I still have the memory of my first experience with soft shell pads burned into my head. I believe the year was 2001, and Fox had just come out with their Radius pads. I remember first seeing them in a magazine photo with Joe Rich wearing them, and of course I had to have them! Fast forward a bit to the Woodward CFB contest, and there before me in the pro shop was just what I had been searching for. I couldn't get the money out of my wallet fast enough! Gone would be the days of scraped up knees or even worse, wearing bulky hard shell pads. I slipped these beauties on and made my way back to Cloud 9 where the rest of my crew were having a foam pit session. I figured I'd go ahead and join, so I took some Taj-esque power pedals at the lip and cranked out a 360 turndown that would have impressed Mr. Rich himself. What happened next still gives me chills to this day. I landed perfectly with both wheels simultaneously touching the foam. All that momentum I had built up from those power pedals came to an abrupt hault, and then it happened. The DREADED knee to the stem! In my best Radioactive Man voice I screamed out "My knee! The pads do nothing!" They literally did absolutely nothing to cushion the impact. I pulled them down and not only was my knee already developing a nice knot, but it had also split open and was bleeding. The Fox pads had let me down in my time of need.  (more...)