EDITO
Cover : the legend Bob Haro, artwork by Thomas Cantoni
Un coin de paradis Assis de le jardin de Scott je regarde Tyler et Matthias rider dans le garage sous l’oeil du sage Hiro. Il fait 30 degrés, Terry fait des whoopers avec Raph dans la rue, Kuga monte son vélo, les écureuils courent dans les arbres, le chien remue la queue en me regardant manger une soupe mexicaine et Scott peaufine l’organisation de la Voodoo jam. Une ambiance de rêve avec un couché de soleil dans ce merveilleux jardin me transporte de bonheur. Le temps pouvait s’arrêter là, que demander de plus ? Bobby et Justin sont de la partie, York s’occupe de la musique, les anglais Sam et Effraim sont dans le coup aussi, rien ne pouvait nous arriver, on y était ! L’endroit sur terre où il fallait être... Des 4 coins du monde, des flatlanders partagent la même passion, bien plus que le riding qui n’est même plus le centre du sujet, c’est se retrouver entre nous, une fois de plus et fêter ça. Toujours une bière à la main ou un vélo, ça chille à mort et c’est ce qu’on aime. On est venus pour un contest dans une boîte de nuit et c’est dans le jardin de Scott que tout se passe. Une seule question me trotte sans cesse, mais pourquoi les autres ne viennent pas ? Je vis un rêve que tout le monde pourrait partager. Je veux pas garder ça pour moi, c’est trop gros, trop bon. L’hospitalité de Scott est si grande que c’est presque du gâchis de ne pas en profiter. Un cœur si gros peu contenir tous les riders du monde. La maison de Scott, la folie de Terry, le riding de Matthias, l’odeur de Raph, l’humilité des japs, le regard de Bobby, le wifi dans le jardin, le café latte, le Taco bell, un garage pour rider, et bien plus encore... voilà ce que vous loupez en restant chez vous à attendre seulement les résultats d’un contest qui est de loin le but du voyage. Venez goûter au paradis, venez sur les contests et pas seulement pour la compétition. Entrez dans cette famille au grand cœur. Venez aux soirées endiablées par les français. Que se soit en Louisiane ou partout ailleurs dans le monde, vous êtes chez vous. Ne manquez pas les prochains rendez-vous où le monde se retrouve et le temps s’arrête. Le bonheur existe, je le confirme...
the famous Scott’s Backyard
A spot in Paradise While seated in Scott’s Backyard, I am watching Tyler and Matthias riding in the garage under the eyes of Hiro Master. It’s 30 degrees, Terry is doing whooper with Raph in the street, Kuga put his bike together, squirrels are running everywhere on trees, the dog stirs up his tail watching me eat a mexican soup and Scott is working on last Voodoo jam details. A dream ambiance, the sun lay down in this wonderful garden, I’m happy. Time could have stopped at this moment. What could have been better? Bobby and Justin are in the game, York takes care of music, English’s Sam and Effraim are there too, nothing could happened to us, we were there! The place in the earth where you had to be.... From the 4 corners of the planet Earth, flatlanders share the same passion, much more than riding which is not the center of the problem anymore, it’s all about hanging out with everyone, One more time to celebrate it. Always a beer or a bike in our hand, it fuckin’ chills and that’s how we like it. We are there for a contest in a club and it’s in Scott’s garden that everything happens. I just have one question, but why the others don’t come? I live a dream that anyone could share. I can’t keep that for me, It’s too big, too good. Scott’s hospitality is SO big it’s almost a waste not to enjoy it. A heart that big could contain all the rider in the world. Scott’s house, Terry’s freakness, Matthias’s riding, Raph’s smell, The japanese humility, Bobby’s glance, Wi-Fi in the garden, the ice coffe latte vanilia flavour, the Taco Bell, a perfect garage to ride, and much much more... That’s what you miss staying at home, just waiting for a contest result which is by far NOT the goal of the trip. Come and taste the heaven, come on contests and not only in competitions, Enter in this big-heart family, come at the party rocked by Frenchy’s. In Louisiana or wherever in the world, you are at home. Don’t miss next stop where the world meets and time stops. Hapiness DOES exist, I confirm it... Alain Massabova
PROGRAMME
12 14 16 18 22 26 30 32 34 36 46 52 56 58 60 66 68 75 80 83 88 90
Seen on Tokyo streets
AGENDA SHOPPING PATOCHERIE FLATERIE / NASS / UK FACE / YOSSI / JAPAN REPORT / VISIT MY TOWN / AUSTRIA EVENT / KING OF PACA / FRANCE REPORT / BYKE PROJECT / USA REPORT / OLDSCHOOL SHOW / USA REPORT / BEST OF BMX MASTERS / GERMANY EVENT / VOODOO JAM / USA EVENT / REDBULL ELEVATION / MEXICO EVENT / TWILIGHT CONTEST / USA EVENT / KING OF DIRT / AUSTRIA LEGEND / BACK TO BOB HARO / USA FACE / TRAVIS COLLIER / CANADA FACE / MAXIME CHARVERON / BEIJING FASHION / BAD BOY STYLE REPORT / FREECASTER / BELGIUM PORTFOLIO / CANTO DESIGN / FRANCE TRIP / GHETTO BIKES / SOUTH AMERICA REPORT / LIGHTNING BOLTS ART SHOW / BEIJING
RENDEZ-VOUS Projet1
AGENDA 2008
04/06.07.08 / Suzuki BMX Masters / Germany 12.07.08 / Straight Outta Indy / Indianapolis, Indiana / USA 14/20.07.08 / Summer Gypsy Games / Ajka / Hungary 11/14.07.08 / FISE / Urban Plagne / La Plagne / France 17.07.08 / Dew Tour stop 2 / Cleveland, OH, North Coast Harbor / USA 20.07.08 / King of Ground Round 2 / Ishikawa, Komatsu / Japan 20.07.08 / Circuito De Flatland En Bogota Round 4 / Bogota / Colombia 21.07.08 / Extreme Battle / Tartu / Estonia 24.07.08 / Hollywood Jam 11 / Zume Beach, California / USA 25.07.08 / Empire of Dirt / Newton Abbot, Devon / UK 12.07.08 / Flatstyles 5 / Helsinki / Finland 8/21.07.08 / Summer BMX Girl Camp / Pumpwerk, Basel / Switzerland 1/3.08.08 / Bad Holidays / Lido Adriano / Italia 3.08.08 / Groundroots Round 2 / Southsea / UK 8/9.08.08 / Prova Cup / Hiroshima / Japan 7/8.08.08 / Summer Kamp / La Plagne / France 9.08.08 / Vans Barak jam / France 12/22.08.08 / Extreme Tour / French beach / France 16.08.08 / Lord of Dirt / Tosse / France 19/20.07.08 / REVOLCON / Tepic city, Antic Airport /Mexico 13/14.09.08 / Fieldcontrol / Portimao / Portugal 17/18.10.08 / KOG #3 / Tokyo / Japan
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19/06/08
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SHOPPING
KINK TWENTY
OAKLEY NEW ERA
PROPER
ZOO YORK
KINK
OAKLEY
CONVERSE
LOTECK SUNDAY
ZOO YORK TRY ALL - KOXX
LRG
NEW ERA VANS ZOO YORK
REVENGE ONITSUKA TIGER
VANS
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VISION
PATOCHERIE TRIP TIPS !!! Bonjour à tous, l’été pointe finalement le bout de son nez et les trips vont enfin pouvoir reprendre !!! Vu que ce texte paraîtra dans le hors série, je me dis que bons nombres de ces lecteurs seront des voyageurs alors pourquoi ne pas donner quelques conseils. Comme chacun le sait, nous sommes limités à un certain poids dans les aéroports et il devient de plus en plus dur de venir avec son vélo non démonté à l’enregistrement. A présent, il faut que les bikes soient démontés et dans un bagage spécial pour ne pas endommager les autres valises des passagers (font chier !!!). Le poids est donc limité à 20 kg et si l’on compte le vélo, les vêtements, les protecs, les outils et la valise, eh bien on y est très vite aux 20 kg !! Déjà la première chose à faire, c’est de limiter les outils au max et de ne prendre que le minimum. Ensuite vient l’astuce miracle: plutôt que de la jouer clodo et de ne prendre que 2 tshirts pour 3 semaines, mettez un max de fringues dans votre sac à dos ou un sac plastique à côté puis partez à l’enregistrement. Votre vélo devant passer aux bagages hors format, il vous sera demandé de vous rendre à un autre guichet (mais vous aurez déjà le ticket d’embarquement et le poids inscrit). Une fois cette opération faite, faites mine de partir au hors format puis calez-vous dans un endroit au milieu des gens. Vous n’aurez plus qu’à remettre tous vos habits dans votre sac qui se verra gratifié de quelques kilos supplémentaires! Quand on connaît le prix de l’excédent bagage, il vaut mieux trouver une solution. Au même titre, pour faire quelques économies lors d’une location de voiture. Au moment de la rendre et donc de refaire le plein d’essence, je vous conseille de vous rendre à la station la plus proche et de refaire le plein moteur allumé. Par ce biais, vous pourrez voir la jauge monter et ainsi arreter dès que le flèche se trouve en haut. Les loueurs font ça et de ce fait quand vous récupérez la voiture, l’essence descend très vite au début. Autant faire comme eux et faire quelques économies. Derniers petits conseils qui ce coup-ci concerne votre bike. Lors de transport en avion, les bagages sont jetés dans tous les sens et se trouvent souvent écrasés. Combien de fois, nous avons retrouvé nos cadres pliés aux bases arrières, et nos rotors cassés. La meilleure solution est de protéger votre vélo. Essayer de vous munir des barres plastiques que l’on retrouve sur les vélos complets dans les cartons. En fait cette barre remplace l’axe de roue et évite que vos bases se tordent. Ensuite enveloppez vos pattes arrières et de fourches avec vos protecs ou avec des chiffons car très souvent c’est le bon moyen pour trouer le sac et commencer à perdre des trucs !! Dernier conseil : protéger votre cadre avec vos protège tibias et mettez une chaussure sous votre couronne de manière à ce qu elle ne torde pas. Voilà, je vous sens prêt à vous envoler vers de nouvelles aventures. Prenez soin de vous, et à bientôt au détour d’un aéroport !!!
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Hello everyone! Finally summer is here, and trips will start again soon! Since this text is going to be in the special issue, I know that a lot of readers will be travelers so why shouldn’t I give small trips tips. As everyone knows, we have a limited weight in airports and it’s getting harder and harder to go at the check-in desk without unbuilt your bike. Nowadays, bikes have to be unbuilt, put in a special bag not to damage other passengers’ luggages (Fuck that!). The limited weight is 20 kg and if you add :bike+clothes+pads+tools+luggage, it goes to 20 kg really quick!! The first thing to do is to take as less tool as you can... The minimum. Ok, now here is the miracle tips. Instead of being a homeless and bring only 2 tshirts and one underwear for 3 weeks, put as much clothes as you can in your backbag or in a plastic bag and check-in. Your bikebag has to be out of size, you’ll be asked to go to another desk (but you’d already have your boarding ticket with the weight written on it). Once it done, pretend to got to the out of size desk, but instead of it, go in the middle between people in line. You only have to put all your clothes that were on your backbag in your bikebag, There you go, you won extra kilos. When you know the price for an extra kilo, You better find a solution! Ok, next tips. When you rent a car and you have to fill it up when you give it back. Fill the reservoir at the closest station and do it the motor on. Then, you can see the gauge going up and you can stop when it reaches the top. Renters do this. That’s why when you rent a car, the fuel goes down really quick at the beginning. It’s better doing like them and save money. Last tips concerning your bike. During the flight transportation, luggages are thrown as a soccer ball and are often crushed. How many times we found our frames totaly twisted and our rotors broken. The best solution is to protect your bike. Try to find plastic stick which usually are on complete bikes in their box. This stick replaces the wheel axle and it prevents the dropout to be twisted. Then, wrap your rear and fork dropouts with your pads or with rags, because it often bores bags and it’s the best way to loose something. Last tip, Protect your frame with shinepads and put a shoes under the crank then it doesn’t bend. There you go, I can feel you are ready to fly and enjoy a good trip! Take care of you, And see you soon in any airport! Patoche La Valoche!
