Every Friday, on Instagram, there's a hashtag called '#flashbackfriday'. While for most people it really holds no significance what-so-ever. It's a write off, another hashtag and it's just another day. When Friday rolls around, I take a second to look at what has become of myself, my life and everything around me. Sounds a bit sappy and slightly emo, I would agree. However, it's a chance for me to reflect on what I've done for the past four years of my life. Furthermore, it gives me a second to think about what I've built -- automobile wise. 

Cars come and go, like fair-weather friends. When they first make an appearance, they're around for a good bit. They're always on your mind and you're always thinking of the next step -- or if you're like me, the next ten steps. Throughout every build, there are points. Points at which you sort of become complacent but not. You're satisfied, but you hate it. You're full, but still hungry. It's not really something that can be explained -- especially to someone who isn't into cars. It's an elusive, unexplainable demon that we all wrestle with. It's this static state that has us always wanting to push further and do more. Then again, it's this static state that always has us on the verge of pulling out the white flag and throwing all our work in the bin. 

Often when talking to people about their builds, it seems to be a love/hate relationship. Not necessarily something that I've been told flat out, but something that I've picked up in numerous conversations. Seems more often than not, the amount of 'hate' far outweighs the amount of 'love'. However, it's funny how that reverses when you're behind the wheel or in the thick of a meeting/show/gathering. The hate is gone and replaced with love and praise. These are the moments where you're proud to be an owner and you're proud to be on the 'inside' -- almost like being in on an inside joke. It's these joyous moments that keep that fair-weather friend around for just a bit longer. Many times, it's these moments that give us motivation to carry on to the next stage and push forward with our addiction. 

Modifying a car is a dangerous thing, really. It can ruin so many other aspects of your life which seem to be in balance. I've seen it ruin relationships, friendships, family ties and, of course, bank accounts. It's a dangerous devil to become friends with and let into your life. If this 'devil' is so destructive, why even take the risk? That's it, right there -- the risk. The famous 'no risk, no reward' mantra has never been more true. It's the ability to control a demon which can literally bankrupt you of everything in life -- I believe this is a large part of why we do what we do. People around us will mock us for blowing thousands of dollars on something which depreciates on daily basis and causes us so many headaches, but we could care less. It's the adrenaline rush you get from the entire gig -- buying, waiting, fitting, breaking and then doing it all over again. This rush is unlike anything else in life and you simply cannot describe how it feels. It's a magical sensation that cannot be derived from anything else in our lives, it's a high of sorts. It's just part of who we are.

Walking away isn't an option, and it's best we get that out there now. Once this demon has been given a home on your shoulder, he's not leaving. Doesn't matter how many times you've said 'I'm done with this shit', we all know thats not true. As Brad Pitt (Rusty) said to Carl Reiner (Saul) in Ocean's Eleven, 'guys like us don't change, Saul. We either stay sharp or we get sloppy, we don't change.' Couldn't have said it better myself and it's so very true of who we are as enthusiasts. We will never change, ever. We might own vehicles which we deem 'un-mod-able', but we'll mod them. We're the people that simply 'cannot leave well enough alone.' Every time I purchase a new toy/gadget/gizmo, my first thought is 'how can I mod this to make it better?' When really I should be saying 'how quickly can I run this awesome thing I just bought?' The modding behavior is so much a part of who I am and the way I function, I'm not sure how I'd carry on without it. Not even sure that I would be able to carry on without it.

Now comes the biggest beast of them all, the top. The top is not the physical top, but the implied top . The point where you're finished, or thats what you tell everyone. It's what you keep telling yourself, over and over. We all know that you're never finished, you're never done and you're never leaving. It's the point where you've pushed so hard for so long, that you've got nothing left to give. 

Friends - gone.

Girlfriend - gone.

Family - hates you.

Wallet - empty.

Car - gorgeous.

Self - ruined.

