Tuesday, June 30, 2009

I can't even steal a title from "It's Always Sunny..." because Tom already did.... The Gang Gets Racist.

South Park is the best.
Good long ass weekend. Learned some things, Mike is a griller, Rich's favorite Disney character is Tiger and Ronnie Gaska is a legend more then we though.
Team Long Island is comin up.


We watched the first 2 seasons of "It's always sunny" on this trip.

The back seat of an escalade isn't made for 33 year old men.

Folding the seats down and sitting on top is just a temporary relief.

This tree got stuck the fuck by lightning. We had a crazy storm Friday evening.

Once the storm passed, Mike Grillkullen took out his 10 lbs of chicken that had been marinating for 2 weeks and got his grill on.

Rolled in style. It's a shame you don't have rims dugan, we coulda been ridin on blades.

Bikes.

Gaska kept telling us that he wasn't a big deal and to stop making him seem like one. Until the announcer started announcing. Not only was Ronnie the last to get announced before every lap, but he was referred to as "The Legend himself" This guy is bigger than jesus.

Crazy Al Cayne clockin some footy.

In his first moto of the weekend, the G-Man showed everyone that he was NOT fucking around this year.

Dugan is also starting his comeback tour.

At one point while I was shooting photos in one of Toms races, all I could hear was the dude next to him telling him how much of a faggot he was.

Mike Grillkullen hasn't quite got his swagger back yet, but be assured that he is fucking siked and that it will return shortly.
He unclipped this weekend and left his pedals and shoes in the dumpster. Flat pedal revolution.
I sometimes make things completely up.

The first step to getting big time is our factory sponsor?

Gaska earning a demerit. Flatter than a bottle of pepsi water?

Bivs making moves from the outside.

Grillin kilkullen still has a little swagger though.

I can't believe little Matt Polkamp beat me by so much this lap.

Gaska made it to the podium, Phil Potosnak is awesome.

Gaska, opincarr, Potosnak.

The gallery...

The files...

Monday, June 22, 2009

FBM - I love my bicycle weekend.

Rain fucking sucks.
FBM's documentary premiered at the Bicycle film fest this weekend. The whole weekend was just a mess. The video was awesome though.
I got a new iPhone, so get ready for messy video clips, and hearing my obnoxious laugh.


Boston George and I got lost trying to figure out where I lived friday night. We never made it. We built these hoboshacks(might have just been him building?) and slept under the BQE until 10am.

This is a Film Festival, start hurting yourselves. English put me thru a table or 2 and Kelly punched me in the face. All in the good way, haha.


We had to ride our bikes to the other side of Brooklyn to meet up with people. We got caught in this rain storm. Noone wanted to pick us up.


Russel Barone won the long jump, something stupid like 25 feet?


You can't see shit in this one, but you can hear it. It's the director Joe and Steve Crandal giving speech type things after the video


Fuck BMXBoard. Kelly Baker, I love you.

Monday, June 15, 2009

The Nice!est guy in BMX, John Lee.

John Lee is on every ones top 5, and is one of the nicest people around...

Photos stolen from Facebook, FBM and RyanHoey.com




FuckBMX: so your teeth all good?

John Lee: yup, i had a cleaning last week and no cavities and today i had a perodontical charting to check the condition of my gums

FB: so i guess we can start this with the typical 'how long have you been involved in bmx' question?

JL: geez, thats a tough one, i been jumping a bike ever since i learned to ride one, but i guess i started riding around 92-93

FB: what year did you start racing? around the same time?

JL: nope i started racing later, when i first got into riding i was racing R/C cars down the street from shorehame in wading river. There was a hobby shop called Latest Hobbies and raceway i would go there every sunday to race and one day on the way to racing i asked my mom to stop into bmx track to look at it
JL: but it wasn't unitl my friend brian waller and i went to track in 94-95 that i did my first rookie race
JL: shoreham was crazy then, my first race in 14 beginner has 1/8ths
JL: i didn't even race the main because it was midnight and my mom had to pic me up from the track and they were still running semi's
JL: plus my friend brian crashed over the doubles on the last straight and ripped the head tube off his MCS
JL: after that i didn't go back to shoreham for about a year and then really got into racing


Endwell.