FLATERIE Le NASS Le Nass cette année a soulevé beaucoup de questions quant à la scène anglaise, et celle du flatland en général. On a pu le voir notamment avec la centaine de postes sur le forum de global-flat.com. L’organisation cette année était pris en charge par les mecs de Relentless, et ils étaient chaud pour y mettre du flatland. La scène flat au Royaume Uni est petite mais grandit bien, donc cela semblait le moment idéal pour avoir une série d’événements pour donner à la scène un tremplin pour grossir. 22 riders inscrits en amateur, 7 en pro, pour quelque raisons que ce soit, seulement 8 amateurs et 5 pros ont participé à la compétition... Les amateurs. Le niveau du top 3 était vraiment élévé. En troisième position, on retrouve le brésilien pornographe Marcelo Pastel, devancé par le Shintaro anglais Lee Wilson qui poussait derrière Matti qui l’emporte. Lee a fait des combos bien clean en around the world tandis que Matti, qui gagne son deuxième nass de suite, nous a montré ses nouveaux tricks originaux comme hang five one hand sur la fourche. Il est très près de rouler en pro grâceà sa consistance. Les pros. Avec seulement 5 riders en compétition, c’est allé très vite. Au début, je voulais faire un format de battle comme au Kog et à la Voodoo jam, mais le nombre trop peu élevé de pro nous a poussé à faire des simples runs de 3 min. Ce n’est pas si grave car cela a bien fonctionné, le niveau était là, le public venu en nombre était bien chaud, du bon quoi. Keelan Phillips a bien déchiré sur l’avant, backward spining halfhiker, il arrive à égalité avec Alex qui nous a montré des nouveaux tricks chanmés sur l’avant, un peu compliqués pour être décrit! C’est dingue qu’Alex progresse encore. J’ai fait le run de ma vie et me place en 3 ème position. J’ai tout rentré et n’ai touché que trois fois! Le top 2 de cette compétition pourrait être le top 2 à toutes les compétitions, qu’il y ait 5 ou 200 inscrits en pro, j’ai nommé Matthias Dandois et Sam Foakes. Matthias a défoncé la roue avant et la roue arrière pendant 3 minutes et nous a mis son nouveau tricks, un espèce de manual turbine to time machine. Mais c’était la journée de Sam. Il a fait 3 run de 1 minute, n’a touché qu’une fois, sans squeaker, Ca roule, ça tourne, ça turbine, c’est propre. Victoire amplement méritée, il ramène 500 pounds à la maison (750 Euros). Vous l’aurez compris, le classement du championnat d’Angleterre est le suivant: 1 Sam Foakes, 2 Matthias Dandois, 3 moi. Les flatlanders ont besoin d’ouvrir les yeux, les temps de Freestylin magazine sont terminés! Je parle à propos des mecs undergrounds. Et les gars, c’était cool d’être underground il y a 15 ans, mais là, en 2008, ça fait plutôt abruti qu’autre chose... Vous n’aidez pas votre sport, vous le tuez. Pour moi c’est comme prendre la voie facile. C’est négatif et ça tue le sport que j’aime. Si Matthias et Alex n’était pas venu au Nass, on aurait eu que 3 inscrits en pro et ça, ça craint! Nous avons avec nous un sponsor chanmé (Relentless), et c’est important qu’il voit que les gens s’intéresse un minimum à la compétition.... Donc si vous lisez ça, et que vous êtes un de ces types qui se disent, bah, ce contest-là j’y vais pas, j’ai la flemme, j’irais au suivant de toute façon, je vais plutôt aller rouler tout seul dans mon parking aujourd’hui et puis j’attendrai qu’il y ait les résultats sur Global-flat, les mecs C’EST VOUS LE PROBLEME! Donc soyez la solution, venez et soutenez les événements qui sont les racines de ce sport, pas juste le Nass, mais la Voodoo, le KOG, le Circle Cow, Le Roula 3, la liste est longue. En y allant, je suis sûr que vous changerez d’avis et vous vous direz que participer à un contest, finalement, c’est pas si mal ! Effraim at the Voodoo jam final... Photo Raph Chiquet
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The NASS This years Nass asked a lot of questions of the UK scene, and of flatland in general. Hence the 126 posts in few days on the global flat forum. The organisation this year was organised by the good folks at Relentless, and they were down to include flatland, the flat scene in the UK is small but growing, so this was ideal towards having a series of events to give the scene a platform to grow. 22 riders registered in am, 7 in pro, for whatever reason, only 8 in am showed and 5 in pro. The Am. The level in am between the top three was high, the Brazilian porno man Marcelo Pastel in third, and the Uk’s Shintaro, Lee Wilson pushing Matti hard for first, with a clean run full of around the world combos, Matti Hemmings winning his second Nass contest in a row, one handed hang fives on the forks, and other original tricks, was good to see Matti make it closer and close to being a pro rider, his consistency stood out. The Pros. With only 5 riders in attendance, this was over very fast, I had wanted to do a battle format similar to the KOG, but we sadly couldn’t do it. So 3 minutes it was, and it worked well, the crowd were into it, Keelan Philips busted out his backwards spinning half hikers and tied with Alex Jumelin who had some dope new moves to show us, x ft no handed karl on the back peg 360 bike whip to crackpacker, serious tweakage involved, awesome to see Alex is still progressing. I had one of the runs of my life for third, with three touches, and almost all combos complete, so stoked. The top two, could be the top two at any event if you ask me, it doesn’t matter that there was only five riders here. Matthias Dandois ripped the front and back wheel for 3 minutes, Matthias new move roll back to backwards spinning mega spin to time machine was nailed, but this day belonged to Sam Foakes, who did 3 combos, and touched once, no scuffing at all, just pure rolling, turbine, backwards spinning, backwards rolling, forwards rolling and so on, he had the lot, and took home the 500 for first, and now leads the Uk groundroots series with Matthias in second, and moi in third. Flatlanders need to realise that days of freestylin magazine are gone! I’m talking about undergrounders, it was cool to be an undergrounder 15 years ago, being underground in 2008 is not cool, it doesn’t help the sport, for me it’s the taking the easy option out. It’s a negative and it’s killing the sport I love, if Matthias and Alex wouldn’t have come to Nass, we would have had 3 in pro, that’s shit! We have on board a killer sponsor in Relentless, and its important that they at least see some attendance. So if your reading this and your one of those guys, that goes, ahh I’ll leave it, I’ll go to the next one, I’ll go and ride my home spot that I never leave then wait for global flat updates, you are the problem! So be the solution, come and support grassroots events, not just Nass, but Voodoo, KOG, Circle Cow, Roula, the list goes on, you might find out contests are not that bad. Round 2 of the Uk groundroots series at Southsea Skatepark, Sunday 3rd August, everyone is invited. Come and ride your ass off! Effraim Catlow
FACE
YOSSY BY HAJIME YAMAZAKI @ JUICY VISION
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Tomotaka “Yossy” Yoshitani Il est peut être connu pour ses talents en park, mais il fait bien plus d’étincelle en street. Ce n’est pas comme en contest ou les caméras suivent le riding de Yossy, Peu de riders qui roulent avec lui sont témoins de son riding en street. Son riding est très créatif, et la plupart de ses tentatives sont risquées. Plus les transitions sont compliquées, et les sections semblent impossible à rouler, plus son originalité et son talent éclatent au grand jour. Découvrez vous-même l’interview de ce rider et ces photos qui ont été prises ces dernières années. Date de naissance? 23 février 1979 Sponsors? Wethepeople, Motoway, Mobstyles, MAgical mosh misfits, Kpy, Redi, Pro-tec Helmet Qu’est-ce que tu as fait avant de faire du BMX? J’étais à fond dans le volleyball lorsque j’étais à l’école primaire et au lycée. J’ai acheté un mountain bike pendant ma période lycée et partais à la montagne ou au park à côté de chez moi avec le boss du magasin de vélo ou je traînais souvent. J’appris bunny hop avec un Mountain bike. Un jour, en passant à côté d’un gros park, j’ai vu un BMX. J’étais vraiment scotché en voyant ce qu’il savait en faire et m’acheta mon premier BMX à l’âge de 18 ans. 10 ans ont passé depuis ce jour... Qu’est-ce qui se passe dans ta tête lorsque tu approches d’une vraie section de street? Le principal facteur est si oui ou non j’arrive à me représenter une image de la ligne que je vais faire et si je vais la réussir. Si l’image est une tâche floue, je ne vais pas essayer, je n’y vais seulement que lorsque l’image est bien claire dans ma tête. Quel a été le meilleur moment dans ta vie? Il n’y a pas un moment en particulier. Mais je me sens très heureux lorsque je rentre un tricks sur un spot exactement comme je l’avais imaginé. Mais cette sensation n’arrive pas très souvent, j’espère l’avoir plus ponctuellement dans un futur proche. Qui te motive le plus? Un rider original. Les pompeurs de tricks ne me motivent pas du tout. La plupart des tricks qui existent en ce moment ont déjà été rentrés par untel. Un rider, qui essaye de trouver sa propre voie et sa propre police, pas juste copier quelqu’un d’autre, me motive beaucoup, et ils sont marrant à regarder. En ce moment, tu travailles chez Zen distribution, qu’est-ce qui t’as décidé à franchir la limite qui sépare un réel pro rider qui vit du BMX du simple hobby? Quel est ton plan pour le futur? Comme vivre du BMX et le riding était le centre de ma vie, je voulais trouver un boulot en rapport avec le BMX, comme travailler dans un bike shop ou un autre job à mi-temps. J’ai donc rejoint l’aventure Endpoint 81, qui est le plus gros contest de park au Japon créé par Hajime Yamazaki et Kaito Tanaka. Pour moi, Endpoint 81 fut le tout premier événement auquel je participais en tant qu’organisateur. Comme l’organisation se déroulait bien, j’ai commencé à travailler dans une entreprise de distribution pour aider le développement de notre scène. L’entreprise s’est trans-
formée en ZEN distribution gérée par Kaito Tanaka. On espère que ZEN ne sera plus dirigé que par des riders dans le futur. Pourquoi tu te laisses pousser les cheveux? Je n’ai pas touché à mes cheveux depuis 5 ans. En fait je les ai coupés quelques fois, mais lorsqu’ils sont courts, je n’arrive pas à les coiffer, donc ils sont très bien comme ils sont en ce moment. Il me semble que tu participes à plein de contest de flat, Qu’est-ce qu’ils t’inspirent? Ce qui m’inspire quand je regarde du flat, c’est combien ils sont sérieux avec le riding. En apparence, ils sont stoïques, mais en fait ils ont un but ultime. Il y a autant de styles et de directions qu’il y a de riders. Leur engagement dans chacun de leur but semble très sérieux et cela m’impressionne énormément. A quoi penses-tu lorsque tu voles dans les airs? Je sens une bouffée d’air plus qu’autre chose! Les sensations ne viendront pas si je suis conscient que je suis haut. Au moment de réattérir, si le mouvement est assez naturel, je le ressens. Tu essayais des tricks compliqués comme backflip ou truck driver avant, maintenant, tu vas simplement à fond dans les lignes de street, pourquoi ce changement? Il n’y a pas vraiment de raisons spécifiques à ce changement. Je pense que c’est plus un décalage naturel du fait de ma personnalité maintenant. Mais j’ai essayé de rester naturel pendant que je roule depuis que j’ai commencé le bmx. Je suis pratiquement sûr qu’un certain flow pendant le riding peut exister que tu ne peux pas ignorer. Je suis satisfait de seulement prendre des gros airs, de pédaler et plus récemment essayer des tricks. J’essayerais un tricks si je veux vraiment le maîtriser, mais ma position sur le riding n’a jamais changé. Nous avons fait une session photo pour cette interview, que penses-tu de rider parfaitement pendant une session photo? Qu’est-ce que la différence entre une session photo et un contest? Peu importe, que ce soit un contest ou dans la vie quotidienne, les tricks ne sont jamais parfaitement contrôlables. A une session photo, je peux essayer des trucs difficiles et repousser mes limites. Cela me donne une plus grande satisfaction que n’importe quoi d’autre. C’est le moment où je suis le plus concentré de rester moimême. Je ne vais pas être aussi sérieux dans la vie que dans le riding. Qu’est-ce qui t’attires dans le street? “Liberté”, c’est ce que je ressens quand j’essaye de former cette image parfaite à un spot, lorsque j’essaye de rentrer quelque chose.
He may be well known as a Park rider, but street riding strikes more sparks to his advantage. Not like at a contest where many cameras follow Yossy’s riding, only a few riders at the session can witness his street riding. His riding is full of creativity and most of his attempts are risky. The more the transition gets complicated and the section seems to be impossible to ride, the more his originality and skills are brought out to conquer it. Here is an interview with Yossy and photos that have been taken over past a year. Enjoy. When is your birthday? 1979, Feb 23rd. Let me know your sponsors. Wethepeople, Motoway, Mobstyles, Magical Mosh Misfits, Kpy, Redi, Protec Helmet. What did you do before you got into BMX? I was into volleyball during middle school and high school. I bought a mountain bike when I was in high school and went to a mountain or a park near my house with the customers of the shop where I often hung out. I learned bunny hop for my first trick with a MTB. One day, I happened to see a BMX when I just passed by a big park near my house. I was so excited to see his moves and I bought my first BMX when I was 18 years old. 10 years has already passed since then. What comes up in your mind when you approach a real street section? The main factor is whether or not I can draw a certain image of the line and the success in my mind. If the image is a blur then I can’t try. I believe that I can make it if I can clearly imagine it. What was the best moment in your life?
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There’s no specific one. But I feel so happy when I pull a trick at a spot exactly as I imagined. But that sensation doesn’t come so often. I hope it will come more in the near future.
riding. Apparently, they are stoic and after their ultimate goals. Styles and directions exist as many as the number of riders, their commitments to each goal seem to be strictly serious and that impresses me a lot.
Who motivates you the most? A rider who has original style, not a copycat motivates me. Most of the tricks that exist now have already been done by somebody else. A rider, who tries to find his own style and has his own policy, not just copying somebody else, motivates me a lot and they are fun to watch.
What do you think of while flying high in air? I just feel the air rather than thinking about something. The sensation won’t come if I’m conscious about going higher. From the approach to the landing, if the entire flow is natural enough, I can feel it.
You’ve been currently working at Zen distribution, what made you decide to walk over the line, which divides a real “Pro rider” who makes living off BMX and a hobby rider? What’s your future’s vision? As living with BMX and riding was centered in my life, I was looking for a job that has to do with BMX, working at a bike shop or other part time jobs. Then I joined Endpoint 81, which is the biggest park contest in Japan founded by Hajime Yamazaki and Kaito Tanaka. To me, Endpoint 81 was my very first event, being part organizer. As the organization started to catch on, I started working at a distribution company to help the development of our scene. The company merged into Zen Distribution which Kaito Tanaka runs. We hope ZEN will be totally run by riders in future.
You used to try hard tricks such as back flip or truck driver, it seems like your line at charging a section has become pretty simple recently. What’s changed in your mind? There are no specific reasons for the changes. I guess it has naturally shifted to how I am now. But I’ve been conscious of staying natural during riding since I started riding. I’m pretty sure that a certain flow during riding may exist that you can’t ignore. I’m satisfied with just getting air and pedaling around as well as trying tricks recently. I will try a trick if I want to master it, but my stance on riding has never changed.
Why do you leave your hair long? I’ve not cut my hair short for the past 5 years. Actually I had my hair done a couple of times. I don’t leave it long on purpose, but it’s difficult to set my hair if it’s short. So it’s been that way ‘till now.
We had a photo session for this interview, what do you think about riding perfect at a photo session? What’s the difference between a photo session and a contest? No matter what, a contest or daily life, they are not always fully controllable. At a photo session, I can try hard and face my limit. That gives me the biggest satisfaction more than anything. The moment is when I’m most concentrated to be myself in my life. I’m not gonna be as serious as I am at riding.
It seems like you’ve attend Flatland contests often though, what inspires you? What I’m inspired by watching Flatland, is how they are serious about
What attracts you about street riding? “Freedom”, that’s what I feel when I trace my image perfect at a spot where I try to do something.
REPORT « Je dois courir 10 kilomètres pendant le marathon dimanche matin », Sebastian nous fait bien rire... Pourtant l’après-midi, 10 kilomètres plus tard, il roule avec nous au spot de l’Aldi, dont l’habitué du coin n’est autre que Markus Redlberger. Au moins trois bons spots à Vienne : l’Aldi, l’Heldenplatz (Place des Héros) et le spot sous le pont. Arrivés le vendredi midi, la pluie nous avait envoyé sous le pont justement, trop sombre pour filmer mais avec assez de lumière pour rigoler sur le vélo à la descente de l’avion. Le samedi, c’est le vent qui nous cueillait en s’engouffrant entre les tours d’un quartier style « La Défense » dominant le Danube. Une
journée de lutte. Dommage car le spot était bon. Mais ce ne fut pas si grave car rouler tous ensemble suffit à nous donner le sourire. C’est que nous l’attendions de pied ferme ce week-end prolongé qui allait nous réunir en Autriche—les occasions de rouler en dehors des événements ne sont pas si fréquentes entre riders de pays différents. Puis dimanche et lundi, soleil. Timing serré pour que tout le monde filme ses deux ou trois clips. Mais on ne stresse pas, le livreur de pizzas vient de sonner et la boisson est fraîche. Ça rigole beaucoup même. Le téléphone de Frank sonne lui aussi, tiens c’est Michael (Sommer), rendez-
VISIT MY TOWN BY ALEXIS DESOLNEUX, PHOTOS GEORG OBERLECHNER
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vous sur son spot, l’Heldenplatz. Et ainsi de suite. Rien de tel que de rester chez l’habitant et l’appart’ de Sebastian et Georg est sans dessus dessous. On y parle d’ailleurs anglais, allemand et italien. Ah oui, c’est notre filmeur, Albi, qui est italien, venu spécialement de Gênes pour nous préparer des bruschettas en rentrant de rouler... Riche idée que de tous nous envoyer en week-end chez des Viennois ! Quatre jours à peine mais comme un tourbillon dans lequel on se laisse emporter, comme un long moment de bonheur. Mike, on recommence quand tu veux.
Sebastian
Frank
flatland Carhartt crew
« I have to run 10 kilometers during the marathon on sunday morning », Sebastian gets us laughing quite a bit... Nevertheless, 10 kilometers later, he is riding with us at the Aldi spot, home of Markus Redlberger. There are at least three good spots in Vienna : the Aldi, the Heldenplatz and « the spot under the bridge ». Arrived at noon on friday, the rain had sent us straight under the bridge, too dark to film but with enough light for a funny warm up session freshly landed as we were. On saturday, it was the wind that got us between the towers of a business district like « La Défense » with a nice view over the Danube. A day spent struggling. But it was no big deal in the end since riding altogether was good enough to put a smile on our faces. The truth is we were all waiting to be on that special weekend meaning we would all meet in Austria—the opportunities for riders from different countries to meet and ride together are few and far between outside of the various annual events. Then, on sunday and monday, it is sunny. The timing is tight for everybody to film two or three clips. But we don’t stress, the pizza guy rings the bell and the drinks are chilled. Lots of laughing indeed. Frank’s phone rings also, it’s Michael (Sommer), we’ll meet on his spot, the Heldenplatz. And so on. Nothing beats a good stay with the inhabitant and Sebastian’s and Georg’s appartment is a bit messy now. By the way, english, german and italian are the spoken languages here. Ah yes, Albi our filmer, is italian, and he flew specially from Genova to make after-riding bruschettas for us... Such a great idea to send us all on a weekend to visit the Viennese ! Not even four days but like a whirlwind in which you let yourself go, like a long happy moment. Mike, we’ll do again it anytime.
Frank
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james
Sebastian
EVENT
KING OF PACA BY ALAIN MASSABOVA, PHOTOS CHLOÉ SANTORIELLO
As every year since almost 10 years now, The PACA area offer us a Bmx contest. This time, it happenned in the famous “Bowl du Prado” because of its well known quality, big price money, top French riders, the sun and great vibes for this King of Paca 08 edition. Marseille, Marseille, 6 hours stop... I arrived at midnight in the Pastis capital which was already in summer. I put the jacket down, the Ray-ban on and get ready to speak with the south accent. There I am, in front of the mythic concrete bowl with 50 riders who spin and fly everywhere! The music is loud, Yo is on the mic, the Patrice Kharoubi is in the place, judges are ready, let’s go! Amators are already really good. It whips, 3.6 bus and full speed. Style before tricks, but it’s normal, they are young! Please note: 16“ rider who drop, carve and gap as the older! Awesome. For pros, it’s getting complicated, so many different style and a really high level. Those who make tricks and kill the bowl as Didier Debouze, who felt
Didier Debbouze
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home. It’s a tricks festival. But victory goes to Kevin Kalkoff just went back from Autin, TX. Judges prefered his high air and really flow style. You can feel his journey to U.S.A in his riding: it’s clean, stylish and original. He wins it right before Pascal Guerrard who rocks the bowl with so many tricks but didn’t give his best. This day looked more like holidays than a contest. Because of it, many riders, as Patoche or Alex Valentino took it easy. Well, we had a great moment and many new riders showed up. Frenchys are not that bad and the newschool is here. Of course, we had every variations of whip and youngs already does tail tap whip or 360 whip... Although there was 5000 euros price money, riders were not here to win a cup but have a good time in the bowl. Everything went well, it’s 6 p.m. and my train is waiting for me. I go back to my Marseille/Paris with a head full of pictures, of sun burn and the pleasure to have met my friends, the south family. Thanks to everyone who made it and the PACA area to put the BMX up every year.
