I'm sorry I have been neglecting this blog for a while, my Master's classes keep me busy.
I have been taking a few tests and I passed them all, so I'm pretty happy.
I will be applying for another semester in Germany because I really want to go back to Bochum, so fingers crossed! I hope I can spend the next winter term at RUB.
Here's the best news ever: I will be attending the WCMX World Championship in April! (you can read David's guest post about last year's event here).
I think I have said it before, but I will say it again: I have the best friends. I feel very lucky to have so many great people that support me.
When my friends heard about the WCMX Championship in Dallas, they all came together to make my dream come true. One day they asked me to meet them at the MX track and they surprised me there. I was speechless. I wasn't expecting that and I think I was the happiest girl on the planet. I can't even explain how much this means to me, it truly is a dream come true and every time I think about it it reminds me how much my friends love me. These guys became a part of my life a few months ago, and in the beginning I couldn't have imagined how important they would become, but now I know I can always count on them and I'm so glad I get to be a part of their lives.
I am very excited about the trip, it will be my first time flying overseas on my own (and yes, my mom is a bit worried!). I pushed to be able to live this experience on my own because I think it will make me grow as a person, and once I get to Dallas the whole WCMX family will be waiting for me, so I really don't think I'll be lonely!
Another good thing happened in the last month: I rocked the interview to volunteer at the first summer camp for kids with special needs in Italy! I will be taking part in the training weekend next month and I hope to be volunteering in August. I am looking forward to visiting the camp and starting this new experience! I will update as soon as I can so stay tuned.
My trip to Germany was great. I had to wake up at 4am to go to the airport and, when the plane landed in Weeze, it took me more than two hours to get to Dortmund, but it was definitely worth it! On that day I even managed to watch the end of Anna's Bachelor presentation at the skatepark.
I was so happy to be able to spend some time with Lisa and David and go to the Rehacare, the biggest exposition of disability-related products in Europe. I had been to the Expo last year and I had so much fun, but this year was even better: they built a small skatepark with drops, roll-ins and even rails.
The first day of the Expo was the best day of my life: I got to see Mike Box again (I hadn't seen him in a year) and he brought a WCMX chair for me! He made me the happiest girl in the world. I love him so much and he makes me feel so loved when he's there for me. I also love my new chair and I spent the next few days skating with the guys, I even took part in a couple shows. I have learned so much with this chair, it really took my skating and my confidence to the next level. I am so thankful to Mike for giving me this opportunity. In the last few weeks I've been thinking about how many people love and support me and my passion, and I feel so lucky because I know I wouldn't be where I am without them. I have decided I want to make a difference in my country, so I will work as hard as I can to improve my skating. Once I'm good enough, I want to start workshops just like David does, so that kids and adults on chairs can try WCMX in Italy, and hopefully fall in love with it.
During my week in Germany I even managed to go to dinner with my friend Megan. I loved spending some time with her and talking about our crazy lives and my love for my new chair. We went to an Indian restaurant (my first time!) and the food was very spicy, but it tasted good! After dinner I realized if I went home I'd get there at about 2am, so I decided to sleep over at Megan's, even though her apartment is not accessible and I had to climb the stairs (we did have some fun in the process anyway).
My last day in Dortmund did not start in the best way: I was home alone packing my bags and suddenly there was no power in the whole apartment. When Lisa and David came home, they spent an hour on the phone trying to figure out why. In the end, they had to go to the office, that meant I had to get to the railway station on my own (with two wheelchairs). We said goodbye and I started rolling towards the subway, pushing myself with one hand and the other chair with the other arm, my big backpack on the old chair. It was not easy because there were hills and curbs, which wouldn't be a problem without the extra chair, but can get tricky when you have to push something besides yourself. With the help of a couple people, I managed to take the train. When I got to the railway station, things got easy: I even had fun rolling with my two chairs on the flat ground!
During my train ride to the airport, everyone was looking at me because I was sitting between two wheelchairs; one was weird (the WCMX chair has shocks like a bike and a grind bar, so it looks different) and upside down (it has no brakes, so I sit on the train seat and tip it over to prevent it from rolling away), the other chair had a huge backpack on it.
The flight back was good and I was able to take both chairs on board without extra costs (and without arguments!). I am now taking my Masters' classes, so I probably won't be blogging much, but stay tuned because I might have rad news coming soon!
Here is a guest post from my friend David from Germany. He flew to the US to take part in the competition and did very well! In this blog post, he tells us about his experience with Team Germany (my friends Lisa, Philipp and Anna are with him together with a couple other guys). If you understand German, you can follow their adventures on "The wheel rocking world of Lisa and David". Thanks David for sharing your post with me!