FB: wow that's crazy... i thought you had started way earlier since Oak Park was already crazy by the time Shady Bunch came out in like '98.... How long did it take you to move up the ranks in racing?
FB: (after you committed to it)

JL: um... i moved up to novice locally after i got the 5 or 7 wins that you had to do. And racing nov at shoreham tuesday nights was fun, i did my National year as a novice,

FB: back then novice was an actual class i suppose, now it's kind of just a big joke... When did you start digging at Oak Park?

JL: man, novice was crazy then, i mean my first novice race i remember clearly. you had to be able to pick up and speed jump the camel into the first turn in order to be in the game,
JL: and everyone was pedaling over the first roller
JL: in beginner if you could jump the last doubles you could take it anytime, in novice everyone could do that. And open wheels at the time was really crazy
JL: As for oak park the earliest footage i have of that place is around 92-93, but i think i started digging there in begining of 92, it all started because Chris watson took me to sterits in patchogue after school one day and when all the older guys weren't looking i tried to jump a roller and case so bad that it turned heads
JL: they guys there told me i should build my own jumps to learn to ride, so i took there advice
JL: Originally Oak park was Chris watson and myself, chris got his learners permit and stop riding and at the same time James Zylowski, Ron Jones and Brian Waller started riding with me and we all built at oak
JL: When James, Ron, and Brian faded, Matt Vietch and Reid were right there


FB: That's pretty wild that it started because you essentially got kicked out of other trails... and then turned out to be a few years before it's time
FB: did you guys just like pedaling and going as far as possible?

JL: i guess it was being kicked out but it was done for the best, build at your own pace and build exactly what you like to ride and its all smiles
JL: at the time with oak everyone built practice tracks in some form, and we just liked to go fast and far, so you had to pedal
JL: 45/16 was my gear of choice then, 5th gear wide open


FB: haha sick

JL: but if we had a down hill when we started oak, we would most likely have still cranked and just gone farther

FB: haha, thats how it was back then though because everyone raced anyway
FB: what year was it that you got picked up by TNT and fell in love with the stove pipes?

JL: i never rode for tnt, but i always thougth the stove pipe was cool looking since i saw one on a tnt long fellow frame. Terra had bike with stove pipe, it might of been his chrome tnt, or the teal one, it was bad ass. But I worked at sayville bike works and we had a great working relationship with tnt, and when they decided to do a dirt jumping bike (KOD) they gave me the prototype to ride and it had a stove pipe.

Fresh.

I'm pretty sure this isn't even the stovepipe frame, dude just likes life.

FB: i think most people on long island know you because of sayville (myself included) how long did you work there for before disappearing tot he unknown?

JL: I started working there when i was in tenth grade so that is about 94-99, then i went away to college and worked there summers and holidays from 99-02, then when i move to bklyn, i would work at the shop on the weekends from 02 - 06, so that 12 years of shop time
JL: Working at sayville bike works was awesome
JL: Jeff is such an amazing guy. He is a great boss, but more important a great friend and like a second father in ways, not to get all emotional and what not but he is a big infulence in my life has always had my best intrest in mind.
JL: even through he set me up with z-tec, his heart was in the right place
JL: ha ha


FB: hahaha
FB: yea, to this day the only shops i ever go to are jeff's and bird's... the atmosphere in there hasn't changed a bit.

JL: i haven't gone to birds shop, but you know bird use to work at sayville bike works

FB: bird worked at tonys forever too, and that was my local shop, so he was someone i grew up around
FB: were you a big part of all the random parts that were produced? monkey and local bars, woody cranks, the 2 eddie frames and the infamous FUF's?

JL And speaking of Bird, that dude is amazing a hugh influcence on the LI scene
JL: Ya i am guilty of some of that, the monkey bars weren't suppose to be like that,
JL: but fabweld wasn't able to do a dual radius bar, but we didn't know that until 50 pairs showed up
JL: shoe did the local bars, i was away then
JL: and the woody cranks were and big eddie frame i had a part in
JL: the frame i did the geometry, but jeff was really wanted that gnarly gusset on it
JL: which was a bit over kill, but a head tube never popped off


FB: haha yea, and it was also like 1999... i mean... i bought one...

