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....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

poetry in motion
Now Playing: No Age: Teen Creeps

I was in kind of hurry yesterday when I posted and forgot to mention how awesome Buc-E, Hanaan and Ali from Veteran BMX are.   They were already awesome but they went way beyond the call a couple weeks ago and helped me out at our old house (we still have our house in Detroit).  Buc-E saved me hours of work and potentially blowing the house up with some gas line work and for that I am forever grateful.  Good peoples.

       I've been working hard on the trails.  Here's a new set, in the works, that I'm calling "Cousin It".  If  you've never seen the Addams Family, you can google it....

I also did a lot of work on the berm in the background.  Working on berms sucks!   so much dirt, so much work. 

   My bike is purple, nurple.

Benny Baker is a shredder and a poet.  He's getting backside on the family box jump!

  In other news, Tyler Deshaine is avoiding me...

 

 

 

 

uh, um, yeah
Now Playing: Son Volt: Drown

    We got hit by some super gnarly storms last week.  We didn't have power for three days.  so lame.  I bought a generator but we still didn't have running water.  That's a tough gig, especially with little kids.

    We got so much rain in such a short time, Birdland was hit hard by the storms (our basement flooded a bit as well).  All the lips (that we had just dialed in the night before) got washed away and there were giant puddles everywhere.  I've been working hard on them, when I have a chance, but it's slow going.  V2, the second stage of the trails, is well underway too. 

Sick!!!   I've been in full custom mode lately.   Can't get enough of websites like these: 4Q, Nostalgia on Wheels and White Knights...  Fuel for the convoluted mind.   I painted my trail bike three different colors yesterday and still am not satisfied.   Flat red?  Purple?  Navy?  Who cares?

    I'm working on some new Deliverance tees, but in the mean time my friends over at Biltwell used one I drew up for them (threw up for  them?).  You can see it here. 

The Bird flipper is Mark Lewman, who is my old homie from Kzoo and was the editor of Freestylin' Magazine in the late 80s.  I'm super excited to see this.  I'll write more about it when I have it in my grubby hands.  The above photo was taken after a race at Plainwell BMX (I'd say 1980).  A friend sent the clip below to me recently...

   

   Crazy.  That was a really long time ago.   I just heard from Billy (far right) the other day.  The dude second from the left (suspiciously not mentioned in the caption) is a notorious local who I've seen around town a couple times since we moved back to this area.  I literally hide my face so he doesn't see me.

   MOre later...
 

 

 

 

 

 

the man on the moon
Now Playing: Lou Reed: I'm So Free

Yeah man.

 

 

      So much means so little.   Hot trips and cold drips.   I took Noah to a "Go Skateboarding Day" event in Kentucky over the weekend.  We had a good time.  He likes it when skaters eat shit "He fell down!!!" he yells when they bail.  I'm not sure they appreciate his commentary but I think it's pretty funny.   We found this full-pipe but there was no way to get inside.

The "longest day of the year" (most sunlight) was the other day and I celebrated by working on my trails until ten at night while still being able to see what I was doing.  Luke "White Lotus" McGarry now lives up the street (even closer than Sean Newton), which is pretty random (if you saw how out in the country we all are here) but is also very cool.  He came over and rode Birdland last night.  Got through it all in a minute, with the exception of the berms, but provided some new perspectives for design.  270 berm version five (no exaggeration) coming up!.   

      I put in some Kalamazoo street time today and it was fun.  

I love cruising around and hitting little jibs.  Speaking of that, this video is awesome.  Kevin Porter is one of my favorite riders and the fact that he filmed this himself is even better.  Etnies rules, in case yo forgot (I didn't)

     Kevin also has a part in the very good Vinyl BMX DVD which I got from Dans Comp just today.   Speaking of Dans, they have more Deliverance Bar Bags on the way.   Nice segue, eh?

      I rode the Kzoo park tonight with Luke and Dave Moon and it was a treat.  Talk about feeling like a sub-standard rider!  Both those dudes are soooo frickin' good.

In other news, Dane Wild still rides bikes and  has been been doing shows with  Ron Thomas.  Here's a nice tabe taken at a spot in rural PA. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

birds in the belfry
Now Playing: The Replacements: Alex Chilton

I've been around the block since that last post...

Traveling is gnarly these days.   Plane tickets are outrageous, flights are packed and oversold and the delays are ridiculous.  It took me over 15 hours to get to California and 13 hours to get back.  I don't really sit around at home (or ever) so I get a little nuts in the airport after four hours with nothing to do.  A definite highlight of many of my trips to the gold coast are visits with Dave Davenport.  He always picks me up, with a dialed bike ready for me to ride and takes me to session whatever we can fit into our schedule.  This time is was a lone session at UC Irvine, but it was super fun as always.  Here's a really terrible phone pic of Dave doing a skinny, up/down manual.

