Chad Degroot finds himself in Russia.
Delta flights on August 15-22nd traveling Orlando-Amsterdam-Moscow-NYC-Orlando 12,080 miles in the air. Let me say the flights over we have preferred seats but the return was all business class and I can truly say it is a crazy difference. So huge to be upgraded and so many perks. Going into details would only scratch the surface as you just have to live it.
Flights were booked and paid for less than 24 hours before departure. Over 60 of us on-call and on edge. But its pretty unanimous we all wanted to have this experience that most people will never have. Didn’t know till the end that our full tickets were not set till almost the last day. Which means all of us might be stuck or having to book new tickets to get home. It all worked out but not without some stress.
Huge get together in another part of the world. Rain and other reasons the event was cancelled. But we all made the best of it. Only 40 minute Uber ride to the city center or Red Square. Miles of walking each time but worth seeing Gorky park, all the architecture, and shopping along with eating and drinking.
Red Square free day today. Uber style to get there. Huge crew so this is going to be interesting. We all could hang out anywhere but we are in Russia. Huge get together in another part of the world. Since we had a few tour guides we went off the beaten path and went to The State Tretyakov gallery seeing a painting from 1694 and newer and also art and sculptures. More info on this place: Pavel Tretyakov started collecting art in the middle of 1850. The founding year of the Tretyakov Gallery is considered to be 1856, when Tretyakov purchased two paintings of Russian artists: Temptation by N.G. Schilder and Skirmish with Finnish Smugglers by V.G. Kudyakov, although earlier, in 1854-1855, he had bought 11 graphic sheets and 9 pictures of old Dutch masters. In 1867 the Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov was opened. The Gallery’s collection consisted of 1,276 paintings, 471 sculptures and 10 drawings of Russian artists, as well as 84 paintings by foreign masters.
There is a template to the Russian women here. Same size and same look. Very nice and beautiful. Kinda nice and refreshing old people you do not see much of. Russian men are funny with an anger look and shaved heads. Not a whole lot of style to the men but women dress up.
I’m the first to say that my ego is big but it should be. Why can’t I be proud and say it loud. That word alone might need a little more looking into. Maybe I didn’t before I’m going on this rant but life is how you make it. Situations and friends make you stronger and who you are. Dealing with hard times always leads to thinking about better times. But are they really hard or hard in your mind. This could be way worse. Flying in an Airbus is pretty fucking dope. My ego is at an all time high. But it’s rubbing off on the people around me to get that natural high. Follow me here:
Follow me on snapchat CHADISRADASADAD and Instagram @chaddegroot and know my Facebook is blowing up and updated often. Thank you to: Dave Brumlow for the invite and always good times, Clay Brown my roommate and partner in crimes while in Russia, Konstantine and Sashi or Aleksandr for so many rides and tour guides plus amazing riders and just straight up good people, Delta for letting me travel and get 230k miles and a sweet upgrade to business class. DecoBMX, Profile Racing, Vans, Mr B’s, #decobmx #profileracing #profileZcoaster #bmx #wheremybiketookme #flatland #russia #russianxchallenge #karaoke ALSO go follow the crew and check out WAY more pics, captions, instaVids and more: http://decobmx.com/2016/08/
This video is just over 25 minutes long and based off my accounts on snapchat and a bit of riding. Did not plan on making a full video but its really hard to cut much out. Maybe sit back and open your mind and enjoy this as we all did…One Week in Russia
– Chad Degroot
No handed cruising around in front of the bars, this is a new one for me and so fun. Also this park we are at has a skatepark and a wild vert ramp.
Konstantine is such a dialed rider and a great person for showing us around Moscow and going out of his way to entertain us. Peg wheelie to whip.
Red Square at night and the city center. Can’t snap enough pics.
Although the event was cancelled I still got a chance to ride around and climb on tanks and other military vehicles…was awesome.
We went on some bike rides and came across this neighborhood so with the help of Losey snapping this pic we got a good one at a great spot.
Decade in front of this church with so much gold up top.
Darkside in the park cause its such a fun trick and looks good in photos. Thanks Losey.
This vert ramp in the park is tight but still heavily sessioned. I kept it on the flat bottom and spun around.
I borrowed Loseys camera to look like a true tourist with a big weapon.
