THE NATHAN WILLIAMS

I’m sure Nathan will agree, making this interview happen hasn’t been easy. After 15 months of shooting, several completely worthless trips, two rolled ankles, one smashed face, a case of swine flu, countless run-ins with the law, and more disappointments than either of us care to remember, we have at long last completed the mission we set out to accomplish. It’s been a rough – and at times, completely miserable – road, but I’m not complaining.

I’ve probably spent more of my time on the road with Nathan than with anyone else over the last year and a half, and even through all the setbacks and hardships, I really have had a blast. You see, Nathan and I are undoubtedly very different people; he can frustrate the shit out of me, and I’m certain I annoy him beyond belief on a regular basis. Even so, I like Nathan a lot. He’ll tell you all day long how irresponsible he is, but I think he can be a little too hard on himself. Nathan is very much still growing as a human being; while he may not exactly have life all figured out or always make the best decisions, I think it’s important to know that he truly does have a good heart, and he really is doing the best he can all the time, whether he’s interacting with people, riding his bike, or anything else.

Aside from all that, Nathan is undeniably a supremely talented bike rider. The two of us have shot so many photos over the last 15 months, photos of groundbreaking tricks that any other rider would have been absolutely ecstatic to pull, but 90% of these shots you will never see because Nathan doesn’t think they’re good enough to make it into his interview. Like I said – he can be a little too hard on himself. But the fact of the matter is, despite the myriad of struggles, endless frustration, exorbitant expense, numerous incarceration close-calls, and everything else we’ve been through, it has been a real joy working with someone who cares so much about creating something he can be proud of. Personally, I’d say it’s all been worth it.

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PRO LIFE AND FAMILY LIFE

Walter Pieringer: So Nathan, when I met you five years ago, you were just another kid at the skatepark. To this day, you’re still in my phone as “Nate – TN” in an attempt to differentiate you from all the other kids I’ve met at skateparks. Now you’re THE Nathan Williams, professional bike rider, traveling the world, all over the magazines, and not having to work a real job. How does it feel to have “made it”?
It’s great man, living the dream! [Laughter] I mean, I don’t really feel any different than I did five years ago; I’m still just riding and hanging out with my friends. I don’t really know how to answer that. I mean, I’m definitely psyched. It was always kind of a dream of mine; I always wanted the whole “pro” thing to happen I guess – I’d watch videos and stuff and thought it’d be really awesome, but I never really thought it would happen, so I just kept riding. I don’t really know why I kept riding, I just thought it was fun, so I kept doing it. And then things started kind of working out, and it was really weird to me at first, and I guess it still is. I don’t really think of myself as a “pro.” I just don’t.

Aaron Ross: How do your parents feel about you getting to ride your bike for a living, travelling around the world, and all that stuff?
They’re real psyched now. When I was younger my parents weren’t psyched on it; I guess they just felt like I was wasting my time because they felt like I wouldn’t be able to make any money or be able to live by riding bikes. Now they know what’s going on, and they’re real supportive.

Walter: Your family has a musical background, talk a little about that.
My dad is a drummer, and that’s pretty much all he’s done since he was fifteen; my older brother plays the drums, and my little brother plays the keyboard. I don’t really play anything; I’m kind of the oddball of the family. But I’ve pretty much grown up around music my whole life; it’s been cool.

Walter: How come you never got into music?
Um, I sucked at it. I tried to play drums for a little while, and I still kind of can, but it just never really interested me that much.

Walter: So do you have a good relationship with your family?
Yeah, for the most part. [Laughter]

Walter: What does that mean?
Elaborate. I don’t know, my parents and I fought a lot when I was younger, like early high school days, I don’t really know why.

Walter: What’d you guys fight about?
I don’t know, just stupid things, like school, and I felt like they didn’t. . . . we’re getting really deep here!

Walter: This is good!
I might start crying here in a minute!

[Laughter]

I felt like they wouldn’t let me do anything, which is really dumb. . . . once I moved out, my relationship with my parents got a lot better, and I kind of realized they did things right.

Walter: What kinds of things wouldn’t they let you do?
I don’t know, I just didn’t get to go out all the time like “normal kids.”

Over-ice El Toro, why not? While in California, Nathan and I went down to eat sushi with Etnies TM John Povah. After lunch, not having a plan (we never did), and because we were in the neighborhood, Nathan suggested we go take a look at El Toro, just so he could actually check it out in person. A few minutes later, this happened. First try, even. Why not indeed.

