Page 78 of Tailwhip
“What are you guys doing here? It’s so good to see you both!” I tell them while giving each of them a hug.
“We are here for a competition for Mateo, at the Frisco bike Park.” Nash tells me.
“Also, I wanted to ask you if you would come watch me.” Mateo says and looks almost shy, asking.
Out of nowhere, Neha comes up. “Heck yeah, Mateo! We will be the loudest ones cheering you on!”
Mateo just laughs at Neha and says, “Thank you.”
That night, we all have dinner at Neha's house. While we eat, Nash updates us on Clay and Grady, explaining that they had to leave to go home because their mom is sick and not doing well. All I can think is I hope she will be okay. I have heard Clay and Grady talk about their mom; she is the rock of their family. We finish up eating and just hang out for the night. As I am sitting on the couch by the fireplace, I keep checking my phone and notice Anthony saw my message, but that’s it. I guess what I sent wasn’t really anything he could respond to.
“Ashlynn, can I talk to you outside?” Nash asks me.
“Yeah, of course.” We go out and sit on the front porch and just sit for a bit without either of us talking.
Nash breaks the silence. “Ashlynn, how have you been? Be honest, please.”
I close my eyes and let out a breath in the cold air. “Honestly, I am okay. I’ve been walking around on my own again and going places. The book tour is starting soon, and things are good!”
I can see Nash shake his head out of my peripheral. “Ashlynn, it’s me. You don’t need to sugarcoat anything.”
I look over at Nash and I can feel the tingle in my nose that I get before my emotions take over; my eyes start to water, and with a heavy sigh, I let him know. “I miss him, Nash. You want to hear something crazy? I’ve been having dreams about him lately and when I wake up, I reach out for him. Only, he is never there.”
Nash puts his arm around my shoulder for a quick hug, “He misses you, too. He misses you a lot.”
I smile, hearing this. Though, I know he misses me from his messages. “Are you going to be in Santa Cruz?” Nash asks me.
“Of course, I will be there. Mateo asked if I would come. Before you ask, yes, I am going to watch Anthony ride.”
After our quick talk, we head back inside. Nash and Mateo leave but let us know what time to get to the competition in the afternoon, but not before Mateo asked if we could all have breakfast.
The next morning, I get up bright and early to make breakfast for everyone. I think Mateo is a bit nervous about today. It’s his first competition for the team–first dirt one, too. Chances are, his nerves are all over the place. I haven’t seen him ride dirt but have seen him ride park, and he is amazing at that, so I have no doubt he will be just as great! I finish up the food, just as everyone starts coming through the front door. As we sit and eat, Mateo leans over. “So, I got an interesting call this morning!”
I take a bite and look over. “Is everything okay?” I ask him.
“More than okay–my brother is coming to Santa Cruz to watch me!” Mateo says, and he is so excited about it; I can just tell by the look on his face.
“That’s really great Mateo, I am happy he decided to come!”
We finish eating and all head out to the dirt park. Mateo has been bouncing his leg up and down the whole drive over. Neha turns to me. “Is Heath meeting us up there?”
I shake my head at her. “No, he is dealing with his brother and the crap he pulled with his old job.” Neha nods her head because we don’t want to air out Heath’s brother’s issues in front of Mateo and Nash. Heath already doesn’t like knowing we know about it, but he would hate it even more if others knew as well.
As we pull up to the dirt park, I realize this is not a small competition, but a decently sized one. We stand with the guys while they check over Mateo’s bike to make sure everything is good to go. That’s when I grab my hoodie out of the back of my truck and pull it on. “Nice hoodie!” Nash says.
It’s the Overbear hoodie I kept from Anthony when they were out here for the park tour. “Hey, I need to wear an Overbear something, so people know who I am supporting. I bought a t-shirt from the Extreme Tour, but I have no clue where it is!”
Nash smiles over at me and shakes his head. “You and Anthony are hopeless! Doing things that remind yourselves of each other.”
I’m a bit puzzled. “What do you mean by that?” I ask him.
His eyes get wide, “Oh, ah shit, nothing. Just forget I said anything!”
I am a bit skeptical, but I don’t push it. Once done looking over the bike, I end up recording a quick reel with all of us and saying into the camera, “Good luck to the newest Dirt Rider with the Overbear Team, Mateo Cooper!” I quickly upload to Instagram, tagging the Overbear team and Mateo’s page.
Neha and I head up in the stands and find a good seat, so we have nothing obstructing our view of the jumps. If I had to guess, there are probably about 25 to 30 riders here. I didn’t notice what Mateo's number is for his ride today. Once it gets started, Nash makes his way over to us and we watch rider after rider go. I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for Mateo’s turn, when finally–lucky number 22–he is up and ready to go.
Mateo drops in, starts off with a tailwhip, to an X-Up, and to finish his first set, he ends it with a back flip 360. Back up on deck, they announce his scores, which are close to a few riders. They announce the riders who are to do a second set and Mateo is in it! He is second to start. Dropping in, he does not hold back on this set, wanting to get that first-place win. First set is a tuck no hander, second jump he does a no footed can can, and the final set he pulls a double back flip. Just as Neha told Mateo, she and I are the loudest in the crowd, cheering Mateo on. I know he can hear us too, because he has looked over at us and just shakes his head in embarrassment! Nash got both his runs recorded and the announcement of the winner. As soon as they say first place goes to the newest Dirt Rider of the Overbear team, Mateo Cooper, all three of us cheer as loud as we possibly can. Mateo has the biggest, goofiest smile on his face. He has won his first dirt competition.