Taiyuan, China
Well after one of the longest, hottest, smelliest, windiest days ever, I made the main event and finished 6th in the World for Elite BMX. Crazy part is this finish also secured my position as the only American girl who will represent BMX in the 2008 Olympic Games!!!!.
Taiyuan, China
So far they have served; powdered embryo, 
Cat sausage, cold beef achilles tendon, ox tounge salad, fried pig hands, sliced parts of pig head, mixed donkey meat, chicken gristle, etc.. This place is absurd:) Also woke up to the lowest levels of smog so far, good news for practice day :).
Taiyuan, China
Got into China yesterday after about 30 hrs of travel. Not too bad, went smooth. We are southeast of Beijing by about 250 miles, but in a city that is less set up for western ways. The air of course is amazing, love to singe the lungs with every breath, but the rest of the differences just make me laugh. Like driving, bathrooms, translations, and pointless jobs. Im content to say China is not a top destination, but for sure enhances my appreciation for simple things back home, it's an experience. We have been using hot pots and cooking our own food cause OX tounge and chicken feet are not on the racer diet plan:)
Under 14 challenge class' raced today, a whole 27 motos, 2 semis. Not a huge turn out, but we are in E.B.F. China:). Couple US world champs in the mix, think 11 of them out of the 17 that could be, so good job kiddies. Track looks decent, bit of wind, but some tech rhythm and good speed.
US Open- New Jersey
The Downhill, and I guess night slalom race is not part of any series at the US Open, just a race for big prize money, and well managed from what most riders say. Track has a lot of rocks, and high speed sections.
Bryn on podiums:)
Men's DH
1. Steve Smith- CAN 2:36.737
2. Sam Hill- AUS 2:37.326
3. Bryn Atkinson- AUS 2.38.603
4. Matti Lehikoinen- FIN 2:41.011
5. Andrew Neethling- RSA 2:41.430
Slalom
1. Rando
2. JD
3. Kyle Strait
4. Bryn Atkinson
Nothing like a few hundred post-it notes to brighten up the room. Had a plethora of down time with knee rehab, so this kept me busy. enjoy.
Another Week to go till we leave for BMX World Champs in Taiyuan, China. This race will determine if we get two spots for USA girls or not. bmxworlds2008
Don't think many people even knew this National race was happening. I only knew cause my homie Chris Powell sent me a message. Leigh Donavan made a cameo appearance and had a podium too, so that's cool. San Ynez is up near santa barbara.
SLALOM RESULTS
Men
1 Rich Houseman
2 Chris Powell
3 Eric Carter
4 Mike Haderer
Women
1 Melissa Buhl
2 Leigh Donovan
Peaty won his 7th Lisbon Downtown event in a row.!! This unique Downhill race starts in St.George castle in Lisbon, Portugal and weaves it's way through tiny ally ways, cobblestone paths, down stairs, crosses trolly tracks, jumps over cars, landings are down flights of stairs. Probably the most fun atmosphere for a race. I have been in the past, and really love this event.
1.Peaty,
2. Minnaar,
3. Polc.
4. Sam Hill,
5. Cedric Gracia
New helmet in the works. It's gonna be sweet. Thanks to Red Bull, Sauce design, and Chris at Airtrix, they are the geniuses, I merely direct:).
Today was also the first day back on "Flash" (my BMX bike)!! Nothing fancy, but pretty happy to cruise around a track considering I'm 2 weeks post op.
Finally saw the ESPN < E:60 > feature they did on me awhile back. E:60 has a lot of great content about all kinds of people in sport. I learned about the South African kid who was trying to compete with two prosthetic "Cheeta" feet, Mike Tyson now, a fighter called Kimbo Slice, Dara Torres the 41 year old swimmer trying for her 4th olympics, Spike Lee filming Kobe Bryant, etc. It is an interesting site, worth checking out. E:60 Website
LA, CALIFORNIA
Red Bull's major league soccer team, the NY Red Bulls, were in town to play against David Beckham and the LA Galaxy, so I went with some homies to scope it out. Seen a football match in Spain before, but "soccer" in America is a more civil affair. Beckham's star power packed the stadium with Galaxy fans, so we were holding it down for the Bulls......
