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sanga
03-25-09, 2:58 pm
Now that I have had a chance to come down from the excitement and euphoria of The Cage, my first cage, The Arnold and first trip to The States I thought I`d write my account of our trip.

We (my wife Debra and I) travelled from Heathrow in London on the Thursday morning arriving in New York late that night, we stayed over in a hotel very close to the airport so we could catch a connecting flight to Columbus early next morning, the flight with Virgin Arlantic to New York was great,very good service and good time, keeping to schedule.

Early Friday morning we were up and at the airport at 7am to catch the flight to Columbus, boarding the plane which was much smaller than the huge thing we came to New York in, I noticed a fair few bodybuilders on board, the flight took just over 2 hours and we touched down in Columbus.

What a diference Columbus was from New York, bearing in mind all I`d seen at this point is airports, we took a taxi to the hotel and checked in, I remember being very hungry and going over to a restuarant close to the hotel for lunch, after this I was so so tired I had to go crash out for a while.

The plan was for me to meet Vinny at Metro Fitness for a back and bicep session, I thought the cage closed at 5pm on the friday for some reason so we got to Metro around 4.30pm and had a shake, time went on and I realised the cage must have closed later than I first thought, lol, Slowly people arrived wearing shirts from The Cage, I chatted to people as they arrived and then Vinny came in, myself, Drake and Vinny hit shoulders and biceps, it was a good session, I learned a few things from Vinny about training, an excellent tip to save me hurting my shoulders on presses where I don`t come down as low or lock out.

After training Debra and I went and grabbed something to eat then hit the hotel to bed, I was drained, jet lag was murder, I was surprised I could train at all, the original intention was for us to hit legs but Vinny said it would be better to leave them due to my long trip, he was right.

Next morning (Saturday) was the first day at The Cage, the excitement when queing to get a wrist band was immense, then finally walking into the convention hall (D) and seeing Animalpak banners that stole the whole show for me, I didn`t see anything else at that time, I just headed straight for The Cage, what a sight, Vinny on the mike, Animals everywhere inside and out.

I got our VIP passes and we headed into the box, now this was sweet, a nice little area set aside for us to video and take pics from, plus there were free supplements in the way of Real Gains, Torrent, Intra Aid and more, talk about look after us, I felt like a VIP.

The events in the cage were great, we took so many pics and videos, I met and chatted to everyone I could, putting a face to the forum name was really nice as now whenever I see a post by that person I know what they look like.

The day was spent watching the events, listening to Vinny Mcing, Vinny is known as Vinny "The Lip" now and for good reason, the man does a brilliant job there year after year in The Cage.

Now and then we drifted off and looked around but mainly my time was spent in The Cage, nothing else interested me really, I didn`t watch the Arnold or any posing just The Cage, we did get a chance to see Armold and takes some pics though, on reflection if The Cage was the only thing that weekend in The Convention Centre then I`d have been happy.

Saturday night we all went to Metro Fitness which was closed to members of the public from 8pm purely for Animalpak.com, we held the biggest ABC to date with 102 people, the atmosphere was electric, something you would never see in the Uk, ever, excellent!!

After hitting Triceps and calfs we headed out for food then bed again early, I was shattered, we had a great day, the flights, jet lag and being at The Cage all day had taken its toll, I needed to sleep again.

Sunday morning we were back at The Cage once again for more of the same, excellent events and chats all day before we finally had to head off to the airport to catch a plane back to New York for 4 days of sightseeing and eating everything in sight.

At the airport we caught up with Big Ant, Big Al, McFly and Big Wides, we had a good chat, a good bunch of guys they are, I really enjoyed meeting each and every one of them, sound guys.

I`d like to thank everyone I met and to those who made my trip extra special, too many to mention but some main ones are Vinny (Thanks for everything mate), The freak (Thanks for sorting my neck out) J-Dawg (Great deal mate, thanks),what a nice bloke he is, all the pros for answering my questions and listening to me, lol all the bros and girls.

A very big extra special thank you to my wife Debra who paid for the whole trip out of her bonus, without her I would not have made it to the cage we just wouldn`t be able to afford it, her yearly bonus paid for it all, she came along to see for herself what The Cage was all about, she took pics and videos and hung out with me while I talked about nothing but bodybuilding, supplements and lifting, she really enjoyed herself too, she is indeed one in a million, I am a lucky man and I know it, love you babe.

Bring on 2010s CAGE!

Gambit
03-25-09, 3:15 pm
Now that I have had a chance to come down from the excitement and euphoria of The Cage, my first cage, The Arnold and first trip to The States I thought I`d write my account of our trip.

We (my wife Debra and I) travelled from Heathrow in London on the Thursday morning arriving in New York late that night, we stayed over in a hotel very close to the airport so we could catch a connecting flight to Columbus early next morning, the flight with Virgin Arlantic to New York was great,very good service and good time, keeping to schedule.

Early Friday morning we were up and at the airport at 7am to catch the flight to Columbus, boarding the plane which was much smaller than the huge thing we came to New York in, I noticed a fair few bodybuilders on board, the flight took just over 2 hours and we touched down in Columbus.

