2019 Blogs and Pics

Green Bay, WI

The Final Crush was the title for the last monster truck show we will ever be a part of in the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena. News has it that the building will be torn down this spring and replaced with something new. The way it sounds it will not be big enough to perform freestyle motocross in. Although we are saddened by this news we've had a solid 12 year run involved with the Monster XL tour and its been a blessing. 

Cody and I arrived thursday morning to get our bikes inside to thaw out. Its been intensly cold here for the previous couple weeks and would take the full 24 hours we had before practice to get warmed up. Scot arrived shortly after us to get the ramp thawed and washed also. We finished up around 4 pm and headed home. Friday morning we all did some needed bike work and got the ramps set up for practice. Lord willing everyone made it through saftely and we were ready for the evenings festivities. The friday night show went awsome, it was good to get back out in front of a crowd after being off the bike for 4 months!

Saturday matinee was the best show of the weekend. The stands were full and the crowd was electric!! We all rode great and had a great time. Saturday night show was also good and we went out with a bang for our last performance! It was all hands on deck getting the ramps torn down and packed up so we could get over to the Tundra Lodge for Cody's suprise birthday party. It was great to hang out with the whole crew and tell stories of the years past, and a big thanks to Sick Air CO for including us in these shows for the past couple years. We also thank GOD for keeping us safe through the weekend and on to bigger and better things!!

Rincon, GA

Just in time to save my sanity we were heading southbound to meet up with Travis Willis, Trevor Cartmill and Team FMX at the 2019 Gears and Grub car show in Rincon, Georgia. I travel to a lot of these shows alone and it does get a little boring and lonely driving alone but for this trip I was lucky enough to have my Mom and Aunt Sherry tag along in their car behind me. They were also going stir crazy from the long winter and decided to head south with me and take a short vacation to Savanna, Georgia. I had a few stops to make in southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois so we met up just south of Chicago and convoyed south. Our goal was to make it to Calvert City, Kentucky where there was a Toterhome for sale that I was stopping to look at. We got in about 10 pm that night 30 miles west from our destination and stopped to get a hotel.  Early the next morning we headed to meet up with the guy with the truck. After a brief look and ride in the vehicle we got back on the road for the 11 hours drive to Savanna. 

The next morning in Savanna we had a few hours to spare so we all went downtown for a Trolley tour of the city. Later that afternoon I met up with Travis at the venue and we got set up and practiced for the Saturdays event. Trevor Cartmill arrived at the same time we did so we geared up and got through practice safetly.

The next morning we met back up at the venue and got ready for the shows. We were scheduled for three performances and the first two were the busiest. The third was still pretty good but the day was winding down. We both rode awsome and got great reviews from the promoter and everyone involed. We are already booked to come back next year and I can't wait to do it again! We thank Jesus for keeping us safe and look forward to the next show.

Oklahoma City, Ok

I recieved a call from Dan Weeks at Manuever Motorsports on tuesday afternoon to cover a 4 day circus show in Oklahoma City. Problem was I had to be there Wednesday afternoon and it was a 16 hour drive. So I ran home and got packed, had some dinner with Moira and hit the ground running. Put in 4-5 hours of driving tuesday night, stopped for a small 2 hour nap and pinned it to the destination. I arrived in OKC around 4 pm with just enough time to get another small nap in before set up and practice wednesday night.

The thursday morning show came way to fast! We got in a good nights sleep and showed up ready to ride for the 10 am kids show. The local schools bus in a bunch of the kids and we get a chance to run through the show before the general public comes for the thursday evening show. Dan brought in Derek Rule who is a new rider to the game. He has a couple basic tricks, huge whips and he is a great addition to the show! Everyone rode awsome and we continued throughout the weekend knocking shows out and keeping the people entertained. 

Our final show was sunday night at 7pm but we didn't get done riding and packing up until after 1030. Either way I wanted to get a couple hours closer to home and didn't want to pay for another night of hotels so I hit the road. I made it a couple hours out and stopped for the night to get some sleep. I made it to my dads monday night to hang out with him for a bit for his birthday. I'd say the weekend was a success, I'd like to thank the GOOD LORD above for keeping us safe once again and we are looking forward to the next trip!

Fargo, Jamestown, Bismark, ND

We always enyoy this ten day run to North Dakota for the El Zagal shrine circus. We started this years tour in Fargo for a three day weekend, then a one day/one show stop in Jamestown, finally wrapping up in Bismark for the finale. Derek Rule was our additional rider for these three stops and he did an excellent job dealing with the tight conditions of these three arena buildings. 

