Le forum des 23

23.9.2006 LOVE LETTER, STRAIGHT FROM MY HEART.

Dear haters!
I red through global-flat.com article about Flatring and the statements of the another finalist. I also figured that I caused whole lot of hate and anger of the final battle especially when people saw what Just In had to say about the situation. What people don´t seem to get is that the situation was not that black and white. First of all to Justin I want to mention that I was far away from being scared of you beating me. How could I be scared of you when I have done all “your” switches long time ago, before you have started riding?
When I saw you at the back stage getting mad about your riding and telling us (me & Terry) how much you hate riding etc. just brought my adrenalin up and I was quite confident kicking your ass during that night. Also I heard before Terrys and your battle that you were acting not like a friend to Terry (even you guys are friends). That is in my scale crossing the line if we are talking about friendship.
And what was that stuff about you saying about Singapore? Heh! You was the one who didn´t want to battle there for the 3rd place even I called you out for that battle. You only cared about 1st place and when Hiro took it in front of you you didn´t care any more… Right away you said you don´t care to battle I opened my beer and after 15 minutes you wanted to battle for the 3rd place! Should I have said yes and ride after a beer with you just to make you happy?

I had my periods when I wasn´t so passionate about riding because I burnt my self out getting kick flips dialled BUT I never complained about it to fellow pro riders at the comps or tried to destroy the atmosphere of the flatland competition. So the difference people don´t see of the 2 guys in the battle is that other one is doing flatland for love (me) and another one is considering it as a job and hates it (Justin). We can all feel that you are just in for the money as you have also said to several people around me.
I know it because I happen to talk to you at the back stage of comps and I am in good talking terms with most of the pros who knows the same problem you have. But you are smart enough not to talk about it in your interviews or say it to the kids who admire your riding. Not trying to make your reputation bad but I have right to talk about that because things you said in your public statement at global-flat.com weren´t that simple. How can you say you are kicking my ass before I even started my riding in the battle…? After the 2 combos I remember that you didn´t stay much on your bike. And how could you get any originality points for the switches that someone else created long time ago? And how can you say I was sneaking you all the time after I have seen your battle before:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdufp_flatring-047
Who is there taking many turns after not pulling a trick?
And Originality and Difficulty were the most important categories on the judgment sheet in case someone didn´t know.
I have created most of my switches I did in the battle and most of the switches you did in your 2 first combos if I remember correctly.
So that was my reason for my behaviour… I wanted to give a lesson to a hater of flatland. You know Justin that I could give you a lesson with tricks only as well! The difference is that I am improvising with my own switches I have created and you are practicing set contest combo 7 hours a day with switches that has been done already by many different pro riders.
By the way, I went to a doctor on Monday after Flatring and I had a broken rib from my crash earlier. You had your lack of sleep excuse so I must have one as well which is a broken rib.

Thanks for showing your middle finger at me I love it! Think about that when you are trying to pull your kickflips 35 times in a row 7 o´clock in the morning (yes, I have done that when I was Psycho about getting consistent). Think also when you hate to go to ride that I go with a good feeling and only reason I have to leave my riding spot is to go eat to get more hungry to ride.
Sorry to all I offended. I just want to see people riding for right reasons and create their own tricks at the pro level.

Ending this love letter I would like to say that my intentions in this letter are not to diss Justin. It was more about pointing out facts of why I acted the way I acted. After my injury last year really made me realize how important flatland is for me and how much I love it. And I do this straight from my heart. I want to give something positive for flatland and ride till I die. And it hurts when I see the situation from my side that I am the one who is in love with flatland and the other one is with hate and people seem to hate me for that battle where I only wanted to give a lesson to a hater. But here is the explanation for the battle as good as I can explain it in my English language… You can take it or leave it. And remember, this letter is not just things I made up. Strict facts! Based on what I and other pros have heard from Justin.

p.s. I wasn´t thinking to say any of this stuff until I red the article at global-flat.com and at fatbmx.com where I red that you pointed your middle finger at me.

p.p.s Just in case you didn´t know that I am well informed by your actions in Portugal while trying to learn my stuff in front of my friend (who happens to live in Helsinki). He told me things about your attitude and how you are learning tricks from all the pros. Poor attitude.

Sincerely yours,
Martti