Mathieu Dubois
REPORT
BYKE PROJECT
BY HECTOR GARCIA
QU’EST-CE QUE LE BYKE PROJECT? Le BYKE Project est un projet, créé par Dunamis Media qui aide les jeunes riders et les adolescents de la ville à réparer leurs vélos. Cela leur évite de payer un mécanicien. Comme une compagnie engagée dans le monde du BMX, nous comprenons parfaitement au combien il est important pour les jeunes riders d’avoir des vélos, des skates, et d’autres “jouets” récréatifs en parfait état de marche. Ce projet espère mettre un sourire sur les têtes des Kids, voyant que leurs jouets cassés ont été ramenés à la vie! La plupart des Kids ne savent pas réparer leur vélos et les familles sans trop de moyens ne peuvent pas se permettre de payer les petites réparations. Il n’ y a pas de raisons qu’un enfant roule sur un vélo qui n’est qu’un tas de ferrailles. Il est très rare de voir un shop s’implanter dans ce type de quartier et offrir un tel service. Et même si les Kids avaient cette offre, comment se rendrait-il au shop? Avec leur vélos? C’est pourquoi le BYKE project est si important. On apporte le Bike shop directement chez eux, sans frais. QUI EST LE BYKE PROJECT? Le Byke Project est basé à Houston Texas (USA), et a été fondé par Hector Garcia, un flatlander, organisateur d’événements, et patron de Dunamis Media, un petite agence de graphisme/design. Le Flatland crew local à Houston prend une part très importante dans ce projet. Tous les riders aident bénévolement the BYKE Project et nous ne pourrions simplement pas faire ce projet sans l’aide de ces bénévoles. POURQUOI FAITES-VOUS CE PROJET? Nous donnons de notre temps et nos efforts à ce projet car nous avons le désir de donner et s’étendre à ceux dans le besoin. Comme riders, nous sentions que nous avions quelque chose à donner à notre communauté à travers notre sport, et ne pas se servir de nos talents et de nos dons auraient été du gâchis.
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Il y a tellement d’endroit dans la ville qui pourrait bénéficier de ce que nous faisons, et chaque fois que nous allons dans un quartier dans le besoin, nous sommes surpris de voir que plein de Kids ont des vélos complètement morts, qui ont besoin d’être remplacés par un nouveau. Nous pensons qu’être un enfant est la meilleure période dans la vie d’un homme. Chacun de nous se souvient d’avoir été un enfant et comment c’était marrant. Nous pouvons nous rappeler combien il était important d’avoir un vélo en état de marche, ce qui pour beaucoup d’entre nous était comme d’avoir une voiture. Il n’y avait rien de mieux que traîner avec ses potes, rouler dans le quartier, sauter des trottoirs, construire des rampes... Et bien, ici, il y a plein, plein de quartiers où les enfants n’ont pas ce genre d’opportunités. Nous avons été dans certains quartiers, complexes, où tous les appartements avaient un vélo défoncé devant, et il n’y avait aucun enfant à vélo. Chaque fois que nous finissons un projet dans ce type de quartier, toute l’atmosphère change. Tous ces enfants roulant sur des vélos rend le quartier “vivant”... C’est vraiment trop cool. QUE SE PASSE-T-IL PENDANT UN PROJET? Une fois qu’un quartier dans la ville a été sélectionné, nous travaillons avec une entité locale, une église, ou un centre communautaire où nous organisons une journée réparation de vélos GRATUITE. A cette date, une tente avec tout ce qui est nécessaire pour réparer un vélo est mis en place, et nous bossons sur les vélos pendant quelques heures. Ces journées sont souvent couplées avec de la musique, des cadeaux, parfois de la bouffe, on fait en sorte de faire de ce jour une fête. Chaque date tombe généralement un samedi ou un dimanche, du coup nous pouvons travailler toute la journée, ou du moins plusieurs heures sur un projet. La promotion de l’événement commence au moins deux semaines avant le grand jour, ce qui assure le plus grand Buzz possible. Nous incorporons toujours des démos de flatland et de freestyle à ces journées. Bien sûr les Kids deviennent dingues quand ils voient ça, et ils essayent
direct de faire pegs wheelies et ce genre de truc après coup. Des flatlanders en herbe! Grâce à nos sponsors et nos ressources personnelles, nous essayons d’avoir quelques vélos neufs que nous donnons comme lots dans le cadre d’un concours de dessin ou d’autres trucs de ce genre. C’est sûr, c’est le moment le plus important de la journée. Parfois nous avons des enfants qui viennent avec rien d’autre qu’un cadre, une fourche, une roue et un guidon, demandant si on peut réparer leur vélo. Ces enfants finissent souvent avec un vélo neuf, nous utiliserons leurs vieilles pièces pour monter d’autre vélos. DES VÊTEMENTS BYKE PROJECT? Nous avons créé une ligne de vêtements sous le nom Byke project. Cette ligne de vêtements promeut le Byke project, mais rapporte aussi des fonds pour s’étendre à de nouvelles communautés. La ligne est assez nouvelle, et nous travaillons sur de nouveaux vêtements pour que ça reste frais et saisonnier. Nous avons 3 flatlanders pour représenter la marque: Diego Tejada, Kenny Boucher, et Jeff Mclyntre. Les vêtements sont disponibles ici: www.thebykeproject.com et www.flatlandfuel.com LES FUTURS PLANS DU BYKE PROJECT? Nous avons un énorme plan pour le futur du BYKE project. Nous espérons étendre notre influence non seulement dans notre ville, mais aussi dans notre état et dans le pays. Nous voulons organiser des événements cette année et l’année prochaine, notamment des événements spécifiques au flat. Nous sommes constamment à la recherche de nouveaux partenaires pour aider à sponsoriser nos projets. Les sponsors intéressés peuvent nous contacter à travers notre site web, thebykeproject.com
WHAT IS THE BYKE PROJECT? The BYKE Project is an outreach effort created by Dunamis Media that helps repair the bicycles of young kids and teenagers in the city who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the repairs. As a company that is involved and connected with the BMX industry, we understand how important it is for young people to have bicycles, skateboards, or any other recreational “toys” that actually work and can be ridden. This project hopes to put smiles on young people’s faces as they see their broken “toys” being brought back to life. Most kids don’t know how to work on their own bikes and the ones in families with very little money can’t afford even the most minor repairs. There is no reason why a kid should have to be without a bike or ride one that is a “piece of junk”. It’s rare that you ever see a bike shop going into these neighborhoods to do such charity, and even if they had such an offer taking place at their shop location, how would the kids get there? On their bikes? This is why the BYKE Project is so important. We take the bike shop right to them and it costs them nothing. WHO IS THE BYKE PROJECT? The Byke Project is based in Houston, Tx (USA), and was founded by Hector Garcia, an avid flatland rider, event organizer, and owner of Dunamis Media, a small design/graphic agency. The local Houston flatland and bmx crew play a huge part in the project. All of the riders in the city help volunteer their time and effort to the Byke Project and we simply couldn’t do what we do without their help and the help of many other volunteers. WHY DO YOU DO THIS PROJECT? We give our time and effort to this project because we all have a desire to give and reach out to those in need. As riders, we felt that we had something to offer to our communities through our sport, and to not give back would be a
waste of our group talents and gifts. There are so many areas of the city that could benefit from what we’re doing and every time we visit a neighborhood in need, we’re surprised by the many bikes that kids show up with, many of which have no more life in them and need to be replaced with a new one. We feel that being a kid is one of the best times of a person’s life. All of us can remember being a kid and how fun it was. We can all remember how important it was to have a good working bicycle, which for many of us, was like having a car. There was nothing like hookin up with friends, and riding around the neighborhood, jumping curbs, building ramps, and just tearing it up. Well, there are many, many neighborhoods where kids don’t have these opportunities. We’ll go into some apartment complexes or projects where every apartment seems to have a broken, rusty bicycle out front, or there may not be any kids riding bikes at all. Every time we complete a project in such a community, the entire atmosphere changes, with kids riding their bikes all over the place having fun. The community “comes alive” in a sense. It’s awesome. WHAT TAKES PLACE AT A PROJECT? Once a neighborhood in town is selected, we work with a local business, church, or community center in promoting a FREE bicycle repair date. On that date, a tent and repair station is set up and we work on bicycles for several hours. These days are usually coupled with lots of music, prizes, and sometimes food, making the whole day a large festive event. Each project date will usually fall on a Saturday or Sunday, devoting the whole day or a few hours to the project. Promotion for the event takes place at least one or two weeks before the project date, ensuring the largest turn out possible. We always incorporate flatland and freestyle demos at these projects. Of course the kids go crazy and many can be seen afterwards trying to do wheelies and other tricks. Flatlanders in the making. Through our sponsors and our own resources, we also try to have seve-
ral brand new bicycles on hand that we can give away as prizes through a drawing or some other type of contest. This is definitely one of the major highlights of the day. We’ve had kids show up to an event with nothing but a frame, forks, one wheel, and handlebars, and ask if we could fix their bike. Those kids usually end up going home with a new bike. We’ll use their old bike for parts. BYKE PROJECT APPAREL? We’ve created a new line of apparel under the Byke Project name that serves several purposes. The line helps promote the Byke Project, while at the same time generating funds to reach out to more communities. The line is fairly new, and we’re working to add more product in the future, keeping things fresh on a seasonal basis. We have three flatland riders representing the new line as part of our flow team. Diego Tejada, an amazing Am rider from San Antonio, Kenny Boucher, another great up and coming rider out of Austin, Tx, and Jeff McIntyre, a super technical Pro rider out of Brooklyn, NY. Apparel can be purchased online at our site: thebykeproject.com and Flatlandfuel.com FUTURE BYKE PROJECT PLANS. We have huge plans for the Byke Project’s future. We hope to expand our influence not only in our city, but across the state and country. We have plans to hosts several different BMX related events this year and next year, including a couple of new flatland specific events. We’re always looking for other organizations to partner with and businesses to help sponsor more projects. Interested sponsors or apparel dealers can contact us through our website, thebykeproject.com
EVENT
OLDSCHOOL SESSION BY CHAD JOHNSTON / INTRIKAT
N’oublier pas vos racines! C’est intéressant de voir que le Bmx est là depuis assez longtemps pour avoir une histoire. Quand j’ai commencé à rouler, je savais que je le ferais à vie, mais je n’aurais jamais imaginé que ça aurait atteint ce niveau. Je savais que le freestyle n’était pas un truc énorme, mais en même temps c’était tellement nouveau et frais. Je n’ai jamais imaginé qu’il y aurait pu avoir un jour un Hall of Fame. Le fait que nous puissions aujourd’hui honorer les pionniers du BMX freestyle, les légendes vivantes (R.I.P Vanderspek) est la preuve que nous sommes ici pour de bon.
SOD PACKED UP THE VW FULL OF CLASSIC BIKES
Toutes les générations de riders sont venus le 7 Juin 2007 à la Old School Bmx Jam pour profiter de l’histoire et envisager le futur. Plein de vélos les plus cools dans ma mémoire étaient là, en face de moi! La disposition en Curb Dogs me fit sentir comme si j’étais au Golden Gate Park circa en 1984, grâce à Drob et aux autres collectionneurs qui nous ont fait partager leur trésor. Le Hutch Trick star de Woody (en photo) est un travail d’artiste c’est sûr, aussi bien qu’une partie de l’histoire. Personnellement, mon préferé était ce Haro Master (en photo), chrome, 1ère génération, sticker original, Vectors Bar et des jantes à bâtons noires. Il n’était pas à vendre, mais il avait l’air en très bon état. Le Talking heads me traversa l’esprit, lorsque je mis les yeux dessus. Ou peut-être était-ce ce Tricks Star chromé que j’ai vu roulé brakeless avec des jantes Z wheels blanches quelqu’un faisait des tricks new school sur ce vélo, c’est cela qui a le plus retenu mon attention. Bref, il y avait de la nostalgie dans l’air pour tout le monde. Il y avait un parking près de l’endroit du show et on a mis en place un bunnyhop contest. Tous les riders s’y sont essayés. Eddie Fiola et les autres old schoolers faisaient quelques tricks de l’époque sur la bande original de Rad, The movie. Quelques uns étaient rouillés, mais d’autres en pleine forme. Après quoi, une newschool session s’est organisée et la boucle fut bouclée, maintenant pour la prochaine révolution. C’était un super événement et j’espère voir encore plus de monde à Long Beach l’année prochaine. Eldorado Park est assez grand pour accueillir plus de monde, donc apportez vos vélos, on se fiche de quelle école vous êtes (même si vous n’en avez pas), et ridons! Don’t Forget About Your Roots It’s interesting that BMX has been around long enough to have a history. When I started riding I knew I was in it for life, but never imagined that it would reach this level. I knew Freestyle wasn’t a fad, but at the same time it was so new and fresh, I never considered that there could some day be a Hall of Fame. The fact that we can honor the pioneers of Freestyle BMX, living legends (Vanderspek r.i.p.) is proof that we’re here to stay. Generations of riders came together June 7th, 2008 at the Old School BMX Jam to enjoy history and imagine the future. Some of the coolest bikes in my memory were directly in front of me. The Curb Dogs display made me feel like I was at Golden Gate Park circa 1984. Thanks to Drob and the other collectors who shared with us. Woody’s gold Hutch Trick Star (pictured) is a work of art for sure, as well as a piece of history. My personal favorite was this Haro Master (pictured), chrome, generation 1, original graphics, Vector bars and black Tuff Wheels. It wasn’t in mint condition, but it looked liked it had been put to good use. Talking Heads started playing in my mind when I first set eyes on it. Or maybe it was the chrome Trick Star that I saw someone riding brakeless with white Z-Wheels, pumping some new school flatland that grabbed my attention the most. Either way, I think there was something for every nostalgic BMXer. There was a parking lot next to the show where a Bunnyhop contest went down and all kinds of riders were popping up. Eddie Fiola and other old schoolers were bustin’ classic moves to the “Rad” soundtrack. Some were rusty and others were on point. Afterwards, a new school session formed and the cycle was complete, now for the next revolution. It was a great event and I hope to see everyone in Long Beach next year. El Dorado Park is big enough for more people, so bring your bike no matter what school you claim (or not) and let’s ride! 034
WOODY’S HUTCH TRICK STARS MY PERSONAL FAVORITE, HARO (GENERATION1)
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EVENT
VOODOO JAM BY ALAIN MASSABOVA & ERIK OTTO, PHOTOS RAPH CHIQUET & ERIK OTTO
L’incontournable contest de Scott nous pousse une fois de plus à traverser l’Atlantique pour voir les potes et plus si affinités : participer au contest... Donc on débarque 2 jours plus tôt pour profiter des joies du pays et peaufiner le bronzage déjà bien au top après le Fise. Une fois les vélos montés et un passage au Taco bell, nous nous mettons en condition. Accolade générale aux flatlanders des 4 coins du monde, practice dans le garage, bières, shopping, hamburgers, 30 degrés, 4x4, wifi... C’est bon on y est, c’est la fête ! Venons-en au fait, cette rencontre mondiale de flat. Plusieurs favoris étaient présents comme Justin, Sam, Terry, Matthias, Hiro, Matt Wilhem... Le décor est planté, la salle de concert de la Nouvelle Orléans remplie de riders et autres passionnés de bmx. Scott fait chauffer le mic et se prépare pour un tournoi fantastique. Allons direct aux battles finales puisque c’est tout ce qui vous intéresse. C’est à ce moment qu’apparait
un nouveau venu, jeune prodige japonais, la révélation Ucchi. On a donc après moult battles très mouvementées, un match opposant le jeune insolent Matthias contre celui qui n’était pas prévu au programme mais n’a laissé personne indifférent, Dominik le tchèque. Matthias n’est pas dans son élément, stressé par cette victoire qui lui échappe, il tente le tout pour le tout mais en vain. Rien ne passe, pas même un vulgaire time machine... Son arrogance aura eu le dessus, le laissant choir sans rien y pouvoir. L’élu est au tapis face à un novice qui l’emporte grâce à un style propre et provocant. Ultra tatoué, torse nu, vélo rouge sang et tricks efficaces auront le dernier mot face au brouillon des autres riders. Son style très Vikien n’envoie pas du lourd mais fait mouche. Il remporte la place de 3ème. Puis vient une finale inattendue, Matt Wilhem, la machine face au jeune fou japonais, Ucchi. L’américain se transforme en turbine et ne cesse de tourner, spinning no hand en tout genre sans
aucun défaut. Run parfait mais peut-être un peu trop. Quant au Nippon qui ne ride que sur l’arrière, il est fou, stylé et a le public avec lui. L’originalité sera son atout, des tricks inédits et un culot qui frappe. En battant Hiro dès sa première battle, on savait qu’il allait gagner. Ucchi est incroyable et ce n’est qu’un début. Terry, Sam, Raph, Justin sont sur le cul et finissent par encourager le challenger. Ucchi remporte la coupe ! La morale de l’histoire, c’est qu’il ne faut pas se fier aux apparences et que ce n’est pas le meilleur qui gagne… Pour finir, je dirais que finalement, le contest c’est bien mais ce qui compte c’est de participer. Viendez donc faire du bmx au pays du bmx, vous serez comme à la maison ! Bon je vous passe le reste tout aussi intéressant comme la fiesta rue Bourbon après le contest avec des japs bourrés, des “Huge Ass beer“, un Raph “Village People“ et incendiaire… Merci énormément à Scott et Terry pour renouveler ce rêve chaque année.