Dave rules and I can't thank him enough for providing me with an escape from a long week of meetings and shoe talk (which I actually enjoy--it's just nice to break out).   I got home to find Birdland ravaged by the weather.   I'm not going to complain about my trails getting torn up from the rain with all the flooding and disaster going on in nearby states, but I can't believe how worked the jumps got.  I'll take this as an opportunity to build them up and dial them in.   I started tonight.  The first set is taller and the landing is a little longer.  I rebuilt the 270 berm (again!) and I think it's getting closer.   My buddy PJ came over on Saturday and took a digger on the spox.  He was riding it really well, but a front wheel wash out resulted in a face impact.  He's okay.

      My wife and I took Noah to the Kalamazoo  Speedway on Saturday night.  It was the "Night Of Destruction" and they had all kind of hillbilly shit going on.   School bus races, blind fold races, burn-out contests and this last-man-standing thing that was basically a demolition derby in a circle.  It was awesome.

Noah loves the school bus races.

   Davey Coop recently scored a new ride...

Nice.  Vintage MCs are pretty sweet.

    Buc-E and  Hanan from Veteran BMX held a jam and cook out at the Charlotte park this weekend.  I imagine there will be photos on their site soon.  Sounds like it was fun, with the exception of Hanan accidently giving her bike away....

   I know it seems like I am blowing these guys up excessively, but there are some really cool trails videos on the Deluxe site.  I dig their scene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

picture page

sometimes life is really hard (just in general).  I know that's a cryptic statement but I don't want to get into it right now.  As always, my bike provides an escape like no other...

Elizebethtown, Kentucky. 

cute dog in a truck next to the Louisville park.  Believe it or not, I only skated while there.  I did ride the Florence park on Saturday morning and it was great.  One of my favorites.

I was on the road with the Etnies skate team last week.  All of the dudes were super cool and skated well at each stop.   This is Jose at the Bowling Green, Kentucky park.  I skated a ton here, but no bikes this day...

More Baker family coverage.  This is Clint, bombing into a lake a week ago.  He just fractured his arm on a trampoline and has to wear a cast for a couple weeks.  Get well soon, Clint!

The over/under at Baker's Acres is much more substantial than the one at Birdland!  Kelly over Clint. 

Kelly sends me some great photos but this one is just fucking amazing.  You saw it here first!

Jason Burton sent me a pic of a 270 berm that he found on the Tree Bicycle Co. website.  The Tree guys always have great ideas that people steal so I figured I might as well join the club.  I switched the 270 berm so you jump into it and roll out of it.  Duh.  I made it around first try, no problem.   The berm/jump in the top right (between the first set)  is the first jump for Birdland Stage 2.

Mike O'Bryan had an article in Dig a couple years ago about how to take a riding self-portrait.   Timing this one took a few tries and a little bit of luck, but I was really just taking runs and hitting the button on the camera before taking off was mostly incidental.  I actually captured two shots in the air, both minus my fat head. 

A scene like this in your own back yard makes the hard times a little easier....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 8 housing at the Super 8

kElly bAker with a man-sized transfer.   Man-hands with little people fingers.   Hammer time.  Committed to excellence.  Less is more.  This is my room with a view....

 

 

Dear Mom and Dad

  I hope this letter finds you well.  this may be the trip that puts me over the edge.  The miles are wearing me down and the endless banter is bantering endlessly.  Too much time in the company of one's self is not healthy.  I have white line fever.

The End.

 

TRLS in vivid black and white
Now Playing: Juno soundtrack
Trails!   People actually came over and rode!  Stunning. 

Jason Burton (left) made the trek from the Eastside and was here first, followed shortly by Sean Newton.  We worked out some kinks (like getting rid of the stupid little rollers I had built the day before) and started making it happen.   Sean took a few for the team (a couple were pretty scary) but also made the most progress throughout the day.  He left just in time for me to not take any photos of him.  The tent provided some shade, which was nice.  Tyler D is kicking back and Nick is helping Noah with the music selection.

Kyle Kling takes on the Spox.  I was most happy about how motivated Kyle was to get his (awesome) trails running after this session.

The dubs into the first turn were the first thing I built last year.  Don't ask why I would build a weird jump/turn combo for the very first thing.  It took everyone a bit to get used to but after they got it dialed, it was on.  Here, J. Burton shows how it's done (no brakes even!).

Tyler Deshaine was the last one to arrive but wasted no time making it through everything with his Austin-honed skills. 

I was tired and sore before we even rode (I worked on these things all week) but I was worked the day after.  It was great.  Photo by Jason.

Jason always provides for at least one shot reminiscent of Bicycle Motocross Action magazine.  This is my favorite pic of the day.

Noah watches as Tyler goes down in flames during a 360 attempt over the spox. 

At the end of the day, Tyler and J. manicured all the jumps to near-perfection.  Note use of the "World's Best Shovel" by Jason.  I'll explain when you come over....

The 270 berm took out everyone (including the "creator") who attempted to take it on.  Eventually, Jason and I did successfully navigate the loop a couple times and some collective brainstorming has me excited for Birdland V2. 

These guys came by on Sunday to check out the jumps.