MikeMason's Blog - Yardbarker

26
Dec
Being a spectator

Hey guys, it's been awhile!! I've been meaning to write on here for some time now, but kept getting sidetracked! Between flying overseas and last minute christmas shopping I was slammed. I do have a pretty good story though.....So I fly to Tahiti last week to do a demo there alongside Adam Jones, Dustin Miller, Nate Adams and some others. They were going to have BMX and skateboarding as well so I was pretty excited. So a week before the demo Adam and I were informed that there are no Honda 250's on the island so we would need to ship our bikes. So last minute me and Adam paid my dad to do a Los Angeles trip to drop off our bikes at the shipping yard, 7 days before the event. So we fly over there, 1st class I might add! The promoters really made sure they did it right so that was a good thing. Anyways we get there, check out the scene, do some snorkling and get sunburned. It was a cool first couple days. Well two days before the show me and Adam are informed that our bikes might not make it. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't all that bummed. I mean it sucks not to be able to put on a show for the fans down there, but it would be an actual vacation for once!! Well Friday, the day before the show it is a fact, our bikes will not be there, in fact they never even left LA haha! I guess it was 9,000 bucks one way to get them there and once the promoter found out they probably wouldn't make it he just canceled the shipment. So me and Adam basically got paid to have beers on a island!! It was also fun for once to check out the show minus the stress. I got to watch all my buddies ride and put on a good show and watch some killer BMX and skating!! Not a bad vacation!

I got back from the 85 degree Tahiti weather, right into a crazy snowstorm!! Talk about shock! I loved it though, we even got to have a white christmas today which is something I haven't witnessed in years!! Today was excellent, I love spending time with my family and friends, it's my best method of relaxing!! Tomorrow I am going to hit the mountains to do a little snowboarding and hang with my buds. This is my last weekend up north, Monday I head down to Vegas for a month to get back into the FMX mode and get ready for the New Zealand leg of the Crusty tour! I want to be on point in New Zealand, the Crusty guys have always been cool to me and they've put up with me for 2 years now so I really want to be riding at a 100% when I show up, hopefully even bring some new tricks to the show for the NZ fans!! Well I hope everyone had a merry christmas and got a lot of fun presents!! I'll keep in touch throughout my Vegas trip and let everyone know how the riding is coming along. I will also be doing some video blogs for expn.com starting in January, so keep checking in for those, it could be entertaining!!
3 Comments
09
Dec
Geneva to Tahiti!

Howdy yard, just got off the plane from Switzerland!! I had a blast, the show was really good and the supercross racing was awesome! I got to ride with fellow american's Jeremy Lusk and Lance Coury so that was cool. Lusk is one of my good buddies in this sport so anytime we get to ride for fun together it's.....fun! This was the first time I have got to ride a show with Lance, he's an up and coming kid and proved this weekend that in the next couple years he will be up there with us at the major contests! It was nice to just do a demo at a race, we got to watch the racing and be a fan and then jump during their breaks, a nice change compared to just doing the same thing over and over all night and for two consecutive nights. Geneva was also a memory for me. I went there in 2000 for the same race, but at that time I was racing and doing FMX, it was also my first ever trip overseas, so to come back and see that nothing had changed was nice. We rode in the same venue, stayed at the same hotel, and the crowd was still as crazy as ever!! The only downfall to the trip was missing my connecting flight from LAX to Reno, and the next flight wasn't for 4 hours. Nothing like traveling for 16 hours only to have to wait for 4 more hours before you get to get in your own bed!! I am now home for one more day before I fly to Salt Lake to do some promotional stuff with one of my sponsors, Skullcandy. They make headphones which really has nothing to do with a dirtbike, but just in a year they have been one of my favorite sponsors, so anything I can do to help re-pay them I will. From Salt Lake I head to Tahiti for a week to do a couple demos and have one hell of a vacation!! I never heard of the place or knew where it was at until last week, but now that I've done some research I am pumped!! As you can see my schedule never slows down, but I am ok with that. I believe in busting your ass to have the things you want so I have stuck to that my whole career...seems to be working!!
2 Comments
01
Dec
Bed head

Hey guys, figured I better get in here and write a quick update and let everyone know I am still alive!! There's not really much to write about. After Russia I spent a week on the couch being sick, so I decided to do a fantasy draft on Madden 09'. I felt I did ok in the draft. I used the Falcons team because I think they have the best looking uniforms!! From there I went on to draft, Jared Allen, Willie Parker, Calvin Johnson, Joe Flacco and other fine athletes. I was 1-0 and not even 2 minutes into my second game Flacco got hit...bad....broke his elbow out for the season, so I was stuck with Kerry Collins.....I haven't played a game since. Once I was feeling better and over Madden, I went out and actually got productive! I rode FMX one day with my buddies Matt Buyten and Brian Foster. It honestly amazes me how much different I feel practicing now and practicing over the summer when you have all the pressure of contests. We rode for probably an hour, and all I did was a couple of flips, a lot of whips, and did some trains with Buyten over our double double section. If this was July I would have done about 900 flips in a hour and said a lot of swear words in my helmet. Sometimes I wish I was a skateboard guy, I could get pissed off and wing my board and throw a fit, but I did that once on my mini bike, I threw my bike down, ripped my helmet off and threw it and looked up and saw my pops who looked like he was a 100 times more pissed off than me so I gathered my belongings and hid in the trailer....lesson learned!! I also took some time and did some mini bike riding with my buddies and then had a very lovely thanksgiving with the family!! I am now getting ready to do a couple more days of FMX and then head to Geneva, Switzerland to ride in a demo with one of my good buddies Jeremy Lusk. I am pretty pumped to get over there and ride a show and hopefully perform well!! I will post everything up on Monday when I get home!! That's all for now....bye bye.
1 Comment
18
Nov
From Russia with love!