The Fargodome was the biggest of the three venues that we performed in over the duration of the ten days and it has plenty of room for a full 75 ft gap set up. We performed 6 shows over the first weekend in Fargo then had monday off for some R and R. Jamestown was scheduled for a tuesday evening show which was a sold out event and we rocked the house for them!! Finishing the shows in Bismark was awsome as always with a huge thanks to the shriners for their hospitality. They always treat us like family up in North Dakota! Also a big thanks to Dan Weeks at Manuever Motorsports for passing this run of shows along to us, and of course we are very thankful to THE GOOD LORD ABOVE for keeping us safe throughout the two weeks! Until next time, RIDE, BUILD, BELIEVE!!

Bangor and Presque Isle, ME

I know what you're thinking "why is there a picture of a garage door?"

Well.... thats the door that we had to shoot through on our landing area at The Forum in Presque Isle, Maine. This building is by far one of the smallest performance areas i've worked in in the last 18 years. The cieling hieght is just under 40 feet at the peak which limited us to jumping a show gap of 60 feet. We were within 5 feet of the steel rafters at our highest point of the jump which made for a pretty exciting show! We had to set the ramps diagonal across the arena floor and land through this 8 foot wide garage door into the maintenance shop to have enough room to stop. We sprayed coke syrup on the floor to help enhance our stopping abilities and bought a small piece of carpet for traction when braking. 

Cal Werner accompanied me on this 10 day run for the Anah Shrine Circus. Our first stop was in Bangor, Maine for three days followed by three days off and finishing up in Presque Isle, which is 30 miles from the Canadian border. Cal rode great, the shriners were impressed and we all had a great time. As always we thank THE GOOD LORD ABOVE for keeping us safe through the shows and for allowing us to return home to our families safely after the 28 hour drive back home!! 

Louisville,KY

Mike Silva International Festival Por La Vida was our next stop of the year. Using the skills and talents GOD gave me I was blessed to have the opportunity to team up with  ZeroGravityOutreach.com to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I met up with Trevor Cartmill, the Zero Gravity crew and a few members of Mike Silva's team to scope out the venue and do a prayer walk on friday evening. There were over 120 poeple involved and we were fortunate enough to have the attendees pray over us and the event. 

We returned to Iriquios Park the next morning to set up ramps and get some practice. It was a little breezy so we got the ramps back to a 68 foot gap and called it good. Trevor rode awsome as usual and the crowd was really into it. Tim and Debbie did a great job delivering the message and many people raised their hands and gave their lives to Jesus!! Praise the LORD! It was a great event and I believe it really impacted the local community. We look forward to working with Mike SIlva International in the future and we are excited to see the doors GOD will open! 

Depere, WI

So the weekend didn't go as planned, but we managed to salvage some good out of it. Early saturday morning I got a call saying the show scheduled in Lake Geneva, WI was cancelled due to standing water so I made a call to Scot Murray of SICKAIRFMX.CO who was performing at "Celebrate Depere" up near Green Bay, Wisconsin to see if he could get me in to ride at his show.  He contacted me later in the afternoon and asked if I could make it there by 6pm, so I jumped in my truck for the 3 hour drive north from Kenosha. I arrived just after 5pm with enough time to get geared up and ride the final show of the day with him. 

The next morning a couple of us arrived early to help Scot put his airbag up on  the landing so he could perform a double backflip at the final show of the event later that evening. Everything was set by 1pm so we got in a quick practice set and went right into the days first performance. The weather was perfect and Scot and I were throwing down the biggest tricks in the business. The crowds were amped and we made it through all three shows safetly. Scot stomped the double flip at the end of the last show and all in all I'd say it was a successful weekend! A big thanks to Scot Murray for working me into the show and also Thank JESUS for keeping us both safe!!

Poplar Bluff, MO

I drove all day to meet up with Trevor Cartmill and represent Team FMX at the Poplar Bluff  Motorsports park. Trevor hauled the take off ramp down and I spent most of the morning moving dirt and building a landing. There was no equipment and no dirt on the infield when I arrived at 9 am. The promoter asked me if we were bringing a mobile ramp because he didn't think there was any way to get it done in that short of a time period. I agreed that it would be tough but nothing is impossible with GOD. The owner of the track was trying to fix his back hoe which had broken a hydrolic line the night before but things were moving slowly to say the least. FInally after an hour and a half of wrenching on it it was obvious that it wasn't gonna work. So thats when he called the rental place and had the deliber two bobcats. They showed up just after 11am and we got right to work. The dump trucks were hauling dirt in and we were shaping it up and building the track for the trucks. We work as fast as we could pushing dirt up and we finally had it finished around 430 pm.