FASHION

Shane Weston: So why are you stuck on the Tennessee Titans right now, bandwagon jumper?

Bandwagon jumper? What are you talking about?

Shane: Nothing dude. You weren’t talking about them last year, but now they’re 7-0 and you’re stuck on them. . . .
That’s because last year they sucked, and this year they’re so good!

Shane: You just defined a bandwagon jumper!
Okay, well then I’m a bandwagon jumper, but they’re still good.

Walter: Speaking of bandwagon jumping, would you consider yourself a bandwagon jumper in areas other than professional football?
What are you trying to say?

Walter: Are you trendy?
I knew that’s what you were trying to say, I just wanted you to say it! I mean, I guess to some extent, I just see things that other people are doing and I think it’s cool, whether it’s riding, or maybe a shirt that someone has on and I think it’s cool. I don’t know, I don’t think that it’s a bad thing to see that and want to do something like it or whatever. Everyone always hates on being trendy, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I guess I would consider myself semi-trendy. Semi-bandwagonish.

Walter: Semi-bandwagonish?
Man, don’t put that in there! That’s as bad as “All I do is bangers!”

[Laughter]

Walter: That’s going in there for sure. Well, would you consider yourself a generally self-conscious person? I am sometimes. It depends on the subject; as far as my riding goes, I’m pretty self-conscious I think. I’m self- conscious about my teeth.

Walter: Man, that must suck!

[Laughter]

I realize they’re bad.

Walter: Yeah especially now that the one is missing. . . .
Thanks dude! Yeah, I realize they’re bad, but I’m working on it. It’s not like I cry about it.

Walter: Because you can’t.
Right.

Walter: What about your overall appearance, other than your teeth – are you self-conscious about that at all?
Not really, I mean obviously there’s things I like and don’t like to wear, but. . . .

Walter: Would you say you’re into fashion?
Not really as big as some people; I like American Apparel and all the normal stuff, but I don’t wear the crazy foil pants or anything. . . .

Walter: I’ve noticed that you’ll sometimes change your shirt three or four times in the morning before you leave the house. What’s the deal with that?
Yeah, I do sometimes. . . . I don’t know, I’ll put a shirt on and I’ll think “Eh, I don’t feel like wearing this shirt,” so I’ll put another shirt on and think, “Eh, I don’t feel like wearing this shirt,” and it just goes on and on sometimes. It’s weird, I guess that’s kind of an OCD thing, huh?

Walter: A little bit.

Shane: So why do you stretch your shirts? What look are you going for when you step on your shirt and just yank the crap out of it?
I don’t know, it just stretches it out so you don’t look like you’re wearing a belly shirt all the time. Like you Shane!

Shane: So you’re trying to wear a mini-skirt shirt all the time?
I don’t know, I just like my shirts long, you got a problem with that?

Shane: I mean, no.
So it’s settled then.

High-speed 360 gap from the curved fountain all the way over the steps somewhere in Philadelphia. Hopefully you can tell, this is big. Really big. Nathan actually had to work for this one, and he wrecked more than a few times before he pulled it. As you may have guessed, the pea gravel surface he was skidding his body across was not especially forgiving.

COREY AND RELIGION

Walter: Obviously you and Corey are good friends – you have a lot of the same sponsors, you ride together a lot, you travel together a lot, and you’re always seen in the BMX media together. Whatis your relationship like, and do you ever feel overshadowed by Corey?
Gettin’ deep.

Walter: Deep is good.
We hang out a lot, but we don’t hang out that much – he lives about two hours away from me, and he isn’t able to come up here that much, even though he threatens to move here all the time, but he never will. Corey has obviously done a lot for me – he’s pretty much how I got on United and Levi’s, and I am very appreciative of everything. But, I think it’s probably just me as a person, it’s hard for me to be around someone for a long period of time, like more than a week or two, without getting a little frustrated, especially when we have conflicting personalities. The only way I can describe it is that we are just different in a few aspects, and sometimes it gets a little frustrating. I know I frustrate him sometimes too, though. I consider Corey to be one of my best friends and I think everybody would agree that sometimes their best friends frustrate them. I would never say when I am, though, because I know I usually just need some time to myself. As far as being overshadowed, I don’t feel that way at all. I feel like we’re more friends than competitors. So yeah, not at all.

