Lost
Now Playing: Howard on Sirius
I made it back from Cali, from Cali, from Cali... When I was a teen-aged BMX nerd California seemed like the Promised Land. I dreamed of someday living there, wearing slip-on Vans to the beach, hitting the BMX tracks that were on every corner and collecting parts from all of the factory pros that would be my friends, also on each corner. When you live in a town of 6,000, it's hard to imagine the density and square mileage of abosolutely solid popluated mass that is Los Angeles. I found out for myself in 1986 and held on for almost three years. I couldn't hang. I still can't hang, but for a few days at a time, California is tolerable. The weather is almost always awesome, dude. Just before I got on the plane in Detroit, that one girl who use to be on the TV show Lost walked right past me.

My wife and I love that show, but if you've ever seen it, you know it's about the survivors of a commercial plane crash and the mysterious circumstances that surround the incident and the island they crash to earth upon. I was kind of stoked for a minute, but then got kind of freaked out at the idea of her being on the same plane as me... She wasn't, and a little research from my favorite reference source. reveals that she is actually from Lake Orion, Michigan. Go figure.
Even weirder was hanging out with this dude,

Chester Bennington from the band Linkin Park. I was kind of dreading this, not being into Linkin Park in the least. I felt guilty for hating his band after a while, because the dude was super cool, his wife was really nice and they were super mellow and enjoyable.
That was a weird night in that it was so far from my normal routine, cruising around Newport Beach on the company owner's yacht with a legitimate rockstar and only a few other people (don't ask how I ended up on the list) but it was really normal at the same time.
Last year I won an award for Etnies Girl for having the most business growth in my territory. This year I finished runner-up, but I still got a sweet trophy. I'd post a picture of it, but I left it in my hotel room in California. Nice one.
The last night of the trip, FOD Dave Davenport,

(seen here hard at work at Greasy Comb Distribution, wearing a Del. Bird tee) picked me up, along with a completely dialed spare bike, and drove us in luxury over to UC Irvine. This college campus is amazing. Seriously. There is so much to ride there it would never get boring. Dave has taken me there a couple times before and we've ridden different stuff each time. It was an awesome way to end the trip and shake off the long ass days of sales meetings, new-product and bro-brahing. Thanks again, Dave, you rule.
This month marks the fourth year of the Deliverance Clothing Company. This was the very first shirt:

It's not horrible, and I like the "Live off the Land" line, but the font is pretty weak. I don't know if I actually sold one of those shirts--I think I gave them all away. This one came early on as well

and was the first stolen graphic for Deliverance. It was heavily altered--the girl was originally a dude. I've thought of re-working this one and bringing it back. I like the slogan. There are a couple new designs in the works as well.
I went up to Modern tonight and was really excited to ride. I got my bike out but couldn't find my helmet. I was freaking out, thinking I left it at Ray's in Ohio, which was the last place I wore it. If it seems unreasonable to freak out about a helmet (especially if you've seen how beat up mine is), you have to understand that I have a gigantic head and it's very difficult to get a helmet to fit me. I had a head ache when I got to Modern tonight and was looking forward to it going away after I rode for a bit (riding bikes almost always cures my ailments), but squeezing into an XL rental just gave me a new kind of headache. Let's not even talk about how disgusting it is to wear a rental helmet. If I have acne on my forehead next time you see me, you'll know why--a contagious breakout from some greasy kid's dirty wig. It sucked. I was still freaking out about my missing helmet when I got home and then remembered that I took it to California with me in case I actually got to skate the Etnies skatepark (didn't happen). Phew.
The sponsors are lining up for the mini-ramp comps (see post below). Team Young, Veteran BMX, Albes and Breakaway Bicycles in Kalamazoo have all signed on as sponsors. Both of these events should be really fun. The concept for the TRP contest is "Outside the Box", utilizing the spine-mini and the ramps directly connected to it.

The plan is to rope off the perimiter with police tape. I guess if you look at my shitty diagram, it's actually "inside the box", but my thinking was "outside the box jumps". It should be fun. Plus, you'll be able to ride the rest of the park. The TRP joint is this Saturday night, starting at 11 pm. Ten dollars. Prizes. Fun. Also, I got wind that the Police came by during the last late-night TRP event and were quite upset about some adult beverage consumption by non-adults going on in the parking lot, so don't come looking for a party. Bring your bike and your jam box. Or confetti. Maybe silly string.

Here's a preliminary flyer for two mini ramp contests. The TRP one is the "outside the box" contest, utilizing the mini, the little mini, the new hip, the street spine and the wall ride next to the mini. In other words, the mini plus the ramps directly connected to it.
the TRP comp is jam format, opens at 11 pm with the jam at midnight.
Kzoo comp is jam format, session starts at 4 pm (this is a regular session) with the mini ramp jam starting at 9 pm.
Sponsored by Deliverance, VeteranBMX.com and...?

Happy Birthday to Deliverance Team riders Dane Wild and Matt Carmichael. I wonder if Matt knows he's on the team yet?
I'm off to SoCal bro in the morning, have a kick ass week....

