it's not stealing it's borrowing
I loved this photo so much that I took it right off the Terrible One site...

Joe Rich is one of my favorites, ever.  Look at how sick that is!

    Also, this is kind of cool...
 

 

the children are the futre
Now Playing: whitney houston?
Here is a rad shot of FOD Tyler Britchard on his motorbike:

And here's one of Benny Baker, nosin' it in on home turf.

Rad sons of rad fathers.  The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. 

Here's another FOD, but he's a grown ass man.  Mike Hammond in the Pacific NW, hitting some big ones on a Diamond Back prototype.  Makes my trails look like a R/C car track! 

 

 

 

core conditioning
Now Playing: shout out louds: Very Loud

Another crazy week of travel and madness.  Met up with the Gypsy Caravan crew, just for the night, in Athens, Ohio.   Between frequent rainstorms and an extended visit to the ER with FOD Joel Barnett (he is one tough mofo--it was so gnarly watching him get his lip sewn back together), not much riding got done and it was a fairly uneventful meeting for me.  The FBM guys have a different tale to tell, but to be honest, I'm sure I'm better off having escaped their debauchery, although there is no doubt in my mind that it was a kick ass time.  The rain sucked for my entire drive  home and cancelled two skatepark stops I had pencilled in.  However, upon my return the soil was wet and ready for digging.  I know it's boring to talk about my trails all the time, but they are really taking shape.  I've been working really hard on them.  It is a lot of work but I can feel myself getting stronger (and maybe a little less fat) and I ain't mad about that.   I rode them tonight and the first few runs were pretty rough.   When you rebuild lips and make everything bigger, you just don't know what to expect.   Still no visitors, which is my own fault, I suppose.  I heard that one time Kzoo local/employee Andy Dowdy has been back on his bike and even checks this site.  Andy, send me an e mail!

      Here's an amazing photo of super local Tyler Deshaine, taken by super photog Sean McNewton. 

That is just plain nutty... 

       This was supposed to be top secret, but since there is an article about it on BMX Online, I guess I can mention it now.   I'll post a pic of my submission later on, after the show.... 

 

kicking ass or kissing ass?

I logged some miles last week, I tell you.  I got lots of work done, met up with some gypsies, hung out with Ernesto from Dans and  his wife, talked to Jimmy Levan for awhile and even got to ride my bike (and skateboard).  Besides being away from my family (which sucks) these are the kind of things that make my crazy job worth it...

Cameron Wood and James Levan at the Shitluck anniversary party.  Jimmy is doing really well and almost fully recovered from his terrible accident a few months back.  Cam gave me a copy of the 50-50 video, That's It.  It is friggin' awesome.  The Metal video, Dead Bang is great too.  I keep meaning to write about it.  The amount of bloodshed is unsettling, but it's a great watch otherwise.

Ernesto and a sharply dressed Ryan Metro at the Shitluck gig.  Metro is a funny dude.

Clancy Baker?

Following Ernesto's Subaru into Louisville for a fun session at the Louisville Extreme Park (that's really what it's called).   It was early Saturday morning and Darrel Nau from Blacken was already going strong after a long night.  Darrel is a true individual and it was super fun to ride with him.

Bad photo of a rad kid.  Mickey Marshall is so good.   This was a backyard ramp session in Ft Wayne, Indiana.  Better pics later somewhere?

   I met a bunch of new people on this trip.  One of them was the subject of one of my favorite photos of the last few years (Keith Terra took it for Dig)...

John "Superfly" Skvarla is super cool.  It's always weird/awkward to meet someone that you only know about from BMX magazines and videos.  In fact, Superfly's Super BMX video, Live For Today is one I got a few months ago (based on an Afro Pat recommendation) and it is a really good mix of trails, trips and good times.  Anyway, Superfly is right on and oddly enough, I got the new Ride BMX mag today and he has a two-page spread in there.  Kick ass.  Did I kiss enough ass in this post?  

Fro sent me a link to a nice video taken at the crazy pool that he, Hatfield and Dan Closser found in late '06.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

my apologies to Mr. Honda

Am I a kook for taking this photo?

How about for posting it on the internet?   My apologies to Mr. Honda for butchering his creation.  Is that dirt on those tires?  If I ask questions in this blog would they be considered hypothetical?  Or just retarded?

     The trails are running pretty well.  The spox is super fun.  I can't wait for someone to hit it who can do some tricks.  It's ready for it.   Maybe Davey Coop or Solan?  I heard from both of those dudes today and I'm stoked.   I've definitely been flying solo on the BMX front around these parts of late.  It's okay, I like riding by myself.  I'm hitting the road in the morning and hopefully I'll get to ride Louisville and maybe a couple other spots.  Skate some stuff too.  I've really been into skateboarding lately.

       I got this coffee cup the other day.  The Gonz is one of my biggest inspirations.  Surprised?

 

 

art is where you see it
I found this website through the Mel Bend site.  If the "Black Bomber" isn't a work of art than nothing is. 

 

adventure time

These pics are from a couple hours of adventuring around Kalamazoo while my van was being serviced last week.  Kzoo has a great variety of stuff to ride and is just sketchy enough to be interesting....

The Bar Bag performed flawlessly.  Available from Dans!

This Honda Trail 70 has been in this window for years.   I had one just like it, same graphics and everything, when I was 11.  I rode the shit outta that thing!  It literally burst into flames while I was riding it one time.  I had to bail and let it ghost ride into a firey heap.  I was running all over the house, looking for a fire extinguisher, yelling at my sleeping sister to help me.  It was chaos.   I later sold it to my friend Fat Ben and the engine actually fell out.  His mom was bummed.

