Despite the long flight and five movies later I touched down in Honolulu for Fox Racing’s annual mini-moto surf contest. It’s a really fun event that Fox puts together for all their dealers and reps on the Hawaiian Islands. The headquarters where we all stay is the Turtle Bay Resort on the North shore of the island. It’s definitely a tourist destination for sure but it always is a blast when the whole crew is staying there. Fox also brought some of their other athletes as well such as Jeff Emig, Rusty Malinoski and Parks Bonifay.

After we arrived on the Wednesday afternoon, we laid low and made it an early night to be rested and ready for the next morning for the start of the event which would be the mini moto part. It takes place at a local track called Kahuku, (on Oahu) really cool place and always fun to see different tracks and meet different people and fans. The event went really well and the racing was so competitive and fun to watch. This year was a little better for me as well because The Local Suzuki dealer (Montgomery motors) brought out a bike for me to ride before the actual race started. It was cool, that area has a ton of cool trails to ride on so Emig and I along with a bunch of the local riders set off on a expedition. The ride was amazing with some really fun elevation changes and some amazing scenery. Check out a video of the event here.

After the event was over we headed back to Turtle Bay for some dinner and to celebrate Jeff’s 41st birthday, we had a great time with all the people there during the celebration and also bench racing about the racing we all used to do and telling funny stories. Some of these stories are fun to hear, not to mention we have told the same ones for years and years.

The next day would bring us to the part that I would have to forfeit, the surf part. I am clearly not made for surfing nor would the conditions of the water that day have been good for a beginner like me to learn in. There must have been a storm brewing because the waves were huge in my opinion, guaranteed if I would have gotten in there it would have been the last time anyone would have seen ol RC. I did have a fun time watching everyone and being apart of a great event.

Later on that evening after the event was over we headed back to Waikiki and would stay there for a couple nights before my trip back to Cali. On our way back to Waikiki we took the scenic route and I have to say that the drive probably had some of the most amazing views and sights I have ever seen. It was so cool to see and I can say for sure that will be a trip that I will be making again.

Our stay in Waikiki beach was pretty fun, we just hung out in town most of the time and I did manage to get in a little surfing where the waves are manageable for a beginner like me. I definitely improved from my first time last year but clearly have no future in surfing and don’t see any sign of light coming on to where at least some day I could actually do it for fun. But never the less we all had a good time and it was definitely worth it.

On my journey back home I had one more stop to make in So Cal. It was a good stop because I got to visit everyone at Monster and Oakley while I was there before heading over to Fox on Friday. I was so pumped because our little deal there was going to be the launch to all their reps of something that myself and the design/R&D crew at Fox had been working on for a few years. It would be the launch of the all new Fox Instinct MX boot. This boot is going to revolutionize the MX boot world in my opinion. The design is second to none and the fit and functionality are far superior to anything I have ever worn as far as MX boots are concerned. I can’t wait to hear people’s response. The reps were fired up about it and loved it. They also launched the new V4 helmet as well, I’m not being biased when I say this but it is like putting on a custom fitted hat, it feels perfectly molded to your head and the ventilation is unreal. Also the weight and balance of the helmet is awesome too, to when your riding with it you can’t even feel that its on because it is balanced so well. I also am happy that Fox is going to release the latest of my replica Monster graphics on the new helmet. I got to see a pre production version and I have to say it turned out awesome. I’m really excited about these two new products coming out and glad that I could be a part of it.

I finally returned home yesterday and am ready to spend some much needed family time and recharge my batteries. I can’t wait for 2012 to get here, I’m excited about what we have going on and think its going to be a great year. Hope that everyone has a great holiday and a great time with their families.