Jet lagged but not jaded

Firstly, my friend John Povah handed me a copy of Etnies Grounded DVD (limited edition picture book version!).

That night, Achim Kujawski and I sat and watched it on my laptop - oh my goodness, finally someone had the tenacity to produce a bmx film that shows what we do in an amazing light. The quality of production added to the ridiculous riding and the depth of characters make this film my new favourite. I of course loved Jamie's desert part, marvelled at Ruben's sheer originality ("is easy, you try"!)and smiled, gasped and rewound through everything else. Thanks Etnies, Povah and Mike Manzoori for doing bmx justice.

Next up, the X Games. The X Games always stresses me out but, every year, I resolve to not let it stress me out and to try and make the best of it. This year, I managed to do that by chasing and achieving a little dream of mine - to land a 900 smoothly enough to try and spin another one on the next wall. I couldn't believe it when I landed the first and the opportuntiy for the second presented itself. I took that opportunity with both hands and was nothing short of shocked when I pulled the second one.

Now, I have to tell you, this was a big deal to me. What I didn't expect was for it to be a big deal for anyone else. I want to thank everyone who has called or sent me messages of congratulations. Getting it done was reward enough for me but the kind words from my friends around the world have been pretty humbling. A good day, for sure!

Another thing that has made me smile is Jamie Bestwick and I taking the vert contest at the X Games the way we did. To me, it seems like yesterday that we were just two kids in England with heads full of dreams. Fast forward to 2007 and there we were, living out those dreams, battling back and forth for the biggest prize in vert. With Grotbags on the mic! A day I won't forget in a hurry - thanks Paul and congratulations Jamie, it was an honour to be a part of English BMX history with you both.

The last thing I want to mention is getting home jet-lagged and reading issue 106 of Ride. God, what a good magazine, it totally did what a good bmx magazine should do, made me want to go straight back out and ride! Thanks, chaps!