Walter: So you are a Christian, and Corey is also a Christian, but it seems like there are some differences in how you two interpret Christianity. How would you describe them?
Here’s the thing. I’ve made a lot of mistakes that I regret, but at the same time I feel like it’s helped me grow and made me the person that I am. We do see things a little bit differently as far as Christianity goes it seems, if that’s what you want to call it. Some people, I think, live their lives by rules; well, rules and regulations and things you can’t do. That can be good if that’s what works for them. For me, I like to look at the things we can do and not focus so much on the dos and don’ts; to try to live my life loving people, which is very hard sometimes. I don’t feel like Jesus made all these rules that said “You can’t do this, you can’t do that.” It just sounds so terrible – why would anyone want to live their lives by all these things you can’t do? I think Jesus was all about love, loving people no matter who they are or what they do. I’m definitely still learning that, but I think that’s the difference between me and a lot of Christians.

Tony Hamlin: So, you travel a lot obviously, and you’ve seen a lot of the world – have those experiences had any effect on your beliefs?
I don’t think my beliefs have changed drastically; growing up with my family, we went to church every Sunday and did that whole thing, and once I moved out, not for any particular reason I just stopped going to church. I guess my beliefs did change a little, and for a good while I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I believed and why. I didn’t want to say “Yes, I am a Christian” just because that’s what my parents believed. I wanted to know for myself who God is and experience Him for myself rather than because somebody had just told me what it’s like. I still don’t fully understand who He is, but I believe life is all about building a relationship with Him, and anybody who has ever had any sort of a relationship knows that it takes time and effort to get to know somebody. It’s the same with Him. Even though I obviously don’t have it all figured out, I do know that God is real and that none of the things I have, or the people whose lives I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of, could have come from anywhere but from Him. That’s where I’m at right now.

A year ago, Nathan told me that he can’t cry; or, rather, that he thinks he can cry, it just hadn’t happened in over a decade. To be honest, it really weirded me out. Who doesn’t cry? In any case, a reliable source tells me that he actually shed tears when he proposed to his fiancée. I guess it must be true love. Of course all of that has absolutely nothing to do with this big, dipped 360 over SoCal’s Wallride of Life.

IMAGE

Shane: So a lot of people don’t know that you’re a very skilled beer pong player. . .
So you’re making it sound like I drink all the time, and I really don’t.

Walter: How many times a month would you say you’re intoxicated?
I honestly can’t remember the last time; it’s been a long time. I don’t drink a whole lot.

Shane: The last time was probably Atlanta.
Atlanta was like two months ago; I really don’t drink all the time. I guess I get kind of influenced by people; I think it kind of depends on the people I hang out with, which sounds pretty terrible, but I just mean as far as drinking goes, if I’m around people who don’t drink, then I’m fine without drinking for however long, it doesn’t matter to me.

Steve De Busk: So it’s more of a social thing?
Yeah, I guess it would be kind of a social thing for me.

Tony: Nathan, why are you a closet bad-ass?
What’s a closet bad-ass?

Tony: You’re a bad ass, but not out in public. You drink, smoke, party, and I don’t think anybody outside of the people you hang out with has any idea about it. . . . I don’t even think Corey has any idea about it. I don’t mean to be blowing your lid about it, but why don’t you want to be exposed for who you really are?
I honestly don’t really care. I don’t know man, I don’t try to hide it, I guess I’m just a hermit you could say; I don’t care if people see me drink or see me smoke, it’s just who I am. I don’t think drinking and smoking changes someone’s personality or makes someone a good or bad person.

Tony: At the same time it definitely changes someone’s image – when someone sees you with a cigarette or a beer in your hand, they’re gonna be like “This dude gets loose, I get loose too,” and perhaps think of you in a different way, whether it be for the better or for the worse. Right now I feel like everybody’s image of you is just a clean cut kid, good Christian boy, and I’m not saying it goes against your beliefs or whatever, but I just feel like the general BMX population sees you differently than maybe you really are.
Yeah, I guess I would agree with that. Definitely for a while I didn’t drink or smoke, but, I mean, I guess people change, and it’s just something I like doing now. I don’t think it makes someone a good or bad person, but I definitely agree with you that it can change someone’s perspective of another person.

Walter: Well, sorry for calling you out, I was on the road with you for close to a month at the end of last year, and apparently you were smoking cigarettes the whole time and I had no idea – you did want to hide that. Why did you want to hide it then, and why are you okay with not hiding it now?
Definitely for a while, just because you had talked so much about how dumb you think smoking is because it’s so bad for you. I guess to an extent I do care about what people think about me, but the longer I did it the less I cared, and I felt like it’s better not to hide something if it’s who you are; you gotta come to a point where you just accept it and move on.

