The flame has arrived!

I just woke up this morning and saw that the Olympic flame will arrive in Canada today. It didn't seem that long ago when the Olympics were here in Utah but that was eight years ago! This brought back so many memories. I was fortunate enough to be a support runner for the 2002 Games the day of the Opening ceremonies and was able to hold the torch for a brief moment. (I will try and track down some pictures.)
Reading about the flame just fired me up! (no pun intended) The Olympics are close! It is an exciting time, the energy is building and winter sports enthusiasts are getting excited.
It is going to be an interesting year for the US Men's Speed team. We have eight guys who are capable of not only making the Olympics but in my opinion being Medal contenders, if they ski to their potential. We have three World Cup winners on our team, four who have podiums, six who have top fives, eight who have top 10's. I don't know if I can say it's the deepest team ever, but I can say that pretty good and it is going to be a battle this season just to qualify for the Olympic team.
I have a long way to go with just getting cleared to ski but I am feeling a lot better than I have in a while. My back feels fantastic and my knee is still tender but it is feeling the best it has since my crash in Wengen. I head off to Colorado November 1st and will start my on snow progression, slowly making sure my knee can handle what I give it.
Reading about the Olympic flame has me excited. So we will see what Colorado has in store.

Adios
Steven

P.S. I going to start blogging once again. I took a nice break through the summer but I am going to try and be more consistent so keep checking in.

My picks

I forgot some of my picks but if I remember correctly this is what I am calling for Solden

Women
1Tanya poutianien
2Vonn
3Jaquemond
4Zettle
5Holmner
6Tessa worley

8Julia

All us women making top 30


Men
1Ted
2Aksel
3Raich
4Fanara
5Cuche
6Grange
7Blardone

9Jittlof


All us men making top 30 even mr warren nicker so

Go red white and blue
Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Codewa

Good news! Cody Marshall is up and cruising! I just read his blog and he is making great progress. Walking, dropping F bombs and yanking out his own feeding tube! But the nurses said its okay if he keeps eating on his own. GOOD JOB Cody, keep up the fight! Im stoked for the kid, seeing that I was in the hospital just 8 days ago and he was still in a coma. It is pretty incredible to see the strength he has and also all the people who are out there rooting for him. Keep up the good work Code

The Anti Energy Drink

My brother showed me this I thought it was pretty funny.

http://www.impactlab.com/2009/07/28/slow-cow-the-anti-energy-drink/

Git on up

My buddy SteveO does a lot of work for Fuel TV and created this piece. Pretty funny, very creative

Bi Lateral

I have been horrible with my communication lately, it has been over a month since I blogged. It has been extremely frustrating trying to figure out my knees but I think I am on the right track now. All of my images were fairly negative only hinting toward some bone bruising on my patellas. So I focused on healing those. When my pain never subsided kept digging deeper. Finally Dr Sterette at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail brought me in and took a more aggressive approach at my knees. He said they could see some build up in the plica (spelling?) which is a flap of tissue which sits underneath the quad tendon which connects to the patella. They think it was inflamed from my crash at Wengen and then I kept on it which never let it settle down and it started getting bigger and bigger. I also had minor tear in my quad tendon which wasn't healing and it probably wasn't healing because this plica was constantly irritating it. So with the removal of the plica hopefully it will give me space to heal and also reduce the pain in my knee. Seadman and Sterette were on point with their call and when they went into the knee there was a bunch of build up in the left knee also some random floating pieces in there as well. Also some synivitus (or something that sounds similar?, basically a tissue buildup) which they also removed. So now my knee has room to breathe and hopefully heal. My right knee was experiencing similar pains but not to the same level as the left so I told them to go in there as well and they found similar build up but in a more concentrated area. It was pretty interesting to watch. I decided to go local through the procedure and watch what was going on. It is incredible what medicine can do these days. I want to give a big up to Dr, Sterette, Steadman, all the other helpers, nurse Harriet, April, Stacy and a really big thanks to Ellen and the Foster Family for taking care of me while I am down and out.
Hopefully I write more on the blog while I'm out but mostly I have been sticking to twitter. It is way easier, my twit name is steebert.
Adios for now

Steven

The Edge of Never

I dont know Mr. Kye but my brother does and he says he's a good dude so I trust his opinion. But I remember watching Bill Kerig and Trevor Peterson as a kid in RAP films, Carving the White. They were my idols, I probably watched that flick over a 100 times.