The point that so many of us fail to see or recognize is that the top comes with so many responsibilities and an unfathomable amount of pressure. When you're a scene hero, you can't make any mistakes. The automotive enthusiast scene is very much a microcosm of the television/movie scene. The drama, the publicity, the haters, the lovers, the givers, the takers and everyone in between. There is no longer any margin for error and there is zero forgiveness if you make a mistake. When you're at the top, everyone looks up to you and if you don't consistently make bigger moves, they'll find someone else to follow. It's such a shame the way the internet has turned the car scene into a bit of a pissing contest. There once was a time when people modified their cars for themselves and not for the acceptance of others or for the magazine feature. Now, it seems like every other person is pushing for the pages of a magazine and when they get told their car isn't good enough, they pull the 'internet famous' card. 

What happened to the days of just blowing off steam in the garage with your mates over a case of beer? The time when modding a car wasn't the reason for your existence but it was an artistic expression of who you are and what you love. There are so many influences which have pushed us into building cars purely for approval and respect from others. Whilst, the true approval and respect of your build should come from within. Rather than saying 'look what I did, do you like it?' you should be saying 'I love what I did and I'm happy with the outcome.' Inevitably, there will be someone who says 'what's the point of being on a forum or going to events?' The response is quite simple, it's to give you perspective. Perspective on everyone else and everything else. It's to help you appreciate what others are doing and maybe give you a bit of inspiration for your own build. Much like Jared (ORT Rides Feature: 'Middle Class Hero'), enthusiasts events remind us of how much we've left untouched. It's motivation for us to move forward and keep chipping away at the boulder attached to our ankle.

If you feel that modifying a car is measured in the cost of parts or how big your wallet is, you've missed the point completely. Modding a car is an extension of you as an enthusiast. It's measured in your love, passion, and drive to succeed with your ideas. The biggest challenge in modding a car is bringing your ideas to life. It's converting the 'awesomeness' in your head to a real, living, breathing entity. Once you've moved the ideas from your head to paper, it's connecting the dots to end up with picture perfect sheet music. The thrill of modding a car is derived from so many different places and is different for each person. That's what makes this lifestyle so amazing. While the scene as a whole is very large in size, it's really much smaller than you think. One of my favorite parts of building cars is what I call 'the hunt'. The hunt is trying to find the right parts to bring your vision to life. It's that four in the morning text from your friend telling you to get on German eBay and snatch up a set of Dyna-Tech wheels that are about to be sold for way less than they're worth. The hunt is another evil in the mix of modding a car. It's like flirting with death and if you're not careful, the hunt will take your life. Obviously, it won't actually take your life, it's a metaphor. The hunt has so many different ways of attacking and rearing it's ugly head -- if you've modded a car to any extent, you know it all too well. Probably the most well known appearance of this evil is when you say 'I could buy these wheels, but I'd have to eat ramen for the next month' -- that's the hunt getting the best of you. It's a thrill and there is nothing in life that compares to the way it makes you feel. As enthusiasts we live for unexplainable, mysterious thrills. It's an addiction that we struggle with and there is no remedy. There is no way to just pull the plug and move on. While some may leave the car scene, they ultimately end up with something that fills the void of a car -- and they're going to mod that too, it's a given.

While everything I've spoken about makes being an enthusiast sound so negative, it's not. I can honestly say that I would not trade one day as a 'normal' for the lifestyle I lead as an enthusiast. Being an enthusiast is who I am, it's what I love. While I've been told hundreds of times this 'car thing' is silly and a huge waste of time, I say FALSE. This scene which I've poured countless hours and dollars into has given me some of the best moments of my life and introduced me to some of my best friends. And while there are so many different kinds of friends out there, the kind of friends I'm referring to are the kind you invite to your wedding. The kind of friends that would drop what they're doing and get you out of a bad situation. True friends. The scene is consistently evolving and changing directions, but one thing that will always remain is the demon within. The demon which gives you so much to be thankful for but will ruin us in a matter of seconds. This demon makes us artists in our own world, creating masterpieces which are never finished. This demon makes us who we are. This is not a hobby, this is a lifestyle.