Walter: So how does Corey feel about you drinking and smoking and whatnot?
He definitely knows about it all, I mean, I’ve told him and everything. It’s something I’m sure he’s probably not psyched on, and for a while I wouldn’t drink around him and I wouldn’t smoke around him; I think it was more of a respect thing. I still respect him, but I feel like I can’t live my life based on whatIthinkCoreywantsmetodo….Ijustwanttobemy own person, but I don’t want to make it seem like I’m doing it to distance myself or my image from Corey or anything. It’s just something that I’m into right now, and I’m sure it’ll change; everyone goes through phases.

Tony: Have you guys gotten in a lot of confrontations about it?
No, not really. He’s definitely told me that he thinks smoking is stupid; he’s just trying to be a good friend, and I don’t take it as him being a jerk or being confrontational.

Tony: So do you feel like you’ve ever tried to hide certain aspects of your lifestyle from the media’s eyes to maintain a certain image? And do you worry that you smoking might influence some your fans to smoke?
I’ve never done anything because it would help what people think about me, or to hopefully make kids think I’m cool or something; I think that’s dumb. I just want to be myself, and I hope kids would feel the same way. I hope they wouldn’t do anything because I do it. I just want kids to be themselves.

Walter: So where are you now in your smoking phase?
I don’t buy packs anymore, I just kind of bum them whenever someone has them. It sounds weird, but I try to not smoke until evening time, after everyone’s done riding and everyone’s chilling. It would be like going out and having a beer or something like that; I still enjoy having a cigarette from time to time. But I feel way better when I’m not smoking all the time, not breathing in smoke all day long.

Walter: Imagine that. How specifically do you feel better?
I guess I felt lazy kind of; I’d go out and ride and I wouldn’t really feel like doing anything. I don’t know if it was the cigarettes or not, but once I started laying off of them, it started to get better.

Walter: Well that’s good. I guess it turns out smoking really is bad for you?
Hey, look at that! After all those studies, they were right!

Nathan loves the text message. In September of last year, he sent and received a total of 3,686 text messages in a single month. That’s an average of 123 texts a day, eight texts every hour he’s awake, or a text every seven minutes. He claims he only did 1629 last month, but I’m not entirely sure I believe him. Over tooth in Atlanta.

NO HANDERS / TRENDESTTER / MAGAZINE INTERVIEW / PRESSURE

Tony: Nathan. What is up with the no handers man? Explain yourself! Why are all the kids at my local park doing their no handers down now?
I’m a trendsetter man!

[Everybody loses it]

I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I don’t know, I do them different ways; like down a stair set when I have to do them quick, they just go down for some reason, but if I have a lot of time, like over a box jump, they’ll go up.

Walter: But they haven’t always gone down.
That’s what I’m saying, I do them differently depending on how much time I have.

Walter: Does it bother you that a LOT of people hate on them?
Definitely for a while. . . . I was like, “Maaan, I don’t want to do no handers anymore,” and I was kind of bummed. Now I guess I’m just kind of over it. It’s just how I do them, and you gotta accept it. . . . if you don’t like it, I don’t care.

John Povah: The ego’s kicking in.
Ego? I was kidding man! I really don’t have an ego man!

Povah: You know sarcasm comes across so well in print.
Man, that’s not gonna look very good in the magazine, is it? Don’t print that!

Walter: Are you stressing right now?
No, I’m not stressing, but definitely people are gonna be like “Oh that guy’s full of himself!”

Walter: Well then Nathan, let’s ground you for a minute. Sorry for calling you out yet again, but why are we nine months into shooting for this interview and we have three photos?
Because I suck? All I do is icepicks really.

Walter: But we don’t have a single icepick photo yet.
It’s because you. . . .

Walter: You’re gonna blame it on me now? [Laughter] Well to be fair, we do have a bunch of photos, but you just don’t seem to think any of them are good enough. . . .
I think to an extent I do put a lot of pressure on myself. When someone says “Let’s shoot an interview,” my first reaction is “Oh, sweet!” but then when I actually get into it I do put a lot of pressure on myself, just because I want to make it good, but I don’t want to do the same things over and over, so I get real stressed out.

Walter: Why do you stress so much?
I don’t know, that’s just what I do.

Povah: In your head, are there tricks you haven’t done yet where you’re just looking for the perfect setup?
Yeah, for me right now that’s one of the hardest things – there is stuff I want to do and I have the ideal setup for it in my head, but it’s just a matter of finding that setup. Like, Walter knows, we’ve gone on trips trying to shoot for the interview, and I’ve gotten no photos at all because I’m looking for a certain setup that we just didn’t find. I don’t want to do something that I think, “Eh, that’s kind of cool,” when there’s something else that I’d like to do but I haven’t found the setup for. So I’d rather just not shoot something that would be mediocre.

