highway to hell
Is it hot in here or am I crazy? 

Super 8 again.  Wow.   As promised (to myself), I have definitely been riding my bike on this trip.  I intended to ride Louisville Wednesday night, but it rained.  I rode street on Thursday in Evansville, Indiana with Ernesto, Frank, Mark and Neal from Dans, along with some ripper locals.  It was super fun and we hit a lot of good stuff.  Besides the blood sugar crash I had and a confrontation with a local wankster, who threatened to "go back to the crib and come back with my squad", it was great. 

Here's Frank dialing in my bike at Dans--Frank is insanely good on his bike (and at working on them).  I'll post pics if Ernesto sends some over--wink, wink.  Thanks, Frank.

I rode Louisville last night and filmed some Lo-Fi video with Junkyard Stew.  There was also an "art-jam" going on there, which was cool.  The Louisville skatepark on a summer Friday night...a total free-for-all.  Teen drinkers, teen parents, creepy adults and all kind of action.  Good times.  Today I rode the crazy weird park in Dry Ridge, Kentucky in blazing heat.  The only other time I've ridden there was with Davey Coop in very early '07.  It was about 15 degrees then, and we were swerving around ice patches.  It was very much the polar opposite today.   There are a couple shade trees to offer some relief, but it was a scorcher.  A little boy named Noah made me awfully homesick though.   I would love to have some kind of jam at that park, just because it is so bizarre...

It"s really smooth and well-built, but it's on a hill and really tight.  Beyond that, it has a snake-run and pool that is so small and ridiculous (plus, it had a bunch of crap in it) that I didn't even ride it.   I had a blast despite the mars-like conditions.

   Tonight, I was at a demo for the 'eS skate team in Cinci.  Everything was going well (at another weird, tight park) and things were wrapping up when  a dude had a seizure of some sort and fell and hit his head.  He was unconscious and bleeding and it was a very traumatic scene.  An ambulance and the police came and he regained consciousness, but it was something I won't forget anytime soon.  All I could think about afterward (as we're driving away and going to dinner) was that guy going to the hospital and trying to understand what and why that had happened to him (apparently it hadn't happened before).  I wish the best for the guy...

      I've seen bits and pieces of the X games and it just scares me.  I'm really afraid that someone is going to get seriously hurt (again) and even worse.   The Danny Way Mega-Ramp thing was just absurd.  Ernesto and I were watching it after our ride and were just dumbfounded.   It was like a Rocky movie except that it was real life.  On the other hand, the "real street" event was awesome.  Dunno what to think about any of it....

Super 8 art (?)

Monarch at Birdland the other day.  I can't wait to get home and continue the upgrades.  THe Miller High Life Grand Prix is slated for the Saturday of the Labor Day  weekend.  

  I can't wait to see these little feet again, too.  This is the first photo that Dylan Luke Towne ever took!

   PS  I know this Angelfire blog-site sucks.  It is almost impossible to post a comment and I have my issues with it as well.  I have a new blog under construction, so don't worry.  Shout out to Go Go Reiley in Scotland!  Also to Alan from Dans who gave me a copy of Rad (the movie that ruined BMX).  I'll leave you with one last amazing photo, which I stole from the the Church Of Choppers website....

   This photo says a thousand things to me....

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

One for the road

Literally, my van is running right now....

Packed to the gills.  It's not fun having to deal with this much crap.  Some of it will dissipate as the days go on, but not much of it. 

My bike is in the back, don't worry.  I plan to ride some parks on this trip for sure.

In more of my boring childhood stories, I will tell you that my first BMX-type bike was a Silver Fox, very much like the one all three Baker children are aboard in this shot....

   Shout out to Smitty, who left a comment about a "Le Mans" start after I posted about the Miller High Life Grand Prix event.  It seems impossible, but I came up with the idea for the "Grand Prix" because I do a lot of "Le Mans starts" out at Birdland.   The lineage of this is so completely obscure, I can't even believe it.  Look it up if you don't know...

