Actual Journal Entry February 1, 1997:
I did my 2 "straight down" downhill runs in the morning. My top speed was 65.37 MPH. I got 19th place, but only the top 15 qualified. I was only 1.5 MPH away from qualifying. I did my runs in my underwear (my own skinsuit!) and that's all I was wearing. I didn't wear any pads except for my knee brace. Funny! The ESPN people got kind of mad at me. Oh wells. I went back to our condo & changed into normal clothes & then met up with Steve Peat (UK MTB pro) & others & went back up the mountain & watched some other events & drank some beer. At night, we went to a sports bar & watched the X-Games on TV & then to another bar with all of the athletes. These mountain bike people are kind of square. Definitely not as fun as the normal X-Games with all the BMXers.

Looking Back Now:
I think the Snow Mountain Bike race that I did in the X-games ranks up there as one of the top 10 of the gayest events that I've ever competed in. The whole race & event was goofy. But I couldn't really complain too much seeing as it was still an all expense paid trip to a Southern California ski resort (Big Bear) for the weekend.

I remember this was where I met Shaun Palmer for the first time. Some dude was talking to me in the X-Games registration trailer. He knew my name, but I didn't recognize him. Then as I was walking out, I was like "Yo, nice to talk with ya. What's your name?" He said "Shaun Palmer." Classic.

Photo:
The ESPN head honchos weren't too psyched when I did my run in my own version of a "skinsuit." At least they didn't kick me out this time…

Man, check the pre-operation photos above of Jason Carnes's wrist & shoulder. He had surgery on his wrist the other day. I guess thet took out 3 bones that weren't doing him any good. And he crazily dislocated his shoulder. Check out how out of socket his bone is. Crazy.

Hang in there, Horny Toad.

Ahhhh, nothing like a good East Coast trail sesh in the summertime! I left shady Northeast Philly & spent all day Saturday gettin' my shred on at POSH. The trails were in tip-top shape & all kinds of heads were there. Jay Lonergan, Magilla, Garret Byrnes, Brad Gethard, John Jennings, Elf, Drew Jenkins, Dave King, and bunch of other guys I'm probably forgetting.

As you can see, I rolled in with my new Quad Loop bike. All the local shredders were jockin' all the gold parts on my retro ride. It was funny. They couldn't believe that I was riding a Quad Loop at the trails.

On Friday June 20 the music video "SOLDIER" will go Live in the very Arena that Stephens crash took place in.

A Tribute to Stephen Murray, TJ's first single "SOLDIER" off the new album is a tribute to his longtime friend and fellow pro rider Stephen Murray.

Records Presale CD on: http://www.bestbuy.com/ http://www.lavslab.com/ www.myspace.com/murraystrong contact: Kimarie Hunt(714) 580-7736 actionsports007@aol.com