The Edge of Never

WasSUP Race

I have been a little sluggish with the blog posts.  Sorry about that.  This is a little delayed news.  A little over a week ago I received a call from a rando number and thy invited m to a Stand up Paddle (SUP) race at Deer Creek.  The first ever for the Utah summer games.  It was a lot of fun and there was a great turn out, around 25 people.  I didn't know so many people enjoyed paddling at an extremely slow speed across flat water.  Because whenever I load my board on my car and drive to the lake I get tons of looks from the local farm and red neck folk.  

The race only had two classes, Men and Women.  We had everyone from first timers to pros there.  The course was 1.5 miles which is considered a sprint!  It didn't feel like it to me.  We all started at a good clip and hung together for a bit then people started spreading out.  Long story short.  I ended up getting 3rd a board length behind Eric Schlopy and we were about 200 yards behind this pro guy who had a race board but was wicked fast.   We ended up figuring out he was top 5 in the world in SUP racing.   I wish I remember is name.  But he lives in Eden and California and bounces back and forth between the two.  

I'm just rambling so click here for some shots and I also think someone tagged me on my face book with some more.    SUP PHOTOS

Also check out the shots of the event that followed.  As the SUP race ended the sailing race started.  The boats got half way down the lake and a huge storm blew through.  I MEAN NASTY!  I felt like Lieutenant Dan in Forest Gump watching this thing.  The sail boats couldn't get off the lake in time and 15 boats capsized.  But luckily nobody was hurt.  I think thy have to re hold the Utah Summer Games Sail Boat race! 

Len10

Check this kid out.  He is absolutely nuts!  My favorite kiteboarder to date.  

RUBEN LENTEN

http://www.ontheloose.tv/

My knee is still bugging me so I have laid low from kiting so far this summer.  Luckily the winds haven't been too great so the temptation isn't that high.  Hopefully I get a taste soon.  Until then, more biking.  Which I have been enjoying a ton.  

Heres some more goods I found.  

Go to Nimbus Independent for more videos.

 I was searching the Nimbus site for some new footy of my brother.  He is going to have a part in this years Nimbus production.  Stay tuned for his goods.  But til then enjoy this trip clip.  It comes from my favorite ski film creator, Kris Ostness.  Ever since Clay Pigeons came out I have followed his work.  He has a way of attaching you to the film. 

Pedal to the Metal

I stole my trusty ol' cruiser back from my little bro and fixed to up so it runs smooth again.  It has been great riding around town.  No getting in the truck for me when I have to get groceries.  But Im thinking of upgrading to one of these minus the kids.  Gotta wait for that.  Now I can haul all my stuff from the hardware store back home.  

America Supports Team USA

Between now and July 4th the US Olympic Team is looking for the publics support through donations.  Learn more by visiting www.teamusa.org.

Unlike most other nations, the US doesn't use government funding to support their Olympic teams.  This is for a good cause in support of athletes and nations competing for common good.  

Thanks for the support

The land of the rising sun

I have been riding a ton lately and it has been great.  The knee is coming around and I am feeling great.  Yesterday I was riding my favorite ride and one I grew up on.  The alpine loop is its name and it is one of the most scenic rides I have ever been on.  You ride over a pass on Mt. Timpanogos and at the top you can see Snowbird, Alta, Lone Peak, Cascade while you are under Timp.  

I rode to the top for the second time this spring and this time it was with some of my Bike racing friends Brian and Hunter Tolbert along with their Dad Tracy and my Mom.  After chilling up top for a while we began the decent.  I wasnt pushing my speed at all but rounding one of the switch backs my tire slipped out and I went for a nice butt slide.  It was weird I didn't tear anything up except that.  No fingers, elbows, knees nothing.  I have never crashed on a Road bike so that was a first.  I hope a last.  I have definatly escaped a few close ones but this finally got me.  It isnt too fun.  It hurt to simply sit but I think I will get back on the bike thurs.  

My butt looks like the Japanese flag.  Mostly white with a big red circle on it.  Thanks to Robyn, Heather and my Mudda for picking the gravel out and burning me with hydrogen peroxide.