   Also, check out my buddy Kim's blog here.  Lots of sweet MC stuff. 

 

 

 

 

I'm not gonna do it
Now Playing: No Age : Ripped Knees

It was about this time of the summer, 1974.  Totally immersed in my obsession with Evel Knievel, my friend Brian and I decided to rig up some jumps and give it a go on our bikes.   Our first set up was a plastic toboggan, flipped upside down on a cardboard box.   I was somehow elected to hit it first.   As I rolled down our gravel, downhill driveway, just before hitting this makeshift launcher, I proclaimed "I'm not gonna do it!".  I did it anyway, and landed front-wheel first to OTB to some gravel-induced contusions.   That was the first time I ever jumped my bike and I remember it very clearly.  The next attempt came a week or so later at Doug Stahl's house.  This time, a more substantial cinder-block and plank set up was in place.  Again, I was the first to hit it.  I was going too fast and again, over the bars.  I remember seeing the ramp and my bike from an upside-down perspective.  The next thing I remember is waking up in Doug's house, laying flat on my back to his horrified family looking down at me.  TKO.  I was a mess, scrapes and cuts all over my face, arms, back, you name it.    My dad grounded me, literally, from ever jumping or even leaving the ground on my bike again. 

      Those were the first of many "first hits" that didn't go so well.  I have a history of them now, as most of us do.   I rebuilt the first set at Birdland last week and finally dialed it in this morning.   I jumped it tonight.  The first run, I cased it.   Sprocket cased it.  Holy shit, it's a lot higher and further than it was before.   Second go, I cleared it but was so squirrely a little troll jumped out from under the spox waiving a flag with a dead sailor emblazoned across it.  Third times a charm and of course, the lip recessed a bit and I got a handle on the speed  needed.  It feels awesome now.  I hit it a few more times and I'm really happy with it.   The set into the first turn is still not done so I was going around it.  Night was creeping in and the grass was getting damp.  My last run I locked into a fully sideways, speedway slide that was almost as much fun as hitting the jumps.  

      If you didn't already think I was a kook, this next bit will confirm it.  I planted flower seeds on the sides and landing faces of the jumps a while ago--I want to say it was in May.   I had just about given up on any flowers popping up, but sure enough, a couple came to life....

   This one is almost dead center in the back side of the over/under take off.  Nice.

     Here's a box of "Devoted" Deliverance tees--available later this week from Dans Comp.

 

 

 

 

small town bulletin
Now Playing: shout out louds
The grocery stores in the small towns around here always have flyers and bulletins posted up.  Some of them are sad, some are whatevers and some are just awesome...

   I may have found out about "Chopper Fest" last year from just such a bulletin board.   Noah and I went last  year on Sunday morning and there wasn't much going on.  We went this year on Saturday morning and there were at least more motorcycles in action, but there still wasn't a whole lot going on.  The admission price was outrageous so I decided to come back again and take some photos.

I took this with my phone on the first trip.  This Triumph was my favorite bike there.

I cruised around on the OM Flyer when I went back.  I got some sideways glances for sure.   As much as I'm into motorcycles, I still felt like an outsider.   I guess I should be happy that I can't relate to anyone?  I know there are a few people that think like me.  I kept thinking of my friends at Biltwell while I was at this lame event.  FBM too....Not trying to be a kiss ass but sometimes I wonder if my social awkwardness is all in my own head.  Dudes like McGoo, Bill Bryant, Crandall, Kelly Baker and the Cobras (old and new recruits) keep me grounded.

I'm already an alien in the motorcycle scene without even stepping foot into it.  I have a Honda and another Yamaha parts project so automatically the Harley dudes aren't down with me.

 I think I'm automatically happier that way.  I do love Harleys though so no hate on my end.

 I love that this Panhead is ready for adventure, ready for the road.  Self-contained.

The sound of a Flathead is like the music of no other machine I've heard.   Someday I will play more than two chords on the guitar and maybe even be able to tune a Flathead.  Not sure dude was stoked that I was creeping in on his bike.