Hey guys, sorry it has been so long since I have typed up a most breath taking blog. I was pushing to get ready for a contest in Moscow this past weekend so I didn't get to write anything up before I left. Moscow was a trip, the surroundings, the people, the Vodka...it was all an experience!! I went over with a good friend of mine, Todd Potter which was cool. It is always nice to have people you're familiar with when you go to an unfamiliar area. When we arrived I did the usual jet lag nap, crawled into bed at 4 p.m. and didn't come back to life until 4 a.m.!! I don't know what it is about flying overseas, but I can log some hours in the sack when I arrive every time!! We went to the venue Friday to check everything out and put our bikes together. We were supposed to practice as well, but the course was really soft from all the weather they get so they had to make some adjustments to the course. We took that time to do some sight seeing which was cool, I have never really got to check out anything when I go places so I was pumped to go be a tourist. We went to the Red Square, I think it's called? The place was killer. I have always seen it in the movies and in pictures, but to actually be there and check it out was awesome! The one building, that looks like Candy land was my favorite! After that it was back to the hotel for some dinner and then to bed to get ready for the contest on Saturday. You see that my new attitude is already kicking in, I was in bed at 10 p.m. not out drinking, atta baby!! Practice was basic we just pretty much rode and had some fun because the course was your standard circle course with 2 ramps, which is fine by me when I am overseas! For the contest they broke us up into groups of two and had us go out and do 4 tricks no flips, then 3 tricks 1 flip, and then the finale which was whatever the hell you wanted to do! It was cool because the whole show was a build up. The crowd was pumped even on our first runs with standard tricks so I knew the rest of the show would be awesome! I was paired up with Danny Torres, if you have never heard of him, you will...soon. He's a kid from Spain that is riding probably better than anyone I have seen in awhile. He has great standard tricks, all the hard flip combo's and now 360's so I'd say he is going to be pretty tough to beat in the future! The show went great, pretty much everyone made it out alive, Torres won and I was headed back to the hotel for....you guessed it, more sleep haha!! Sunday was the same show, everyone rode even a little better and the crowd was once again really pumped and into our riding!! Torres again won, I finished second, and a kid from Russia rounded out the top 3. After the show we were all doing burnouts and high fiving the crowd, I rode by Potter doing a wheelie and he stuck his hand out to high five me...I tried to kick his hand and landed right on my ass. I for some reason spaced the fact that the foot I went to kick his hand with was controlling my back brake during the wheelie, so I went to far and went sliding across the cement!! By far the highlight of my trip haha. I am now home for a couple weeks. I can't wait to spend some time with my family and be a normal person before things get crazy again. I leave to Switzerland right after Thanksgiving and then to Tahiti from there, so I got a couple more enjoyable flights ahead of me this year!! I will post back later this week, it has actually been nice at my house so I am going to do some practicing and try to start getting a jump on the crowd for 2009!!
6 Comments
29
Oct
Never long enough

Is it me or does this life haul ass?? I was soo pumped because I was getting a two week vacation....and that was two weeks ago haha. It seems like I just started relaxing on the couch and playing Madden and now it's already time to get back to the traveling scene. I did enjoy my two weeks here in New Jersey though, watched a lot of football, went to Atlantic City for the first time, it was alright, but I'd say Vegas has it covered haha. I went and stayed at photographer Chris Tedesco's house also while I was here and it just so happens his parents have a full on music studio and do lessons. I mentioned that I'm a fan of guitar and sure enough Tedesco's step dad was cool enough to teach me a thing or two. So I'd say it has been a pretty good trip. I fly home Friday to pretty much do laundry, pay bills, and see my parents play Guitar Hero, then I am off to Salt Lake City Monday to watch Metallica!! I am super excited for this, they have been one of my favorite bands for some time now, and I got lucky enough to get hooked up to see them thanks to my bitchen sponsor Skull Candy. I fly back into Reno Tues am, and hop right in my truck and pin it down to Vegas to do a demo for Kicker audio, at the Palm's hotel. I might try and stay a week in Vegas to get tuned up on the supercross track and get ready for the Dubai X games. It's 50,000.00 to win that bad boy so I am going to take it serious and try not to crash in Speed in Style for the third time haha!! That's about all I have to say for now. I'll be posting right after the concert/demo, I am sure I will be pumped and have a bunch to talk about!! Take care!!
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Being a spectator

Geneva to Tahiti!

Bed head

From Russia with love!

Never long enough

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