JL: the frames were made by a place in PA, smoresbourgh, and that dude made high end stuff, so the quality was there
JL: you should ask jeff to see the prototype of that one
JL: its a monster! ha ha, It took Ron Harters help with drawings to get it to look like a bike
JL: Ron Harter does inspection at shoreham some time, he is another smart dude with his heart in the right place
JL: ron helped a bunch with the race frame, Fast Eddie
JL: which was a great race frame, in my opinion
JL: I could go on and on about the fun we had at Sayville bike works, i do miss turning wrenchs at that shop, and the amount of bmx stuff we did, but it also got me to appreciate all bicycles


FB: yeah, i have a complete fast eddie in my basement, and Ron Harter designed the race frame that Lofreddo rides now ?I'm pretty sure
FB: So where did you go when you disappeared for a while? where did you go to college, what kid of degree did you get?

JL: Ron also helped Hyper with there race frame

FB: brb i have to run down to 40th st for a minute

JL: nice
JL: i never really thought i dissappeared. I moved away from LI because i was going to school full time at Dowling college and working full time at sayville bike works, digging, riding and between all that i wasn't getting a "college" experience. I wasn't meeting new people, i was going class, making money and feeling like i wasn't getting what i was suppose to out of school. so i transfered to Suny binghamton graduated in 02 with a BA in History and a concentration in Africian Studies


FB: word... what was the deal with you running stirctly gold rims for a while... it was like your signature back when...

JL: Do you remember ross bicycles?

FB: yeah

JL: they were based on LI and had hugh warehouses, Well they called us up and found boxes of 20inch rimes, in gold, blue, and red. they were single wall rims like araya 7x but made by sumo. Sayville bike works bought almost the entire lot of them because they were 2 dollars for the pair and came with an unsealed hub that needed to be rebuilt.
JL: i would relace it onto the sealed hubs i was running, but at first i would just rebuild the hub and run them until they quit on me


FB: haha
FB: how long did they last? how many sets did you go through?

JL: well you had to keep your self smooth with single walls and they held up great until i started riding skateparks. I would go throught a pair a year
JL: my moms basement i still have 2-3 pairs
JL: of just gold


FB: haha
FB: any plans to resurrect them?

JL: no need, John Wells at Sun ringle hooked me up with the last pair of gold big city rims he had and i put them on the new bike, so its back to gold

FB: haha i defiantly saw that and didnt even notice them
FB: so since you seem to turn up in everyone from long island's top 5 riders.... who are yours? past and present

JL: yes i saw i made it on a few and wow i am floored, to be considered in a top five with jay bone, joe rich, and bf is an honor
JL: Is this just riders from LI? or in general


FB: in general

JL: past: Drew Jenkins, Keith Terra, Robbie morales, Mike Griffin, chris moller
JL: present: Keith Terra, Chase Hawk, Brad Simms, Chris Hancock, Clint Reynolds


FB: I'm pretty siked to see Hancock on that list.

JL: Dude, i can't even begin to tell you the magic of chris hancock
JL: he is urban legend status
JL: kinda like Gaska
JL: mythoical


FB: haha thats pretty believable. he can handle a bike better than most

JL: he is great ti ride with
JL: you should have scene when he won one of the ECT la rev am contest


FB: word on the street is that you do the best no footed toboggans of all time... what's your secret witht hose?

JL: oh wow, i haven't done one of those since Darren called me out at the Powers Jam
JL: i dunno really, grap the seat and dip it


Feet still on, but certainly dipped.

FB: are you gunna bring one or two out this summer at belmar?

JL: i am not jumping that belmar jump
JL: i spent about 8 years pedaling full speed at the oak park doubles like 50 times a day. i am over it
JL: but i am sure going to watch the chaos


FB: haha

JL:this years belmar is going to be wild, its the last one we are doing so you gotta go

FB: i am going
FB: i told shoemaker i would sponsor him
FB: you guys need to spread the word that it's the last one
FB: on the topic of "you guys" how long have you been at last call for now?

JL: It has been 3 years in janurary since i been working for FBM/Last Call


FB: in that time, Nice! has started up... I heard a rumor that you were a big influence on that company name... can you verify that for me?