How are you supposed to see the raddest stuff when nobody writes about it? Simple answer, you can't. While it may seem like a rather simple task to sit down and write a blog, it's rather taxing. Not in the sense that it's boring, but in the sense that there is so much to share and so much to write about -- where do you start? And, more importantly, how the hell do you fit everything into a few hundred words? It's like that mate of yours that tells you a story that drags on for ages and you get to the end only to realize that he could have summed it up in five words. Without dragging on the analogies and explanations too much more, let's get at it, shall we? 

We left off back in July having visited the TAR•OX Factory just outside Milan. We ended that write up with a 'stay tuned…' and, well, are you still tuned in? Here we are, far too many months later giving you the second half (probably more like three-quarters) of the story and our take on things. Back in July, we had only really been dealing with TAR•OX via the phone and email. Once we met, it really solidified the type of people we were dealing with and more importantly gave more strength to our relationship. At this point, we'd been sorting a few customers out with TAR•OX setups and hadn't really any idea where to move with the direction of TAR•OX's presence in the US German enthusiast scene. Sounds a bit daft of us, don't you think? Having built BagYard into an air suspension powerhouse, you'd think we'd have this proper sorted and on a roll before you can even utter the words 'big brake kit'. As daft as it may sound, it's true. TAR•OX is one of those companies that you work with and say 'uhhh, where do I begin?' Their product offering and application list is literally insane. If you were ever curious about getting brakes sorted for your DeTomaso Pantera, give the lads at TAR•OX a call, they have something for you -- seriously. Hopefully now you understand what sort of 'wall' we're up against. It's not that we can't handle it, it's just a bit daunting I guess…

TAR•OX is truly an amazing company, there's really no doubt about that. But really, what makes it so amazing? Let's get frank with one another here -- we can only write so many things about TAR•OX before you're going to say 'ENOUGH ALREADY'. We definitely don't want to sound like leg-humping fan boys here, that's not our bit. We leave that to you scenesters and scene point keepers. We're here to deliver the cold hard facts about awesome products, awesome people and the lifestyle which we love. When you look at your car, do you ever think to yourself 'how did I choose these products?' Chances are you don't give any thought about how or where you got the products on your car. But when we break open that decision process, what is it that drives us as consumers to purchase certain products and more importantly, certain brands. Name? Reputation? Look? Feel? Word of mouth? It's a bit of everything I suppose. There's truly no way to say 'oh, well I chose this solely because of xxxx factor' -- that's impossible really. If you tell me you bought a set of wheels purely because they're lightweight, I'm going to tell you that's a blatant lie - there's just more to it than that. Purchasing parts for our cars is no small task. In fact, it's bit overwhelming and more often than not, it's tedious. The decision process for us car enthusiasts is much like your girlfriend (or boyfriend) deciding on a large purchase of shoes, clothes, or anything that is held high on the scale of importance. For us, we choose our products based on numerous factors -- quality, craftsmanship, performance, aesthetics, etc. 

Well, if that's what we use to determine our product choices, what do you use? These days its seems that people are driving more at price shopping than ever before. We understand that this is a 'down economy' and that things are a bit tighter, that's understandable. However, don't forget that with a certain level of 'frugality' comes an expected level of 'shoddy product quality'. As blunt and horrid as that sounds, it's true. We've only been around the block a few times to know that the less you spend, the more risk you take and more you jeopardize your safety and wellbeing. Now, we don't want to make you feel bad or tell you that you're a terrible person, that's not the point at all. The point is, we stand behind what we sell because it's what we believe in. We don't just sling parts to make big bucks, if we did, we'd have five times the amount of products in our store. We sell products that we believe in and we stand behind as resellers and enthusiasts. There are so many other firms out there pushing massive 'weight' just to keep suppliers happy and make ends meet. We could care less, really. This isn't about being the biggest, baddest dealer on the block, it's about delivering an unmatched level of service to our customers. It's about building relationships and bonds with our customers and NOT just making them a number in our system. That's why we love working with companies like TAR•OX.