More or Less or less
Now Playing: This Bike is a Pipe Bomb Board of Tourism
Like I do most things, I decided in the 11th hour that I could squeeze one more thing into this art show...

This finished product is what I originally envisioned. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but I'm happy with how it came out. At least with this I did all of it. The let-down part of the skull wheel is that the skull is a halloween decoration that I painted. Weak.
I'm going to California on monday, bro, so this is probably the last of my posts for a bit. The posts have been scarce lately but there is a reason for it, at least. I am hoarding lots of photos and other formats for upcoming projects. I am the king of over-exposure, generally, but this time around I am committed to keeping at least part of the program sacred.
I was in Cleveland/Akron yesterday for real work and spent the later hours at Rays, which is fucking awesome! The outter loop with the big boxes provided some overdue air time and the rest of the park is no less incredible. I brought my "freeride" mountain bike to dink around on the trials obstacles. It was fun, but only in a "If I didn't ride BMX, I could still have fun on a mountain bike" kind of way. I even hit the foam pit a few times. I have some serious germ-phobe issues, but I overcame those to twinkle-toe it into the foam. As has been the case more than once in the past, I hurt myself in the foam because I was landing in foam The dead-stop landing of a big 360 was awfully hard on the old wrist. Oh well.
I had an interesting experience while on the deck of the foam pit. There was a group of three moutain bike dudes jumping into the foam. They were jumping real high and doing these horrible superman bailers that they never would have pulled over a real box. One of them was real insistent on small talk and asked how old I was. I told him and he said "I thought you were older, but not that old!" I dropped in and did my shitty turn-down, came back and he was still hung up on it. "I can't believe you're that old. You're the reason I still ride!" It was his attempt at a compliment but it was depressing. "How come you aren't riding a mountain bike?" Like I was supposed to be because of my elder status. Sorry guy, I just haven't lowered my standards that much yet. Rays is awesome and I had a great time. Afro Pat was there for a bit and it's always good to see him. FOD Lurch from Cleveland is another old guy that is still down for the cause and it was real fun to follow him through the rhythm.
I didn't even bring my camera to Ray's so this photo of FOD Davey Cooperwasser balling it up at TRP will have to suffice for now....

PS I ate Hare Krishna food with FOD MIke O'Bryan today. Go easy on the guy as he re-emerges into the everyday scene...

junkyart
Now Playing: Wrangler Brutes
Kelly Baker's on the FBM site rockin' the Big Bear tee. I'll be honest, I get tired of a lot of my own designs, but the Big Bear(which I hardly designed, I stole it), is one of my all-time favorites. Kelly's apparently getting soft in his old age, judging by the color scheme of that bike...
I have a piece of "art" (that might be a stretch) that is going to be in an art show this weekend at Plus Skateboard Shop in Farmington, Michigan. BMXers barging on the skate scene again!

There are a couple more pix on the opening page of the site.
The Deliverance bandanas are finally done after months of production hold ups. Hopefully I'll have product in hand shortly. Stay gooned.

ricky carmickle
Now Playing: Ramones
There is some awesome footage of Deliverance team rider Matt Sparks on the Team Young site. I just decided that Matt Carmichael is the newest Deliverance Factory Team Rider. I haven't talked to him about it yet, but if he's down, I'm down. Homie is a shredder, a cool dude and goes bigger than Jupiter. Welcome to the team, Matt. Speaking of unauthorized team riders, Lavar/Deliverance collaborator Dan Closser is on the injured list with a 3rd degree seperated shoulder after going OTB at an undisclosed location. Dan has a inter-continental road trip of mega-mileage proportions coming up soon, so get well quick buddy. I had the pleasure of riding with O.G. Deliverance riders Matt Sivalleli and Solan Foster today, at two different intervals. Matt was laying it down at the River Bends public offering during unseasonably terrific conditions and Solan later made the scene at the Modern enterprise. Previous post stars Tyler D and Jeremy B, along with LudaChris from Battle Creek were in the Novi vicinity as well, making for a banger of a session. Good times. Dane Wild was there, celebrating both his 19th birthday and a growth spurt. Dane's development is on the downside of the growth curve due to a poor diet. Dane and Sparks both have clips and whips in the new Props 62. FOD Joe Gall got lots of comical airtime for the Kink Demo Derby too...

technical difficulties, 2001 style
Now Playing: Lungfish Jonah
It seems like the Internet used to short-circuit a lot more a few years ago. "My intraweb is down" was a common excuse in 2001. My innernet was down yesterday and up until a little while ago. Turns out that the only thing "down" was where I sat my guitar yesterday after taking a "jam break" (a.k.a. "hack attack"). Seems I sat my axe on the on/off switch on the ol' power strip for one of the many plug-in components. Some day computers won't use wires or cables.
Here are a couple pix from FOD Tyler Deshaine, from the recent trip he and Jeremy Ball took to Austin...