What a diference Columbus was from New York, bearing in mind all I`d seen at this point is airports, we took a taxi to the hotel and checked in, I remember being very hungry and going over to a restuarant close to the hotel for lunch, after this I was so so tired I had to go crash out for a while.

The plan was for me to meet Vinny at Metro Fitness for a back and bicep session, I thought the cage closed at 5pm on the friday for some reason so we got to Metro around 4.30pm and had a shake, time went on and I realised the cage must have closed later than I first thought, lol, Slowly people arrived wearing shirts from The Cage, I chatted to people as they arrived and then Vinny came in, myself, Drake and Vinny hit shoulders and biceps, it was a good session, I learned a few things from Vinny about training, an excellent tip to save me hurting my shoulders on presses where I don`t come down as low or lock out.

After training Debra and I went and grabbed something to eat then hit the hotel to bed, I was drained, jet lag was murder, I was surprised I could train at all, the original intention was for us to hit legs but Vinny said it would be better to leave them due to my long trip, he was right.

Next morning (Saturday) was the first day at The Cage, the excitement when queing to get a wrist band was immense, then finally walking into the convention hall (D) and seeing Animalpak banners that stole the whole show for me, I didn`t see anything else at that time, I just headed straight for The Cage, what a sight, Vinny on the mike, Animals everywhere inside and out.

I got our VIP passes and we headed into the box, now this was sweet, a nice little area set aside for us to video and take pics from, plus there were free supplements in the way of Real Gains, Torrent, Intra Aid and more, talk about look after us, I felt like a VIP.

The events in the cage were great, we took so many pics and videos, I met and chatted to everyone I could, putting a face to the forum name was really nice as now whenever I see a post by that person I know what they look like.

The day was spent watching the events, listening to Vinny Mcing, Vinny is known as Vinny "The Lip" now and for good reason, the man does a brilliant job there year after year in The Cage.

Now and then we drifted off and looked around but mainly my time was spent in The Cage, nothing else interested me really, I didn`t watch the Arnold or any posing just The Cage, we did get a chance to see Armold and takes some pics though, on reflection if The Cage was the only thing that weekend in The Convention Centre then I`d have been happy.

Saturday night we all went to Metro Fitness which was closed to members of the public from 8pm purely for Animalpak.com, we held the biggest ABC to date with 102 people, the atmosphere was electric, something you would never see in the Uk, ever, excellent!!

After hitting Triceps and calfs we headed out for food then bed again early, I was shattered, we had a great day, the flights, jet lag and being at The Cage all day had taken its toll, I needed to sleep again.

Sunday morning we were back at The Cage once again for more of the same, excellent events and chats all day before we finally had to head off to the airport to catch a plane back to New York for 4 days of sightseeing and eating everything in sight.

At the airport we caught up with Big Ant, Big Al, McFly and Big Wides, we had a good chat, a good bunch of guys they are, I really enjoyed meeting each and every one of them, sound guys.

I`d like to thank everyone I met and to those who made my trip extra special, too many to mention but some main ones are Vinny (Thanks for everything mate), The freak (Thanks for sorting my neck out) J-Dawg (Great deal mate, thanks),what a nice bloke he is, all the pros for answering my questions and listening to me, lol all the bros and girls.

A very big extra special thank you to my wife Debra who paid for the whole trip out of her bonus, without her I would not have made it to the cage we just wouldn`t be able to afford it, her yearly bonus paid for it all, she came along to see for herself what The Cage was all about, she took pics and videos and hung out with me while I talked about nothing but bodybuilding, supplements and lifting, she really enjoyed herself too, she is indeed one in a million, I am a lucky man and I know it, love you babe.

Bring on 2010s CAGE!

Great write up, Sanga.

Why does March 5,6, and 7 have to be so far away?!

JUGGERNAUT
03-25-09, 3:25 pm
Good stuff Sanga! The ARNOLD Cage really stays with you and watches over you the rest of the year, so you never slack in the gym. (At least that is how it makes me feel) See you next time!

ghost
03-25-09, 3:29 pm
sanga, it was an absolute honor to meet you and your wife. you are both amazing people, and that was a fantastic write up brother.

Wasteland
03-25-09, 4:17 pm
Great story. The real question though is, did Debra think it was worthwhile? That's the real question, lol.

sanga
03-25-09, 4:41 pm
Great story. The real question though is, did Debra think it was worthwhile? That's the real question, lol.


You know she actually did and can see why we do what we do day in day out.

Wasteland
03-25-09, 5:25 pm
You know she actually did and can see why we do what we do day in day out.

That is really great. Support is always crucial to bodybuilding and to have your wife in your corner is a true asset.

Phil800101
03-26-09, 1:58 am
Awesome write-up bro. Hope to see you there next year!

McFly
03-26-09, 1:56 pm
It was a pleasure meeting you and your wife. I'm glad you had a great time! I'm sure you had a great time eating in New York!!

Flash419
03-26-09, 4:53 pm
Great story and a great time. Glad you enjoyed the Arnold and the states!

Hope to see you again next year!

MrMuscles22
03-26-09, 4:59 pm
Great write up Sanga! It was a pleasure to meet you and look forward to seeing you again next year!

dannynb
03-28-09, 11:29 pm
It was great meeting you and the Mrs.....I hope you make it back next year.