Hard Labor
Now Playing: Lungfish Nothing Is Easy
It has been a pretty insane few weeks around here. Surgery and floods and lots of hard work. I've done heavy lifting of some sort every day for what seems like weeks now...
Things have been so nuts, but the big thing we've been waiting for still has not happened. My wife is having labor induced tomorrow morning at 8AM, so hopefully everything goes well.
I know I've said this before, but I honestly do try to keep things in perspective. The basement flood was such an incredible pain in the ass, but now it's over and there is new carpet and it looks way nicer. Since we are trying to sell this house, "way nicer" is way better. And things could be so much worse. Just read that last post or the headlines on any given day. I know we have it good and I truly feel blessed. A lot of my friends read this and I will keep you all posted on the progress of new baby and baby Momma.
I got this a few weeks ago by Rich at Division Tattoo. He drew it and applied it.

It really fucking hurt. The sternum is a sensitive area. Nothing is easy, right? Irony right there. That tattoo was not easy. The "Nothing is Free" comes from a Kelly Baker slogan and is a play on words. "Nothing is free, that is why so many people have it". That's a little long for a tattoo, but the message is awesome. It works for nothing is easy as well. It's easy to do nothing.
Sean Rakos did some work with Rich at Division before moving back to Texas.

Sean e-mailed me today and said he got a job at respected tattoo shop in Austin, so he is stoked. His wife is about to have a baby too. Rich and Sean did a big piece on Dane a couple weeks ago too. Looked like it hurt. He deserved it. Ha ha.
I've been told that the last day of business at the Modern Novi park is Sunday, May 27th. The very last session there will be a bike session. Get your ride on there while you have a chance.

That's another Kris K photo from the same session I keep posting about. Not bragging because I'm not doing much but I love this photo. Makes an old man happy. It's kind of weird that my favorite park ever is moving right at the same time that I am moving away. They are relocating the park, so don't fret. New location TBA.
You may have noticed a slight change on the opening page of the site with the name, "Deliverance Project". "Clothing Company" has always been a stretch and it's kind of the same deal as the "Team". It just doesn't really fit. Translated, "Deliverance Project" means "Freedom Project", which is alright. This whole project gives me a sense of freedom. Nothing is any different. We're still going to make clothes. It just says Project instead of Clothing Company.

The new short film (is that pretentious?), entitled "Fresh Air Cure" is nearly done and is definitely a Deliverance Project. That's about it for now. Thanks for reading my rants.

The Kids at Modern...
One of the many awesome things about being involved in BMX for so long is that I've interacted with people much older and younger than myself on equal levels. When I was 12, I had to deal with adults and parents at the race track and even to order bike parts. Through the years, I've been around tons of kids of all ages. Now, as an "elder statesman" of BMX (cough), almost everyone is younger than me, but at the skatepark, we're all equals and can relate on one level at least--BMX. One guy that will always has a couple more notches on the calendar than I is Otto.

Otto rules and has been riding BMX a lot lately (believe me, he rides some sort of bicycle more than any mere mortal can comprehend). THis photo was taken by Kris K at Modern a couple weeks ago during a really fun mini-ramp session. Kris K also took that photo of Jason Burton (below post) during the same session. Thanks Kris. Otto has never stopped riding bikes and I'm sure he never will.
Since that park opened, as a Vans park in '02, tons of kids have come and gone. I can think of a few that got really good really fast, then just faded away. Sometimes they make a "comeback" but usually not for long. Maybe they get bored or frustrated, I don't know. Bored with bike riding is something I don't understand.
I remember the faces and names of a lot of these guys. One thing about the limited number of sessions at Modern is that the bike riders are all there at the same times each week. I remember the first time I talked to Nick Zander. I asked him about the shirt he was wearing. It confused him a little and his response was funny "I think it came from Target". I also recall the last time I spoke to him. He had pretty much stopped riding at the park, but he was there for an event or something. I talked to him for a minute and he told me he had been riding dirtbikes. I remember talking to Nick a lot of other times too. A couple times, he couldn't ride, but he would come to the park and video tape his buddies AJ or Dave Patterson. One conversation I recall very clearly was during a celebratory session to mark Nick's last day of chemotherapy. We called him "Zander", not only because it was his last name but because of Robin Zander from the band Cheap Trick. I think I tried to explain that one too, but the generation gap was pretty obvious.
That was all a while back. Nick's cancer had gone into remission and he was getting on with life. But it came back. He passed away last Thursday. My heart goes out to his family and friends in this time of heartbreaking loss. Rest in Peace, Zander.

angels with butterfly wings

Jason Burton is a hero. Saved the day for my family yesterday by just happening to show up at my house. Jason lives over an hour away and has only been to my house one time before, so for him to just roll up while I was standing outside, trying to figure out my next move, was truly unbelievable. Did I mention that my wife was having major contractions and that our basement had flooded? Yeah. Thanks dude.
Also, check out the video of Dave Patterson on the Team Young site, along with the insane sequence of Davey Coop, destroying himself at a playground. Dave and Davey also play the parts of heroes around here as well, but Jason truly saved the day this time. Thanks Bro... Kris K. photo.
More later...

