Date: 8/1/02
Author: Dallas Friday

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Dallas Friday (Pic: Richmond Gibbs)

Dallas Friday here in Cleveland, Ohio. My flight left Orlando ahead of schedule, which was surprising, but upon arrival our plane was in a holding pattern for 30 minutes circling around the airport in Cleveland waiting to land. Cleveland is a huge city. I am staying in a hotel located in the middle of the downtown district. They have literally transformed this town for the Gravity Games venue. A lot of work and building has been going on for months in preparation for the event. You can feel the excitement in the air as the 2002 Gravity Games kick off.

Today was practice for the wakeboarders. We rode on Lake Erie and the water was so rough practice was more like, "Can I survive through the rough waters?" I was happy with my practice run despite the conditions. I rode first in practice off the dock and, of course, afterward the water calmed down and I had wished I had waited a little longer to practice.

All the riders are excited to be riding in the Gravity Games. It is so much fun getting to hang out with other extreme athletes. People always ask who I look up to and I have to say that used to be a hard question for me to answer, but now it's easy for me; The answer is whomever is pushing the level of the sport they are doing. Always do your best and no one can ask anything more. To be a winner does not always mean taking home first, but how you act when you don't.

I am as nervous as everyone else is before a competition. One of the best male wakeboarders Shaun Murray told me even after all the years of competition he has been in he still feels sick right before he goes off the dock from nerves. We all are like that no matter whether we are a beginning competitor or a seasoned veteran.

~Dallas

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