Year in Pictures #6

This was a great trip to NYC with Andy to see Pearl Jam!

Year in Pictures #5

Cool pic from my school trip to PEEC!

Year in Pictures #4

White Stuff! We got our first dusting of the year today!

Best Mountain Bike Video Ever!!!!

I have watched this about 100 times and finally got it on here! Sam Hill is a pro downhill mountain bike rider and the best there is! This is some of the best riding I have ever seen! The announcers are mabye even better! "He looks all speeded up"! Watch it a few times!

Year in Pictures #3

During 2010 there were many snow rides. Soon I,ll be in the white stuff!

Year in Pictures #2

I love this picture from new years day.

Year in Photos 1

It has been a great year for the Wendler family. Today starts a look back at some great pictures that did not make the cut earlier in the year. Thanks to www.bmxunderground.com for the picture.

Mountain Bike Wins!

1934

I went to Giant to get iced tea the other day and when I received my change I noticed the color of the bill looked different. It was a brighter green then most 10 dollor bills you see. In my mind I thought I wonder if that is an "old" bill. When I was a kid my grandmom would give me $20 bills that looked similar to the one I just received. I turned the $10 bill over to see the date was 1934. No way! I had not seen a 1934 bill in years. Who does!? It is funny how something so random can bring back a great memory from your childhood.

They look great!

I am one proud dad as Luke gets his Team Trilogy uniform.

GREAT

This is were I should be on Sunday morning

Great Fall Ride

The weather was perfect as were the changing leaves. It was the kind of ride when I think how lucky I am to be able to get out in the woods with some friends. I was wearing shorts in the end of October and pushing the big 34X16 gear. The legs are getting used to the push of the gear and it is becoming even more fun. Tallon and Charlie were along for the ride. Dan T. did a great job for his second "real" ride. He is riding sections of trail that much more experienced riders would have trouble with. Dan I look forward to watching you grow as a rider.

Mid-Week Mud

Nice weather and a rare weekday mt.bike ride to Valley Forge. Fun ride on the 34x16 gear. Great gear for riding the bike path, gravel, and singletrack.

He Made It!

It was great to ride with my old (he is pretty old) friend Charlie. Although we have done alot of road biking over the years it all started with the mountain bikes. Back in the early 90's we would hit the trail whenever we wanted. Wow, how times have changed! Kids, wives, houses, and alot less time to mountain bike. It was great to see you on the trail! Great ride!

Luke's New Ride

Day & Night

Ride when you can!

Another

Another great weekend! Another great race! Another great day at the beach!

Bikes I like from the NBL Grand National

Charlie this is for you! I Love Bikes!!!!!!!!

I Love These Kids

NBL Grand National Report

In late July Luke had only been riding on the Bmx track for a few weeks and went to his first national level race. The result was a win and the talk at the local track turned to taking him to the Grands. They felt he could do pretty well. As a parent I know that Luke loves to ride/race his bike so why not take the trip.

We booked the hotel and made plans with Grammy and PauPau to make the overnight drive to Louisville, Kentucky. We would be driving overnight so the kids would sleep in the car and be semi-happy for the time we were in Louisville. The drive down went very well. We arrived at the track at 4:30am earlier then expected. This was good and bad. The kids both woke up and would stay up! We went on to find the hotel and then have breakfast at IHOP. After breakfast we made our way back to the track to get ready for practice. At big BMX races like this the practice time is broken up into age groups. Each age group only gets about 45 minutes. During his time he got in 5 laps of the track and seemed to be riding well. Know we could go to the hotel, check in and get some rest while the kids could go swimming. It would be early to bed for every one. Saturday was going to be a busy and long day at the track.

Everyone got a good night sleep and it was off to the track to get ready to race. When we arrived at the track we checked the moto board to find out when we would be racing. Luke was in moto #387!!!! That means that we would have to sit though 3 rounds of almost 400 races. At least it is fun to watch! The first races we watched was the expert age groups. These people FLY through the track. The bike handling skills and speed are super impressive. When it got close to Luke's first moto time I took him to get in a little warm up ride. It had been about 3hours since we arrived at the track.

Moto #1 for Luke went pretty good. He placed 3rd and really did not race as fast as he could. Still great considering the size and scope of the the Grands. He was racing with thousands of people watching. He had to finish in the top 4 of each moto to get to the next round. So far so good.

Moto#2 was another third place and still not racing his best but, getting the transfer spots he needed. That would be it for the day for Lukes racing. The last of the motos and the final round would be on Sunday. Saturday afternoon was the pro time to race and we were going to watch some serious speed and style. Luke being the lucky kid that he is was asked by Kathy from Trilogy who was scoring the pro race to come with her to the finish line. He got to sit at the finish line to watch world and olyimpic champions race for the win. Thanks Kathy!

Sunday we arrived at the track a little later then the day before because we knew we had time before his last moto. I talked to Luke and asked him to get out there and go fast and really race this lap! When his moto # came up he got in the gate and seemed ready. The gate dropped and he did not get a good start. He had to pass two kids to finish 3rd again. At this point I was concerned that if he raced like this in the upcoming semi-final (yes, he did advance) he would not make the Main.

When it was Lukes time to race the semi-final I said to him I need two things from you. One, is to have fun and two get a Conneticut start. He needed to finish in the top 4 to advance to the main. I did not even tell him that I knew if he raced his race he would be fine. Lets just say he got a great start and went on to win the semi. Now that's what I'm talkin about!!! It was great to see a big smile on his face and his confidence high going into the main!

In the Main he got a great start and finished second in his first Grand National main! I could not have been more proud of my son. He came through when he needed to, got a great result and a huge trophy! Special thanks go out to Luke biggest fan his sister Meghan. She was cheering for him all weekend long. Meg you are a great sister!