Hard times....
TRP needs a little love right now and Veteran is helping out with a jam on Saturday. Check their site for more info. TRP has been the "go to" spot for bike riders since it opened, let's do what we can to keep a great place going....
thanks

Stay Grounded.
When I was a kid, my dad would always threaten me with "You're Grounded for Life!". He probably would have done it, too. Much better than a life time of solitary confinement, sitting in your bedroom, staring at the walls will be...

hammered
Now Playing: my own ears ringing
I hate when people say they are "busy" when you know they are just making excuses for not doing something. I wish I could make excuses. I don't have time. I'm too busy. I'm starting to resent any one who wastes time, mine or their own. I guess I should start worrying when I'm not busy, but I haven't had time to do a friggin' thing lately. I've ridden flatland, late at night, but that is all I've been able to do. I enjoy any time on my bike, but I need to hit me some ramps. I ain't rid the park in a bit.
My boys from Snafu and Biltwell completed the El Diablo Run this weekend and the slide show is amazing! So many rad bikes and the trip looked like a blast.
I did go to the Supercross in Detroit on Saturday night. Big thanks to Big James

for the ticket hookups. I got their super late but got to see the Bubba show. James Stewart is unstoppable right now.
I am putting together a premier for the new Etnies BMX video, entitled "Grounded" for late May. I will post more details as they are hammered out. With any luck, the Deliverance short film will be premiered then as well...

30 years ago
Now Playing: Joe Lally Mistaken Identity
Moving sucks but the good thing is that you always unearth stuff that you've forgotten about or misplaced. I found a Cub Scout hand book with some photos in it that are pretty crazy.

I know this was taken in the Spring of 1977 and I'm going to say it was probably around March-ish. That's a long time ago. I can tell you that I rode tonight at Modern with Solan, Chris Yankee, Phil Race, Davey and Evan Brawler (that's it!) and it was even more fun than it was back then. I wrote this for a 'zine I did a few years ago.

Kinda corny but true. This guy is just plain awesome:

and Davey Coop goes back to the future with some surfey styley.

The Long Walk Home
Now Playing: Fifteen Petroleum Distillation
What do you do when you really want to work on your non-running motorcycle, but it is a ways away in storage and you don't have a truck or anything? Counting my options on one finger, I decided to walk it...

Davey and I discussed it yesterday and he estimated that it would take about 45 minutes to walk the estimated mile and a half. It was actually 1.6 miles but it only took me 30 minutes. I wouldn't go so far as to say I enjoyed it, but it was no big deal at all. I listened to music the whole way and I can never get enough of that. It's not like it's the first time I've pushed this thing. On my big trip to California, I pushed it even further than this, fully loaded with gear, tent, sleeping bag and two weeks worth of supplies, when I ran out of gas coming into Salt Lake City. Pushing an old motorcycle down the sidewalk is nothing compared to hiking through the desert in a foreign country, wearing a hundred pounds of gear and hoping you and your comrades don't get blown up by a mine or shot buy some other guys that you don't know for a War you don't understand. Right? Hippie talk. You can see I'm wearing tye-dye in the photo.
Some friends of mine, McGoo and Bill Bryant (partners in Snafu and Biltwell are setting off on a big motorcycle trip that they put together a year ago, called the El Diablo Run starting tomorrow. I wish them the best of luck and hope I can join them someday on a trip like this.
I rode Modern tonight and it was awesome. Just a handful of dudes with a large contingent of Cobras. In the words of Hatfield, Jason Burton was "killing it!". He was. I brought my Super 8 movie camera out and shot some film. Movie film is not the most efficient or cost effective method of capturing moving pictures but it sure does look cool. I'm shipping off a bunch of movie film to be processed tomorrow, so we'll see just what we have to work with.

caged animals
Now Playing: The Specials Concrete Jungle
Noah and I went to the Zoo on Friday and it was really cool. He was into it. He liked the turtles, penguins, polar bears, butterflies and anteaters, but his favorite animal was the Capybara, the "world's largest rodent". The odds of sneaking a bike into the Detroit Zoo seem slim, but if you did, there is a lot of potential terrain.