TAR•OX is a small homegrown Italian brake manufacturer that is nestled in the countryside just outside Milan. It's a beautiful campus which is comprised of several buildings and a handful of true brake enthusiasts and craftsman. It's safe to say that these are not your typical factory workers as depicted in Edward Burtynsky's 'Manufactured Landscapes'. These chaps are real, old world craftsman with drive, purpose, and passion for building the highest quality brakes. Believe it or not, TAR•OX was started by just one gent named Gianni Taroni. Mr. Taroni is (just like us) an automobile enthusiast who felt that the brakes on his race car lacked performance, durability, longevity, etc. The solution? Build his own brakes. While everyone seems to be selling out to China and the far east, Mr. Taroni has kept things small and homegrown. The TAR•OX factory is run by his family and the employees are all locals, it's truly a small business that has stayed small and close knit, that's what sets TAR•OX apart from the herd of sheep. They're not like your other brake manufacturers. TAR•OX cares about it's customers and it takes as much pride in making the products as it does in your satisfaction. While you may look at the price tag and think 'that's a fair bit of coin', put everything into perspective and ask yourself what you're going to get for that price. You're definitely not getting a brake kit that was made on a huge assembly line and one of three hundred made that day. In fact, it's just the opposite. Chances are your brake kit will be assembled my Mr. Taroni himself and packaged by his daughter. What does that say about TAR•OX as a company? Sure, you may think 'what's the big deal?' We now ask you this question... is there no longer any value in the pride, care, and passion that is put into designing and manufacturing products? 

Next time you think about buying a new part for your car, think about the time that was put into making that product. Chances are the time that was put into making that product won't even touch the time that is put into building one set of calipers at TAR•OX. To us, it's the passion behind the product that sells us on the brakes. Seems a bit fatuous of us that we're more interested in the story behind the product than the product itself? Yeah, it's backwards, but we don't really care. Looks aren't everything, we know. These brakes perform incredibly well and the quality is worlds apart from other brake conversion kits. While we sit here and drive all day at things like the story behind the product. The bottom line is, TAR•OX brakes are the best we've come across. They perform, they're beautiful and the story behind the product is truly incredible. Before you buy a part for your car based solely on price, have a look at the background of the product. Look at the history and the credentials. We urge you to move away from buying products based on price alone as that will only yield you trouble in the long run. Push deeper and ask questions. Learn from others and be someone who breaks the mold and knows what they're buying. 

Wrapping up these somewhat 'deep' blogs is a bit of a task. What is there for us to say after we've given an emotional response to TAR•OX? When ORT was founded, it was a company that was built on quality not quantity. Some may say we've changed, but we beg to differ. We've grown and we will continue to grow and evolve, but we will never change. ORT will always be a company with its roots in high quality products and incredible customer service and support. TAR•OX is the same way and this is why we find our partnership with them to be perfect. Companies which possess these qualities and characteristics are thinning on a daily basis. They're being eaten up by corporate giants who want to dominate the market and turn everything into a money printing venture. While there's no doubt that we like to make money and we need to make money to stay in business, we will never sell out and nor will TAR•OX.

We've got one more blog on TAR•OX + ORT rolling out shortly. This will include a full recap of our trip to the 'AutoSport' show in Birmingham, England.

Ever since I was little, I was into cars. By the time I was five, I could name every make, model and owner of the car in our neighbourhood.  Guess you could say that cars are in my blood. What's ironic is that I'm the only 'open' motor head in the family. My old man can tell you every single make, model and year of any antique car that drives down the road, but he wouldn't dare admit that he's a motor head. When I think of being a motor head or enthusiast, I think of things like maintenance, repair, tweaking, modifying, etc.  I certainly don't run right out and think 'yes, I'm fanatical about proper paint care'. Not saying that I'm not, it's just not something that comes to mind right out of the gate.