The show was scheduled for 730 pm so we got in a quick practice and took a break. The fans were pumped and energized for the monster trucks and bikes to get fired up! The show started with some best trick action the moved into side by side racing. We came out for a couple test jumps in the first half and saved the good stuff for after intermission. We came out swinging with big tricks right out of the box. Trevor with his huge sideways seatgrabs and I banged out a nice seat grab indy!! The fans went nuts and we finished it off with a couple sweet trains! The saturday night crowd was even bigger and boh shows went awsome!! We are looking forward to heading back down to Missouri in the fall to possibly build a motocross track at the park! Praise the LORD for keeping us safe and getting us home in one piece!! Till next time!

Watford City, ND

We started this trip off very early in the morning on friday with the hopes of getting to Watford City before to late, but.... that didn't go as planned. I drove into a 40 mph headwind across the entire state of Minnesota, the truck was running really hot and I could barely go 55 mph so the trip took two hours longer than expected. I arrived in Souix Falls around 230pm to drop the landing and truck and scoop up a rental vehicle for the trip west to Watford City. I swapped all my gear and the bike into the back of the truck and off I went for the second leg of the trip. Nearly 12 hours later I arrived at my destination and got some rest for the next days activities. 

7am came way to quickly as the whole Zero Gravity Team convened in the breakfast room to eat and have a quick talk about the schedule for the day. It was raining as we drove to the venue and things were looking dim as far as us getting set up right away in the morning to practice as planned. We had an emergency meeting with the Life Light crew and decided we should wait out the rain and come back later in the afternoon to set up and practice. 

We arrived back at the venue just after 3 oclock to set the ramps and get some practice. We were only able to get the gap stretched out to 58 feet but the sun came out and there was a gentle breeze so the ground dried quickly and we were able to ride safetly. We started the show off as usual with some straight jumps and some basic tricks just to get the crowd warmed up then Debbie and Tim took over on the stage with the GOSPEL message. Just as they were finishing up Trevor and I warmed our bikes up again and came out for the banger session. We were banging out our best tricks and finished up with three sweet trains! Over 55 people dedicated their lives to the LORD at this event and I'm very honored to be part of this event and what Life Light is doing in communities all over the country! We would like to thank THE GOOD LORD ABOVE for keeping us safe once again!

Souix Falls, SD

The next stop of the summer brings us to the 5th annual Peach Tree Festival at the W. H. Lyons fairgrounds. Travis at Team FMX called us in to cover this two day, three rider show which included Trevor Cartmill and Scot Murray. We arrived friday afternoon to set ramps then got a solid practice in saturday morning before our first scheduled show which was at 12 oclock. The ramps were at full 75 foot gap and the weather was beautiful... that was until the 3pm show when the winds picked up considerably and conditions became unsafe. However we were able to perform the 6pm show with no problems and everyone made it through safe. All three shows on sunday went off without a hitch and everyone rode awsome. We were packed up and on the road by 530pm!

It was a great weekend of riding and it sounds like we will be going back for next years festival!! Once again we would like to thank GOD for his protection and provision and also thanks to Team FMX for hooking us up with this show!

Neenah, WI

Welcome back! Our third year being involved with our local community fest in Riverside Park was a huge sucess. We brought in our good freind Scot Murray from SickAirFMX.co down to ride the event with us, and once again Charles Bush shredding as usual. The weather was just about perfect as the crowds started filing in. We knocked out a short practice just prior to the first show which was scheduled for 1030 am. Ethan Rehberg was in the house to help on the mic so we kicked off the first show with a military tribute and the national anthem. We got things started with some basic tricks then moved into FMX garage. Next we jumped into the jam session and all three of us were ripping our best tricks! The crowds were excited and everyone was cheering loudly for us! We finished up with a couple trains and some flips! All three shows went off without a hitch and everyone made it through safe! We'd like to thank Dr. DeWitt and the Neuro Spine Center of WIsconsin for sponsoring our show! We look forward to working with them in the future, and also a big thanks to Mike Kading, director of Parks and Recreation in Neenah for hiring us for this event. We are already scheduled for next year.  And of course thanking GOD for keeping us safe!!!