Don't you hate when you find kick ass spots that you know you'll never get to ride? One problem I've always had is with following through on ideas. I am better at this than I used to be. Just the fact that Deliverance Clothing has been going for four and a half years is testament to some sort of commitment. Sometimes, though, I'll have an idea, bring it to fruition, then just kind of let it sit there. The Deliverance bar bag is an idea that I was really stoked on and even though I did follow through with a full production run, I haven't followed up on promoting it as I well as I should have. I think the problem was poor timing of the release. They came out last fall, right when the weather here was taking a turn for the worse. The bar bag really shines for street riding. I've been using mine a lot lately and it's everything I wanted it to be. It doesn't flop around, keeps everything handy and you don't even really notice it is on.

Here's Team Green Sean, stoked on his and the idea of adding a secret compartment inside. Dan's Comp has them in stock if you need one. The Westland "Concrete Jungle" cement park is having bike sessions on Sunday afternoon now and I was fired up to ride some 'crete outdoors. Unfortunately, the wind was fired up as well and it was blowing like a motherfucker. I still had a good time but my ears hurt, my eyes were red and leaving the ground was a gamble, as the wind would blow you into the next county. There were a handful of heavies on the scene and shredding ensued regardless of the blustery conditions.

Matt Carmichael was added to the Deliverance team right before I pulled the plug on the whole team idea. He's still an FOD and a bad mamma jamma.

I'm glad Hatfield was there. I rolled into the park and cruised over to say hi to him, doing a lil' curbo endo against the fence to confirm my hello. My new custom Solid bars (see last post) moved all the way down to my front wheel. Yeah guy, maybe tighten up those stem bolts next time. Had Chris not been there I would have rolled into a bowl or something and it would not have been pretty. In fact, it would have been pretty ugly. A couple minutes later Chris was laid out in the flatbottom himself. He has been killing himself lately and I feel bad for him. He is so good but he just takes it sometimes. Chris' partner in crime and full-time FOD Dan Closser is back in Michigan after an extended road trip around the US. >>>I remember when Dillion Bell used to rollerblade at TRP.

He's a come a long way in the time since. Clicked lookback in the deep end.

The legendary Jason Suchan made an apprearance and spun a 360 over the scary/sketchy spine.

John Reed moved here from Colorado a couple years ago, then moved back to CO, then back here again. I haven't seen him lately but he was riding the shit outta the big bowl. I love the name "John Reed". Just sounds like a tough kid from school that would sit in the back of the bus and smoke cigs right in front of a teacher or something. >>>After leaving the park, I went on a mission to find a street spot I had been made privy to. I asked Hatfield about it before hand and he said he's ridden it for so long that they called it a "half pike" when he started going there and that it sucked. He went on to say he had ridden it a "zillion" times, so I assumed it must not suck that much.

This is the kind of place I would ride all the time if it were close. I love banks. I love bank to walls too and that aspect of this place wasn't great, but it was rideable. I thought it was awesome. Taking a photo of yourself with a cellphone camera is not easy...

Thanks to the Veterans for the directions.

room with a view

Our son, the big-looking guy on the right, had surgery today for a hernia. Hernias are pretty common in little people and in fact, they are genetic. Noah got his mommy's good looks, but he got the hernia from me. Thanks Daddy! The surgery went well and he is doing great, but damn, that was stressful for all of us. Mommy is about to be a mommy again and this was tough on her. As hard as it was, we are very thankful that it went smoothly and in the big picture of life, it was a pretty minor event. It ain't easy seeing your kid in the hospital, no matter what.
There is a lot going on in our lives right now (obviously!) and riding bikes has been helping to keep me sane. There are some pix on Veteran that make me really happy. The one of Joe Gall, Otto and myself is my favorite. Thanks Matt and Hanaan, for those.
I am extremely fickle when it comes to bike parts. I'm always experimenting but I usually go back to the same set-up when I'm done. These are the same, only different...

They are custom bars that Aaron from Solid Bikes made for me. They are 8" rise, but have a narrower bend so you can actually position your brake lever and have narrower bars. They are awesome and I can't thank Aaron enough for the favor. Perhaps they will become part of the Solid line-up soon.
Davey Coop works with me and he is a big fan of Hunter S Thompson.

He told me I look like him. I'm not sure that is a compliment but the book Hell's Angels is amazing, not to mention Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I guess I just mentioned it. Anyway, Davey has been kicking ass around here and I wanted to give him props...