One Year Later: The Adventure Continues!

Drat. All this NBL/ABA/USA BMX stuff would have to break today. I've got more important things to blog about! ME! If you must read about the pending merger, visit bmxnews.com. All I have to say about it is that I can hardly wait for Christmas!
Now back to me...

Sandy Duncan starring in "Adventures of a BMX Mom"

I've done it! Fifty-two weeks and 32 posts later, I've completed one year of blogging! Where's my publisher? My movie deal? What amazing actress could play me, BMX Mom? Uma Thurman? Angelina Jolie? Ohhh I know! Beyonce'! Last night while drifting off to sleep, I asked Vann his opinion. His reply? "Sandy Duncan." What the ....? The original "Chatty Cathy"? Does he expect me to don my Peter Pan suit and fly the kids off to staging? Well, I admit, I can see her doling out homemade rice krispy treats and putting neosporin on boo-boos.

Alas, it's just a dream.
What's real is that I've learned that I love blogging! My biggest fans are my husband and kids, and that's just fine by me. I am grateful to my mighty band of  followers and all of their contributing comments.

For your enjoyment, I've selected my favorite posts from the past year.

1. Excuse Me. Where's the Ladies' Room? - May 28, 2010
By now my readers should know that I am terrified of port-o-pots.

Hot BMX Mom?-- NOT!! (Don't think that got past me on Vintage!)

2. Delusions in my Head - August 3, 2010

Food, action sports, and ketamine at Ohio Dreams.

William will not be attending camp this year!

3. Missing Dixie - November 10, 2010

If you've ever loved a dog, get your tissue.

Dixie Parker October 6, 1994-November 13, 2009

Thank you all for reading!!

BMX Mom

BMX Will Never Croak

"I am going to start miniature bmx frog racing. Kids get ice cream. Parents get frosty beverage."-- As stated by my witty friend Michelle in regards to the vintagebmx.com rumor mill

This frog has a song to be sung.

This frog isn't gonna spend his life in a swamp

Catchin' flies with his tongue.

This frog may slip and stumble,

But this frog tries again.

This frog will never grumble,

But fall to rise again.

This frog is staying with it

Like a tick sticks to a dog.

I'm gonna win!

You're gonna love this frog!

-Kermit

Froggy is looking for a sponsor, and hopes to
attend junior development camp in Chula Vista.

And Michelle sums it up best with:

"Why cant everyone just ride their bikes without all this nonsense?"

BMX Mom

The Unsinkable NBL (Can I get a life boat please?)

Ruth: So this is the ship they say is unsinkable. 
Cal Hockley: It is unsinkable. God himself could not sink this ship. 


Dishes in the sink, laundry in the dryer, bags to pack, groceries to buy, and I find myself unable to resist the overwhelming urge to blog.


The Mississippi River is rising, Alabama is struggling to recover from tornado damage, our world is a general mess that I choose to close the blinds on, and what kept me up all night?-- the demise of the National Bicycle League.

At 9:47 last night my phone beeped out a simple text: "check vintage" was all it said. For you non-bmxers, that's vintagebmx.com, the information forum for all things BMX. Here's what I read:

"This info has come from several very reliable sources. Gary Aragon gave all the employees a two week notice and said they would be out of money in two weeks! They had an emergency board meeting this morning at 6:30 AM EST to discuss an exit strategy or some sort of restructure...... Even the possiblity of desolving the NBL and just being GSX, but who knows, the people I spoke with are very concerned and very in the loop....

My concern is the tracks that are owed money and the new riders who purchased the all inclusive memberships, as you know I have not been the biggest fan of the way the NBL has been run in the last several years, but I still care about BMXers and I have a lot friends who run NBL tracks and care about them..... If I were you and I were a NBL Track Director I would take immediate action because this is real and very reliable....."

Thomas Andrews: Please, tell only who you must. I don't want to be responsible for a panic. And get to a boat quickly, don't wait.


So, we've devoted the past 6 months of this race season to the NBL. With our race funds dwindling, and time running out, it's a little late for us to jump ship and try to qualify in the ABA. Besides, we live in Florida!

Jack: Don't you do that, don't say your good-byes. Not yet, do you understand me? 


We find ourselves in a pickle. All of this information comes to us as we plan to head out on a 9-hour drive to a NBL national in North Carolina. As of this moment, we're going. I have one thing to say to the folks on Vintage, in the words of the Unsinkable Molly Brown:

Knock it off. You're scaring me. C'mon girls! Grab an oar, let's go! 

What I know to be true is that I am, and will remain--

BMX Mom

Celebrating Wyatt at the NBL Gator Nationals

The NBL Gator Nationals in West Palm Beach felt like a continuation of the weekend before, with only time for school, baseball and piano recitals in between. Amidst the chaos of family, friends and racing, my mind drifted to a special day eight years ago, when our family, and my world, became compete.

April 30, 2003 began as any ordinary day, meeting my friend Shannon at the park so William could run off some toddler energy with his friend Sydney.

Wyatt at 3 months

At 11, I dropped William with his dad to go to what I hoped would be my last OBGYN appointment. "Call me later", Shannon said as I left the park.

"You're 8 cm!" my midwife exclaimed. Without a further word to me, she was on the phone to labor and delivery with strict instructions to have my room ready. She was sending me straight over. Vann and I quickly summoned our friend Denise who had been placed on call for William duty. I called my sister in New Orleans who was on the road within 5 minutes.

Not due until May 15, I worried about the baby's size. "How big do you think?" I asked my midwife as she felt my belly. "6, maybe 7 pounds." "Feels bigger", I grumbled.

My water was broken, and I was given the no time for an epidural speech.

At 1:17 that afternoon, my heart filled with joy as our 9 pound baby boy was placed in my arms. He has made me smile everyday since.

I called Shannon. "How'd your appointment go?" She asked. "Great! Wyatt's here!" We still chuckle about that.

Wyatt, so proud of his brother, at the the Fall Classic in 2006

Vann brought William that evening. He peered wide-eyed into the bassinet at the sleeping baby. "Hi Bubba!" he said excitedly. Wyatt has been known as "Bubba" ever since.

Wyatt does not remember life before BMX. His brother started racing when Wyatt was two. He would cheer for William, and was always so proud. When Wyatt started racing at age four, he still seemed more interested in digging holes and collecting bugs, than riding his bike.

Wyatt is a gentle, old soul who loves all creatures great and small. He says he wants to be a scientist. Once, at a race I went to congratulate him after a win. Instead of being excited, he was upset. "There was a spider in staging," he explained. "I told them it was harmless, but they killed it anyway. I don't understand why they did that."

On Wyatt's 8th birthday, he thrilled us by making both the 8 challenger and the 8 cruiser mains-- not a small feat. While we cheered and bragged on Wyatt's accomplishments, we felt some disappointment over William's third place finishes. Since then I've wondered, why do we cheer for one who comes in 8th, and grumble over the other who comes in third? I've come to realize that it's not entirely fair, but then life never is.

We wrapped up Wyatt's raceday/birthday sharing hot dogs and cookie cake with some good race buddies.

Celebrating Wyatt: Rowdy Houston, Zane VonBergen,
Wyatt, Vaughn Phillipus, Zach VonBergen and William

This week we look forward to more baseball, and hopefully a little bit of rest!



BMX Mom