JL: Ha ha, its a group effort, but iw ould say Chunk should get the credit
JL: he would always nice and it kinda stuck


FB: haha, i have to say, when i saw the post saying you lost your nice guy status, i was pretty upset. minutes later though, i saw that you immediatly worked your way back up and took it back.
FB: i think the only question i have left, aside from the thank you thing, is asking about your addiction to mexican candy.... where did it come from, and what qualifies as mexican candy? can it be found in places that are no mexico?

JL: let me set the scene for you...
JL: i went on the first props rock n road fools and it ended in Austin at the T1 ramp. i got to ride the ramp earlier in the day with a couple dudes before the heavy hitters showed up. I went to a little bodega by T1 to get a drink and some snacks and they had a lollipop that looked like some corn on the cob.
JL: I am all for trying new types of candy, so i picked it up and went back to the t1 ramp. Imagine sitting on the ramp and watching Joe Rich, Taj, and chase shred the ramp. while sitting there eating the best/worst candy ever.
JL: It is sweet and spice at the same time
JL: and sends your mouth into confusion
JL: the last time i got a big score of mexican candy was in bklyn on Canton ave
JL: across from the soccor fields
JL: on the weekends


FB: haha, so do you fiend for the stuff now, or just enjoy it when it comes around?

JL: right now i burned out on it. People just kept sending more and more to fbm and i went crazy eating it,
JL: Hoey gave it a go when he was up here last week


FB: so it's almost time to leave work... thank yous and such?

JL: As for thanks, i would like to thank the entire LI bmx scene of past, present, and future,

FB: cool. thanks for taking the time to do this while running the distro

Sunday, June 7, 2009

How deep do you think that water is?

I feel like if I don't post something about the weekend, I am slacking.
Well, I slacked this weekend. Rode Queens and Brooklyn a little and then jumped into the East River.

My bike is still covered in silt. It sank like a rock and it took me a few minutes to find it... I was relatively worried. Some White Power dude was there shooting photos for a book on something and I told him he should shoot some of me. Hasn't emailed me yet.

Maybe next weekend I won't slack so hard.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

That dude who had a part in Seek And Destroy... Brian Iarocci.

If you've ever seen Seek and Destroy, you know who this dude is. If you haven't seen Seek and Destroy, you should probably find it and watch it.


Panamoka last Sunday

Terra photo from Sevs.

fuckbmx: so anyway...
fuckbmx: onto that interview thing

Brian Iarocci: ok, shoot

fuckbmx: how long have you been in bmx?

BI: 20 years. I started racing at Shoreham just before I turned 9.

fuckbmx: over the years you've had alot of team changes, who did you go through, both racing and not?

BI: Ah, the sponsor list....
BI: Well, my first team was the renowned Shoreham BMX Country team. Pretty much anyone who is anyone from LI was on that team at some point. I got to wear that neon yellow and pink uniform for a few years. Then there was Cyclecraft, another team I was very happy to be a part of. Brian Foster, Keith Mulligan, Tim Strelecki were all part of that team before I got on there. All my idols, y'know. I spent 3 or 4 years with them alongside Robbie Miranda and a bunch of other talented guys.
BI: After that I was on Diamondback when they tried to revive their BMX credibility from the 80's in the late 90's. That was fun. My first real "factory" team. I got to go to a lot of places I would not have gone to without the sponsor help. I also went through more frames than they were prepared for. I even had to buy my own bike near the end. Then Standard came along. That was another team of legends I was happy to be associated with. That's also when I started having sponsors for all-around riding, not just racing.
BI: Aside from those teams, I was hooked up with UGP starting at age 11 thanks to Keith Mulligan introducing me to Ron Bonner while i was still racing Novice. I had some other sponsors along the way. Simple Shoes, Victory Records, Profile Racing, GT hooked me up with parts for a while...also Odyssey before they were considered cool.
BI: I think that's about it.
BI: There was also the Super BMX team....i wasn't on the list on the back of the jersey...i had the "other" box checked.

Reppin Shoreham colors, racing cruiser.

fuckbmx: i actually remember those jerseys...
fuckbmx: so thats a pretty long list of teams/companies to ride for, most of that was in the first 10 or so years correct? if i remember in like 98-99 you were already on standard and kinda ended your 'career' with them?

