Chad DeGroot – Christmas Day Bridge Ride

Chad DeGroot explains this one:
“We figured Xmas eve morning would be a great time, slow, and easy to film with the sun starting to come up and the fishing buddies slowly piling up with bobbers and gear while we filmed some flatland on a famous historic bridge. Brian Stump hit me up about this but we have different schedules that it was a trick to make this happen. This spot is so famous and it was awesome to finally work this out…plus the trains were flying by non stop to add some extras to the video…here is what is up with the bridge:

Lake Monroe Bridge was originally built between 1932 and 1933 as a replacement for a wooden bridge (tolled until 1926) that was manually operated. It was a Warren-Truss Swing bridge, fabricated by Ingall’s Iron Works of Birmingham, Alabama, the swing gear was manufactured by Earle Gear and Machine Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was erected by W.W. White of St. Petersburg, Florida. The contracting company for the Florida State Road Department was Kreis Contracting Company of Knoxville, Tennessee.[1]

Construction of the bridge provided economic relief to the region during the peak of the Great Depression, and the tourism it facilitated provided further relief after that period. When Interstate 4 was built in the late-1960s along with the original version of the nearby St. Johns River Veterans Memorial Bridge, it provided temporary relief for the Lake Monroe Bridge, which proved to be crucial after the opening of Walt Disney World southwest of Orlando. Unfortunately in the latter portion of the 20th Century, the bridge proved to be inadequate to handle more modern traffic. In 1994, the bridge was replaced by the Bill Benedict Bridge a much higher concrete slab bridge that has four lanes, and was built between this and a CSX Railroaddrawbridge that originally served the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The remnants of the bridge can now be found in Lake Monroe Wayside Park along US 17-92 in Sanford, and now survives as a fishing pier and overlook…and great FLATLAND riding spot.”

St Martin Team Changes for 2016!

Big moves over at St Martin, Alain Massabova has taken over the running of french brand, St Martin and has begun his take over with some high profile additions to the team, and I hear more will follow. For now, read the press release below:

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“Saint Martin, the french BMX brand known since 2004 in the Flatland game, has given a new breath. Since the 4th of December 2015, St Martin is owned by MASSABOVA B. company held by Alain Massabova, rider since 1986, shop manager (La Crémerie, Nomadeshop) and media publisher (Cream, Flat Kings, A.R.T BMX), helped by his brother Manu, rider and webmaster (Agoride, The Rider Post), who is part of the brand since the beginning. The aim is to boost the French BMX brand but also to continue developing and supporting Flatland worldwide.
A new production of BMX parts will be available for spring 2016 with a line representing France, especially Paris, called “Metro”.

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The range will keep the sure asset of the brand, at the forefront of the innovation while following the trend of modern flatland. While waiting for a new production, some t-shirts will be available in January 2016.
The team rider will also be a new force for this iconic brand. The Pro team will be composed of top riders Owen Bohn (Argentina) and Alexandre Jumelin (France).
A Legend team composed of the flatland masters Chase Gouin (Canada) and Jesse Puente (USA). They will also be riders and designers of the brand. A range of products designed by Chase will be available in autumn.
St Martin will continue supporting riders with a flow team (Jason Forde, Taka, Miguel Tardio and many more) which will represent the brand worldwide.
The social media manager is none other than Luis Elías Benavides (Costa Rica).
A new website will be online the 15th of January to announce the new production and so much more…

Meanwhile, may the force be with you and merry Christmas!
www.stmartinbmx.com
The international distribution doesn’t change but you can contact us : info@stmartinbmx.com