VIVA MEXICO!

Round 1 of the 2009 Red Bull X-fighters kicked off this past weekend in luxurious Mexico City. I have been working as a judge in freestyle MX for a little over 7 years now and with my experience, I was invited to be to the “Head Judge” at this particular round of the tour. I have been to Mexico City 3 previous years as just a regular judge so I knew what to expect in my 3 days there. This time however I was bringing my wife so she could get the experience….. And what an experience it was.
Our flight left Beautiful San Diego first thing Wed morning, we flew US Air and my first travel tip comes to you because of that. If you plan on traveling in the near future I would steer away from this airline. When we got to the ticket counter, It felt like I was in a bad commercial where upon placing our bags on the scale to be checked in we were way under the weight limit but were then told we had to pay a fee of fifteen dollars per bag. It was a little shocking but ok, it is what it is. The second bit of great news we got was that there were window seats available and since I don’t fly well I like a window seat so I can feel a little less Closter phobic and that seat even makes me feel like I can sleep a little better. Anyways, the good news was, there were plenty of window seats available, the bad news was there is a five dollar fee to sit in a window seat. I know five dollars does not seem like a lot but it is the point, when did baggage not get covered in the ticket price and really, is five dollars necessary to sit in an empty seat that isn’t going to be occupied? It doesn’t end there. Upon boarding the plane, it was still 6 in the morning and I asked if pillows were available. I was told “Of course they are, no problem, you can have a lousy pillow and a blanket that covers your torso but it will be seven dollars”. Seven bucks! For a lousy pillow I am just going to leave on the plane when I get off? Wow. What is next? Tokens for the restroom? The airline story only gets worse from here but you’re going to read on about the ride home later.
So we arrive in Mexico City and it is typical Mexico. I mean things are just different. With 14 million people in this city it is one of, if not the largest city in the world. Compared to most cities in America it is real dirty, it stinks and the first thin you notice when leaving the airport is there seems to be absolutely no traffic laws. The wife and I jumped into a shuttle with Freestyle legend Adam Jones. If you don’t know Adam he is the guy staring in all the new “AXE body spray commercials” you know the one where the guy does a back flip and does the “armpit to chesty” spray. So after joking about the commercial and watching my wife’s face light up at all the beautiful scenery Mexico City had to offer it became apparent that we were going to be in the shuttle for a long time. I knew the hotel wasn’t close and it seemed that all 14 million people that occupy Mexico City were on the same road we were. It was nuts to butts traffic and to top it off it was real muggy weather and our driver knew no English. It only took us about an hour and a half to get to our destination the “El Diplomatico Hotel”. This hotel is right near the venue of the event and I would compare it to a middle of the road motel 6 here in America. I mean it is nice and the people are great but the inside of the room is, well, Different. With nothing on the agenda Wed. Night we just kicked it in the room after a long day of travel and planned on being rested for the next day. Thursday morning was a short riders meeting and then the day was filled with practice and that night at 7pm we would have a qualifying round. Matt Rebeaud, who had a pretty bad crash in a practice run, stuck a solid run together in qualifying and headed in to the event as top qualifier. All went well and we were back to the hotel room by 10pm. Upon arriving to the hotel, I was starving and decided to meet a couple of the guys next door at “Pappa Bills” to have something to eat, My wife decided to just get some shut eye and man, I wish I would have done the same. I eat the same thing all the time in Mexico City. I get “Pollo Fajitas” (chicken fajitas for you non Spanish speakers! Haha) because they come on the skillet still sizzling and I can watch them cook. I have heard horror stories about food down hear and tonight I would witness it first hand. After receiving my fajitas and throwing about 7 of them back because I was so hungry, Jeff Fehr a Canadian rider who was sitting next to me put his fork down and asked me what I thought was in his salad. Without getting into the specifics and grossing everyone out let’s just say that Jeff wasn’t too upset because the little guy in his salad couldn’t have eaten too much. YUCK! I immediately got sick, threw some pesos on the table, went to the bathroom emptied my stomach and went to bud hungry. Not a word was said to my wife as she was already very picky on her food choices and this would have for sure eliminated everything she would want to eat.
Friday. The day of the event. This event is by far the most energetic, passionate event I have ever been to. It is held in the historic “Plaza De Toros” I invite you all to check out this website to see some of the photos – HERE – it is an old run down bull fighting rink that I imagine is made to hold about 20,000 people. For this event they had over 42,000 jam into it. It is so small and intimate that you can barely have a conversation with the person next to you throughout the whole night. It is insane and something I will never forget for the rest of my life. It truly is a great event. The judges consisted of 5 judges this year they are as follows, Drake MCelroy, freestyle legend and Red Bull athlete. Pedro Gonzales, Mexican National MX champion San Jose SX winner and Mexiacna Red Bull athlete. Jimmy Verburgh, European professional freestyler and the local Mexican hero- Javier Fernando De La Cueva who is a major music star doing a big hair 80’s rock band check out is band – HERE – his band is AWESOME and this guy is such a celebrity he has to have his own security so he wouldn’t get mobbed in the judges stand. Last but not least myself. As I stated earlier the event is top notch and when it was all said and done 17year old Levi Sherwood, in his first ever international event, stole the show and rocked the house. He is the future of Freestyle MX.
Saturday was the day to come home. It couldn’t have come quicker as both the Mrs. and myself wanted to be home and back in the comforts of the US. BUT, here is where the trip really took a turn for the worse! We boarded the plane at 2pm PST for our 3 hour flight to Phoenix to get our connecting flight to San Diego. We were supposed to land in San Diego at 8pm, go get our son and get some sleep as Jami was going to run in a 5k “Mud Run” first thing Sunday morning. Well, shortly after boarding the plane we were told there was a problem and the mechanics were working on making it better. Well, all I could see in my mind was duct tape, a pair of dykes, bailing wire and a mariachi band. I don’t know why. So after 2 and ½ hours we FINALLY take off. needless to say, we missed our connecting flight. To top it off we missed the LAST connecting flight to San Diego and the only thing US Airways could do for us is get us home Sunday morning. This was not going to work as we had to be home for the 5k in the morning. It was time to man up and do the “husbandly” thing to do. I had to rent a car and get my wife home so she could do something she had trained hard for and committed to her team to do. So, off to Hertz we went and about 6 hours later (at 3am) we rolled into the front door of Casa de Harrington. Jami got to sleep and by “sleep” I mean rest, as riding in a Hyundai at 90 mph through the desert of Arizona doesn’t allow much sleep. I want to give a shout out to my wife for going on this trip with me. 4 full days away from home, nothing to eat, bored as heck and not being able to leave the hotel due to civil unrest, stinky city, dirty toilets, bad flights, 5 hour rental car rides and she still soldiered on to a 14th place team finish in the 5k. Thanks babe, and good job.
Next stop is Calgary, and hopefully a little bit more freedom to sight see and have fun. One thing is for sure, I know Red Bull will put on an AMAZING event and I look forward to that!