Terry Adams
french guys in the french quarter....
Shintaro Misawa
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Daddy Scott & son...
The «unmissable» Scott O’ Brien’s contest push us once again to cross the Atlantic ocean to meet our buddy and more: Enter a contest... We arrive 2 days before the contest to enjoy the country and try to tent a lil bit more after the Fise sunbathing. Once our bike put together and a quick stop at the Taco Bell, we get ready: General accodance with flatlanders from the 4 corners of the planet, Practice in the garage, beers, shopping, hamburgers, 30 degrees, 4x4, wifi... There it is, here we go, it’s the fiesta! Ok let’s go to the essential, This international flatland meeting. Different head series where here as Justin Miller, Sam Foakes, Terry Adams, Matthias Dandois, Hiro Morisake, Matt Wilhelm... The place of the contest is one of the best night club in New Orleans full of riders and others Bmx addicted. Scott warms the mic up and get ready for this funtastic tournament. Let’s go straight to the final battle because we are only into it. This moment is chosen by a new young japanese to appear from
Dominik Nekolny
nowhere. A Japanese prodige, the revelation Ucchi Ucchi Ucchi! We have, after many highlights battle, a match between the young insolate Matthias against the-one-who-was-not-supposed-to-be-therebut-let-everybody-speechless: Dominik Nekolny the Tchech. Matthias ain’t in his element, stressed by a missed victory. He tries everything, the joker... but nothing... Nothing pulled, his arrogance lets him alone. The elected is K.O on the floor against a begginer who takes the win with a clean and provocant style: Over tattooed, topless, bloody-red bike and succesfull tricks had the last word against the other riders. His really-Viki-Style is not really impressive, but really effective. He took the 3rd place. There we go, the unexpected final, Matt Wilhelm, the machine, against the young crazy japanese, Ucchi. The American changes himself into a human turbine and don’t stop spinning, All kind of spinning no hand without any default. Perfect run but maybe too... Perfect. Whereas the Japanese only rode on backwheel, he is crazy, stylish and has the
crowd with him. The originality will be his asset, never seen before tricks and an incredible dare. He took the win against Hiro at his first battle, and from this moment on, we knew he was going to win. Uchhi is incredible and it’s only the begining. Terry, Sam, Raph, Justin are on the ass and finally entertain the japanese. Ucchi wins the cup! The moral of the story is: you don’t have to trust the appearence, and the best doesn’t win everytime. To conclude, I would say, the contest is cool but what matter is to participate. Come here on the bmx country, you’ll be at home. Well, I don’t bother you with the interesting aftercontest party on Bourbon street with drunk japanese, «Huge ass beer» , a Raph «village people» and flamer... Big, enormous, Huge ass THANKS to Scott and Terry to make the dream come true every year. See you in one fucking year! Alain
Flatland Voodoo Jam 2008 by Erik Otto New Orleans has a vibe like no other place in the world. This is my third Voodoo Jam and every time I walk in the French Quarter I feel like I am coming home. The warm air, the sounds of Jazz, the smell of Gumbo and cayenne pepper, the people walking, laughing, drinking and having a blast all around you. The place just never disappoints and always leaves you feeling good. All of this is just a backdrop to the main event that is the Flatland Voodoo Jam. I look forward to this every year for two reasons. The number of international riders in attendance, killing it with the highest level riding imaginable and my main reason, getting a chance to ride with and commiserate with my friends from all over the world. I often say that it is the people that make up our close knit family of flatland that motivate me to keep on riding and progressing and doing all that I can so that this love of ours can continue on forever. The friends that I have made and the good times shared are something that I will always associate with the Voodoo Jam and with Flatland BMX. Some random and not so random observations made during this year’s visit to New Orleans: it is hot and humid as hell down there. The fact that Terry rides in the middle of the day in this weather is a testament to his dedication. He is always working, promoting, doing his thing. Scott O’Brien calls it “The Terry Adams Show”. I had the pleasure to see part of his upcoming Props DVD segment and watched his live interview recording with Scott O. This should not be missed so look out for it soon. Terry has some serious skills with impressions. One of the first riders I met this year was Dominik Nekolny from the Czech Republic. What a super nice and humble guy. He is also one of the smoothest riders I have ever seen. He had some of the sickest front wheel switches and backpacker jump combos witnessed to date. He opened a lot of eyes. I have to say that the man has some of baddest tattoos this side of Tupac Shakur and Allen Iverson. The guy has the whole package and has a good head on his shoulders. He was stoked to get third place and I can easily say that the sky is the limit for Dominik. The Frenchmen brought their unique style and party vibe with them again this year. Raphael, Alain and Matthias seem like they are living great lives right now. Raph was the Grand Marshall of Bourbon Street (Alain shaking his head) entertaining the crowd with bead tossing and dancing and giving his chest hair? Don’t ask. Just make sure you get here next year to see this for yourself. Matthias had many flashes of brilliance but couldn’t keep it together in the end of his runs. It is simply amazing to see his progression on the back wheel when in 2007 he was Voodoo Jam champion solely on the front. This kid can do it all and I have seen him just about learn things on the fly, first try. I saw him trying some of the sick back wheel work that Uchino was doing and I am sure that by the time you read this he will have it on lockdown. He rides with pure joy and it shows. The Japanese invasion was impressive yet again. Shintaro Misawa was smooth as glass. Kuga was flipping some crazy front wheel combos. Hiro was doing some serious high speed front wheel work. He was working on some new crazy front peg to back peg to front peg jumps that if he was able to pull them clean as he did at the Pre Jam Friday night, the podium would have looked different I am sure. York Uno was spinning and gliding in his usual high speed mode but his turbined elbow glide combo was one of my favorite tricks of the weekend. I had the fortune to spend a lot of time with Hiro and York after the contest and just being around them has motivated me to learn Japanese. Their riding inspires me but there heart and love of flatland shines through with everything they do. They are truly great people and not too shabby on the Nintendo either. Sam Foakes is saying dude way to much these days. But watching him ride, I am sure I said “Dude!” every time he stalls that cliffhanger and then whips it around into a high speed turbine. He had some combos that had the entire crowd screaming. His only downfall was a few touches at the end of his links but I can tell you that everyone that was there was buzzing about Sam’s riding. He is another rider that I expect big things from in the future. He can also shoot a mean 3 pointer while being punched in the groin simultaneously. Not an easy feat believe me. Texas as always was representing hard in New Orleans. Art Thomason from Houston and David Weathersby from Austin rode well and are always progressing and are beacons of positivity in their own flatland crews. Lee Huck Edwards rode well and had his badass new Huck Suppressor Lite pegs on display. He has some great new designs so keep an eye out.
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the new comer Ucchie
My man Josh Duffek won the Beginner class with a no touch run of turbined hang 5, turbined hitchhiker and backwards steamroller. He pulled it all together in his 1 minute run and was the most stoked rider in New Orleans that night. A long time coming Josh, you deserve it bro. Texas has become a Mecca for BMX and I know that there are some excellent riders that are on their way up. Keep your eyes on Diego Tejada and Kenny Boucher. These guys can rip and I expect each of them to step it up next year. Aaron Frost and Sequence/Sick Child were in the house again. I saw a lot of Xan bars and Hook stems so I know his stuff is on point. Both Aaron and Ed rode hard and were showing the flow we have grown accustomed to throughout the years. These guys work very hard and it was good to see them again. By the way, did anyone notice the Pirate Frost look alike on Bourbon Street? It was fricken hilarious. Aaron is a maniac by the way, in a good way of course. The American riders all had their moments of brilliance. Terry Adams was throwing down whoppers from the back peg along with his usual bevy of front and back wheel links. Justin Miller killed it in his qualifying run pulling his hardest tricks including his hitch kickflip to backpacker and back wheel gturn whopper rideout. Matt Wilhelm showed some new variations in his difficult front and back wheel links. He is always a crowd favorite and he spun like a madman to win second place. Mickey Gaidos was very smooth and has some badass halfpacker to crackpacker combos that he throws down at high speed. I have to give much respect for Matt Wilhelm. He was on his new Hoffman Bikes Strowler frame and looked like he has been practicing very hard lately. He is the consummate professional and for anyone that is looking to make Flatland their career, look no further than Matt as the example to follow. Tyler Gilliard out of Florida was back and strong as ever. He won the Expert class for the second time and showed the kind of fierce riding that he is becoming famous for. He has some very hard and fast links and I know he is always pushing to go faster. Now can someone for the love of god help this kid get laid? The dude has the body of an Adonis but he has no game with the ladies, none. Nada. Zip. -Youhei Uchino “Uchi, Uchi, Uchi!” His name was ringing through the house with good reason. The back wheel assassin as Scott O’Brien dubbed him was simply pulling the fastest, most difficult and original links in the contest. Uchino had the place on their feet; even the most seasoned pros
were jumping up and down like kids. It was the kind of display that can only be rewarded with first place. Words cannot do it justice. His friends and countrymen tossed him into the air when his victory was announced, another great moment in Flatland Voodoo Jam history. The Friday night jam didn’t start out good for me. First trick and my master link on my chain flies off. But, no need to panic there is always someone who has what you need to fix your bike at events like this. Julio Cotto hooked me up and saved the day. Thanks bro, I owe you one! Once all the riders made it to the basketball court park it was clear that this might be the Jam with the highest level of riding ever, seriously. I was shooting stills and HD video and it was hard to decide where to put the camera. In one corner you had the jam circle of Dominik, Hiro and York. These guys were going all out, nonstop. In the opposite corner you had Art, Kuga and Uchino tearing it up. In the middle you had TJ Perry riding with Matthias, Alain and Raph. These guys were killing it and goofing on each in ways only family picks on family. Matthias rode the whole time back wheel without a chain. Crazy stuff. The other end you had a circle of Effraim, Sam and Tyler. Sam was killing it so hard that Terry was yelling at him to stop it. Across from them were Mickey, Terry, Isaiah and Huffman. Everyone was riding hard. There were pockets of the Houston crew riding, the Austin Crew and don’t forget the Canadians Prasheel Gopal and Alex Poirier. These guys rode very hard and smooth. I was happy to see Alex do well in the contest. All in all it was a great night. The park was in a neighborhood and when we took it over; all the locals came out to investigate. A man and his wife came up to us and said just how awesome this was. They stayed the entire time and the dude even went home to get his camera. I watched him snapping shots for hours. He said he used to ride years ago when he was in California but that this display was unlike anything he had ever seen. I have to agree. It was something we all will remember. The only complaint I have about my whole experience is mosquitoes. Damn things ate me alive. Next year it’s “OFF” for those bitches. Ares Bykes makes some seriously high quality products. I had the time to really inspect Scott’s, Hiro’s and York’s bikes and was very impressed with the design and the technology involved. The Ferrari of Flatland? Maybe. York Uno is an excellent DJ. His beats during the Expert finals were epic. I even noticed a riff from my favorite anime film “Akira” in there. There were a ton of riders in attendance who did not compete and I am
Sam Foakes
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Effraim Catlow
pretty sure I know why. I know that next year there will be a class to fit those riders perfectly. Scott is already working on this so stay tuned. I challenge anyone to find sweatpants of any kind in the French Quarter. My man Jim McKay from Austin was on a mission but to no avail. We did find some hot pink shades at Urban Outfitters and I even joked that the Frenchmen would be all over them. Naturally later at the Jam Friday, what were Matthias and Raph sporting, yep you guessed it. Absinthe (well sorta, but not really) at Jean Lafitte’s Absinthe House was 14 bucks a shot. That is crazy. I recommended finding the real deal online from the Jade distillery in France. Get the Orleans or the Eduard style. The best hundred bucks you will ever spend but you must drink it properly and with a woman next to you. Opens every door there is. Koit from California was cool as hell, riding hard, partying hard and even helped some poor girl with alcohol poisoning on Bourbon Street. Rock on Mr. Koit. My “Ride me” shirt from the Byke Project was a big hit on Bourbon Street with the ladies. I recommend you all get one for next year and see what happens. Plus it is a good cause (the Byke Project, not half drunken southern chicks). Meridian, Tuscaloosa, Picayune, Hattiesburg are all towns very much trapped in time. Can’t imagine this area will change at all in the next 200 years. Southern people are so much more open and trusting than northern folk. During the 28 hour train ride down (yes you read that right), I met some young men from Atlanta and Mississippi. None of us had met before and by the end of our journey we were like lifelong friends. Even so, next year I am flying. Last but certainly not least, I want to give the biggest shout out to Scott O’Brien who has to be the most generous man I know. He pours his heart and soul into the Flatland Voodoo Jam every year and I personally could not be more thankful to know him, to work with him and to call him my friend. He always has the right spirit and keeps the day rolling along with tireless energy and enthusiasm. You have to be here to understand just what Voodoo means. It means love. It means commitment. It means taking your riding to the next level. It means brotherhood. Every year, I look at Voodoo Jam as a family reunion. Each year that family gets bigger and bigger. So if you still haven’t experienced what Voodoo really means, come on down and join the family next year. You are all welcome.
Alex Porier
REPORT
REDBULL ELEVATION
Yo yo yo... Mais pourquoi ? Bah parce que c’est comme ça. Et oui, le Redbull Elevation déménage après 3 années passées à Whistler. Tout le monde ( je crois) aimait Whistler, la station était dingue, le spot devenu célèbre en bmx alors qu’il était réservé au VTT descente et slope style, les soirées folles et tout ce qui va bien avec... Donc on sort les dicos d’espagnol et hop, on se laisse pousser la moustache.