These jersey barriers have a nice run-up and a slanted sidewalk tranny.  I discovered them a couple  years ago during a visit and they are good for a few minutes each time through.

Empty 40 of King Cobra.  No, I didn't drink it.  Maybe I will though.  Shit will make you want to fight your friends.   This was near some dirt jumps that have been around for a long time.  They are still there, but not really rideable.

    I've been on the road all week.  I did get to ride a little bit.  The cement park in Toledo offered some action.  That park is chock full of teen parents, hood rats, angry skaters and dirty kids doing laps on 20 inch Pacific mountain bikes.  The highlight was a 60 year old Mailman, in full blue postal uniform, on an old shitty, mountain bike with a soup bowl strapped to the rack on the back, deciding to take a run through the park.  I saw him sitting there for awhile, then watched in disbelief as he rolled up to the worst-design-ever skatepark obstacle, which is a standard bank pyramid that goes up, flat and over for the hips and part of the center, but on one side just drops right off. It used to have steps and someone I brought there jumped to land backside into the steps.  Rugged.  Anyway, the mailman slowly approached this pyramid and amazingly, the locals tried to save him, yelling "Stop, look out" etc.  He put his feet down and did the top-tube tango right off the drop and straight to over the bars, landing in a full bear-trap (Solan term).  It was a mess.   He was okay, thankfully.  I saw him a bit later and and inquired as to his status.  He said "I should have studied the course better".  Indeed.

       I rode the public park in Coldwater last night for fifteen minutes.  That was all the second-hand teen smoke I could take, but the little hip set up there is fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Tracks
Now Playing: Limbeck: I saw you laughing

"First tracks" is a snowboard/ski term for making the first tracks in fresh snow.  For me, today, it meant making the first real tracks all the way up an over some dirt jumps.   In my post below I talked about apprehension toward painting a helmet.  Jumping doubles for the first time is a very real, very imminent situation that is a true test of confidence and ability.   Flashback to this time in '05 and the story of my first time over a big set of trails is an ugly tale indeed. 

    

   I am happy to report that I made it nicely over this new set the first time through.   I did case the shit out of it the second run, for some reason, but it was smooth sailing after that.   Bigger is definitely better with jumps like these.  Some of the jumps I built last year are just too small to get good pump out of or even to stretch out in the air on.   The Spox is working out well.  I've added a ton of dirt to the landing, but it still needs more.  Dammit, I said I wasn't going to bore  you with trail construction talk!   At least I'm really riding them now.  You should come over and check them out sometime.

       Dan's Comp has the latest Deliverance tees available for purchase.  Much thanks to them for their support over the years! 

 

 

pin-striped
Now Playing: This Bike is Pine Cone: A hundred dollars
I've been trying to paint for years and I'm just not very good at it. I try to draw with my paint brushes and I might as well use Sharpies.   The cool-custom art of pin-striping is a whole nother story.  I have tried (not enough, I suppose) and it is really difficult to keep the paint flowing, straight lines, etc.  I've been working on a design on my Biltwell MC helmet and when it came down to the finishing touches, the only thing that could make it work was going to be pin-striping.  I was so apprehensive that I even considered taking it to Curtis at Albes to do the final work for me.  I'd already botched a couple trial runs and had to paint over it.  Now that the mountain of masking tape was off, all bets were off.  I took a couple runs on my skate helmet and a skateboard, then went for it.     I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

It's  not  "pro" by any means, but  the results are fairly close to what  I envisioned and that is my only measure of success.

   On Saturday, Noah, my bro-in-law Chris and I made the trek to Detroit to watch the Supercross. 

The track was super technical and even took out current points leader Chad Reed during practice.  I saw his crash on TV the next day and it was super, super, scary.   He ended up racing, which is amazing, but couldn't really ride at full capacity.  I had my money on Kevin Wyndham but he ended up third.  Davey Milsaps won it.  Noah loved the vroom vroom action but wasn't too into all the sitting around between races.  Who would be?

     I've been working on the trails and riding the spox.  It's awesome, in my humble opinion.  I have some other stuff in the works but I won't bore you with more trail construction details until I have some visuals to accompany them.

 

 

 

 

Sod Houses
Now Playing: Black Flag: I've got to run
A friend of mine was telling me about the Straw Bale house construction he's been studying.   Interesting, but I'm more into sod home building technique:

Let me introduce you to the "spox" (spine/box).   It rained last night so I got some good work done on it today, but I tried to ride it yesterday and almost go worked.  It went like this:

Attempt one:   Sank in and didn't make it to the top.  Tried to step off  and did the loose dirt disco dance.

Attempt two:  Made it over the top, more or less, but got bucked at the lip and nearly went OTB in full Flying W configuration (ask someone who raced motorcycle MX in the 70s).

 Attempts three, four and five:  Still sketchy, but getting progressively better.  I cleared the deck on the final attemp and rolled away kinda stoked/mostly relieved.

     I'm super excited to hit it  when it dries out after the fill-in/patch work with wet dirt and tons of packing.  Todd Packer.  

Everyone loves to hear about trail construction.  Sorry.

    Kzoo outdoor is in full effect and I've snuck in three short, almost dark sessions.  I love it.  The "pizza hut" hip in the post below is my favorite thing on earth to ride.  So nice.   

   Sod homes and rolling stones.  This NY house on wheels will be ready for action soon.