My friend the biker

I meet Arielle when I was in high school. Her Jenny and I made a funny little group. We were bestos. (thanks for the term hayley) Arielle was definitely the cool one in our group. She raced BMX so naturally, I admired her and her "coolness".

We traveled with her to races when we could and I was lucky enough to go to Interbike with her one year. It was awesome to meet some of the pros even though while I was there I wasn't "in" enough to know who most of them were.

Here are some of her stats from her Bio on her blog:
At 2 1/2 years old Arielle was riding her bike without training wheels. At five years old she raced her first BMX race, at ten she became nationally ranked. 4 national #1 amateur titles later, at 15 she became the youngest girl pro on the 2000 ABA BMX circuit. After 18 years of competing, her thirst for more is far from quenched. At 23 years old today she is the current UCI World Cup SX Champion and headed for the 2012 Olympic Games with her sights set on GOLD. Known for her exceptional jumping skills, aggressive moves, and pure passion for riding, Arielle is a name to be reckoned with in BMX.

I am so proud of her and honored to be one of her best friends. She just texted me this morning to tell me that she fell 20 feet rock climbing and broke both her ankles. Lucky for her she is a master healer. I watched her break her back, having doctors tell her she could never ride again only to prove them wrong and win world championships.

Anyways, she is my spotlight for the week.

this picture was taken by sports illustrated