Tout commence pour moi un jour avant le départ, car un voyage de Bibi qui se passe sans anecdote, n’est pas un bon voyage forcément. Donc anecdote qui tombe, je taffais (oui, je travaille...) à Munich et on avait décidé de partir mercredi avec Markus et Alex, donc moi j’étais resté sur cette idée qui n’était pas celle de celui qui a booké mon vol. Et bien sûr une organisation rapide fait qu’Alex se retrouve sans billet à 2 jours du départ et ne partira donc pas alors qu’il est invité du coup c’est la merde et Markus trouve un vol mais part le mercredi soir. Le mercredi matin, je me munis donc de mes sacs à l’aéroport après une grosse nuit d’environ 2H00, j’arrive de bon matin au guichet qui est supposé prendre mes bagages et là, bien sûr après tout un tas de question car je passe par les Etats Unis, donc sécurité oblige, la fille ne trouve pas mon nom sur la liste... J’insiste pour qu’elle repasse mon passeport dans la machine car il est quelque peu chiqué de partout donc pas très lisible, et là une collègue arrive en renfort et confirme que je ne suis pas sur ce vol... elle me demande de mater mes horaires et là en regardant dans mon ordi, avec un sourire sur une tête bien sèche, je leur dis, bah écoutez, à ce que je lis je pars demain, donc à demain matin les filles... et retour au travail pour une journée pour moi et je dormirais mieux cette nuit.... Tu parles... Marc est parti le soir et nous, on a refêté mon départ à Munich dans un petit troquet avec Beoux, Alex et quelques locaux 3 fois plus âgés que nous, mais tout aussi drôles... Enfin, qui aimaient notre humour, donc de bon goût forcément. La fatigue de la soirée plus mes semaines de travail enchaînées font que je ne vois rien du vol sinon un mauvais plateau repas. Mon arrivée se fait le jeudi soir assez tardivement sur Guadalajara, ville qui accueille le Elevation, je pensais que c’était une petite ville, mais détrompez-vous, il y a juste 7 millions d’habitants déclarés et aux dires des locaux ils seraient le double à y loger... C’est vrai qu’il y a quelques baraquements en ferraille qui longent la route sur pas mal de kilomètres.... La navette me dépose à l’hôtel et là je vois tous les types qui sont déjà arrivés tout au long de la journée, partir en soirée... Je me contenterai de me faire accompagner par Markus à notre chambre, la sècheresse est en moi... Le séjour sera donc de courte durée car on est déjà vendredi matin à mon
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BY ROMUALD BIBI NOIROT
réveil et lundi je rentre. Merde. J’espère qu’on aura le temps de visiter un peu. Pffff tu parles, petit déj à 9H00 et à 10H00 des navettes nous emmènent sur le spot pour la journée, du coup on sera là-bas du matin au soir, les 3 jours de l’évènement. Du coup c’est vrai que j’ai pu practice bien plus que d’habitude, c’est peut-être ce qui m’a perdu du coup, mais bon, le trail est super agréable à rouler, facile à passer, 2 sections, avec pas mal de transfert un peu partout, du vigarge, des hipes dans les 2 sens, le rêve quoi. On laisse les autres practices, je m’autorise un peu de mécanique et prevois de changer mon guidon, pour un plus petit, on m’en amène un que j’ai demandé quelques jours plus tôt, je démonte le mien et m’aperçois que c’est le même... seule la couleur change... je décide donc de remonter le mien. Bermuda pour rouler, car la chaleur est bien présente. Dès le premier passage, les gouttes commencent à couler le long du crâne, on va le mâcher ce séjour. On roule quelques heures et appécie le spectacle des autres riders qui dès les premiers passages de practice nous font croire qu’ils étaient déjà là hier, mais non, c’est juste qu’ils sont meilleurs.... Le samedi, jour des qualifs, même schéma, petit déj’ à 9H00 et navette à 10, on retrouve tout le monde qui chille un peu à l’ombre avant de se jeter dans la fournaise, pas mal de spectateur sont au cagnard tout le long du trail, d’autres sont dans les tribunes un peu à l’ombre. Luke Parslow arrive sans avoir roulé le practice de la veille, je me dis qu’il est vraiment confiant, mais en fait, nan, il a eu la mauvaise idée de boire de l’eau du robinet au strip club à la première soirée... Du coup, cloué au lit le jour des practices et là il déboule vraiment pas en forme, pas de chance sachant qu’il a ratté la dernière édition au Canada à cause de problème d’émigration entre les US et le Canada. Matt Beringer qui est là pour juger, roule un peu le trail avec Tim Fuzzy Hall, mais une mauvaise chute fera qu’il ira se faire recoudre un peu la gueule donc Nastazio qui ne roule pas, le remplacera pour juger. Les autres riders ont l’air plutôt bien en forme. Ca se balance dans tous les sens, la section est bien rapide et les réceps en béton. Je m’autorise encore un peu de mécanique en changeant mon guidon ce coup-ci pour un plus petit, normal vous allez me dire, practice avec un grand, qualifs avec un petit, au moins ca me donne une excuse quant à ma 23 ème place... bah ouais, faut du changement de guidon, normal... mais non, c’est juste que je suis sec... Markus roule vraiment pas mal pour quelqu’un qui a pas roulé depuis 7 semaines, il enchaîne les 3.6 xu-up to turn down, et un petit 3.6 nohand to turn down en fin de son dernier run, mais ça ne sera pas assez pour rentrer dans les 12 retenus pour la finale. Garry Young roule vraiment fort, trouve des transferts de derrière les fagots, quelques 3.6 invert oppo vraiment choquants lui donnent une
bonne 6ème place pour les finales. Luck Parslow chute salement et son bike est un peu démonté, il essaye de se remotiver pendant que certains lui remettent sa roue droite mais au passage suivant, son vélo, merde encore (merci les mécanos) et un simple flip se transforme en flip frappé de l’avant et le freine dans son élan, vraiment pas de bol. Brian Foster se qualifie 12ème avec des runs bien musclés entre lestransfert sur toute la ligne et ses 3.6 avec amplitude de dingue, c’est le show de triple whip entre Dennis Enarson 9ème et James Fosters, 8ème plaqué nikel à chaque essai, Doyle a ses runs calés au milimètre près, ses 3.6 invert transperce les objectifs des photographes, Tj Ellis 4ème me choque comme pas possible, des variations de flips dans toute la section, des front en section, c’est du ça passe ou ça casse, il est pas là pour rigoler. Bohan se qualifie 1er avec des runs toujours aussi fous, des hauteurs de dingue et Nyquist est 3ème juste derrière Cameron White qui prend la 2ème place avec des runs super tech, il ne râte rien. Les qualifs étaient... bah qu’est-ce que vous voulez que je vous dise ? Fallait y être, il y a pas de mots, c’est un spectacle de foufurieux. Ouais, je sais vous allez me dire, mais toi tu te rends pas compte, le billet coûte cher, et tout le bordel. Bon ok, je ferme ma gueule et juste imagine toi sur un trail quasi parfait pour dirter, faire des transfert dans toute la section et surtout les meilleurs dirters et trail riders du monde. Le soir des qualifs l’organisation nous invite dans un restau/bar, (c’est un bar qui fait restau) pour un repas vraiment typique, servi dans une espèce de bol/assiette, (c’est une assiette qui peut servir de bowl) en roche volcanique, dingue le truc, la binche bien fraîche tout comme il faut, et pour ceux qui boivent de l’alcool, de la tekila, environ 10 fois plus que ce qu’il faut pour une bonne soirée donc ca sert à rien de se jeter dessus car on est large en quantité... Bon bah moi je les regarde boire, on chille dans le bar un peu et la sécheresse nous rattrape donc direction hotel pour chiller un peu et siester jusqu’au dimanche matin. DRinnnnng... ah putain de réveil et de navette... Douche, direction petit déj vite fait et hop, on part direction les finales avec nos vélos, non pas parce qu’on est qualifiés, mais pour le best tricks pensant qu’on allait rouler...Pffff, laissez-moi rire, une fois sur place, on savait déjà qu’on allait pas rouler... le monde, la chaleur, et pis quoi faire ? Bref, au final, on retrouve Brian Foster qui sera 12 ème des finales du bon gros 3.6 invert, table one foot to look back sur le gros hip, 3.6 au transfert de l’avant dernière et re-3.6 en transfert sur le dernier, il enchaîne grave pour 35 ans, Dane Searls, un australien qui a déjà fait parlé de lui au Elevation de Whistler, gavé de style et les tricks qui suivent, il roule plutôt dans la grosse section, 11ème place pour lui. 10ème place pour Anthony Napolitan, il manque de chance et râte quelques passages, enfin à ce niveau-là, la moindre erreur fait perdre des
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places, mais bon, ses passages restent plus que correctes, du 3.6 wip, front nohand, 3.6 turn down, tentative de flip 2 wip, amis un poil trop de rotation lui feront tester la rigidité du sol. Dennais Enarson 9 ème place chutera sévèrement pendant le best tricks en frappant directement la face contre le sol, après un 3.6 triple wip, pourtant j’ai cru qu’il le replaquait. Ses runs sont vraiment une leçon de technicité, du no hand to pendul home (no foot cancan des 2 côtés) du bus to wip, du triple wip, la classe, merci pour le show. James Fosters balance tout ce qu’il a, flip wip à la première des tentatives de truck to downside wip, et bien sûr du triple wip nikel. Rob Darden a pour moi un poil mieux roulé au qualifs, il pose de très jolis 720 à la première, des truck to turn down, du double wip, vraiment il m’a bluffé. En 6 ème position on a un chanceux qui s’appelle Mike Clark, plus connu sous le surnom de « HUCKER », Garry ayant posé son pied un poil de travers hier a mal au genoux et ne peut donc pas rouler en finale, le 13 ème des qualifs prend donc sa place et c’est pas pour nous déplaire que ça tombe sur lui... Juste comme ça, en dehors des 3.6 nose dive en transfert, son dernier passage est 720 opposite à la première, du 3.6, du 3.6 wip, nohand et double flip pour finir... et bien l’enculé.... il se fait pas chier lui, gavé de gens le félicitent pour la réussite tout en lui disant qu’il aime pas ce tricks... c’est sport. Chris Doyle 5 ème est dingue à voir rouler, une démonstration d’aisance tant dans le style que dans la réalisation de tricks techniques, pour le best tricks il plaquera quand même, 3.6 bus to bus to bus, donc 3.6 triple bus avec les bus en revers. Ses 3.6 invert sont inexplicables, le vélo est bien plus que derrière, fou je vous dis, les 3.6 wip pleuvent en section suivis de tout un tas de tricks bien trail, il nous gatte ce Chris à chaque contest. En 3 ème place, c’est Corey Bohan, qui a redoublé d’effort pour être sur la meilleure place
After 3 years in Whistler, The RedBull Elevation moves to Mexico! Everyone (I guess) loved Whistler, the station was crazy, the famous bmx spot, and crazy parties... So let’s grab our spanish dictionnary, and let’s grow our mustache. Well, let’s go to Mexico! Everything starts one day before the travel (because a Bibi trip without stories is not a good trip.) So here is the first story, I was working (Yes I do work) in Munich and we had decided to fly on Wednesday with Markus and Alex. So I stayed on this idea, but it was not the idea of the guy who booked my ticket. Of course, a hurry organisation makes Alex staying in Munich because he had no ticket 2 days before leaving. It sucks because he was invited. Markus find a flight for Wednesday night. After a big night of 2 hours, I arrived Wednesday morning at the airport with my big bags. At the booth, the girl tells me she doesn’t find me on the list. I tell her to put my passport once again in the machine (because my passport is really really fucked up). Finally after 10 min, another girl tells me I’m definitely not on this flight. Whatever, after checking my computer, I see that I leave the following morning. See you tommorow girl, I’ll sleep better tonight. No way, we celebrated my delay in a bar with Beou and Dropsy! I finally get in the plane the next morning, but I was so tired I didn’t see anything from the flight (except that really bad meal). I arrive late in the night on thursday in Guadalajara, the city in which the contest is. I thought it was a small city, But they are more than 7 millions! I arrive at the hotel and I see all the guy arrived during the day going to party. I end up in my room with Markus... I’m done! The journey will be short. When I wake up it’s Friday morning, and I left on Monday. I hope I’ll visit the city a lil bit! No way... Every single day: breakfast at 9:00 then at 10:00 a bus catchs us at the hotel and drops us at the contest until the night. I rode much more than I usually do, the trail is really smooth to ride, 2 sections with a lot of transfer, turn, hips in both ways, the dream. I let the others practice, I do a bit of mechanic and I try to change my bar. I wanted a smaller bar. I put off mine, someone gave me the new one I asked few days before, I put it on... Wohh, it’s exactly the same size! Only the color changes. So I decide to put my old one back. I ride in short pant because the heat is in da place. I do a first run, I’ll all sweating, it’s going to be a looong trip! I ride few hours and appreciate the show. It looks like the other rode the trail the day before. But no, they are just better, that’s it.
du podium, mais en vain, les wip to table, 3.6 wip oppo ,l’amplitude dans les 3.6 table one foot, 3.6 look back ou x-up bien stretch au transfet de l’avant dernière, tout s’enchaine sans difficulté, enfin, des tribunes, parce que moi la gueule au cagnard en train d’essayer de chopper une ou 2 photos, je le mâche, enfin bref on était en train de parler de Bohan, oui, bah donc, il est fort quoi... 2ème place pour Ryan Nyquist, il réalise un des plus gros sinon le plus chaud des tricks du contest, un petit 720 sur un gros transfert ou très peu feront 3.6 dessus, il est vraiment fort ce Ryan, il nous bluffe à chaque fois, toujours un truc pour montrer qui est le patron... Il chutera quelque peu en flip suicide ou son guidon tourna comme une toupie, plus une autre chute. Il roulera que les dernières minutes du best tricks car il était moitié motivé pour rouler et du coup c’est lui qui le remporte avec un petit canon ball 2 bus... 1ère place, ladies and gentlemen, mister Cameron White. Il fait de tout ce type, et bien en puissance, il rattrape les 2 wip largement avant d’atterrir au gros hip, des gros flips sur le hip, et en guise de dernier tricks, il plaque nikel un flip bus to wip, allez, remballez les caméras on se casse... Le public est vraiment on fire pour les finales, des paquets de foule sont tout le long du trail, et des gamins jusqu’aux parents font du bruit pour motiver les riders, l’accueil a été bien plus que chaleureux, après chaque passage, les riders prennent du temps pour signer quelques autographes mais à chaque fois c’est vite fait, 50 qu’il y a à signer. Mille merci à REDBULL pour organiser de vrais contest de trail et faire confiance à l’équipe composée par Jay Miron. Les principaux acteurs de cet évènement ne sont pas seulement les riders, mais aussi les diggers car le trail était plus que parfait pour un contest, c’était même dingue les gars... donc un grand merci à Dave King, Magila, Nick Halsey et Shawn Elf Walters qui ont dû perdre quelques kilos et des litres d’eau sous le soleil de Guadalajara. A l’année prochaine, keep surfing la bise et n’oubliez pas votre crème solaire!
On Saturday, qualification day, breakfast at 9 and bus at 10. Many spectators are here in the furnace. Luke Parslow arrives without riding the practise. I thought he was only self-confident... But no, he just had the bad idea to drink the water of a strip club on Thursday night... Matt Beringer is here to judge but he rides a lil bit and takes a big crash. He goes to hospital. Nastazio who doesn’t ride judges at his place. The others look healthy! They go big. Once again I do a bit of mechanic and I change my bar for a smaller one. Practice with a big bar, qualification with a small one... Normal! It explains my 23rd place! No... actually I’m just done. Markus rides really good for a guy who didn’t ride for 7 weeks. 3.6 xup to turndown and 36 nohand to turndown on the last one. Not enough to go on final (only twelve guys). Gary Young rides good too, find impossible transfer, few Massiv 360 invert oppo and baaam! 6th Place for the final. Luke Parslow has a bad crash, and his bike is fucked up. He tries to remotivate himself before his second run while mechanicians try to put his wheel straight. But his bike still screws up on his second run, and he misses a simple flip... Thanks mechanicians ! Brian Foster qualifies 12th with huge 360. It’s a triple whip show between Dennis Enarson 9th and James Foster 8th. Perfectly pulled every single attempts. Doyle is so dialed, Tj Ellis is crazy, every flip variations in every section, frontflip in section, he is not here to laugh! Bohan qualifies first with crazy high, Nyquist gets 3rd just behind Cam White with his super tech runs. Qualifications were... Well you had to be there to enjoy it, it was CRAZY! Organisators bring us to a restaurant/bar (it’s a bar which is a restaurant aswell) and we eat really great food in a plate/bowl (it’s a plate which is a bowl aswell). We had fresh beer and too much tekila. Let’s go to the hotel to rest until sunday Morning. DRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGG! Fucking ringtone, breakfast and bus! Shower, breakfast, and bus. We bring our bike, Not because we are qualified, but for the best tricks. We thought we would ride, but why? Too many riders, the heat, and what to do? Ahahha. Let’s see what hapenned in the final: 12- Brian Foster with big 360 invert, table one foot look back on the big hip, 36 transfer and again 360 on the last one. Crazy for a 35 years old guy. 11-Dane Searls, from Australia, big style and big tricks in the big section. 10-Anthony Napolitan, he missed few runs and at this level, few mistakes makes you go down... Well his runs were awesome though: 36 whip, front nohand, 36 turndown,
flip 2whip attempt... 9-Dennis Enarson smashes seriously his face during the best tricks on a 36 triple whip attempt. His runs are a technicity lesson. No hand to pendulum, Bus to whip, triple whip. Class! Thanks for the show! 8-James Foster does all what he can do, flip whip on the first, truck to downside whip attempt and of course overclean 3 whip... 7-Rob Darden rides better than his qualification, beautiful 720 on the first and truck to turn down, double whip... Awesome. 6-The lucky guy who is actually Mike Clark a.k.a “Hucker”. Gary hurted himself the day before so he had to let his place to the 13th: except 36 nosedive transfer, his last run is: 720 oppo on the first, 36, then 36 whip, nohand, and double flip to finish... He actually doesn’t like that tricks! Ahahha 5-Chris Doyle has a crazy riding to watch. An easy demonstration, a style and tricks lesson... he pulled at the best tricks 360 bus to bus to bus???? His 360 invert are unexplainable.... He blows me away every contest anyway. Corey Bohan did his best to get the best place on the podium... In spite of whip to table, 36 whip oppo, the highness during his 360 table one foot, 360 look back or stretch x up on the transfer he couldn’t make better than third place. I was speaking about him with Markus before his run... Yes he is good! 2nd place for Ryan Nyquist. He pulls the hardest tricks of the weekend, 720 on a huge transfer were the others hardly pull 360. He is really good, he always has a lil something to show us who is the Boss. He had a bad crash in flip suicide so he was not really motivated for the best tricks... Well he wins it with a Cannonball double bus! 1st place, ladies and gentlemen, Cam White! This guy does everything. Esay double whip in transfer, big flip on the hip and a huge flip bus to whip on the last one. You can put the video camera back in the bag, see you! ahahha! The crowd was on fire for the final, many kids screaming to entertain the rider, many autographs... A really great greeting from Mexicans, it was great. 1000 thanks to RedBull to organise true trail contest and to trust Jay Miron and his team. The main actors of this event are not only the riders, but the diggers aswell. For a contest, the trail was perfect, hard to believe! So a huge thanks to Dave King, Magila, Nick Halsey and Shawn Elf Walters who, I guess, lost few pounds and water liters while digging those jumps! See you next year, keep on surfing and kiss!