Proper paint care is something that is just not spoken about; or maybe, it's just that nobody knows exactly what it is?  When I was a senior in high school, I had learned about this new method of detailing involving a clay bar. Didn't know much about it, how it really worked or why exactly you needed to use it. Like any young, uneducated and enthusiastic teen, I gave it a shot. The results were outstanding and I was most pleased with my work. Wouldn't be entering my car in any concours type of event, but the car looked and felt great. Throughout college, I slowly gained interested in proper paint care and detailing techniques. Pretty sure I spent more time reading about paint care and detailing than I did about environmental chemistry. Towards the end of my college career, I began hearing the name 'Oakes Detail' pop up at local car meets and on local enthusiast boards. As per usual with a local scene, there was a ton of hype with regard to this 'Oakes Detail' place - but what was so special?

After a long overdue internet research session, I came to find that Oakes Detail was the premier establishment for automotive detailing and paint care. Oakes is owned by none other than, Nick Oakes. Nick is an enthusiast just like the rest of us, except he's the guy that is completely nuts about the smallest details. He will literally spend hours detailing a car and getting every possible swirl out of the paint. If there's any question as to whether or not he's good at what he does, all you have to do is look at his portfolio. Oakes isn't like your other local detailers that think a full detail consists of a wash, wax and interior clean out. The typical full detail at Oakes consists of a full paint correction with possible wet sanding, paint cleaning, polishing and of course sealing. Don't fret, they touch the other areas of the car such as interior, wheels, engine bay, etc. But the most impressive part of the detail is the paint. I'd be willing to bet that 95%+ of the cars that come out of Oakes look better than the day they rolled off the showroom floor. He's just that good.

Nick recently held an open house/BBQ to celebrate his new location in West Chester. Naturally, I was interested to see his new location and the cars that would be in attendance - there are usually some exotics that come to show off their freshly cleaned paint. One car that really caught my eye was a new Lancer Evo X. While you're probably thinking 'yeah, what so special?' Here's whats so special -- ceramic wax. Give that a quick look up on Google. From what Nick and the owner (of the Evo) told me, ceramic wax actually seals the paint and prevents almost anything from marring it. In fact, ceramic wax seals the vehicle so completely, that the vehicle won't need to be re-waxed for several years. Paying attention yet? The downside to ceramic wax is the initial cost. While the price tag is steep, the process itself provides the ultimate protection for daily driven vehicles which are exposed to harsh elements. It's also keen for lazy people who want to just drive their cars as opposed to having the paint corrected every year. The open house was nothing short of a success and boasted several exotics, including a Spyker C8 Spyder (my personal favorite).

If you're in the mid-atlantic region and want to see Oakes work his magic, contact ORT and we'll steer you in the right direction.

ORT has always believed in selling products that we would feel comfortable putting on our own vehicles and more importantly, not selling anything that we wouldn't stand behind. While some may call it 'snobbish' or 'elitist', we would beg to differ.  We would say it's enthusiasts caring about enthusiasts. With the consistent outsourcing of manufacturing to Asia, it's growing tougher to find manufacturers who put forth incredible amounts of pride in their product. Companies that not only care about manufacturing a product but also care about the finer details such as: product presentation, product display, marketing materials, shipping, etc. While some may say that nobody really notices, everyone notices. These qualities or values are values that we strive to align ourselves with (at ORT).  

About six months ago, I was approached by a close friend to source him some brakes for his VRT GTI. While I'm not well versed in the performance world, if we played the brand association game - I'd knock it out of the park. He specifically told me that he wanted a TAR•OX six pot setup and wasn't interested in settling for anything but as he already had a set of brembo's. If I recall correctly, his words were something to the effect of "I know you have an abundance of international contacts, I'm sure you can find these brakes. Just call me when I need to pay." Right, so, there I sat for a bit thinking about how I was going to procure a set of brakes I'd never even heard of. After exhausting a few resources, the magic eight ball pointed to some mates over the UK. The kit was purchased and that was pretty much the end of it. But after he'd received the kit, I received a phone call stating that the brakes were far beyond anything that he'd seen before.  The craftsmanship was top notch and the overall presentation was beautiful. I'm almost certain he was trying to tell me what the internet famous 'Travy' once told me "I don't even want to put them on my car, they're art".

