ANDY
Day 1, 10:40 am
"Carson, right?"
I turned and saw Jay standing there. "Yeah."
"This is Jack Austin and Drew McEllen. Austin's new, too."
"You nervous?" I asked Austin.
"Nah. I'll tear the place up."
I wished I had his confidence. In 10 minutes I would go up there. In 10 minutes and 50 seconds I would get my score for the first round.
Dean and Kori were sitting kind of in the middle, and my family was in the 3rd row. I could see them clearly, all gawking at the guy that was up now.
I turned my attention to him. I didn't recognize most of the tricks he was doing. Maybe he made a few up.
"BJ Riggs," McEllen said, also watching the rider. "Man, if you rookies know what's good for you, you won't mess with that guy."
"Dude," Jay said. "Just because he pasted you doesn't mean-"
"What did he do?" Austin asked.
"Nothing interesting," Jay replied. "He just threw a few punches is all."
"Jay, the guy cracked my rib."
I raised my eyebrow. "Must have on heck of a punch."
"Yeah, he does," McEllen said. Jay rolled his eyes.
"Please. I've broken 24 bones."
"I know a guy that broke over 50," McEllen replied. "That's not the point. That's from falling. This is from a punch."
I got a little nervous and started having second thoughts about jumping 100 feet up. I noticed that Austin looked a little uncomfortable, too.
Jay laughed. "It's OK, guys. Don't worry about falling. Just hang on to the bike and don't land on your crotch. You'll be fine."
"Have you done that?" Austin demanded.
Jay laughed. "No way. If I had, I wouldn't be here. I'd be too embarrassed. But it's always been a paranoia of mine."
"Next up," the announcer said. "Nick Jayland."
McEllen patted him on the back. "Break a leg."
Jay slipped on his helmet, hopped on his bike, and rode off. But not without replying to McEllen, "I'll start with yours."
McEllen laughed as we watched Jay start off. How could these guys be so calm? McEllen and Jay joked around and Austin didn't seem nervous at all. Well, until we started talking about breaking bones.
"I need something," I said. "I mean, I need water… or something."
"Dude, you're up soon," Austin said.
"I know." I looked down at my sweating hands. I was so tense and nervous I couldn't stand it!
I rolled up my sleeves. I was hot. The stadium was packed with people creating body heat. People that were watching Jay. People that would soon be watching me.
"Carson!"
"Wha… huh? What?" I snapped back to attention.
Austin laughed. "You know what this is?" he asked McEllen. "This is stage fright at it's peak."
"I'm not scared," I said.
"Just alert, right? Really really awake?"
I smiled. I don't know if he was making fun of me or not, but I pretended like he wasn't. "Yeah."
He laughed again. "You have 5 seconds. And counting."
I put my helmet on and rolled down my sleeves for looks. I hopped on my bike and waited for the announcer to say my name.
"You'll rip," McEllen assured me. "Really."
I breathed deeply and heard him call my name.
Get out there and rip it, I told myself.
I rode out and heard everyone cheer. Would they be cheering in 45 seconds… or booing?
I went over the first jump. The second. Again, again. Each time doing a new trick.
The crowd was entertained. Definitely. They cheered loudly as I hopped off my bike. I was smiling like an idiot. I didn't even care about my score anymore. I didn't make any mistakes. And I'd had fun. And most importantly: didn't humiliate myself.
I went back to where the other guys were, took my helmet off, and laughed. "What a rush!" I said. That was the most fun I'd ever had. Now I remembered why I'd chosen freestyle over racing. Racing was exciting, but freestyle was that same excitement times 7.
"Carson? Check out your score," Jay said.
I turned. I'd gotten a 92.6.
"Ha-hah!" I cheered. "Is that good? It feels good!"
Jay laughed. "It's good, man."
McEllen laughed. I knew he was laughing at me and not with me, but I didn't mind. I did good, and that was all that mattered during that golden moment. "How d'ya feel?" he asked me.
"Totally stoked!"
"Welcome to our world. Wipe your shoes before entering."
I smiled, but a hiss from Austin turned my attention. "Guys!" he said. "Pastrana's up!"
My head snapped back to looking at the rider. On the bike was Travis Pastrana, who'd never in his entire life gotten anything less than 1st place in a freestyle competition. He was amazing. Hypnotizing. I couldn't tear my eyes away. It seemed like a crime to blink, even. Because there he was… in person, in front of me.
"Man, I wish he'd leave," McEllen muttered.
"What?" Jay demanded. "Why?"
"Because as long as he's here, the silver and bronze are the only medals up for grabs."
"But how often do you get to see him live?" Austin asked. "This is sweet."
"Sure. If that's what you want to call it."
McEllen's dullness seemed to rub off onto us. I was actually a little bit mad at him, almost. I wanted so bad to be excited to see Pastrana live, but now…
"You make me sick," Jay said. "Whatsa matter with you, Mic? 2 years ago you would've paid an arm and a leg to be in the same state as that guy."
"2 years ago I didn't know a can-can from a whole shot," McEllen replied. "Pastrana ain't nothing but another show-off in it for the girls."