REPORT
TWILIGHT JAM
Une fois de plus cette année, nous avons fait en sorte d’organiser la compétition Twilight BMX en conjonction avec le Twilight festival qui regroupe plusieurs courses à vélos dans les rues d’Athens, Georgie. Cette année fut un succès notamment grâce à l’aide de riders de la scène d’Athens comme Kent Pearson, Dave Harisson et Ryan Davis. Beaucoup de riders nous ont également aidé, rien qu’en venant à cet événement. Cette année fut difficile à organiser, car le show de rampe Freestyle Connection (www.freestyleconnection.com) était déjà pris par un show de voiture qui se tenait à la même date dans la ville d’Atlanta. Cela veut dire que la majorité des rampes utilisées pour ce contest ont été construites sur le coude un jour avant l’événement après avoir tristement retiré la mini de mon jardin pour en utiliser le bois. A la fin, nous avons passé de bons moments notamment avec tous les locaux qui ont participé à la compétition de street et une bonne compétition de pro en flat que Terry Adams a gagné. Le street pro fut retardé dû à une tempête de foufou qui s’est abattu sur le park, mais heureusement, quelques heures plus tard, tout revint à la normale. Le street pro s’est passé dans une bonne ambiance avec beaucoup de spectateurs qui ont kiffé le show. Un bon millier de gens sont venus voir le spectacle, ce qui montre que le bmx impressionne toujours! A la fin, Alex Lepeck de Floride gagne la compète en street pro après s’être planté les molaires dans le sol en loupant un fufanu. Plus tard cette nuit-là, se tenait un best tricks flat dans l’énorme patio du Max Canada Bar situé en centre ville avec DJ Metronome qui envoyait le son. A la fin, comme à l’école des fans, tout le monde a gagné car tout le monde a fait le show, tout le monde s’est partagé le cash que tout le monde a dépensé dans la minute pour étancher la soif jusqu’au bout de la nuit. Après la jam, tout le monde s’est dirigé vers un cinéma indépendant en bas de la rue où avait lieu la soirée de l’avant première du DVD de Dane Beardsley, “Same thing Daily” et grâce à Darin Wright, des bières toute fraîches nous y attendaient. Le reste de la nuit m’apparaît vraiment floue, mais je sais que c’était foufou. 11 Ecossais déchirés, Kent Pearson qui buvait du Crown et du Coca sans T-shirt, et l’inévitable apparition de lycéennes bourrées ont fait que la soirée eut un franc succès. Merci à tous ceux venus avec un tournevis, les autres qui sont venus rouler au contest, et ceux simplement venus à la soirée, vous avez assuré!
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BY JON DOWKER
Once again, we held the annual Twilight BMX Comp in conjunction with the Twilight festival involving several bicycle races through the streets of downtown Athens, Georgia. This year was a success thanks to the help of several individuals in the Athens BMX scene including Kent Pearson, Dave Harrison and Ryan Davis. Many other people helped just to be a contributing part of the event. This year was exceptionally difficult because the Freestyle Connection show ramps (thefreestyleconnection.com) were being used for a car show in Atlanta that was being held on the same dates. This meant that the majority of ramps for the comp were fabricated the day before the event or reassembled after sadly tearing down my backyard mini to use the wood. In the end we had a great time with tons of locals entering Am Street and a healthy pro flatland comp in which Terry Adams took first. Pro Street was held back due to a freak rain storm that soaked everything but after a couple hours it was back on. Pro Street went down with many local spectators enjoying the show. Thousands of people come to this event and it seems like the BMX contest always steals the show! In the end Alex Lepeck from Florida won Pro Street after face-planting the ground on a fufanu gone wrong and giving us all a big scare. Later that night, we had a flatland best trick comp on the huge patio at the Max Canada bar downtown with Atlanta’s DJ Metrognome spinning some tunes. In the end all the patrons got a great show and all the riders split the cash and spent it on quenching their thirst for the rest of the night. After the jam we traveled a block down the street to the independent movie theater, Ciné, where there was a video premiere party for the new Dane Beardsley video (Same Thing Daily) at where a keg of cold PBR beer was supplied for all thanks to Darin Wright! The rest of the night was all a blur but I’m sure it involved plenty of drinking, 11 drunk Scotsmen, Kent Pearson drinking Crown and Coke with his shirt off, and the inevitable corruption of several drunk college girls. Good times were had by all. Thanks to everyone who picked up a screw gun, competed in the comp and to those that just came to party! This year we had outstanding sponsorship help form the following: Cream magazine, Kink bikes, SE Racing, Primo, Factory Skatepark, Props, Profile, Flatland Fuel, Albe’s, Yellow Stunt Team, Diversion, Empire, Odyssey, Sunday, Vital Bmx, Tifosi, and DK bikes... Thanks.
REPORT
AUSTRIAN KING OF DIRT
BY BIBI & ALEX DROPSY
As every year, Austrians cook us a really good contest. Usually , they work more on the party than on jumps, but this year, they didn’t only paint the iron ejects, they also did a good job on the big section. The trail is great to ride. Finally we have good jumps on Linz trail. Many frenchys are already here when I arrive (Beou, patoche), Ricardo laguna did the trip from Vegas, Many polish riders (One of them blew everybody up) We practise a lil bit on satursday under a loud sun. We enjoy the quiet place, few riders go to swim in the lake near the spot and fall accidentally on a naked people beach. Well, Accidentally... The contest takes place with really long qualification (because of the VTT). Hard for the judge to keep only 8 riders. It’s really tight between 6th and 10 place, Beou didn’t ride bad but didn’t make it to the final... But he did
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really good at the king of bar party. Austrians ride clean; Polipoket and Max hummer, trail locals link on all lines. Ricardo is here since a few day, and do really good tricks on each jumps: Flip No hand on the first, 36 whip-X up. Patoche easily goes to the final, Markus takes first place for the finale with a great and fat style. They decide to do the final in the mean time than VTT. Only 8 bmx in final, It’s not a lot, but with a jam format, it makes more runs. The wait is quite long between runs and we can see few crashes. Me for example: Supeman seat grab indian on the last one, many flashes come in my face, by night, I can’t see my bar anymore and BAMMM the head and the back... I’m going to chill. Markus had the same problem than me while doing a whip this time. The photographer is fired, red card. Polypoket rides good and keep his 8th place, La machine frontflips eve-
ryjump, Flip on the big section and end up 6th. 4th patoche, ride on all sections, Flip whip, 360 oppo lookback, Flip turndown on the big section really clean runs, A big patoche!!! Ricardo throws everytricks he has in his bag to take the 3rd place but finish behind a Polish comes out fro nowhere, Piotr Kolodziej, Original tricks, fat flip, double whip and bikeflip, a well deserved place. Markus Hampl takes easily the first place, originality and big tricks as 360 no hand to turndown, 360 xup to turndown, he does all the section in 360 variation, he is good ! After the contest, we chill a lil bit at the tent which is actually a bar. A lot of riders are already wasted. That’s the signature of a good Austrian contest! Of course we will be there next Year. See u soon.
Comme tous les ans les Autrichiens nous concocte un très joli contest de trail. D’habitude et pour ne rien vous cacher, je crois qu’ils bossent plus sur les soirées que sur l’entretien des bosses, mais cette année ils n’ont pas seulement repeint les ejectes en ferraille de la section Evel eyes, ils ont refait la grosse section qui roule vraiment bien. Enfin de belles bosses sur le trail de Linz. Pas mal de français sont déjà sur place à mon arrivée (Beoux, Patoche) le Ricardo Laguna a fait le déplacement de Las Vegas. Les polonais ont déboulé en masse avec un très bon rider qui impressionne tout le monde. On practice un peu donc en ce samedi aprèm sous un soleil bien lourd qui nous force à prendre quelques pauses, on profite de l’endroit calme, certains vont se baigner dans le lac d’à côté et tombe accidentellement sur la plage nudiste... enfin accidentellement, c’est ce qu’il nous ont dit... Le contest se déroule avec des qualifes qui prennent pas mal de temps entre les VTT à faire passer et le nombre de BMXers, chaud pour les juges de prendre que 8 personnes, c’est très serré entre la 6 et 10 ème place, Beoux qui roule pas dégeu en fera les frais, mais se rattrapera à la soirée, King of bar.
Les autrichiens roulent propre à l’image de Polipoket et Max Hummer, les locaux du trail, ils enchainent sur toutes les lignes. Ricardo qui est déjà là depuis quelques jours, connaît bien les sections, tricks comme à son habitude, du flip no hand sur la première, des 3.6 wip et X-up, Patoche se qualifie facile, Markus prend la première place des qualifes en rentrant tout avec grâce et de belle amplitude. Il décide de faire les finales en même temps que le VTT donc on ne sera que 8 bmx en finale, ça fait pas des masses mais bon, sous forme de jam ça fait plus de passages. L’attente est un peu longue entre les passages, dès les premiers runs, on peut constater quelques chutes, déjà de moi-même, en superman seat grab indian sur la dernière, je prends une raffale de flash dans la gueule, et de nuit, bah je ne vois plus rien et essaye de chopper mon guidon mais en vain, craak, dos et tête qui frappe, allez, je vais chiller moi du coup... Markus passe derrière et en prend autant sur un wip, le photographe sera viré, carton rouge. Polypoket roule propre et garde sa 8ème place, la machine enchaine des fronts de partout flip sur les grosses et fini 6ème, 4ème Patoche roule
sur toutes les sections, du flip wip, 3.6 oppo look back, du flip turndown sur les grosses, des runs vraiment propres, du grand Patoche. Ricardo ballance tout ce qu’il a dans sa routine pour prendre la 3ème place et se fait devancé par un Polonais sorti de nulle part, Piotr Kolodziej, tricks originaux, des gros flips, double wip, bike flip, une place bien méritée. Markus Hampl prend facilement la première place avec de l’originalité et des gros tricks comme des 3.6 no hand to turn down en section, du 3.6 x-up to turn down, passe toute la série en 3.6 avec variation, il est bon ce Mark. Après le contest on chille un peu près des bosses et tout le monde se retrouve autour de la grosse tente qui fait office de bar, certains sont déjà bien morts, c’est ce qui fait un petit peu la signature autrichienne d’une bonne soirée réussie. Bien sûr, on y retournera l’année prochaine car tout y est bien, l’ambiance, les bosses, l’accueuil autrichien, un grand merci à toute l’asso de l’austrian King of dirt. A très vite. Bise.
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LEGEND
BACK TO BOB HARO
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BMX and Freestyle BMX for me have been the things that have motivated me in my life as a young person and now in my adult years. It defined me as an individual and a creative person – it gave me a platform to be expressive and unique and athletic at the same time. While the tricks have evolved the fundamentals have remained the same – kids having fun on their bikes. Doing what makes them happy and making the sport their own by adding their signature to tricks that riders before them may have invented but now they have made them their own. As the first freestyler it’s amazing for me to look back at what I did as a kid for fun in complete innocence, just riding my bike with my friends and now seeing what the sport has become. Today’s riders continue to push the boundaries and some day they too may think that what they did was only the beginning of what the sport will be in the future. It is an honor to be a part of this sport we all love – I look forward to where it will go and become. To the riders out there – make it your own – make your mark on this cool subculture that is now mainstream. Someday you’ll look back like me and be glad you did.
BMX and Freestyle BMX for me have been the things that have motivated me in my life as a young person and now in my adult years. It defined me as an individual and a creative person – it gave me a platform to be expressive and unique and athletic at the same time. While the tricks have evolved the fundamentals have remained the same – kids having fun on their bikes. Doing what makes them happy and making the sport their own by adding their signature to tricks that riders before them may have invented but now they have made them their own. As the first freestyler it’s amazing for me to look back at what I did as a kid for fun in complete innocence, just riding my bike with my friends and now seeing what the sport has become. Today’s riders continue to push the boundaries and some day they too may think that what they did was only the beginning of what the sport will be in the future. It is an honor to be a part of this sport we all love – I look forward to where it will go and become. To the riders out there – make it your own – make your mark on this cool subculture that is now mainstream. Someday you’ll look back like me and be glad you did. Bob Haro
FACE
TRAVIS COLLIER BY ALAIN, PHOTOS MANU SANZ
Qui es-tu? Je suis un type qui a trop d’intérêt pour sa petite personne. Pourquoi roules-tu? Parce que sinon, je deviendrais direct un héroïnomane dépravé. Flat or Street? Qu’importe, tant que c’est bon. Comment est ta vie? Propre, simple, inspirée, et accomplie. Le Canada c’est le meilleur pays? Ouais, parce que ça déboîte.
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Qui est ton rider préféré? Jason Enns. Un mec qui fait ce qu’il veut sur un vélo. Il ne se satisfait pas de ses derniers résultats en contest et roule énormément. Le style est très important pour toi? C’est la seule chose qui importe, sinon, on a l’impression que tu es bien, mais seulement sur papier. Qu’est-ce que tu voudrais dire aux Bmx riders? Explorez ce qui vous intéresse, ne copiez pas tout ce que font les autres. Tes remerciements? Tout le monde chez Macneil et Tenpack, Vans, Rich chez Fremont, ma copine Sara, ma famille, mes amis.
Who are you ? I am a dude who has too many interests for his own good. Why you ride ? Because if I don’t, I go into withdrawal like a deprived heroin addict. Flat or street ? Whatever is good. How is you life ? Clean, simple, inspiring, and fulfilling. The Canada is the best for you ? Yes, because its dope.
Who is your favorite rider and why ? Jason Enns. A guy who does whatever he wants. He is not only worth his last contest placing and works fucking hard. The style is very important for you ? It’s the only thing that matters, otherwise you only look good on paper. What do you like to say to the bmx riders ? Explore what interests you, don’t copy what everyone else is doing. Your thanks? Everyone at Macneil and Tenpack, Vans, Rich at Fremont, my lady Sara, family, friends.
FACE
MAXIME CHARVERON IN BEIJING BY CHRISTIAN VAN HANJA
During the past few month, you have seen your popularity growing fast as you level was increasing. So let’s start from the begining : how do you came to bmx , your first bike memories, your heroes if you happened to have some, in one world we want to know more. When I was a kid I had always used to ride a bicycle eather with some kind of homebrew hybrids or real BMX. My first real thing was a MBK (a french comercial BMX brand such as Schwinn) in 16” with beautyfull green mag wheel. Then i got my sister’s GT performer as my first 20” in 1999 !!! At this time I was in adoration with Dave Mirra, Cory Nastasio, and Ryan Nyquist. I was always asking my parents to take me to the Charlemagne Skatepark to spend hours to ride. At our departure for Beijing, when I met you at the airport, I found a newschool young gun, who was happy to got on a trip to a far east country. Once we arrived in Beijing I figure out that behind the superficial varnish of the young wanker, ther was human being, curious about other culture and travel, who was happy to enjoy every good side of being a rookie prorider. What was that trip to Beijing meaning for you.
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Before my trip, Beijing was only a fuzzy memory from a dot of the map and pictures of my studend manual. Once we arrived, it was crazy, I was staring to each block corner, I then realise the cultural lag, who actually makes me think about the few trip I have already done. At first I felt you were not very much into this “Bmx hall of fame” and BMX legend thing, and the it looks like you have discovered something different then the oldtimer glory and that change this “ I have no heroes “ modjo into a guilty interest about the positive karma that those “old dudes” where showing. So at the end, what was the real feeling that you kept from meeting those guy who invented the sport? In fact it was not the fact of meeting Legend that I was looking for, it was actually meeting the human beings that was really exciting for me. I think they are not legends just because the have invented the sport, but more because of what they are, their open minds through others, their personality and so. I wanted to take this opportunity to know them a little bit better, hear their experience, and their stories.