Team Germany
Ph. Anna Spindelndreier
The World Championship in
Dallas is over and it was such a great weekend. I really can't thank
the organizers from Rise Adaptive sports enough. After winning an
international contest last year in Venice Beach, I was already being
called a world champion. But in fact this was the first official
world championship: a hard-earned name, with 18 riders from 8
countries.
On Saturday, during the
qualifiers, I was very nervous, but apparently my run was very
satisfying not only for me, but also for the jury, that rewarded it
with the 2nd place. The first 12 qualified for the final:
alongside me there were Aaron Fotheringham, Blake Simpson, Katherine
Beattie, Rico Reyes, Toni Quinoero Martin, Jake Harvey, Shaun Doss,
Quinn Waitley, Pedro Henrique, Christiaan Bailey and Philipp Cierpka.
On Sunday it was
make-or-break. The scores from the qualifiers were invalid, only the
two runs from Sunday determined the final ranking. Still, I was
clearly not as nervous as I was on Saturday. It was different for
Philipp. He was very nervous and worried he could break his wheel,
which he had bent on Saturday, during his good qualification run.
Even in his final runs, his excitement was noticeable, but he handled
it very well and can now consider himself one of the 12 best WCMX
riders in the world.
Though for Paul and Lisa
the competition was over after the qualifiers, Lisa
barely missed the finals with a 13th place and
Paul, after a long mandatory break and with an unfamiliar wheelchair
(he got my old TNS with last-minute emergency adjustments) has done
well and gained the 15th place.
David can fly.
Ph. Anna Spindelndreier
So it was Philipp and I
in the finals. Philipp was the first one to ride on Sunday,
unfortunately he was so nervous he crashed several times: nothing
bad, but points are taken away after each fall.
Besides crashes,
creativity, style, use of skatepark (that is if you are using
everything or just rolling in circles), tricks and lines or combos
(the way you connect the different tricks and gaps in the skatepark)
are evaluated. Once again, I decided to use my safe repertoire and
preferably try not to fall and to make my tricks look as easy as
possible, which I did. I was very happy with my runs and I managed to
use everything, without crashing in the valid runs and with
everything I could do at Alliance skatepark. Without crashing? Well,
not really: during the very last trick of the very last run, I still
managed to lay on the ground. I have tried to come down the handrail
with a 50-50 and fell on my back. Anyway, I only did that because the
first run was perfect and I thought: “If I make it, then it's good,
but it's not a problem if I don't.” Only the best run was valid.
Aaron's handi-plant
Aaron crashed a few
times, but compensated for
them with his powerful tricks and managed to take home the title.
Blake Simpson, the one I was betting on, who also was 1st
in the qualifiers, unfortunately didn't have luck on Sunday and
placed 6th
. The 2nd
place, that went to Pedro Henrique from Brasil, was not surprising
but well deserved. Until then, I only knew his breathtaking backflips
out of the quarter, which he also showed his ability at during the
weekend. He landed all of them except one, putting pressure on
everyone. Even Aaron wasn't able to land backflips at such rate.
However, in such a contest, a single backflip is not enough to obtain
a good place. Pedro proved that he can do other things besides using
the jumpramp. His grinds, together with his fakie firecracker down
the stairs, were crucial for the ranking.
I
followed in the 3rd
place: thereby the jury rewarded my clean runs and my use of the
entire skatepark, as well as the fact that I always used each and
every second of my 2 minutes.
A video of Philipp's run, as well as
mine, will follow; here are the general highlights:
With
750 $
prize money and a bunch of new impressions and friends, the adventure
continues. Because, as I am writing this text, I am already in
Austin, very comfy at the breakfast table. What we experience here,
you will find out soon.
Greetings from Austin, Texas from Lisa, Anna
and David
The winners: 1. Aaron Fotheringham 2. Pedro Henrique 3. David Lebuser 4. Rico Reyes 5. Jake Harvey
Ph. Anna Spindelndreier
When my friends heard about the WCMX Championship in Dallas, they all came together to make my dream come true. One day they asked me to meet them at the MX track and they surprised me there. I was speechless. I wasn't expecting that and I think I was the happiest girl on the planet. I can't even explain how much this means to me, it truly is a dream come true and every time I think about it it reminds me how much my friends love me. These guys became a part of my life a few months ago, and in the beginning I couldn't have imagined how important they would become, but now I know I can always count on them and I'm so glad I get to be a part of their lives.
