Houston Pro

The 2015 season was officially coming to an end as I traveled to my final contest for the year, the Houston Pro. This event was held at Hanger 9 Wake Park in Conroe, Texas. It was the ultimate fun compound. Not only was there an amazing cable park and boat lake at the venue, but there were also motocross tracks surrounding the entire facility. This was truly paradise for me as it reminded me of my motocross racing days as a kid. All this excitement funneled into my drive to accomplish my goal of finishing the season on a strong note completing the run I had been training hard to perfect.

Leading up to this event, I had been training diligently with the help of my good buddy, Casey Jones. Thankful for great friends that will help me train! The slow fall season boat traffic on the Lake of the Ozarks allowed me to be extremely productive on the water spending large segments of the day training. When it came time to compete in the qualifying round, I was pumped to hit the water. I had a pretty stacked heat, but was able to remain focused on what I came to do regardless of who was in my heat. I ended up only having one bobble in my run and was really happy with the axis that I had on my toeside 720°. I had been spending a lot of time changing my toeside spins, so this will be great momentum going into next season when I start throwing my toeside 900° spin in my run again. The next day was the quarterfinals. I rode well, but just wasn’t able to put it all together. I still managed to get third in my heat but was disappointed in my performance. The cool thing about this process is that at the end of the day, I know my Heavenly Father was pleased with my efforts and diligent training and more than willing to help show me more ways to improve. Remembering this helps me to be able to walk away motivated for the next contest. After a long day at the contest site, my friends and I headed out for a fun night of golfing at Top Golf. The WWA hooked us up by reserving an entire level for the contest riders – which by the way, was awesome and so much fun.

The next day was the final rounds of competition. Since I didn’t make it though my heat, I was determined to have the most action packed day possible. I started off my morning by attending Wake Church hosted by Wake Well. Mark Heger gave a powerful message about our identity in Christ and how it affects our purpose in life. After the service, I decided to take some laps around Hanger 9 Cable Wake Park. It was a blessing that Ronix Wakeboards sponsored the park so I was able to ride for free as a team athlete. Once I had my wakeboard fix for the day, I got in touch with the Learn to Ride and MX School for a lesson in the dirt with motocross expert, Hans Marschler. He got my buddy Vinnie Knapp and myself hooked up with bikes, gear, and a tour of the tracks. I had so much fun being back on a bike again and getting insight from Hans on better ways to ride. Opportunities like these is why traveling is so much fun. I am privilege to meet great people and do so many fun things. It is also a passion of mine to check out schools like this to get insight on how they do business and to pick up on ideas for ways that we can improve at Kirby’s School of Wake.

Overall, this trip was a lot of fun and there was a lot to take away from my time in Texas. I am very thankful that the Dispensa-Matic Label Dispenser Company sponsored my way and made it a possibility to see this cool place. Ultimately these trips are not about what I can do, but to see what God can do through wakeboarding. I was blessed to have some deep conversations about the Lord on this trip and that is my true mission when it comes to competing as a professional wakeboarder. I believe that God is our source of a having a great time and He fully delivered on this trip.