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Did you know those guy before? I mean, I’m quite sure that you knew the names and the faces, but have you seen them riding before on a video or on a picture? Yes! So what will you keep in your mind about this trip? Mainly that no matter what or who you are, we all ride BMX for the same reason but in a different way. Now that you travel quite a lot, how do you see the french BMX scene? A small bubble where everybody knows everybody. You have seen a huge progression in your riding on the past 2 years, you now got sponsors, travels, in one word you are living the dream of a lot of kid out there. Does it have changed your relationship with the guys you use to ride
with? Do you feel any jealousy or unappropriate comments adressed to you? The friend I ride with has always been cool with me, and I hope they will always see me more like a friend than a “prorider”. I rather have a very small amount of trustable friends instead of being the whole french scene’s buddy... and actually know no one that I could trust. You ride contest, and you ride them to win, what is your vision of the whole contest riding thing? Do you do that because you like it or because you have to? When I go to a contest, it is not to win but actually to ride the best I can no matter if there is a ham or ten grand to earn !!! and if you want my way of thinking, don’t we all go to contest to meet each other and have fun together? This is the true advantage of BMX freestyle.... Even if you are not a bad guy, it looks like you have a little problem with blue
uniformes and authority... Can you explain? I have nothing against the authorities themselves, but I do have a problem with their attitude.... In one word it is not your thing ! Right? Or is this just being at the wrong place at the wrong time? Hum... Let’s say that I always manage to get in trouble without special need of external help... and also a little bit of bad luck sometimes..... You ride for MIRRACO, how is it to have Dave as a boss? Man, he is really cool ! Him and Bart Dejong are actually really cool, just like the whole Mirraco team! When you look at it, it is actually pretty funny to ride for the brand of someone I have always admired since I have started riding a bike... But I have more contact with Bart and I would like to thank him so much for his support. Would you like to have your promodel frame sometimes? I would lie if I said to you that riding on a bike built after your mesurment is not cool, but it is also a huge responsablility. Imagine if the bike doesn’t match your expectation and happens to be not as good as you would have liked it to be. After all, it is your name that is associated to the frame... So imagine people saying : “was he drunk when he designed the bike?” or “I like that frame on your bike!” and why not : “this frame is a piece of sh**t!” or “sh**t happened sometimes!” and the last but not the least : “I’ d rather die than buy this crap!”. So if you would design a frame what would it have special? I would put no top tube, a built in alloy seat post, and would only allow some kind of loosy olive drab paint...(laugh). When you are not on duty in a contest what is your typical day? I usually wake up at 7h34 and then I eat, after that I go to the bathroom to press out a couple of pustule at a first time to then get totally naked and shower. At 8h17 I exit my shower, I dress and I go to the skate park for a little training. When I start riding it is very often 8h52. Training goes by 12h23, then I eat an healtly lunch, I then go the another skatepark where I practice exactly for 5 hours and 48 minutes, and after I have learned a couple of new tricks, I go back home to chill after a day of hard work, I eat, and I finally go to bed a 8H18 pm sharp. A little “I like... / I don’t like...? I don’t really like what I don’t like but on the other hand, I do like what I like because the chiken came before the eggs and reverse.... Do you have a vice? Soda when I wake up. Your playlist to ride? I do like the hardcore underground cave things like Avril Lavigne, Rihana, Fall Out Boys, BB Brunes and Seyfu... you know what I’m sayin’? Thanks: My sponsor Nike 6.0, Mirraco Teamloc animal, and also my mom and dad and sister, also my buddys: Pierro, Luka, Vivien, Damien, Romain, Raf, Kevin, Alex... Montluçon city and all the dudes over there: David, Ben, Thomas, Julien... The “teamloc family”: Gonz, Romain Couderc, Romain Delpeyrou, the poisson family and their lovely food, Vincent Biraud, Masto, all the Liteul Crew, Kwet and his hair, Barbac, Armen, bmx force with Remi and Chris, the Gréoux les Bains crew, Bart de Jong and finally my friends of Brignais: Julie, Tutur, Caro...
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FASHION
BAD BOY STYLE PHOTOS : GUILLAUME LANDRY MODELS : Shawny Smitters (www.myspace.com/shawny_selfmade), Juan (www.juan.book.fr), Roxane, J.Smitters
Cap NEW ERA T-shirt BAPE 075
Jeans RED OIL Bijoux PEACE UNITED Veste LRG Montre KANABEACH
Shoes COOL SHOE 076
Montre OXBOW
Lunette OAKLEY Montre KANABEACH Thsirt LRG
Shoes VANS Jeans LRG
Cap NEW ERA T-shirt NEW ERA
Montre OXBOW
Porte portable NY MAJESTIC T-shirt LRG Pantalon CARHARTT
T-shirt LRG Lunette DRAGON 078
Montre ECKO RED
shoes ZOO YORK
T-shirt LRG Bijoux PEACE UNITED
REPORT
FREECASTER Freecaster est né d’une passion totale pour les sports extrêmes et d’une frustration de ne pas les voir en TV. Raymond Dulieu, ancien responsable du sponsoring international de Red Bull, a conçu Freecaster en 2003, à une époque où les grands sites vidéos n’existaient pas. Au printemps 2004, Freecaster fit ses premiers pas sur la toile et fut immédiatement primé par Apple International comme le meilleur site QuickTime de l’année. Très vite Freecaster a élargi l’éventail de sports couverts tout en restant spécialisé en sports extrêmes. Les grands moments pour Freecaster furent, l’Appel Design Award en 2004, la venue de Braun comme sponsor, les premiers live en 2006 et maintenant le passage sur Flash 9 pour atteindre une audience toujours plus large. Freecaster a aussi raté quelques rendez-vous de l’histoire d’internet. Ainsi en 2004 lorsque YouTube arriva, Freecaster ne voyait pas comment un site qui travaille sans régler les droits pour les images et la musique pourrait réussir. Les productions personnelles de l’époque n’étaient pas non plus du niveau de celles d’aujourd’hui. Freecaster n’est donc pas un site où chacun peut publier sa vidéo. Par contre tout le monde peut soumettre sa vidéo et ainsi espérer être publié à côté des plus grands producteurs et événements. Là où Freecaster est clairement novateur c’est dans sa capacité à couvrir tant d’événements dont les principaux en direct. Le BMX a joué un grand rôle dans cette évolution car Raymond et son équipe ne travaillent pas à temps plein sur Freecaster. Dans une autre vie, certains membres de l’équipe travaillent aussi dans une agence qui entre autre gère depuis 2003 le Braun cruZer Tour et géra le Braun Flatground. Si aucun d’entres eux ne roulent activement en BMX ce n’est pas la passion qui leur manque. Ils sont d’ailleurs au fil du temps rentrés dans la famille BMX. Au delà de Freecaster on leur doit tout de même quelques surperbes moments et un grand coup de turbo pour le flat. Les prochains grands rendez-vous pour Freecaster seront les diffusions en direct du Suzuki BMXMasters et du Red Bull Empire of Dirt avant les X Games début août. Rien n’arrête ces belges qui semblent être partout. L’avenir pour Freecaster passe maintenant par davantage de sites et blogs qui utilisent le player Freecaster, par davantage de lives et par davantage de clips réalisés par les riders et envoyé à la rédaction de Freecaster. Un grand merci à Braun, Apple, Interoute, Camcast, et tous les riders sans qui Freecaster n’existerait pas. Ce sont eux qui motivent toute l’équipe à se dépasser et à continuer à s’investir dans le projet malgré la concurrence.
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Freecaster is born from a total passion for extreme sports and the frustration not to have them on Tv. Raymond Dulieu, Ex person in charge of Redbull International sponsoring, created Freecaster in 2003, at a time where video websites didn’t exist. In spring 2004, Freecaster starts on the web and is eventually awarded by Apple International as the best Quick time website of the year. Freecaster quickly enlarged the number of featured sports while staying specialized in extreme sports. Big moments for Freecaster has been the Appel Design Award in 2004, the arrival of Braun as sponsor, the first live in 2006 and now the passage on flash 9 to always reach a bigger audience. Freecaster missed few historical web appointment though. In 2004 when Youtube arrived, Freecaster didn’t see how a website that works without paying the taxes for music and artists could success. At this time, the personal production were not at the level of the ones today. Freecaster isn’t a website where you can upload your video, on the other hand everyone can send his own video and hope to be published with the biggest name in video production and events. Freecaster is clearly novator in it capacity to be on so many events. The main events are in live. Bmx played a big role in this evolution because Raymond and his team don’t work a full time on Freecaster. In another life, they also work on an agency that owns the Braun Cuzer Tour since 2003, and took care of the Braun Flatground. Even if none of them ride Bmx, it’s not a lack of passion! Since all this years, they are now entered in the Bmx family. Beyond Freecaster, we hold them so many great BMX moments and a big turbo for flatland. The next appointment for freecaster are live diffusions of SuzukiBMXmasters and RedBull empire of dirt before X games 14 at the beginning of august. Nothing could stop the belgium guys who seem to be everywhere, anytime. The future for freecaster is now the increase of websites and blogs that use freecaster player, the increase of lives and the increase of clips produced by riders and sent to Freecaster redaction. A big thanks to Braun, Apple, Interoute, Camcast, and all riders without who Freecaster couldn’t exist. They are the motivaton for the team to always go beyond their limit and keep exist and invest in this project in spite of competition.
PORTFOLIO
CANTO DESIGN Thomas Cantoni est né en 1976 à Marseille. De 1978 à 1984, son oncle (qu’il considère comme son deuxième père) produit des films de windsurf et de surf entre la Californie et Hawaii, du coup, il baigne avec sa mère et sa tante dans la prospection de ces images hallucinantes pour l’époque, il assiste à tous les déruschages et baigne dans cette culture “surf ” à travers les divers objets que son oncle lui ramènera à chacun de ses voyages. C’est le début de la skate culture un peu partout. En 1986, son oncle lui offre un bodyboard, en 1987 il l’amène à Biarritz. Depuis il surfe toujours à travers le monde, Californie, Indonésie, Maldives, Maroc, Portugal, West Indies, etc. 1996, il quitte Marseille pour Londres où il fera des études de commerce maritime, en vain, puisqu’il passe tous ses cours à dessiner. Il apprendra au moins l’anglais. 1997, il choisit Paris pour étudier les arts graphiques et le design, il travaille en même temps pour des écuries automobiles en refaisant leurs identités et les “peintures de guerre” des voitures, il travaille notamment pour la Carrera Cup et signe son premier contrat en refondant l’identité “Ruffier Events” où il réalisera 4 Porsche GT3 qu’il verra courrir à Nogaro ainsi qu’au Mans. Il est diplômé en 2002 et crée son entreprise “Malax” en 2003. Il rencontre Serge Bordonaro et Anthony Téjédor en 2004 qui lui donneront sa chance pour réaliser une collection graphique pour Kulte. Aujourd’hui il a créé plus de 450 illustrations pour cette marque. En 2006 Edouard Launay (ex Créative Syndicate) crée l’agence d’illustrateurs “Talkie Walkie” avec des pointures telles que Jean-Michel Tixier ou encore I love Dust, il demande à Thomas Cantoni de faire partie de ses illustrateurs et devient son agent. Depuis janvier 2007, il travaille principalement avec Talkie Walkie pour diverses campagnes nationales ou internationales. La belle histoire avec Kulte continue toujours. Thomas Cantoni was born in 1976 in Marseille. From 1978 to 1984, his uncle, (considered as a second father) products windsurf and surf movies between California and Hawaii. His mother and him are in theses pictures’ researches. He assists at all derushs and still in this surf lifestyle through objects his uncle brings him from his trip around the world. It’s the beginning of the skate culture everywhere. In 1986, he gets a bodyboard from his uncle, in 1987, he brings him to Biarritz. Since this time he still surfs all around the world: California, Indonesia, Maldives, Maroc, Portugal, West Indies, etc. 1996, he leaves Marseille for London where he studies maritime business but it’s useless, he spends all his school time drawing. At least he learns english. 1997, he chooses Paris to study graphic arts and design. In the meantime, he works for car teams. He pimps cars paint. He works for The Carrera cup and signs his first agreement with “Ruffier events” with which he realises 4 porsche GT3 that run in Nogaro and in Le Mans. He gratuated in 2002 and creates his own business “Malax” in 2003. He meets Serge Bordonaro and Anthony Téjédor in 2004 who give him the chance to make the Kulte graphic collection. Nowadays, he created more than 450 illustrations for this brand. In 2006, Edouard Launay (Ex Creative syndicate) creates the illustrator agency “Talkie Walkie” with big names as Michel Texier or I love Dust. He asks Thomas Cantoni to take part of this illustrator adventure and becomes his agent. Since january 2007, he mainly works with Talkie Walkie for any national and international campaigns. The great story with Kulte keeps going.
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GHETTO BIKES BY RAPH CHIQUET, PHOTOS THOMAS CANTONI
10 kg, 9 kg, 8 kg bientôt 7, on arrête plus la course à l’armement dans la guerre du bmx. Ces derniers mois, on voit arriver plein de nouveautés et en général, les riders ont des vélos au top du top. Parfois même un peu trop et ça les empêche de rouler (dédicace aux poseurs), mais là on partirait dans un sujet où je pourrais m’énerver alors... Non, je veux juste que vous sachiez qu’il y a énormément de pays où les minos roulent sur des brêles, à fond les gamelles, et ils s’éclatent... bien sûr qu’ils adoreraient rouler sur la dernière monture à la mode mais ils n’ont pas un kopeck, alors ils s’en tapent, ils rident le premier truc en acier qui a l’air d’un bmx. J’ai vu des vélos copiés homemade, soudés à l’arrache, souvent cassés plusieurs fois, ressoudés, et le rider dessus envoyait méchant ! J’ai le sentiment que beaucoup de gens oublient que ce n’est pas le vélo qui fait le riding, mais bien le rider (ils en oublient de s’amuser d’ailleurs). Alors, s’il vous plaît, ne bavez pas trop longtemps sur les nouvelles pièces qui sortent mais plutôt sur la nouvelle place refaite à neuf ou le curb fraîchement aménagé.
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10 kg, 9 kg, 8 kg, soon 7, these days, the bmx industry progress a lot and there are a lot of new products coming out, most of the riders have very good bikes. Maybe sometimes too good to ride (big up posers!!) but I would start to talk about a subject which could make me angry so... No, I just want to let you know that there are many country where the kids ride on shady bikes, and they just enjoy riding. Of course they would like to ride on the last trendy bmx but they don’t even have one penny, so they just don’t, they ride the first steel thing which looks like a bmx. I saw some copy homemade, dirty welded, often already broken many times and welded again, and the guy on the bike was rocking da house!!! I have the feeling that many people forget that the riding is up to the rider, not the bike (at the same time they also forget to have fun). So please, don’t spend your time in wondering what’s the best parts coming out, spent it trying the new spot coming out.
TRIP
un ghetto bike en RĂŠpublic Dominicaine
REPORT
LIGHTNING BOLTS EXHIBITION BY CHRISTIAN VAN HANJA
Ligthning Bolts art show Beijing : A jump over BMX history ! Nile 6.0 is now one of the main sponsors of the new BMX scene, but for this one they have done a great tribute to BMX freestyle roots. So come with us to hang out with some of the coolest godfather of the BMX familly.
