Days of the Wildman

August 14th, 1988 IBMXF World Championships Santiago, Chile

Actual Journal Entry
16yr old Expert- 1st! I killed em. World #1!!! 16-17yr old Cruiser- 8th. I was winning down the first straight, dropped to third, moved to second, and then crashed. The awards ceremony at night sucked. At 12am Eric Carter and I went to Patricias and Corrine Dorlands hotel & ended up staying the night there Rad!"

Looking Back now -
At 16yrs old, this was my first trip outside of the country. I stayed at a hotel right in downtown Santiago with my Eagle Snacks teammates, BJ Gant and John Purse. Justin Green, Eric Carter, Charles Townsend, and a crew of other factory riders stayed at the hotel as well. On Wednesday before the race, a select group of riders went to the President of Chiles Mansion. We got to meet President Pinochet. I think the country threw him out of dictatorship a few years ago. The day earlier, John Purse and I met these two girls who went to school right across the street from the track. We met up with them on Saturday night (who needs rest the night before the World Championships?

-By the way, John won his 15 expert class as well!) They didn't speak a word of English, but John had his handy 'English-to-Spanish' translation book. I remember we were on a bus with the girls cruising around Santiago, Chile. It was pretty exciting for the Jackal and I seeing as we were only 15 and 16yrs old at the time. There were thousands and thousands of local Chilean spectators who would boo when a rider from the US would win. So when I was winning my 16 Expert main, I coasted across the finish line with both hands in the air, flicking off the crowd. I guess you could say that I was a bit cocky back then. Holland used to have some hot girl racers. Corrine Dorland was probably the hottest girl BMXer ever. Eric Carter was stoked to chill with her that weekend. I chilled with her friend Patricia and -Todd Lyons"