   There were some kick ass Hondas there too.

I love this message even though it doesn't really make sense.

You can't really go wrong with metal flake blue and a PBR tap shifter, but I hate the spike nuts.  I also hate Iron Crosses and shitty flame jobs.  I'm an opinionated bastard, aren't I?  Oh yes, I hate billet mag wheels too.   

    I got this sweet tat from a dude in the back of a van at Chopper Fest...

  Totally kidding, bro.  I did get this at Division last week.  It's still healing up but I'm stoked on it....

I like the shitty lettering with the "follow" all fucked up.  "W.I.T." looks almost like "W.T.F."  I could get it changed someday if I wanted to, I suppose. 

 sTAY TUned for this....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let there be light

I made a tail light bracket for my Honda.  It took me a really long time to get it dialed but I'm happy with it and it's solid.  I  have a tail light that works and a brake light that works, but they don't work at the same time.  Wiring is definitely not one of my strong points in motorcycle mechanics.

      Jeff V. sent me a ton of pics from the Birdland session.  He sent so many, in fact, that I was overwhelmed and didn't know where to start.  I'll give you these, for starters...

Davey Coop with a nice table.

Fro divebombs the first turn.  Lurking hard or hardly lurking?

Solan tucks a high one over the spox.

I like the way the motomag and number plate colors compliment each other in this one.   ha ha.

Hatfield brings it home to momma.

My Jr. college GPA or a Howard Stern reference?

 Everything about this looks amazing!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 years?

 

With a nod to all the nostagic chopper blogs I've been into lately (here's another one that is awesome, I've decided to blatantly rip off their format and adapt it to my BMX presentation here...

  This was the image I had in mind for this post and as I was editing it, I noticed that it is the August 1978 issue.   Thirty years ago! This magazine changed my life.  It was an escape from my world and an inlet into the new, almost surreal world of BMX.   I remember getting this issue as a kid and just freaking out.  Everything about this photo still rings true for me.   An ultra-enthusiastic crew, making do with less than ideal equipment (the tiny, overloaded Honda reminds me of my Subaru, huh JV?), gearing up for getting down.....

 

Joe J.
Jeff V. sent me a bunch of awesome photos from the Birdland session but they are going to have to wait.  Here are some bad cell phone pics in the meantime...

   When I started editing that Birdland video, I was really bummed about how tiny all the jumps looked.  They aren't nearly as  little as they look.  They are cut into the ground so they look smaller, plus everything looks smaller in photos or on video--including these jumps.  This is Jeff Degryse and UP Mike's not-so-secret spot in Kalamazoo.   These are crazy jumps.  Let's just say that I am excited to go back and shoot photos of those guys riding them.  There is pretty much nothing there I would even consider hitting.

      I started the rebuilding of Birdland.  We got a bunch of rain and I  am motivated to make it all bigger and better. 

The first set is way bigger and I am completely rebuilding the jumps into the first turn.  The old take off is now the basis for the landing and I'm going to build these much bigger as well. 

I dropped my brother-in-law and his girlfriend off at the Warped Tour on Friday.   I came back hours later, just in time to see Pennywise.  I sent James B. a text that said something like "Bro, are you here for the hymn?" (in reference to the Pennywise song "Bro hymn").   He immediately called me back, kind of freaking out, and asked "Where are you right now?"  He was on vacation in Northern Michigan and was wearing a Pennywise tee shirt.  He thought I was spying on him.  ha ha.

     If you happened to catch the AST Dew tour this weekend, you probably saw Mike Spinner's quadruple tailwhip.  Absolutely ridiculous.  He followed it up in his run with a 1080.   Bike riding has progressed to an incredible level.  And a lot of it is just gross.

Joe Johnson had this to say....

       "What the Fuck!?!?!?!"
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing to do with nothing
Now Playing: JFA: Beach Blanket Bongout
Two posts in two days, with web videos for each one!  What has come over me?  A good ass weekend of riding, that's what.  First we have Sean Newton photos from the Birdland session...