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Most of the time I’m very happy to be a bmx photographer, sometimes I’m tired of being broke and feel frustrated when I don’t get the picture I want because of the weather or because of my mistakes, sometimes I feel I am a very privileged person to be where it happens and being paid for that. The truth is I’m doing what I have alway wanted to do and that is just so good. Being on a trip either if it is around the office pedaling on my bike, in a van around Europe, or in a very far country, travels are the best part of the job. You meet new people, new culture and have fun discovering something different and trying to bring back some memories to share in the magazine. So when my editor called me over the phone to see if I was available without willing to say anything to me, I’m glad I said : “hell yeah”, I’ll go on a trip. And guess what, when he announces me that I was going to Beijing in China to meet Bob Haro, Brian Blyther, Eddie Fiola, Ron Wilkerson, Matt Hoffman, Jeff Tremaine and Mark “Lew “ Lewman, I sat for a while, looking around to see if people where going to get out of one of the closet with a video camera, making fun of me... but no, it was for real. Nike 6.0 sent an email to the office to invite us to an art performance tribute to BMX history in Beijing, China with the “ Hall of fame” of BMX history. After some stress about getting my Visa done by the time that I was away at the F. I. S. E., here I am at the airport waiting for the French RP and for Maxim Charveron to get on the plane. Onboard, Nike has everything done high-class style by flying us in business class on Air France. Believe me we could have feed half of China with the insane amount of food that they have served to us during the flight. When we arrived at the hotel, once again, it was high class!!! We were staying at one of the best palace of central Beijing... Ok, so enough with the bling and let’s get back to BMX. On our first night, I met the guys at the bar of the hotel, and I spend some good time having a little cocktail before we got to this crazy chinese restaurant. The place was a high class trendy restaurant of Beijing in which we had our own dinning room with a gigantic table for all of us. The place was amazing and after a couple of glass of wine, the memories and the joke started... For those who don’t know who Jeff Tremaine is, he is the director of Jackass, former editor of the skateboard magazine “Big Brother”, but most important, the former art director of “Freestyl’in” the BMX freestyle bible magazine. So,
he is full of nasty jokes and he is very good at maintaining a huge smile on the face of everyone. After a quick photo in the incredible bathroom with wall made of mirror, and a little rush out of the restaurant spinning the rotating door as fast as possible, we are back to the hotel to drink a little bit more and to chill, Mr Blyther and Mr Hoffman did a little but dancing, Mr Haro payed a round of shots from a dusty blue bottle, and finally we all went to bed. On the next morning we went to the Nike Research Center and presentation hall where all the history of Nike was explained to us. We shot some pictures in the building with RON Wilkerson having fun about this building being the church of capitalism in a communist country. On our way out, we shot some pictures with Brian Blyther next to a police officer (as Brian is a police officer in USA). The Nike staff then invited us for the lunch in a snack in the neighborhood which happened to be the art gallery district of Beijing. While we were sitting there with Maxime and the others, I felt strange : the whole thing was moving slowly around me. Like if I was drunk. We looked at each other and everybody was a little scared... We will learn on our way back to the hotel that a terrible earthquake happened 600 miles away, erasing tree cities from the map. What we felt was that. Then we went for a little recognition of available street spots around the hotel with Maxime, and by sneaking through a fence we discover a place where they where destroying beautiful traditional Chinese home to make room for the next ultra-modern building.... very sad... people where trying to save what they could... from their house, ruined down by dozers... We hung out there watching the scene for a while, then we felt that we were not really welcomed. On our way back to the hotel we found some spots and we decided to go riding on the evening. After another fancy dinner we were invited to the forbidden city to watch the presentation of the Nike outfit for the national Chinese federation. The show was great and the audience was astonished by the place. For myself, I felt a little uncomfortable. In one way I could understand that Chinese people where very proud to organize this ceremony in such a mythical place, and I was pumped to be there, but on the other hand a commercial event, even if it is about a national team, felt a little bit ockward in such a legendary and holly place. Just like if the English olympic team would present their outfit in
Buckingham Palace, or the French team in the “Chateau de Versailles”... After all that, we went back to the hotel and, head out to ride the spots we had seen during the day but got kicked out as soon as we arrive on pretty much all of them. As we didn’t wanted to try Chinese prison, we move a couple of block away and found a ridable spot... from where someone throw us a bottle after a couple minutes, but we had the time to shoot some pictures so we went back to bed. The following morning, after ruining the breakfast buffet of the hotel that was the touristic round and main event day. We all jump in a bus and hit the road to the great wall, on our way we pass next to the “Bird nest”, the Olympic stadium which appears to be the big pride of the country. It’s big, it’s futuristic but seen from the bus windows and from 1/2 miles away it just looks like a stadium... But when we arrived to the Great Wall, everybody was astonished...and so was I. To imagine that people have built that thing without any help of heavy machinery is just insane. This wall is beyond any description, and once you start climbing it, you understand how big it is. We took a lot of pictures there and spend some time trying to engrave this panorama in our memories. Then we head back to Beijing city because the main BMX event has to be prepared. In the bus, we could feel that the Nike staff was under high pressure, Blackberrys and Iphones,were smoking... When some of us went to the venue the rest of the crew got back to the hotel to get some sleep. The venue for the BMX main event was unbelievable, it was an ancient oil metal tank big like a stadium from which half of the roof was removed showing the sky through the metallic structure that use to hold it in place. A very cool venue, except that the floor was made of sheets of metal who have decided to expend with the heat of the sun... there was not a single place of the thing that was flat and steady. The ramps were moving on this uneven surface. And Nike staff was starting to show signs of stress... Chinese may know how to built skyscrapers, olympic stadium or all kind of stuff, but they had absolutely no idea of what they were doing when they built those ramps... I mean they were looking good, and they were properly built, but they had put a little bottom plate of steel that was supposed to smooth the transition out, but as the radius was different than the ramp itself it was a kind of meat chopper at the bo ttom of the ramp and it had absolutely no
way to adapt to the wave shaped floor... So after moving the ramps around on the less erratic area of the floor and some ghetto plywood improvements it was ok for the demo. We grabbed some wax and started making the things a little bit more fast for Nigel Silvester and Maxime. Mike Spinner was a little unhappy with the ramps but started training as well. The last customized number plates were disposed and all was good for the “Lighting Bolt show to start. The show itself was funny, and it was good to see this mix between the tribute to BMX history and those young gun riding newschool style in front of journalist, VIPs, and also in front of the ones that have created this sport. I was really mad about being there with all those legends that have actually created the sport and dedicated their life to it. But they are not only great heroes, they are very nice and humble human beings that are cool to hang with. They are the spirit and the essence of what bmx riding is about : having fun with your friend doing something that you really like. And god yes, all of them still have a little bike in their heads. After the show there was another party hosted by Nike in another location, and then we all went back to the hotel and decided to go visiting some chinese clubs! Party time. As what happened on foreigners’ country I can’t say anything about that except that mister B... H... is a very good negociator, and that chinese club are funny if you are a chinese business man or a chinese mobster. If you are a poor BMX photographer, the prices are still to high to get hammered... but in the local grocery store you can have a 1/3 gallon bottle of beer for a quarter. That was about to be the time I had to go get a shower before jumping in the plane back to France. Thank you Mr Nike for making this fantastic trip happened. Thank you for understanding that BMX has an history and that the time is come to be proud of it. Thank you for letting the people who have created the sport be there and be themselves. Thank you for understanding that money can buy stuff, but more than that, it can help to preserve the history of the sport. It is good to sponsors young upcoming riders, but it is also cool to get involved in the soul of the sport. I’m not stupid, I know that it’s all about selling shoes, but for five minutes, let me think that there was a little more than that in Beijing this particular night...
RON WILKERSON : Hmmmmm, well actually I consider myself a BMX rider as just a PART of me... and my views on things are muuuuch more evolved than just from BMX. I’ve had some amazing experiences through BMX, surely, and my experiences. With my BMX have certainly influenced me greatly through the years. Although there are parts of me which are WHO I AM that were already there, and the lifeSTYLE of BMX fit in perfectly. Although wait -CORRECTION- I’ve been riding BMX for such a major part of my life, it’s really almost impossible to think of my life WITHOUT BMX IN IT! -Weird- So I guess my personality has simply fit into the BMX lifestyle in such a seamless way that it has caused BMX to be a PART of me. And THAT is why I have been able to do what I have done with/for/in BMX so naturally. NO RULES GOING FOR IT TAKING RISKS LIVING (RIDING) HOW, WHEN, WHERE EVER I WANT COMMITMENT PASSION-FOLLOWING PASSION FOCUS DESIRE All parts of me, and all the things that it TAKES to be a real BMX’r Fame? I can’t tell you how awesome it is to be recognized walking in to a little cool-ass store in NYC, or at a grocery store in Austin, or renting a motorcycle in Jamaica, or riding my BMX down the street in Tokyo- it rules. But I’ve also had the insight asto how much it must suck being someone REALLY famous! That’s why Sean Penn is my hero punching the paparazzi- he rules. Luck? There’s no such thing as “luck”. Only in certain instances of health or life and death do I believe in “luck”, but even THEN I believe that you have a lot of control... Realize your control. Friendships? Wow, I’ve made so many awesome friends thru BMX that I can go anywhere in the WORLD and be with some cool people I know. That’s ONE of the coolest things about BMX, if you’re a serious rider YOU can go ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD and easily meet new friends to hang out with, or crash on their floor, or date their friend-girls, or GO RIDE THEIR SPOTS!!! Lonelyness? Never, no way, learn yourself---LONELY and ALONE are not synonymous. Travel? CRUCIAL FOR A FULL LIFE, and opens your MIND. The world is a LOT bigger than your little hole. Change? CRUCIAL FOR A FULL LIFE, welcome change!!! Work for change, in ALL ways! Pain? That’s just part of the funnnn. If you don’t have PAIN, then how can 092
you ever feel GOOD??? Money? I got the experience of making a lot of money at a young age, setting me up to learn that it’s all BULLSHIT. Sure, in this world you need money to do what you want... but... getting wrapped up in all the commercial force-fed illusions of what you “NEED TO HAVE”- it’s all bullshit. I have learned not to dwell on the bullshit, and have learned to focus on the things that are IMPORTANT! I’ve been broke-off so many times, and I have almost died so MANY TIMES in my life, that I’ve learned to simply appreciate MY GIFT OF LIFE! I can still WALK! I can still ride! I have all my fingers (almost) and toes! I have both my arms and legs! I can still think clearly and pursue my goals! Dude, after my last accident with a compound fracture in my leg, and the 3+ year recovery(still happening), I get psyched simply that I CAN RUN UP THE STAIRS!!!! Appreciate the small stuff, baby... Questions I’ve had about myself as a RIDER- a very BIG time for me was going thru the process of changing from being a top-pro-rider to just a guy-that-rides. But it was definitely a decision that I had to make
and STAND BY- it was a long process for me to be used to giving a new answer when someone asks, “What do you do for a living?” -WOAW- I CAN’T SAY I’M A PRO BMX RIDER ANYMORE!!! And then also coming to grips in my own head with just RIDING FOR FUN was a multi-year process. But now I got it down-I JUST RIDE FOR FUN! And my questions about myself as a HUMAN BEING came very clear to meas I got more focused on my NEXT goal-stay tuned for that another time down the road. So not to bore any of your readers, I’ll leave it at that. I got sooooo much more to say, but I’m getting ready to start the 26th (FINAL!) edit of my book, appropriately titled, ‘IF YOU DON’T CRASH, YOU’RE NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH’. Which that title would be a good mantra to leave on, but more appropriate for this interview I want to leave THIS mantra I’ve learned, You can have WHATEVER you want, ANYWAY that you want it, if you’re willing to do what it takes to get it’. Peaceout, Ron
This name may not be so familliar to you, but he is the guy behind « Jackass the movie I & II », but more than that he was, with Mark « Lew » Lewman and Spike Jonze, one of the creator and art director of the best BMX magazine ever : Freestyl’in. The spirit of the magazine was fun, with great pictures, and hillarious comments and sketches. If you like BMX and Jackass, you would have loved Freestyl’in. So lets try to find out about that Hollywood producer and movie maker that use to be a kid on a BMX like the rest of us. Hi Jeff, for the few of our reader who don’t really know who you are we thought you could do a little presentation of yourself. I’m 41 years old and a true Hollywood Shitbag. When you are 13 years old, what does you life looks like from what you remember of it? At 13 all I really cared about was jumping my bike, but that was a really really long time ago. How does you get involved in BMX? I got my first BMX for Christmas when I was twelve, it was a JC Penny Team Murray knock off with moto mags. I rode it all the time and broke everything on it but the mags. I started buying parts at Rockville BMX (Rockville Moped at the time.) Eventually I had a sweet Torker with red Tuff Wheels and Race Inc. bars. We started building ramps and I was riding at the very beginning of freestyle.
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When you grew up, did you ever think you were going to do big things like be the art director of one of the most influential BMX magazine, the editor of the rawest Skateboarding magazine, the director of a movie and producer of several TV shows? I had no aspirations to be a television or movie producer. I knew I wanted to work in magazines since college. I’ve had a fairy tale professional life where I’ve always loved what I was doing and I’ve had a lot of fun. I know it’s rare to get paid doing something that you truly love, but I’ve also worked hard for it. What kind of student were you? The one that is highly involved in Sigma -Nu booze and boobs stock or that serious guy that goes to bed early? I was a terrible student in high school, but luckily I had a decent art portfolio that got me in to college. I was serious about school while in college, but I also partied a lot. I’ve never been a good sleeper. How does it feel like to be a famous producer ? Does it modify your relationship with people? It’s awesome being a successful producer. I rarely have to eat anyone else’s shit. What is the badest joke that Knoxville played to you? He and I are constantly at war. Yesterday he shoved his finger up his ass and stuck it in my eye.
What is the most stupid thing you will do for a 1000$? Hit me with an opportunity next time I’m drunk. How many euros is $1000 today? And what won’t you do for a 1000$? Come on dude, I’m rich! I wouldn’t let Mike Buff shit on my back for a $1000. I’d also not get flames tattooed on my penis for that amount, not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not for me. Do you still play some music? Can you talk a little bit of your experience in the band “Milk”? I do not play music at all, Milk was fun though. We only ever played to live shows, one on the flat bottom of the vert ramp at a 2-Hip contest. Where does your inspiration comes from ? Booze and National Geographic. Any morals, people to thanks or to insult? Since this is a bike magazine, I’ll keep it BMX related. I’d like to thank Spike Jonze, Mark Lewman and Andy Jenkins for giving me my first professional break.
When it comes to history of BMX, there are a lots of name that could come to your mouth. But very few of them could actually say that they have created this history. Eddie Fiola is probably one of the very first « freestyle prorider of the BMX history ». So as most of you were not even born when he was ripping the Upland Pipeline bowl, we thought that the best way to do this interview was to ask someone who had actually been one of his greatest fan at this time, and who by the way, teach me some of the basis of BMX ridding.
friendship? It taught me to handle all kinds of situations. I had to handle my own issues and problems. Things like ramps built incorrectly, travel issues, equipment failure and language barriers. I was always finding new and interesting ways to work with limited resources.
P. Collados : Do you remind your first demo in Paris ? Yes, it was inside at the Bercy stadium with RL Osborn.
How does you everyday life looks like now? I still get paid to ride just not as often - now I get paid to fall, drive, get burned, skateboard, crash, thrown around. I am still having to travel to different places for work. So almost the same as before except then as a sponsored rider I had a regular paycheck, now its all up to me and how many phone calls I make.
What kind of impression have you kept from that moment? The amount of people that came out. It was almost overwhelming. At this time did you imagine that the sport was about to go so far? I was riding and having fun. The sport could die, and I still be riding, so no. Do you still hang out with some of those former rider such as RL or Ron Wilkerson ? I se Todd Anderson, Fred Blood, Mike Dominguez, Brian Blyther, Woody Itson and Steve McCloud for the most part. Did all your trip have teach you some stuff about human being and
What are your best memories of ridding sessions? Hanging out with people who loved doing what I did!
What do you have to say about those F...cking square GT stems in the Upland Bowl? I still have one I use it as a meat tenderizer. Did you see the 90’s bottom of the wave coming at this time.... I saw that I wasn’t wining anymore, so I just moved on to STUNT WORK Christian Van Hanja : Is there something that you would have done in a different way?
Yes, I should have marketed my own style and made my own company. Bikes, equipment, designs. Commentary or interviews for some of the cable shows would have been cool. Do you sometimes feel that the very young rider should do a little bit of homework on their BMX history books? Yes, I think it would help them understand the progression of the sport, maybe appreciate that they get to start at a beginning level where movements and motions have already been tested. The foundation has been established - they don’t start on the ground floor like we had to; they have a bit of an edge. I don’t consider myself old school, more like preschool. People ask if I was part of the X games, I tell them I was part of the A games - waaaay before X. What advice can a legend like you could give to any new school rider? Ride for fun first and foremost. And if your good enough to make money then know that you should value yourself. Don’t let the industry take YOU for a ride. You ride because you love to ride, but you also are an entertainer. The industry knows the value of the entertainment and how to market it. Will we have the chance to see you ridding the soul bowl in Huntington for the legend contest? What legend contest? Is there a legend contest? I better start riding more!!!!!!!!!! Take Care and thanks.
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CREAM BMX LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE Hors Serie Masters of Cream #6 Summer 2008 EDITION AM / DK sarl - RCS PARIS 501 747 417 9 rue Pierre Dupont 75010 Paris tel/fax : +33 140 35 05 73 info@cream-bmx.com www.creamofbmx.com www.myspace.com/creambmxmagazine DIRECTEUR DE LA PUBLICATION Alain Massabova cell +33 611 171 826 alain@cream-bmx.com PUB / ADVERTISING Rémy Moreau remy@cream-bmx.com ASSISTANTE ADMINISTRATION Mélanie Danneau melanie@cream-bmx.com CREAM TEAM Diane Khrimian Matthias Dandois Christian Van Hanja Arthur Dietrich Manu Sanz Yasuyuki Takeo Alex Dropsy Julien Muguet Olivier Thébaud Romuald Noirot Blandine Chemouni Marie Meuret Raphaël Chiquet Nathan Penonzek Dimitri Coste Effraim Catlow Luis Elías Benavides Madrigal Patrick Guimez Erik Otto Bobby Carter Scott Obrien Camilo Gutieerez Marion Martti Kuoppa Chloé Santoriello Johann Bellon Julien Mangoose Guillaume Landry Chad Johnston Jon Dowker Hajime Yamazaki Alexis Desolneux Georg Oberlechner ABONNEMENT / SUBSCRIBE abonne@cream-bmx.com PROCHAINS NUMÉROS CREAM #29, le 15 juillet IMPRESSION Graficas Lizarra (Espagne) “Printed in Spain” DEPOT LEGAL à parution COMMISSION PARITAIRE 0908K85610 DISTRIBUTION KIOSQUE France, UK, Suisse, Belgique, Canada, Dom-Tom, Taïwan : MLP DISTRIBUTION SHOPS & ETRANGERS FRANCE : Citadium, August, K-124 (Paris) GERMANY : la-finca-distribution.de SPAIN : ricarbmx@telephonica.net NEDERLANDS : www.soulcycle.com JAPAN : www.jykkjapan.com MEXICO : www.ortizbmx.com USA : www.flatlandfuel.com COLOMBIA : www.tiendaflatland.com SINGAPORE : www.fourtyonethirty.com UK : www.fingerprintdistribution.com Fred Borel by Christian Van Hanja