MARIBOR, SLOVENIA
Wow, that's weird, Sam and Sabrina won....
MARIBOR, SLOVENIA
Funky results from the 4x. Bunch of kinda unknown Euros in the men's final. Lopes 
crashed in the first round, which is never how you want to start the world cup. Saladini got squeezed out in a round in the top turns, Joost or Jurg??dunno, Cedric had a crash in a semi but went on to the small final?, Dan Atherton got snapped, Gee didn't race?, Rennie raced and got through 2 rounds, Polc?? No Jared Graves, Prokop, or Roger either. I wasn't there so I don't know much, this is what Bryn told me. mtbcut.tv
MENS 4x FINAL
1. Rafa Alvarez De Lara
2. Guido Tschugg
3. Johannes Fischbach
4. Tomas Slavik - GT
In the Final Buhly had the snap, but couldn't hold in the top turns. Anneke won. Looked like a decent couple of jumps at the bottom, so that's cool for her. Wish I was there to punish that course:(
WOMENS 4x FINAL
1. Anneke Beerten
2. Anita Molcik
3.Fionn Griffiths
4. Melissa Buhl
If anyone wants to contribute photos or updates, send me an email.
MARIBOR, SLOVENIA
Aside from all the teams setting up, riders getting their bikes ready for practice tomorrow, and walking inspection, today was pretty chilled.
MARIBOR, SLOVENIA
I'm stepping in on Jills behalf to report on the WC's this year. This was JD Swangden's suit for cruising the pits in Italy, he's a funny little bugger.. Bryn
SAN DIEGO, CA
Red Bull knows how to hold awesome events!! I can't even imagine how much planning went into something of this scale!! Seemed like all of San Diego was on the shores of the bay. You don't really get a sense of the speed or sound of the planes from tv, live experiences are much more rewarding. You feel 239mph go past. A Stunt Pilot would be an awesome job, these guys are way beyond the skill level of your average captain though, would take awhile. I had a lot of fun watching the show with my homies and fellow red bull folks. Even got to meet the flying tomato- Shaun White!!. Star struck Superfan I was 
!!
A RACE OF SPEED AND SKILL
www.redbullairrace.com
The Red Bull Air Race World Series features the world’s best pilots in a motor sports competition based on speed, precision and skill.
Using the fastest, most agile and lightweight racing planes, pilots navigate a low-level aerial race track made up of air-filled pylons, reaching speeds of 400 kilometres per hour while withstanding forces of up to 10 Gs....
Nope, guess not. Tonight was the night, Motocross Supercross championship in Vegas. Reed vs Windham 10 point gap. This was the closest Windham has been to a title in years. Reed was injured with a broken shoulderblade, but he still prevailed amongst all the hondas. Dungey beat Villopoto in the Lites class too, but no titles for lites here, just an east vs west shootout..
Val di Sole, Italy
Bryn and the rest of the World Cup MTB circuit are over in Italy racing a test event on the Worlds courses. Italy has some beautiful mountains, and from what he told me, the courses are worthy and fairly difficult. The downhill doesn't have a whole lot of turns or pedaling bits, mostly rough and steep in the woods with some big g-outs and a massive ski jump at the end.
Downhill: it is a 3 km long track,the elevation difference is 600 metres, the final and initial parts are on grass. 70% of the track goes through the wood with technical stretches that are completely defined.
4X: a 450 metre track, the elevation difference is 70 metres, 7 corners and a total of 15 jumps, a split line with a pro section and two big double jumps
I will not be at most of the races this year, so Bryn is kinda holding it down for the site in my absence.
http://www.mtbvaldisole2008.it/
http://www.valdisole.net
I normally wouldn't post something up about this, cause for 1, I don't like the attention, but, better to come from me than a second hand source. Last monday I had a crash and wrecked my bad knee. Went to see the doctor tuesday, got a MRI, and had surgery wednesday to scope out the meniscus and clean up the damage. ACL is still gone and gonna need to be fixed later down the road, but I will be fine from this one in a few weeks. Not attending the Denmark SX race, but I will be ready end of May for Worlds in China. I feel privileged to be around such a supportive team of people and resources. Everyone has challenges to overcome, mine is easy in the scheme of things:). Everything happens for a reason, can't fight it, just flow and move forward.