The Legend, Solan Foster, tables the spox.  

Dylan Luke Towne, hanging tough with momma while brother Noah throws dirt into the wind (and back into his face).

Fro Ardelean bring in munitions.   Fro and Hatfield did all the grunt work this day.  Thanks, guys.

 

Fro brings it home over the first set.

Style for awhile.  Chris Hatfield on the spox.

Casual Friday one footer while Fox Foster takes cover...

"The Mangler" saw a lot of laps.  That cast aluminum Motomag wheel from 1978 was like riding with a five-pound weight bolted into your front end. 

Race inspired?  Fro and I into and out of the first turn.  My favorite photo of this set.

Riding with Solan is something I just can't get enough of.  Watching him in action is true grit.

Friendly Phil Race.  Wait, this is my favorite photo...  Phil rules.

   And here is another poorly produced video, from a session on Monday at the Grand Haven park.

 No bongs were involved in the production of this video. I wanted a beach related name and couldn't get "Beach Blanket Bongout" out of my head.  It's the name of a JFA song.  The part that says "whip pulled!" is Chris landing a perfectly executed tailwhip.  My lo-roller digi-cam took too long to engage.  Dammit, I missed the banger!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High winds and hot shoes....
Now Playing: Uncle Tupelo: Screen Door

Heck yes.  A bunch of dudes came out on Sunday to ride the trails.   The wind was blowing mercilessly, but it didn't slow anyone down too much.  It was very much a family event, with kids running around and veggie burgers and dogs grilled and consumed on the spot.  It couldn't have been more fun.

Here's a role call:

Solan and Fox Foster

Phil Race

Sean Newton

Fro Ardelean

Davey Cooperwasser

Chris Hatfield

Jeff, Jeffrey and Cullen Venekamp

Jason Burton

and my whole crew, of course. 

Click on this photo to see the low-fi video I put together.

  You know, I have a 3-chip digital video camera but I like to keep it simple sometimes.  That was filmed on a five-year old Canon Elph digital camera.  I like the low-res (it's a friggin' web video anyway, right?).   The angles are bad, there is lots of shakey-cam going on and you can hear the wind blowing through most of it, but I like how it came out.  The only tricks are a 360 by Davey Coop on a weird bike, (assembled at one AM the night before in a drunken stupor) with a 30-year old, five pound mag wheel on the front and us blowing up a pair of shoes with gunpowder (a twenty-year anniversary of a similar event brought to life by Jeff V).  The song is Uncle Tupelo, Screen Door.  A favorite of mine.  Sean Newton just sent over a bunch of really good pics that I will post later.

     Today is a big birthday for my friend, "Turbo" Todd Britton.  Todd is a good dude and very much dedicated to bicycles.  He runs a bike shop in Grand Haven, Michigan, called Breakaway Bikes and is almost single-handedly responsible for bikes being allowed into the Grand Haven cement park (more on that soon).   One thing I truly admire about Todd is that he is an "Idea man" who actually follows through, unlike me and most other people with big ideas.  Todd has seen several frame projects grow from scribbles on paper to production runs, along with several parts designs that mysteriously end up in other people's product line, either by pure coincidence or blatant rip-off.  He's a good dude, a good dad and a "Lifer" BMXer.  He was supposed to come to the Birdland gig but got worked the night before in a mountain bike mishap.  Here's to you, Turbo!

 

 

 

 

purple hearts
Now Playing: Fletcher

Inspired by the awesome Crandall post on the FBM site today, I give you all photos...

Dr. Suess knows it... 

I love wheels...

White grips, purple paint, hearts?  ??? ?   BLACK HEARTS!

me at 9:45pm Wednesday evening.  Photo by Sean Grenader Newton

Action pan shot of Sean by his girl Keri a little bit earlier...

Birdland overview.  Keri Slater photo.

Come and ride Birdland Sunday afternoon!  Yeah, you....