowd was really into it! The saturday night FMX show was cut a little short due to a storm that moved in and dumped a bunch of rain on the course. The monster trucks were still able to finish there segment and the crowd went wild. We would like to thank Casey for including us in this show, we had a great time and it was good to see him again. Thanks to the GOOD LORD ABOVE for keeping us safe!!

Britt, IA

We met up with an our old freind Darryl Biaer at a Stunt Tours show in Britt, Iowa along with Cody Cavanaugh and Charles Bush from WI-FMX, Rich Kearns, and Travis Cady from Montana. The winds were holding at 20-25 mph all day so we were not able to get practice done untill right before show time. Everyone made it through practice good and we jumped right into the show. We started off with a competition format with each rider getting 6 jumps to impress the judges for the first round. Then we did a best trick section with 2 jumps each and on to the second round of competition with the judges giving out scores between 0-10. Everyone rode awsome but in the end Rich Kearns pulled out the win! The crowd was great as we all finished up with an epic expression session and some flip trains to round it out. We all had a good time riding together and look forward to doing some more shows for Stunt Tours again soon! Thank GOD for keeping us all safe. On to the next show.

Oshkosh, WI

Hometown show with the WI-FMX crew! We originally had Cody Cavanaugh scheduled to perform with us at this one but he recieved an opportunity to do another show a couple hours away doing backflips with his takeoff and landing. So we brought in Josh Mertens on the quad to fill his spot. Charles Bush also performed and did a fantastic job. There were three shows scheduled, one saturday morning at 11am, a saturday evening show at 6pm and a sunday afternoon performance at 2pm. We set up and practiced on friday afternoon because there were races scheduled for friday night and no time saturday morning to practice before the show. It was very windy friday and we only managed to move the ramp back one move before we were almost getting blown off the side of the landing. We decided to finish practice in the first session of the first show on saturday to be safe. The shows went off without a hitch and everyone rode awesome. The hometown crowd was pumped and we all had a great time. A big thanks to Dan Weeks from Manuever Mototsports for hooking us up with this gig and looking forward to next year. And as always thanking GOD for keeping everyone safe!!

Soiux Falls, SD

One of the things in life I am most grateful for is the opportunity to use my skills and talents to give back, and thats just what zerogravityoutreach.com is all about! I was fortunate enough to be introduced to some people a couple years ago who are living out their destiny to "Use extreme measures, in extreme world, to reach an extreme culture. Tim Wilkinson is the visionary behind this movement to reach out to people for Jesus, utilizing the gifts and talents GOD has given us to share his message. This trip would include 4 shows in 5 days around the vicinity of Souix Falls, South Dakota to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We joined up with the of Life Light Global Ministries to introduce the inmates of Mike Durfee State prison to Jesus. Trevor Cartmill and I were the FMX riders and Tim Wilkinson on the quad. There were supposed to be two groups of 400 prisoners but mother nature had different plans. After the first performance was over we stopped to have a bite to eat and a major storm came rolling in just before the start of the second show. Tornado warnings and heavy rain were cause enough for everyone to be ushered inside to safety. Two inches of rain in an hour and that was enough to shut us down for the rest of the day. It rained so hard we were not able to get the landing out so we had to wait till the next day. Wednesday was a travel day and we headed up to the town of Milbank, SD where we got to shut the streed down in front of the courthouse for day two of performances. Everything went off without a hitch in Milbank... except getting pulled over by the local police for riding wheelies down main street on our way back from dinner at the church.  Friday morning we were back on the road southbound to get set up at Vern Eide Motosports complex for an afternoon performance. There were wind gusts up to 30 mph all afternoon so we prayed and GOD came through with a 20 minute window where the wind died down just enough to get a show off! Praise the LORD!! That night we arrived back at the hotel to get a good nights sleep and saturday morning we got things set up in the Canary Stadium parking lot for our final show of the week. The weather was awsome as the crowds started pouring in. We shared the Gospel and some freestyle motocross as the fans came in and everyone had a great time. A huge thanks to Zero Gravity for having me and I thank the GOOD LORD ABOVE for keeping everyone safe throughout the week. 

Grand Forks, ND

We met up with the Zero Gravity Crew again a few weeks later for a couple days with HOPE Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The first event for us to attend was the local parade downtown. Aaron Twite brought the street bike along for some flat land shennanigans, along with Robbie King and Tim Wilkinson on the quad. The judges of the parade named us "most energetic display" ! As you can see by the picture to the left thats exactly what Evan the MC thought also! I had another show booked in Longview, TX that I had been a part of the last few years but wasn't able to attend because of the timing, So I called a few freinds to roll in there and cover that Friday and Saturday night show for me. Scott Murray was originally booked to cover that show but was having truck problems so I got in touch with Wade Moore from Krum, TX and he hauled the landing to the track and met up with Gabriel Villiegas and Mark Merrix the two riders who were performing. The show promoter was happy with the job they did and so was I. Meanwhile in North Dakota we got to ride our dirt bikes into the church for the sunday service to promote the show that was scheduled for later that afternoon. Robbie King and I were battling 25-30 mph winds all day during practice and the show but we managed to pull it off and everyone made it through safe. The pastor of the church even participated in the quad pile. We had a great time sharing the Gospel and riding our bikes and look forward to doing it again next year! Thank Jesus for keeping us safe and on to the next adventure.

York, PA

The trip to York, Pennsylvania took a nose dive real quick about two hours from our destination. Mark and I drove all day to make it to the show. Around midnight the truck started making a ticking noise that continued to get louder and louder until I decided to pull off to investigate. We found a hotel to pull into and checked the oil and a couple other things to see if we could find where the noise was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from the top of the motor but it was hard to tell. Regardless the truck wasn't gonna make it to the show so we got a room for the night with the hope to get someone from the show to come and get us in the morning. The first thing I did when I got to the room was start praying to GOD for help. I knew we needed to be to the fairgrounds early the next morning and had no Idea how we would pull it off. I tried contacting the promoter to see if he had anyone available but he didn't answer. I left him a message and kept praying! 