Tony: Why did the text in your last magazine interview suck so bad?
When they were asking the questions for that one, there were a few dudes in the room who I didn’t know. . . it was in Spain, and I didn’t know anyone. I was sweating, and I couldn’t answer any of the questions. I definitely just feel weird around people I’ve never been around or don’t know at all; I just don’t talk.

Random fact: Nathan applies furniture polish to the wood floors in his house, not specifically to make them shiny, but so that he can slide around in his socks. I think that’s pretty awesome. But I digress. Nathan and I literally scoured the country looking for the right setup for him to do this trick before finally finding it in Atlanta. Hefty oppo-360 over the perfect handicap hop.

MEMORY / FINANCES / PRO LIFE PART II

Walter: Let’s talk about your memory for a minute.
I have a bad memory. I’m working on it.

Walter: How are you working on it?
I’m writing things down. In my iPhone. If someone tells me something I have to remember, I write them down in the little notes thing.

Walter: Once they’re in the phone, when do you actually look at what you’ve written down?
I forget to look at them.

[Laughter]

Walter: What’s the most important thing you’ve ever forgotten?
I forget to pay my bills all the time.

Walter: This past October, how many overdraft charges did you have on your debit card?
Well I don’t remember that, but I do remember two months ago I had like $800 in overdraft charges; they just kept racking up. That’s happened a few times; well, that’s the most it’s ever been. But I got rid of my debit card. I use cash now.

Walter: You really got rid of your debit card because you had so many overdraft charges?
Yes. So I got rid of it, and then I gave my brother a check for rent, then he cashed it, and I got another overdraft charge. I just can’t get away from it.

This spot is in the front parking lot of some kind of industrial manufacturing firm that, according to their overly-serious security officer, fabricates something secret for the government. Naturally we got kicked out right away, and it was made perfectly clear that if we came back there would be serious problems. Well, 15 minutes later we came back, and Nathan cranked at this super high-speed gap to rail to L hop as the irate security guard sped towards him in his golf cart. Fortunately Nathan pulled it – there wasn’t going to be a second chance – and I immediately took off running.

Tony: So what’s it like being one of the most progressive riders right now AND being broke?
Well I’m working on it; it’s not like I’m completely broke.

Tony: Well you were just talking about being $800 in debt because of overdraft charges. . . .

Povah: That’s irresponsibility though.

Tony: Or because you just don’t have any money.
Well, a lot of it is me spending it on stupid stuff. I actually only really spend my money on food and coffee, and that’s about it.

Walter: Well then what’s some of the stupid stuff that you’ve bought?
I haven’t bought anything! I’ve just bought food and coffee! And cigarettes.

Walter: I don’t believe you. That’s a lot of coffee.
Tony: Nathan, I see you rolling your own cigarettes
man – you can’t be rollin’ in it. You’re talking about being $800 in debt, and you’re one of the most progressive street riders. How does that feel?
It sucks man! I’m very irresponsible, but I’m working on it.

Walter: He’s not trying to say you’re irresponsible, he’s saying that you’re obviously a very talented bike rider, but you are barely earning enough money to make it through the month.
Well I do have some money, but like Povah said, I’m just irresponsible.

Walter: Nathan. One moment you’re saying you’re irresponsible, and then the next you tell us you just buy coffee, food, and cigarettes. . . . that doesn’t seem that irresponsible.
Well, I eat four times a day, and I eat out every time! [Laughter]. So that’s probably where it is.

Walter: Well there you have it. I’m gonna try this one more time – I think Tony’s trying to get you to comment on the state of an industry that isn’t paying one of its top riders a livable wage.
Oh, I think I see what you’re asking now. . . . I don’t think many people ride BMX for the money; I would still be riding if I wasn’t getting paid at all. I guess I don’t feel like I should be making any more than I am; I feel like the companies can only pay what they afford to pay, so I don’t really feel like it sucks. Right now I’m able to not have a job and just ride my bike, and I feel like that should be enough. Yeah, I’m not rolling in the money or anything like that, but it is enough to live, for me, and I’m grateful for that, and I honestly don’t care if I’m making more money or not.