Evansville, Indiana

Summer Smash was in full effect at the Vanderberg 4-H center and fairgrounds! We've been looking forward to this show for 8 months since we recieved the call to join Tim Dyson FMX and perform the frontflip on friday and saturday night. Many days of practice and preparation went into this event including a painful crash just 2 weeks before the show. The long awaited trip had arrived and as a bonus Scot Murray was called in to fill the 3rd riding position. We arrived thursday evening to survey the landing, followed by a very early friday morning live TV interview. We met back up with TIm just after lunch to set ramps and get a good practice session in. Everyone made it through practice safely and we took a couple hour break to rest up for the 730 pm showtime. 

The grandstands were packed friday and saturday night including a large portion of grassy hill seating. The three of us opened the show with a bang throwing out every trick we had including flips in the first session. The crowd was going crazy and they couldn't wait for us to come back out. Monster truck wheelies were up after us followed by a short intermission. Then it was time. With just a few jumps and trains the adrenaline was in full effect for the first of two front flip attempts of the weekend.... and ....BOOM both wheels hit the ground at the same time!!!! Text book landing !!!! The crowd went nuts and so did we.  IT WAS EPIC!!! Saturday night was just about identical and we got rave reviews from everyone in attendance including the promotor and monster truck drivers! It was a great weekend and we give all the glory to GOD for watching over us and keeping us safe! We are already scheduled for next year!! 

Fargo, North Dakota

This years Fargo Airshow was another great success. Cody Cavanaugh from WI-FMX joined us as the second rider for the 6 performances over two days of the event. Once again RDO Equipment sponsored the show and we also got a few inquiries from other companies at the event that were showing interest in future sponsorship deals. Cody and I both have backgrounds in aviation from our experience in line sevice. Line service is just that, service in the line of planes parked out on a ramp. Anything from fuel to ice, baggage handling to lavatory service, the line service technician gets the job done and the planes ready to fly! We both have grown up watching and participating in airshows so this one is close to our hearts. Its awsome getting to see the Thunderbirds fly! As usual the shows went off without a hitch and the fans loved it! We signed lots of autographs and talked with lots of people. A big thanks to Dan Weeks at PINN-IT FMX for passing this show along to us again, it's always a blessing to work with Dan! Looking forward to doing this one again in 2021!! A big thanks to The GOOD LORD ABOVE for keeping us safe!!!  

Harrisburg, Ill

The long awaited face to face meeting of the infamous leader of Riders On A Mission, The Man, The Myth, The Legend, Mike King... Yes ladies and gentleman this was a long time in the making.  After years of phone conversations and trying to jive our schedules together we finally made it happen in Harrisburg, Illinois. Mike invited me to join him and Robbie King to perform at a Christian Music festival in southern Illinois and I couldn't turn it down. I've been looking forward to meeting and performing with the Riders on a Mission team for quite a while now so it was a perfect opportunity to make it happen. The weather was not ideal on friday night when we were scheduled to set up and practice so we pushed the practice session to saturday morning and got settled in for a good nights rest.

 We arrived Saturday morning to get the ramps set and knock out a practice, followed by our first scheduled show at 3 pm. The practice and show went off without a hitch and so did the next three shows. Everyone rode awsome and Mike King shared the Gospel Message with real enthusiasm and power. I feel blessed to be a part of the work being done for the LORD through this ministry and look forward to more chances to join these men on the battlefield for JESUS!! Keep up the GOOD WORK MEN!!

Morrison, ILL

We got the band back together for the Morrison County Fair grandstand show with Darryl Bier's stunt tours. Charles Bush, Cody Cavanaugh, Josh Hedford, Scot Murray, and Myself rounded out the roster for this event. To keep things exciting the bands in my rear tire broke during the first three jumps of practice and we to scramble to find a tire at most dealerships closing time. Luckily the local dirt bike shop had a rear tire in stock and a lady that works at the shop lived in Morrison and was on her way home so they were kind enough to drop it off at the fairgrounds for us! Big thanks to Scot for mounting my new tire for me just in time to get a short practice session in before the scheduled show time. Everyone made it through safe and we took a 30 minute break leading right into the show. 

We are a very competitive bunch so the competition format keeps thing interesting for all the riders. We all want to win but know that the show is formated to entertain and fill the 90 minute time slot. That doesn't keep us from doing our best and making it difficult for the other riders to place ahead of us. We all rode awsome and had a great time! It was good to ride with all the boys and put on a great show! We have already been asked to come back next year and we look forward to it. As always we thank GOD for keeping us safe and watching over us.... till next time.