Both of these pix were taken at the reportedly insane OKC Matt Hoffman park. That's Tyler with the invert and Jeremy exploding out of the sun. There are mini-ramp events in the works, stay tuned. More news later...

flailing and whailing
Now Playing: Minutemen The Cheerleader

A week between posts makes one weak. Deliverance is my "night time" project. I have a real job and a family that keeps me real busy. I love doing Deliverance stuff but sometimes finding the time for such things as blog entries is difficult. I got tired of my 80s-aqua colored bike, as I knew I would and with the weather clock clicking rapidly I managed to lay down a new coat of paint. I honestly still liked the aqua but a lot of people are on the same color and I just couldn't take it any more. I guess the red isn't totally original either but there is nothing new under the sun, literally, when it comes to the color wheel. The gyro (Snafu Mobeous) is a long story that I would rather not get into. I will say that I am really fucking sick of working on my bike right now.
Matt Sparks won best trick at the big Flow contest in Ohio this past weekend (Flip from Albes should be posting pix soon. Sparks also got a clip in the opening intro to the new Props, which is awesome. I couldn't tell you if he had more clips inside or not because I had to go to bed before I finished watching it because I stayed up real late working on my damn bike that still isn't running.
I got some interesting replies to the win a free Bar Bag contest, but Minnesota's Bill Sympson won it all with the correct answers of "Supersuckers Born With a Tail" and Crandall's demonic phone number. Froseph Ardelean took his Bar Bag to a more long distance level with this road bike application

Fro's good buddy Chris Hatfiled scared all of really good when his chain broke at Modern on Sunday. He was cranking full speed toward the hip and his chain gave way right before the "A" ramp. Luckily, he got his hands out as he was falling, but the old "into the face of the ramp" trick can be hard on the old mug. He was somehow okay and even continued riding sans the busted drivetrain. What a trooper.
I've been trying to play guitar for years and am still terrible at it. I stopped at a pawn shop in Flint last week that had some extremely good deals and came up on this:

I bought the amp a couple days later at a place called "Junkyard Guitars" in Royal Oak. This is a cool spot if you're in the area. I didn't even notice this at first, but I couldn't be more stoked...

I don't aspire to play any Metallica licks, but you gotta love the phantom image of good metal done badly.

the best of times in the worst of times
I mentioned the passing of Dave Fawley (sorry for botching his name before) last week. A sad and tragic event indeed. In the worst of times, however, sometimes the best in people comes out. Dave's friends put together a benefit jam at TRP on Friday night that was a huge success. Tons of people: riders and non-riders, young and old, mountain bikers and BMX dudes that had maybe never even seen a skatepark, along with a huge group of area shredders came together in honor of Dave and to help raise money for his family. 100% of the door went to the benefit, which was very cool of the folks from TRP. Sean Rakos designed and printed some awesome shirts that sold out in less than five minutes and some stuff was raffled off that helped raise a little more. Dave had a lot of friends and some of them were giving it their all with his spirit in mind.

"New York" Dave was a good friend of Dave Fawley's and unleashed a display of complete madness. He took it so hard on this giant gap to ledge so many times. Sparks was on hand as well, putting on a show that I'm sure the non-riders in attendence are still trying to figure out.

Joe Gall took those photos with my camera while I got it all on tape. There are tons of photos and great coverage on Veteran BMX and Team Young. It is nice to know that such a sad event can bring people together for such a good time. I'm sure Dave would have liked it that way. I just want to extend my sympathy to Sean, Davey Coop, 40 oz. Dan, JR, Thomas, Otto, NY Dave and all the rest of the people whose lives were made better by knowing Dave....
I didn't make back to TRP on Saturday for the Veteran's Day jam, but that looked like a good time as well. See the sites above for more info on that. Deliverance was a sponsor of that event and was well represented with the likes of Dane Wild's Porter-ish antics:

Flip from Albe's took that shot in between skid variations.

Birthday Boy
Now Playing: David Bowie Ziggy Stardust
I have a bunch of stuff to post later, but for now, please join me in wishing FOD Kelly Baker happy birthday! I write about Kelly a lot on this blog and there are many reasons: He's a kick ass rider, a huge supporter of Deliverance, a dude I can relate to in a lot of ways and at the same time, am completely dumbfounded by (ha!). Most of all, Kelly is a true friend and a great person. He celebrated this big day by hanging out with his family, playing board games from the 60's and riding children's bicycles with his children. Here's to you, buddy.

It's not polite to discuss people's age. Just know that Kelly has joined an elite club of BMX dudes. These photos were both taken back when Kelly was in his thirties....

Sad times
The owner of Imperial Bike Shop in Saline, Michigan, Dave Famley, passed away on Friday. I didn't know him that well personally, but FODs Sean Rakos and Davey Coop were good friends with him and always involved in the shop. There is going to be a fundraiser session this Friday night, 11/10, at TRP in Dearborn. I don't know the specifics, other than I assume it starts at 11pm. If you can spare some extra money, it will be donated to Dave's family to help with costs during this sad time. My heart goes out to Dave's family and friends...