Nathan was pretty nervous about this gap to rail/wall manual; he had never done anything like it before, and he wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen. He went for it, and he manualed the entire second stage, first try, no problem. When he landed, he exclaimed, “What happened?” Someone told him, “You did it!” He seemed legitimately surprised that it had worked out so well for him.

I genuinely believe this is the best icepick grind ever done. I watched Nathan try it for more than five hours straight until the sun was coming up, people were making their ways to work, and he was too exhausted (and nauseous) to continue. The amount of patience and determination he showed, calmly walking his bike back to the top of the stairs literally hundreds of times, all without once becoming visibly frustrated, was absolutely unreal. We came back the next night, and he pulled it within 30 minutes, as perfect as it could possibly be. Aside from being covered in skate stoppers (you can see them on the rail in the foreground), this monster also happens to be located on one of the most heavily-patrolled and strictly-enforced campuses in the country – it’s unbelievable that we were able to ride there for so long without getting arrested. I really don’t think anyone else could have pulled this off; I feel like Nathan is the only person in the world to possess not only sufficient icepick prowess but also the extraordinary composure necessary to perform a feat as spectacular – and tedious – as this.

KATEY

Walter: So Nathan, I know you have some big changes coming up in your life – do you want to talk about that at all?
Yeah, I got engaged in June, and I’m getting married in May, it’ll be May 15.

Walter: Are you pretty excited about that?
Yes, very. I’m excited because it’ll be a completely new experience. It’ll be good starting my life with someone else.

Walter: Who’s the lucky girl? What can you tell me about her?
These are hard questions man! [Laughter] The “lucky girl” is Katey, and yeah, um what can I tell you about her? I don’t know, what are you talking about?

Walter: Just describe Katey. . . some of her interests, what you like about her, or anything.
Well she’s pretty much exactly like me. I don’t know man, I don’t know what to say. I like that she’s so easy going, and she can see the good in everybody, so she gets along with everyone real well. She’s actually a little bit more outgoing than I am; well, she’s more talkative than I am, so it evens it out.

Walter: In what ways is she exactly like you?
I guess our beliefs are the same. She is very easy going and real chill; I don’t know man. We’re just exactly the same.

Walter: How is wedding planning going?
It’s going alright. Katey’s been doing most of it; we’ve got the building booked. . . . I don’t really know, I can’t even keep up with it, like I was saying, she does most of it.

Walter: Who’s gonna be your best man and whatnot?
My best man is my brother Jonathan, and then my younger brother Joshua, Shane, and Corey are all in the wedding.

Katey: Nathan, last year you were planning on moving to California, and you ended up not going. Why is that?
Because I met you. I don’t know, we started hanging out right before I was supposed to move, and I just wanted to see where it went. And I’m glad I didn’t move.

Katey: What are you least looking forward to when you get married?
I guess being gone and being away from home so much. It’s definitely going to be hard the first couple of years; it’s gonna be hard getting used to living with someone and being gone so much.

Walter: How do you think wanting to travel less is going to impact your career as a BMX rider?
I don’t want to travel less, and she doesn’t want me to travel less; it’s just going to be harder being on the road, because when I’m in town we’ll be spending all of our time together instead of having to spend a couple of hours here, a couple of hours there and then having to go back to our separate homes like we normally do. It’s just gonna be hard when I’m used to sleeping in a bed with her and being around her 24/7, and then when I’m on the road it’s just gonna be completely different.

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT

Steve: What do you see happening with your life in the future?
I’ve thought a little bit about after riding, and after I kind of would like to slow down on traveling and stuff. I’d really like to go to school; I don’t know exactly what I’d like to go to school for, but I’m really interested in history and philosophy and that kind of thing. I know nothing about it at the moment, but it’s just something that interests me, and I think it’d be cool to learn about. I don’t really know how it would apply to getting a job later on in life, other than teaching, which I’m not really into. But I’ve been thinking a lot about school lately actually, because I know riding’s not going to last forever.

Well, since we’re talking about the future now, I guess we might be about done here. How about that thanks list?
I would like to thank my Lord and savior Jesus, my Mom and Dad, Katelyn, my two brothers, my grandmother, all of my family, Shane Weston, Tyler Fredrick, Andrew White, Chris Mahaffey, Alex Magallan, Dakota Roche, Greg Tinkle, Chris Burden, Talem Cowart, Corey Martinez, Ian Morris, Dean Hearne, John Povah, Kathy McGrath, Will Stroud, Steve Buddendeck, Ernesto Rodriguez, Walter Pieringer, Ride UK for this opportunity, and anybody who has helped meoutorbeenafriendtome…thankyousomuch!