BI: I actually have it about 7 feet away. I just found it in a box and washed it.
BI: Yeah. When i dropped off the map in 2000 or so I was wrapping up riding for Standard. I was racing a lot and not doing great in A Pro/Superclass and then I hurt my knee. They stopped calling me.

fuckbmx: your knees are the thing that kind of ended you right? what's the deal with them? blown acl's or just various problems? any surgeries over the years?

BI: Three surgeries overall. I had blown my right ACL out in 1997 and came back after that. They tell me there's only 10% of my ACL left and that knee is real bad with cartilage loss and bone chips. I was told by more than one doctor it looked like the knee of a 50 year old.
BI: In 2000 i blew out my whole left ACL at Woodward. I've had that one rebuilt but it never healed well. It still blows out if i turn quickly while walking.

fuckbmx: that sucks. so that's a good reason to take it easy with BMX... so with that said, you won't be racing any pro/ams at shoreham in the future?

BI: Let's just say that I'm training a bit for Tuesday nights under the lights.

Biv's might have to watch his back if BI races Shoreham... But biv's has clips and a better looking jersey now and diamondback is a joke now.

fuckbmx: your boy loffredo from the diamond back days won it last week without the use of clip pedals too.

BI: I won't clip in. Period.

fuckbmx: do you clip in on the mountain bikes when you're out riding trails? or do you stay true to your bmx past?

BI: Flat pedals all the way. It's funny, no one called them "flats" until clips came out.

fuckbmx: haha yea, i never actually thought about that...

BI: There were caged and platforms...that's it.

fuckbmx: yea, and now there isnt even caged.
fuckbmx: so 2 more quick racing questions and then let's move on....
fuckbmx: so that year that you won the saturday pro open(1998?) at Egg Harbor that also happened to be your birthday... what happened to you on sunday? did the power hour completely take you out?

BI: That wasn't my birthday. I was just so happy to finally win a Pro race of any kind that I went and got completely drunk on Saturday night.
BI: I was hoping for a Sunday rainout.

fuckbmx: haha, im pretty sure there wasnt a cloud in the sky all weekend
fuckbmx: and now to cap off the race questions... what was the best track/race you've ever been to?

BI: I think you have the video and I've never seen it. Add that to the interview.
BI: Wow...this may take a minute.


BI: Shoreham in 1996-7; South Park, PA; Evansville, IN, Monterrey, CA at the Sea Otter Classic, and there was one year at the ABA Grands on Oklahoma that was one of the wildest tracks i think i ever raced....maybe 96 or 97...The first turn was elevated on top of those cargo containers you see stacked up in port then it had a drop-off. Just a wild track. Way better than any indoor NBL track i ever rode. I never really liked the tracks...i just always found something on each track to make it fun, at least during practice.

Check out those fork legs.

fuckbmx: word, now away from the racing a bit. you "invented" the ruben wall right correct? what year was that? are you pissed that you didnt get any credit for it?

BI: Ha. That was when we had the mini ramp at LIB. I rode it so much I would just try different stuff. I forget what year it was but Terra has the picture to prove i did it about 3-4 months before it was on the cover of RIDE.

fuckbmx: do you feel like you got jipped? you could have won the Xgames with that

BI: Ha. I was always a step behind. All the teams i was on, tricks, etc. I wouldn't have been able to do it on those X Games courses. Those ramps were huge. I did it on a 4 ft. ramp with a really close wall. Besides, that trick mixed with x-ups and turndowns would have gotten me an early ticket home.

fuckbmx: i guess so... that was before style counted...

BI: Don;t get me started on that.

factory Cycle Craft.

fuckbmx: haha alright then, how do you feel "dirt jumping" contests should be judged?

BI: I got to ride one of those big courses once or twice. I rode the Gravity Games course in Rhode Island one year and was sweating bullets just trying to roll in. I couldn't even get over the box jump. I couldn't air out the quarter to get toit.
BI: They shouldn't be judged really. Those Elevation and Empire of Dirt contests are the right way to do it. Still, it's hard to judge a double tailwhip against another double tailwhip.
BI: I think they should get one run...no practice and see who makes it to the bottom. That would really be the only way to "judge" a dirt contest.

fuckbmx: that would actually be wild. based on the redbull videos, gary young would win.
fuckbmx: you use to enter jumping contests back in the day at races, leathers and all. did your killer nac nacs ever get you up to the podium?


