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Vince Byron Update

Vinny Byron is charging at the moment in the US, read below his updated and watch this heavy crash he took at X games 2010

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Hey Guys,

This is a bit of a blog about what i've been up to the last few weeks.

Ill start of with the Open Qualifier of the Dew Tour in Chicago.
This year i was pre-qualified in vert which i was pretty stoked about since it gave me a bit more time to get used to the ramp, as well as letting me focus some more time on park.
I thought i'd have another crack at it this year as i did last year, however which i didnt qualify for the rest of the tour. This time it was a little different. I was riding the course getting used to everything feeling pretty good on most of my stuff but i just couldnt work out how to link everything together. Eventually i figured out some lines to make everything work as one and in the 2nd heat of the open qualifier i put it all together and came off with a score good enough to get me into prelims. Stoked! The next day was prelims and i was stoked enough to be there so i stuck with my same run just to see how i would go and make sure i stayed fit enough for vert. I happened to make a good enough score in my 2nd run again to make it into finals. Just as i had finished my run it started storming down hard. We heard news of a possible hurricane and with winds like that i thought it was possible. Unfortunately the rain came at a bad time and we hadnt finished everybody's 2nd run. Therefore if they couldnt finish off the rest of the heat, only the 1st runs would count and i wouldnt be in the finals. Luckily enough after about 2 hours of running back to the hotel in terrential rain, getting showered and making our way back down to the venue, they were able to run the rest of the heat.
I stood and watched anxiously to see if i would be in my first park final ever! Mark Webb was the last rider to go and at that stage i was still in. He threw down an awesome run which was enough to put him in the final. Luckily i was in by enough points to be in there too, i was stoked to say the least!

The weather had been so on and off that they were only able to run a vert open qualifier, but no prelims. Which meant they were going to run a 20 man super-final instead of the regular 10 man final. I, being in both park and vert finals had a little bit of riding to do the next day. With park finals first, i let my same run do the talking once again since i was just happy to be where i was. As soon as i finished my 2nd run i ran over to the vert ramp to start practicing as the finals started half an hour after park. I hadnt ridden the ramp much so i got straight into practicing all my moves and feeling out the ramp. The way this final was going to work was a little different than normal. Because of the weather they decided to run everybody through once, then everyone again if the weather let them. I didnt really have a full run planned out, but i knew the tricks i wanted to do so i just put it all together and tried to have as little blank walls as possible. My first run went down pretty well and left me sitting in 4th place. The weather held up. I got to my 2nd run and changed it slightly. I upped my score and got moved to 3rd. I was excited, i might actually get a podium place this time! Next in was Steve Mccann. He too stepped up his run and with his higher altitude on pretty much all his tricks he overtook me and snagged 3rd from under me. I was a little bummed but i still thought to myself; i almost had it. So next time i know i can get there! I ended up with 11th in park and 4th in vert and a smile on my face. Tired and sore but stoked to ride my bike!

The following week was the X Games in Los Angeles, CA.

I'd never been to an X Games before, let alone ridden in one. I almost couldnt believe it! I was getting to ride vert against the best riders in the world in the X Games.
We arrived late on monday night in LA. I unfortunately booked a pretty sketchy hotel which we pulled up to at about 1am. Needless to say my girlfriend and i werent stoked so we bailed on that hotel and went round the corner to something that felt a bit safer. We woke up, got our stuff together and went down to registration. I got that done then went and had a look at the ramp. It was looking good and the other riders said it was pretty solid, but something about the coping wasnt right. I didnt end up riding til the next day.
I geared up and then dropped in and felt out the ramp. It was a little sketchy i thought. They had fixed the coping apparently but to me the ramp just didnt feel normal.
Luckily there was plenty of time before the contest. I went to practice the next day and started to feel better on the ramp. Being smoother with all my tricks just getting more confidence. The contest was the next afternoon. I arrived at the venue nice n early for warmup. The event was televised so everything was pretty tight. They were also running the comp a little different. Two heats of 5 riders with 12 minutes in the heat. Each rider would have a few runs of 30 seconds. Everyone got about 4 runs. I only got 3.
The contest started and i was ready to go. I had a couple of runs planned out. I sent them, they worked out and my score was looking good. By the time i got done with my 2nd run i was tied in 3rd place with a couple of other guys who i knew were going to throw down in there next runs. They only took the top 2 riders from each heat and the 3rd rider with the better score out of the 2 heats, into the final. I dropped in for my 3rd run, started out good... Then, as i went for a barspin to turndown. I missed my hand on the bars, but i still went for the turndown because i was in the zone. I couldnt get my hand back on and i knew it wasnt going to be good. I went down... The next thing i knew i was sitting in the medical office at X Games. Somehow i knew where i was. But i was in a daze, almost like a dream. They put a splint on my wrist and told me and my girlfriend what we had to do to make sure i was ok for the next day or so. I walked out to watch the finals of vert which was about halfway over at that point. I was a little bummed, i had only just missed finals and i was worried what had happened to my wrist. I went to bed that night and had to be woken up every 2 hours by my girlfriend because the doctors told her thats what she had to do. I turned out to be fine. I went and got an xray on my wrist the next day to see how it was. Stoked! nothing was broken or fractured, just a sprain. I'd be riding again in a few days.
I was happy again, even though i KO'd myself at my first X Games, i took home a 6th place and came back un-injured. At the end of the day, all that matters is that i can ride next Dew Tour Stop!!!