A short while later my phone rang and it was the promoter calling back. I explained what happened and he talked to his crew leader and asked him to drive through the night with his Ford Dually to pick us and the landing up and get us to the show. Praise the LORD, he answered our prayers and he agreed. I headed down to the parking lot to unhook the truck and get things that we needed transfered from the truck to the landing. He arrived around 3am, we hooked up and headed back. Mark and I tried to sleep as much as we could on the two hour truck ride but it was tough. We made it to the track around 530 am and tried to squeeze in a few more hours of sleep before we had to set up and crank out practice. The sun came up way to soon but the show must go on. We got practice done as fast as we could so we could make it over to the truck rental place before it closed. I rented a brand new F-150 to get us and our bikes home for the following weekends show in Escanaba, Michigan with @sickairco and the gang.

The pit party was a great time, we got to meet a lot of excited fans and chat with some local riders. The show went awsome, the crowd was super loud and got us pumped up. Mark rode awsome and we had a lot of fun. We'd like to thank Buddy the crew leader for driving through the night and sacrificing his sleep to come and save our butts. We also wanna thank the promoter Zane Rattew for being understanding and helpful in a situation like this. Over the next few weeks I attempted to hire a transport company to haul my truck home to no avail. So of course I had to borrow my grandfathers gooseneck trailer and Cody Cavanaugh's truck and make another rescue mission to pick the truck up in Pennsylvania and haul it home to have yet another new motor put in!! After everything that happened all I can say is even if I have to spend another twelve thousand dollars to get the truck fixed I am thankful to GOD for keeping us safe and working out all the details to get us home in time for the big front flip show with Scott Murray and freinds in Michigan. Things don't always go as planned and its inevitable that we will run into problems but Jesus says in JOHN 16:33 "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world!

Escanaba,MI

The next adventure includes many days of blood, sweat, and tears building and getting ready a course that could support 10 to 12 riders inlcuding a quad and ATV. Many months of planning and practice  worked its way up to having to rush into building and setting up a scaffolding landing and crew of guys that would put in the work to make this self promoted and self produced show happen. We really would like to thank the crew of riders that showed up to put forth the effort and hard work that was necessary to make this event happen. We couldn't have done it without you guys. We worked tirelesly up until 5 minutes before the show opened up for the spectators to get everything dialed in for the show!! We litteraly finished strapping and setting the airbag landing for Scot's portion of the show just minutes before the doors opened to the public. We signed autographs and mingled with the fans up until it was time to go through the riders meeting and dial in the format. We were down to 6 out of 12 scheduleded riders after all was said and done, we had to make it happen.  The video crew was in place and the announcers were ready. 

We gathered together for a prayer meeting to ask God for protection and safety and we dove in, front tire deep, not knowing what to expect. Within 10 minutes we were down to 5 riders.... the bike that Mike Keiper had borrowed had blown a fork seal and he was out. That left the five of us to try and carry the remaining 75 minutes of the show in the midst of performing the first of this type of show that we had been thrust into. Everyone rode their hearts out and we finished the show off with a front flip and double backflip that the crowd went nuts for. We accomplished what we set out to do and its all uphill from here. Check out the video from the show on the top of the home page. 

 We all rallied together to make the show go down without a hitch and between the hardcore riding skills and impromptu actions our crew pulled together an absolutely amazing show that kept the crowd on their feet and energized through the entire 90 minutes of time we were asked to fill. We would like to thank Sha Zo , BO BO, GInger, Scotty B and all of the volunteers that put there hard work, time and effort into making this event such a success.  Everyone helped and made this event the best that it could be and we are forever thanful for you and your sacrifice. The plans for the future of this show and its potential will rest on the opportunities that God presents to us as time goes on. We pray that we could glorify and honor him through the things that we do until we can represent him in his full capacity at our next Sick Air Event, God bless and thank you!

Cumberland, ME

Big thanks to Cody Cavanaugh again for saving the day, I had to borrow his truck to get this show done once again. I met up with Mark Merrix on the trip eastbound, he was driving the rental truck back for me because it had to be returned to the same place we got it from. We made it back to the hotel where we had left my truck the previous week and crashed for the night. The next morning we dropped the rental and hooked up to the landing to head north to Maine for the 3 day monster truck show. We arrived to the venue and got set up for practice and knocked it out. Mark and I rode well through all three days of shows, the crowds were awsome and everyone stayed safe! We took some time after the shows to check out the beach, it was very cold but we all jumped in anyways. We stopped in a little lobster shack to check out some fresh seafood and take in the sights. The next day we packed everything up and headed towards home. We would like to thank "The GOOD LORD" for keeping us all safe and another successful show! Until next time...

Statesboro, GA

The final show of the year takes place down in Statesboro, Georgia with the Zero Gravity Outreach crew. Riders Trevor Cartmill and Ryan Meyung were among the talent including drift car drivers Marco Tellez and Ryan Quinn. Rounding out the performers was Aaron Twite on the street stunts and Tim Wilkinson on the quad. The custom car care center was where it all went down. The drift cars got it started with an awsome warm up followed up by Aaron Twite and his pure expertise on the street bike. Then the freestyle MX came in to wow the crowd. We all took turns ripping it up and finished with huge finale. Many people made a decision to follow Christ and GOD was glorified to the max. We would like to thank all the vounteers and people who work so hard to make the Zero Gravity event such a sucess. A huge thanks to THE GOOD LORD ABOVE for keeping us safe once again!!