The actual story about how ORT and TAR•OX came to be is still a bit of a dust cloud, honestly. We'll leave it at that and not rock the boat.  When I first started working with the team at TAR•OX, it became clear to me that they were a company who shared the same core values as ORT. A company which was focused on the consumer and the experience rather than the numbers. A company which strives to deliver an unparalleled level of quality, performance and happiness through its products. TAR•OX is a company which is got its start in Formula One Racing and still continues to produce for the Formula One world. In most cases, you'd expect to see vast differences between F1 spec brakes and consumer/pro-sumer brakes - not here. TAR•OX uses the same engineering and techniques on its consumer brakes as it does with its racing brakes - there is some variation but not much. What struck me the most about TAR•OX is, well, everything. Everything from design and engineering all the way down to the box it's packed in when it's shipped out from Italy. For example, take a front brake conversion kit… the calipers are machined in house (via CNC), the discs are machined in house (via CNC), the pads are made in house and the every single disc that is manufactured is heat treated. While TAR•OX is producing brakes almost every single day, they're consistently developing new brake technology as well as producing other 'racing products' for F1 cars. 

That's a lot of hype, so I'll just cut to the brass tacks. TAR•OX is a company that doesn't mess about when it comes to providing the ultimate in brake solutions for almost any car on the road - their application list is huge.  When you begin comparison shopping, that is when the TAR•OX differences start becoming apparent. TAR•OX is using six and ten pot calipers for their light to moderate brake kits where the competition is using four and six pot calipers. The difference is that TAR•OX has found that using a combination of large and small pistons provides the driver with a firm pedal feel, great clamping force and great brake pad wear. Beyond this simple design difference, TAR•OX offers several different discs and pad types dependent upon the environment in which the kit will be used. It's pretty awesome to have a choice rather than just be told 'here, run these bits'. Then again, TAR•OX isn't your every day run of the mill brake company. One of my favorite things (probably my favorite thing) about TAR•OX brakes is their slim caliper design.  The design team at TAR•OX has engineered the calipers to fit with some of the most aggressive fitting wheels. For example, TAR•OX designed a six pot kit for the Mini-Cooper which fits under the stock sixteen inch wheel. No longer do you have to worry about spacing out your three piece race wheels just to fit your brakes, TAR•OX is the answer.  

When Dom and I visited the TAR•OX factory, it was clear that TAR•OX took every part of their business seriously -- whether it was producing the calipers or boxing kits to be shipped.  Guess you could say it's the sort of thing you hope to see when you visit a manufacturer.  All jokes aside, the TAR•OX factory is quite a sight.  The row of CNC machines pushing out calipers three and six at a time while CNC operator is turning discs on a lathe to achieve a completely straight disc before it goes off to heat treating. The TAR•OX factory tour helped open my eyes with regard to the pride that is put forth in each an every single component produced.

Check back soon for a full write up on our TAR•OX Factory Tour.

After Dom told me to get my ass out of bed, I did exactly that.  We hustled our Opel Corsa 1.2 down to the Spar super market and parked in the back - you know they charge for parking during the meeting!? After grabbing all our camera gear, we rocked up to the Mischkulnig (Shell Station) to find it packed full of cars - just as Dom said. One thing that became very apparent to me while doing various shoots (whether it's with Dom or solo) is that the Europeans are delighted to have you take pictures of their car -- it's flattering for them. The Americans, they don't really care - sadly enough. Numerous times, we had European blokes asking if we could email them the shots or put them on the internet for them.  They love the exposure, even if it's just with a simple point and shoot. In fact, they love it so much that you don't have to speak a lick of German - you can just motion the kind of shot you're looking for and they nod and crack a huge smile.