BI: Nope. I did a few contest when they held them on some jump on the track. I don't believe I ever won one. I gave the DK Dirt Circuit a run one year and never qualified. I remember it specifically. 13th at the Christmas Classic, 28th in Orlando, 13th at the Ohio State Fair. They took 12 to the finals each time. It's a longer story but I told Steve B. I would never enter again after that season. The judging was BS. Both times I got 13th I was doing lines that no one else was and got no credit because i didn't flip anything.

fuckbmx: so we shouldnt expect to see you making a comeback this year at the DK Dirt Circuit in Ohio, or the belmar contest?

BI: Shit, I haven't even jumped a decent size double in a while.
BI: I'd like to judge though...get on that. You have some pull.

fuckbmx: what if they built a roller pump track and held time trials? i know you've been training on your 3 mile long roller section.
fuckbmx: my only pull is drunk dials...
fuckbmx: i'll get on it tomorrow night

BI: I'm in. I've been wanting to build an entire race series based on that. DC Shoes did something like that a few years ago. I think that's the future of racing.
BI: Racing needs to get smaller or much bigger.

fuckbmx: i disagree. most kids who race and are under 20 years old would rather pedal down landings/through roller sections rather then pump.

BI: It's two different styles of racing.

clicked.

fuckbmx: how do you feel about the direction racing has gone? you kinda got out just as clips were taking over...

BI: The downhill racing was OK, but needed to be refined and slowed down to allow for passing. I never got to race those races but i watched and studied it. That's when I blew my knee out...the first DH race at Woodward. Never even got on the track.
BI: I used to not count the clipped-in guys. I'd say I won the lap even if i got beat by 2 kids in clips.
BI: A short story about that is this...in 95 or so, Ribbie Miranda and I were on Cyclecraft....He shows up in Akron, OH with these pedals where the shoes clipin. He said he used them on his messenger bike in Washington DC and that you could get all this extra power. So i put the shoes on, got on his bike, took about 5 cranks and then leaned on a fence so I could get out of the pedals. Took the shoes off, threw them back at him and said "no one will ever do this, it's sketchy."
BI: 5 years later the only chance I had of winning a lap was if some clipper unclipped after the first turn. It totally ruined BMX racing for me. Tracks got mellow and it became a test of how many pedals you could take instead of actually having to think about where and how to get extra speed.
BI: Basically, I need someone to bankroll my racing idea and I guarantee I'll have 100 people show up to race and it'll be the most entertaining thing ever. The best part is that the best rider will win.

fuckbmx: personally, i'd have my money on tom bivona.

BI: He'd be up there. No doubt about that. I spent many years racing Tom and don't think I ever passed him once he got in front of me. He's on a short list.

fuckbmx: he's got the pump technique.
fuckbmx: who are the top 5 riders, past and present, in your eyes?

BI: Wow, i'm going to blow this one for sure.
BI: Brian Foster, will possibly go down as the best overall rider ever in my eyes or anyone elses.
BI: That Corey Bohan guy makes watching a dirt contest interesting.
BI: Dave Friemuth and Jim Rienstra are a tie for some of the most amazing things i've ever seen on a ramp.
BI: Street-wise...Van Homan pretty much has burnt it to the ground.
BI: I guess for racing I'd say...I don't know. Names come to mind but I'm not sure.

fuckbmx: ok, so break it down, top 5 racers before the year 2000.

BI: Hmmm. Gary Ellis. John Purse. Randy Stumphauser. Matt Pohlkamp. Brian Foster.
BI: Don;t even ask about after 200o. I have no idea. But the best I've seen since those guys is Kyle Bennett.

fuckbmx: yeah, i figured you wouldnt know anyone current

BI: I ran into him at the NORA cup two years ago when he won and felt very proud to have grown up racing with him.

fuckbmx: yea, dude is pretty much the best/most stylish racer out there... sucks that he blew up his shoulder at the olympics
fuckbmx: so here;s the big question. your top 5 trail spots you've ever ridden.

BI: 7-11, Posh, Push, Oak Park, Drexelbrook
BI: Back in the late 90's there were not as many spots as there seem to be today.



fuckbmx: but at the same time, back then it seemed like there were so many more dudes at the trails riding...
fuckbmx: what were your 5 favorite sections to ride?

