Hey Crew,

As I sit and write this update I have a smile on my face for the first time in what seems like forever. Mainly because for the first time since I arrived in Auckland, my email is full of good news!

I’ll start things off with a story a little different than usual. A few weeks ago I won a radio competetion to get up in front of a few thousand people at Vector arena and introduce the world renowned South African rock band ‘Seether’. Never one to waste an opportunity to rep my sponsors i threw on my Moto Mayhem T-Shirt and with a can of Demon in my hand went out there and did my thing on the mic. Check the attatched photo of me hanging backstage with Seether after the gig.

The biggest news of course is that the comeback from my broken ankle is well and truly set in motion with the completion of a very sucessful 4 days riding at the 2008 Big Boys Toys event. This has got to be one of the most fun events I have ridden, and being my second year riding there, myself and the rest of the Moto Mayhem crew were keen to impress in the windy conditions and didnt let anyone down. With Luke Smith leading the charge, the always-packed grandstand of screaming fans were sent home with smiles on their faces after seeing the biggest ruler backflips you could hope to see in NZ. Trent Garten and Liston Borrie were also on hand and as always impressed everyone with how solid and how large they were throwing down. As for me, being my first show back in 5 months, i was just super stoked to be back riding with the boys in front of the crowd where we belong. Having to ride around 5 times a day took its toll on all of us, but nothing a bit of Demon fuel couldnt help.

The midday show on Saturday was a fun one for me. We were dealing with a way too strong head wind so we decided to swing the ramps round 180 degrees to make it a tail wind (the joys of the Demon Enery portable ramps). Being only my 3rd ride on my awesome new Suzuki RM-Z250 i was more or less guessing my speed, and got it way wrong! The wind caught me like a sail and pushed me until i flat landed the 75ft gap straight to concrete, completely missing the downramp! The impact caused my rear tyre to explode, next thing you know im heading 2nd gear tapped towards a crowd full of people! I had no choice but to throw the bike onto the concrete and hit the steel fence hard. Lucky for me I’m wearing the best safety gear in the world, and I genuinely believe if I wasnt wearing my Alpinestars and Arai helmet i wouldnt be laughing about it now. I dusted myself off, fixed my bike and carried on riding for the weekend. But Im struggling to recover now!

All in all an awesome weekend was had. Even though I had to strap my ankle so hard I couldnt even move it, just to be able to ride, i had the time of my life, it feels great to be back!

My focus now turns to getting all my tricks back and training my butt off with Luke and the Moto Mayhem crew over summer. Our next show is at the drifts in auckland this sunday, and i may even try a few flips in the pit on Saturday.

Stay tuned for how that goes, and check the photos!

Steve Gregor
www.runfmx.co.nz
www.motomayhem.co.nz