About halfway through the trip, I rang the blokes down at TAR•OX and told them I was interested in meeting them and taking a tour of the factory. Naturally, they were delighted to meet someone who had already traveled 4,000 miles and was about to travel another 600 just to meet them.  Dom and I agreed that this would be one hell of a spin off trip - we'd make it down to Milan and kick about for a bit in Milan doing some shopping and sightseeing. Well, seeing as that things weren't really going to spec on our trip, that didn't happen. Our morning started off swell, we broke the boot latch on a photoshoot two days earlier. Dom is one of those blokes that doesn't like settling for anything less than 100% fixed or finished - don't blame him. He spent a cool three hours fixing the boot latch/lock and then we finally hit the road for Milan. Must say, if you have the chance to go to Southern Austria/Northern Italy for Wörthersee and can make time to vacation there for a few days, do it. It truly is a beautiful region of the world and it's a place that is not very well known for anything but the Wörthersee meeting. 

Dom and I spent a brilliant five hours together chatting about life, brakes, air ride, etc. We tried our best to make the trip as short as possible but the traffic near Milan got very thick and the Italians are very colourful drivers - if you get what I'm saying. We made it to the hotel around 18:00 (6pm) and needed to freshen up before heading out for the night. Six hours in a car with no A/C does wonders… Renato from TAR•OX was nice enough to meet us at the hotel and take us out for pizza. Sounds semi-cliché, I'm well aware -- but this pizza place was unreal. Apparently the cook was from Naples and has won numerous awards for his outstanding pizza - and I can totally understand why he has won numerous awards. Our night ended with some true Italian gelato and a conversation about F1 in the mid-90's.

The factory tour was brilliant and the team at TAR•OX was amazing. They're really some of the nicest people and they love to talk about what they're doing and show you everything that is going on - just a really cool experience. Due to the fact that the TAR•OX trip is going to receive it's own feature, we'll save the nitty gritty details for the actual TAR•OX write up.

After spending two days in Milan, we were excited to be back and see that even more cars had arrived. Remember how I mentioned earlier that Faakr See was the place to be at night? Now, it was twice as big with twice as many high power cars and twice as much insanity.  Ever been in that sort of situation with your mates where you're watching someone do something and you turn to your mate and say 'this bloke is completely nuts for this stunt (whatever it might be)' - Faakr See is like that every single night. Words cannot express how silly it gets and how many people do wickedly stupid things and I mean that in the nicest way possible. My favorite memory of the Faakr See adventures was when three AMG Benzos rocked up and were doing burnouts in succession -- one after another. Finally, the police showed up and pulled over the CLS55 for doing a massive burnout. Right after he'd been pulled over, the E63 pulled out and started laying down some serious smoke and just as he was about to speed off, he realized the police were waiting for him… He reversed through the entire 200m of white smoke and fresh rubber to avoid getting nicked - what a champion!

Towards the end of our trip, we hung out with Mike & Sarah Kippen. It was great to see Mike (and meet Sarah) as I had not seen Mike since W'See of '09.  We spent some time with them and our Belgian friends doing some photoshoots, sitting curbside in Scheifling and, of course, having a huge BBQ in front of Eddy's house in Velden. It was such a pleasure to catch up with people like Lappi, TT Peter (as we call him), Nina, Ulle, Raphy, Alex, Philip, etc. If there is anything that continues to draw me back to Austria, it's the friends that I have made over the past three years - they're incredible people that make the trip completely worthwhile.

The flight home was nothing short of unfriendly and uncomfortable, but that really needs no elaboration. Traveling home is never fun, especially when you have to leave good friends and good times behind. If you ever have the chance to make it to Wörthsee, do it. It is an experience that will change your life and leave you wanting more from the Stateside Euro Scene.