Joe Stakun's amazing documentary on FBM Bikes, I Love My Bicycle, is going to be released on DVD on December 10. To celebrate, Joe's created a new trailer for the film, which is above. You can also pre-order the DVD through the ILMB Web site, so head on over there, treat yourself to an awesome early X-mas gift and do it for FBM.
Mutiny Bikes have added UK rider Nathan "Safe Nath" Rule to the bro team. According to his new bio on the Mutiny team page, he hails from Hull in the UK and isn't afraid to tell you what he's thinking. But I'll be honest, I would be more interested if someone would explain where the nickname "Safe Nath" came from.
Honestly, I was 3 years old when Eddy King put down his BMX bike to pursue a career in real estate. I think that the only time I had ever even heard his name was when someone was talking about the King brothers (Mike and Eddy), because I knew who his brother Mike King was. Just recently I heard that Eddy was teaming up with Free Agent and Stay Strong Apparel to run Stay Strong colors at the ABA grands and 2010 season. Thanks to the ease of social networking sites, I tracked down Eddy and fired a few questions over to him about the past and present, and how he hooked up with Stephen Murray, Dale Holmes and the Stay Strong campaign.
Coco Zurita during a day off, amongst his non-stop traveling schedule.
I have to say the best part about my job is getting to know and meet so many inspiring riders. It seems every pro has their own story on how they came to be but I've never heard one as impressive as Coco Zurita's. Emailing back and forth for this top 5's, I was astonished to learn his back story. Born and raised in Chile, he learned English to get to America, worked dozens of odd end jobs, (like selling water filters door to door to Spanish people in Texas), put on shows with the GT crew for 4 years, (including working the Dew Tour action tent- padding up little kids), until he finally got the nerve and guts to enter the Dew Tour series himself. All while living off a temporary tourist visa and traveling back and forth to Chile every 6 months. The rest as they would say is history. Now, Coco Zurita travels the world riding his bike, lives at Woodward West and is able to live his dream as a professional BMX rider. Now go read his Top 5's...
While making some POTD's selections for this week, this shot from Keith Romanowski really caught my eye. I didn't know Sean Burns and Edwin Delarosa were friends, but Keith brought up a good point and in the caption and it all made sense...BMX.
"One of the greatest elements that BMX has to offer is its wide range of diversity. People from all around the world are part of the sport. There is no such thing as color; race or sex in BMX, the only thing that matters is you and your bike. Age is also not a factor. Unlike some sports, in BMX it's not frowned upon or out of the norm to ride with someone substantially younger or older. BMX has a unique way of bringing people together. It allows the possibility to meet and interact with other individuals, that one may have never have met before. BMX acts as a bonding agent, where life long friends can be found. Do you think if it wasn't for BMX would Edwin Delarosa and Sean Burns be friends?" -Keith Romanowski
A scene from Penelope Spheeris's seminal 1984 film Suburbia could have been filmed in this lot. Vacant, dusty, trash ridden, it's probably been abandoned for years even though the wall that serves as the wallride is actually the back of a 7-Eleven on a busy street. There's also a gas station next to the 7-Eleven and another one diagonally across from that one. Maybe gas stations and 7-Eleven's are the only businesses that can thrive in a place like this. Maybe that's why it's been left vacant; there's too much gas station competition in the one-block radius. Down the street there's a skatepark too. The weird, Southern California ones that are recessed into the ground with high fences and barely any room to take a breather between a run. It's the ultimate example of a "Skatepark as a ghetto." And like so many skateparks in Southern California, bikes are not allowed.
Once again, BMX returns to the mysterious coastal town of Asbury Park, NJ. This sleepy beach town has had its fair share of BMX throughout the years. First with that one awesome pool, then the Red Bull Down and Dirty comp, and now this: a flatland jam and old school BMX show located at the Grand Arcade on the boardwalk. It's December 19, from 1-7 pm. Save the date, and enlarge the flyer for more details.
Here is a quick glimpse into the Free Agent crews last couple of races leading into the ABA Grands. The Golden State Nationals in Lancaster, California and the Disney Cup in Kissimmee, Florida.
One of the things that has not transitioned at all into BMX racing yet is Web videos, which have taken the rest of the BMX community by storm. How could you possibly make it keep someone's attention for more than one lap? Personally, I would be wrapping my head around it trying to figure out how to present it in an exciting way that will keep you in it. However, the guys over at Free Agent are a bit more creative and have figured out the formula to make it both interesting and entertaining. Granted, I am sure having some of the best riders in the world on their roster, who are consistently out front helped keep the energy up.
Something that the majority of people in BMX have never seen, nor experienced. The pure force, speed, bike control and amount of pedaling that goes down; these are some impressive Olympic Athletes. And who could forget the falls that sometimes go with it. Well, thanks to Free Agent, here is a quick look into BMX Racing.
Due to some technical difficulties, it took a while to get this video processed but here it is. This is footage from the 2nd Annual NorCal Classic that took place in San Jose a few weeks ago. The legendary Cameron Birdwell is back riding again and has a ton of clips dirt jumping and getting squirrely on the race course! The event was for a good cause and gave a chance for the young locals to ride with some of the veteran's of the NorCal scene, more below.
"This is the second year running for Nick Valencia's NorCal Classic, an event that puts freestyle rider's young and old out on the racetrack at Santa Clara PAL. This year, a dirt jumping competition was introduced, Rohnert Parkstylecat, Chad Bautista took the win on the hastily built course, with NorCal legend Cameron Birdwell taking second place. Omar "Endo" Romero of Hayward passed the finish line just ahead of Chadin for the 29 & Under Sketchy mains, while Birdwell had a come-from-behind, ahead-by-a-tire-tread victory over San Jose's Damian "Squirrel" Schinella in 30 & Over Super Sketchy. For the full results, please visit SJBMX. Make sure to head out to your local ABA or NBL track to get some practice gates in for next year's event." -Chris McMahon
Remember a few weeks back when photos of a Jeep flipped over on its roof in the flat bottom of Burnside Skatepark circulated around the Web? Yeah, what was that about anyway. We've got the answer, straight from locals Dean Dickinson, Bruce Crisman and Justin Inman. (Dean made the video; Bruce and Justin tell the story.) Here's what Dean had to say: "Here's a little video that features the story behind the Jeep flipping down at Burnside. Burnside is full of history and wild stories so take this as a taste of what's to come." Wild indeed.
This is Brian. He lives in Jersey City, rides BMX bikes often and somehow ended up in the X Games a few times. Facebook him if needed.
Cody York
From Cleveland, Ohio, Cody was raised on a steady diet of backyard jumps and skateparks and his photos have graced the pages of Ride BMX, BMX Plus!, Ride UK, and Dig magazines. Got something to share? cyorkphoto@me.com
Mark Noble
Mark is from the U.K., and has over 28+ years experience in BMX. He has launched, published, edited and written for more BMX mags than you can shake a bike at. He also runs Deluxe BMX.
Nick Ferreira
Nick Ferreira is a BMXer, photographer and zine maker from Taunton, MA. He has been extolling the merits of tucks and tabes in print and online for the better part of the past 10 years.
Pat Nugent
Born and raised on Long Island, the only outlet to BMX that Patrick grew up knowing was racing. For a while, he got into all those weird forms of BMX, but eventually returned to the race scene. He enjoys shooting races and snaking practice laps.
Steve Crandall
Hails from Ithaca, NY, created FBM in '93, paints pictures of eggs, soup and pigeons in his spare time, throws down a mean tabletop.
