Relived Day 8. '24 USA Trip. Heading South a bit. By BdJ

Feb 08, 2024

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 1071 times

Day 8. Past halfway. But going strong. As mentioned, the YT MTB session with Mapstone, Van Schie, Zeiss, Philip and Maddog was rained out unfortunately. Albert Hammond was so wrong when he wrote this song: 'It Never rains in Southern California'. But it was a nice day out today as we jumped aboard the Ford Escape. On this 'extra day' we had a few things on the agenda starting off with a surprise visit to Keith Mulligan's pet shop in Laguna. You should have seen his face...haha. Foreigners walking in the door on a Wednesday morning. On Keith's advice we stopped by the Troy Lee Designs store in Laguna Beach. Half museum, half shop. TLD is a staple in BMX/MX and everything that has an engine or people who want to stand out from the pack. Many TLD painted helmets, paintings, and race suits were on display. If you're ever in the area, give it a visit.

While at home we connected with some people to see if they would be around when we were in Cali. One of them was the Godfather of BMX Freestyle; Bob Haro. We sent a message in the morning, but sending a message isn't as simple as it used to be. A message on X? email? DM on Instagram? At what account? Through Facebook messenger? Text message? WhatsApp? It's easy to get lost. Simply put, Bob had not received the message and wasn't at the office in Cardiff by the Sea. We checked at his local Mexican lunch place but it looked like we had to make our own lunch plans.

We sent him a message through a different channel and he responded and sent a pin. He was having lunch at Fidel's Little Mexico restaurant in Solana Beach. Bob helped us order some food which wasn't too difficult as anything Mexican is good. The menu came with a drink. I asked if his margarita was good..... I'll have that too. It quickly reminded me of another lunch we once had when the margarita's were ordered.... but this one didn't turn out like that one. It's always good to talk to Bob and to hear about his projects. Check this one.

We managed to stick to our 2pm appointment with Brad Lusky over at Wasserman. We got offered coffee (multiple choices) which isn't a common thing in the USA, at least not at the same level as in The Netherlands, or Europe for that matter. The machine delivered a nice cup of Starbucks coffee. If you don't know what Wasserman does, just Google it. It's the best way to get your questions answered. Athletes like Dave Mirra and Ryan Nyquist have been represented by Wasserman through their careers for instance. They're working with the hottest talents worldwide or those athletes/influencers who have a bigger presence. Interesting indeed.

We still had time to drive to Avenida Chelsea in Vista to go see Haro Bikes. James Ayres welcomed us in the front lobby after we got in through the wrong side (via the warehouse). Like most places we'd visited, the place felt a bit desolated compared to the last time we were there, which was years ago. Lots of people seem to be working from home. The number of staff is decreasing. James was upbeat as always happy to be selling them Haro Bikes. A change of direction is needed sometimes. Cheers for the chat James!

On the way down South we had spotted the Ruby's Restaurant where we had the best shake ever 10 years ago. The plan was to get dinner at the same place (the one with the classic cars) but Google Maps messed up and we ended up at a different one. Their shakes are basically a full on dinner. At $18 for two, our evening 'meal' was cheap that Wednesday. And back to Newport to check the mail, work on the website, grab a shower and pass out.

BdJ