BI: Everything at Sevs. Jacuzzi to the six at Oak Park, Quali's at Posh. Drexel had a 48 pack or something like that i could ride all day. Hamburger Hill at Nam was awesome. My paradise at Panamoka.

fuckbmx: are you going to come out of paradise at panamoka and hit the rest of the trails? possibly keyko?
fuckbmx: from personal experience this past weekend, i would go keyko first, it's alot less nerve racking

BI: I don't know, really. I'm not about to put any pressure on myself. If I've learned anything from riding/not riding for this many years it's that you have to go at your own pace. I would much rather ride the small stuff all season and maybe look onward to the bigger jumps in the future than feel that I have to jump the bigger stuff and end up getting in over my head.
BI: I'm starting over and I'm not comfortable with the bigger, steep stuff. I have a lot of fun keeping my back wheel on the ground.

fuckbmx: well as long as your riding it really doesnt matter what you're hitting... it's better then a couch

BI: Exactly. If I go to the trails and have 3 or 4 good runs through the rollers and berms and my knees don't hurt or blow up. I'm a happy camper.
BI: Years ago I was having fun pushing myself and trying to be good at hitting everything. These days I'm just happy to be on the bike.

fuckbmx: yea, i hear that, bmx is just bmx in the end.
fuckbmx: so say i was going to the new shea stadium. what spot int he food court would i go to for the best meal?

BI: So far...I highly recommend Blue Smoke. It's the BBQ place by the Shake Shack behind center field. The ribs are good and the pulled pork sandwich is great. I need to get to another game and hit up Catch of the Day. The taco stand there is over-hyped but the corn on the cob there is delicious.
BI: I plan to eat everything that the specialty vendors have by the end of this season.

fuckbmx: haha nice. i think i am out of things to ask, so throw out some thank yous while i steal photos from your facebook
BI: I thank the people at Advil and pretty much everyone who I've come across over the pat 20 years while riding or working in the bike industry. For better or worse everyone has influenced me in some way. And, my dad. He took me to every race i went to for the first 5 years i was racing. If I didn't race as much when I was younger I probably wouldn't have ridden as much overall I probably wouldn't still want to ride today.

95 Grands from tom on Vimeo.


Thanks to biv's for posting this video.

fuckbmx: a dude on spins beat you
BI: Yeah. Kevin Royal.


And I stole this from Darren www.manmadeclothing.com

Monday, June 1, 2009

70's and BMX.

Fuck, trails are fun. This was my first 'real' BMX weekend this year. I can't believe it's June first. I also can't believe this is post 99 and I am still making atleast an update a week. Normally I give up on things for no reason.


Supes had a 70's party on Friday night. I RSVP'd with a "No I cannot make it" with plans to not drink a sip of the bad stuff this weekend. While I was at Penn Station to catch a train to Ronkonkama, I saw Glen Head up on the board and knew I had to go. I texted Hoey, he said he'd drive me home as long as I didn't get really shitty.... When I was changing trains at Jamaica, the dudes on the second train wouldnt let me on the peak train with my bike, so I had an hour to kill. I promptly walked to the nearest store and Joosed up.

This was the only photo I shot. Hoey ended up sending Terra in his place, Terra in formed me he was sleeping there, I got shitty fast and slept in broken glass on a pull out bed because supes smashed every bottle he could find at 5am. It was awesome.
Also, watch out for the SuperFly interview part two.... The bottom 5 people in BMX.


I have this photo saved as "sadshoe" on my harddrive. The first photo i stole from the Selden FD's website. Shoe's bike is in the top left corner of that... Everything melted off of it aside from his frame, fork, bars, cranks and axles. Fucking wild.

I gave shoe the bike I kept in the city because I don't really need 2 bikes, and also because I'm pretty positive he would do the same for anyone else. Terra hooked him up with some wheels cause mine were shot. One of the only 3 photos I shot at Keyko.

Shoreham has a pro open at locals and it is fucking stacked. That is awesome. BMX racing IS making it's come back. I stole this photo from Rich Soper before he gave me the OK. I hope him and Andy don't beat me up.

Dave blasting spine set. Panamoka is wild this year.

Hoey being Hoey.