I hit Barre Neirynck a message after I saw a few photos on Instagram,. Whats this event Barre? I don’t know much about it, it looks amazing. Barre came through with this repo, shouts to Barre and Djou Nien for helping out with photos. Nice to get a repo back here on Flatmattersonline. Enjoy this one!
TRAVEL DAY.
It all started last year when I saw some footage from a underground contest on a island thirty minutes away from the west coast of France!
Between Normandië and Bordeaux.
The vibe was so dope, that it sparked my interest to know more about this event.
The name of the island is Île d’Yeu, and is organise by Etienne Taraud and crew, the event called Oya Street Jam! With a resident population of only 5000 people, community style.
What a great week it has been out here in Abu Dhabi, for the UCI World Championships, As any of you already know, the humidity/condensation in the evening delaying the schedule on Thursday. This made Friday an action packed day with Mens Elite semi finals 12 riders down to 8, Women’s Elite finals with the final 4 females, followed by Mens Elite finals.
Intro/Questions: Effraim. Photos: Alberto Moya, Stephane Bar, Ride UK, Agency Photo, Kai Kussisto.
As we reach the final part of my Decade of Flatland article, the opinions are nicely varied. Opinions are just that, opinions (we all have one)…., we are at a healthy point in the progression of flatland where new tricks are shown almost weekly on instagram, and pretty much periodically, via video parts that are shown on the site.
For me, it doesn’t matter about your bike set up, brakes or brakeless. What matters is that your out there doing it, and living the culture of flatland and contributing something. For this final part I catch up with the boss Martti Kuoppa, Lee Musselwhite, and Jean William Prevost. All three riders, have massively contributed to the artform side of flatland, video parts, contests, and also the industry side of things too. Grab a cuppa, and enjoy this final part…
Intro/Article: Effraim. Photos: Veren Luka, Sevisual, Albero Moya, other photographers unknown.
I have had a great response to the first couple of parts to this Decade of Flatland article I have been sharing over the past of couple of weeks whether comments on the site or private messages. This week for Part 3, I catch up with Heresy rider and the man that made coin the phrase “Too good for instagram” Sebastian Grubinger, the godfather of UK Flatland, James White, and the current Women’s UCI World Champion Irina Sadovnik. It’s great and refreshing for my perspective to hear all the different viewpoints on the state of modern day flatland. Grab a cuppa, and enjoy this one!
Intro/Questions: Effraim. Photos: Pierre Gauthier, Matti Hemmings & Mizo.
Part 1 of my Decade on Flatland piece caused quite a stir amongst the flatland community. It is healthy to hear the opinions of how are art form/sport progressed over the last ten years. In my mind, it’s thought provoking, and gets you thinking about your own personal riding. In Part 2, I fire the same questions as Part 1 to X-foot pivot master Bruno Zebu, Mr Same Thing Daily himself, Dane Beardsley, and Sam Foakes, who has discarded the traditional pumping mid-trick technique for pretty much the last decade. The opinions contrast from Part 1, once again grab a cuppa and treat yourself. I am really enjoying putting these articles together, hope you enjoy reading them.
Flatland, a decade on. Where is it at? In 2008, when I was starting Flatmattersonline, I hit up a broad scope of riders from across the globe, and asked them a topical question at the time, “To scuff or not?”.
As we went into a new decade, I wondered…. in terms of styles, have we really moved on in progression over the past 10 years? I hit up some of the same riders that were involved in the first main article on the site, and also some fresh riders to get their perspective. How has their personal riding developed over the past ten years, are there still lines and tricks that they feel never get old, and stand the test of time?
How has bike technology affected their riding, riding spots and so on. Welcome to Part 1 where I reach out to the 2019 Flatmattersonline Rider of the Year, Dominik Nekolny, Pete Brandt, one of the most hardcore riders on the planet. And Matthias Dandois, winner of reader choice edit of the year and the most recognisable face in flatland in the world. Part 1 is an interesting read, you might want to grab a cuppa and give this your attention….
A decade on technically what’s different about your riding style? The tricks are obviously different, but has your approach changed?
Dominik Nekolny: Man, I just watched some footage from KOG back in 2010 – and boooooiiii I was killing it 😀 I guess my riding was little bit more technical and “jumpy” which I actually miss a bit…
Pete Brandt: My approach has changed with some tricks and techniques, but the commitment of exerting a trick is a lot still the same. I love the feeling of full commitment on the approach, and throughout the the trick.
Matthias Dandois: I only do things that look good and feel good. I film all the new tricks I learn, and if they don’t look good enough to me I just put them in the trash can. Even if it’s contest winning trick.So I guess I got less technical but more flowy. Works for me!
Describe your riding ten years ago?
Dominik Nekolny: My riding now? I love it! 🙂 I come up with some style and links which nobody did in the contest and I spend a lot of time to make those links dialled as fuck, so what you want more. :D.
Pete Brandt: Lots of spinning and turbine styles.
Matthias Dandois: My riding 10 years ago was more technical, less aesthetic. More trick based. Contest winning tricks.
Wednesday and Thursday, the last full days of my trip out here to San Francisco. I missed the last few days updating the diary of my trip so f-it. You get a double day update in one post, Monday was by far my most productive day of the trip so far. Getting two clips really got me in the mood to capture my riding again, and on Wednesday I got another two clips! This trip has, despite my knee injury been the best yet.
Pete as always was in attack mode, right from the off at the Clocktower murdering the spot whether it was dialled lines, or brand new stuff. Because of his level of consistency, he’s able to have brand new tricks dialled almost instantly, it’s quite amazing to see in person and understand the process of how that happens.
Intro: Effraim. Interview: Effraim & Pete Brandt. Photos: Tim Treacy.
Welcome to Episode 3 of Flat Snitches, an educational resource on the history of trick inventions in flatland. We have a very special guest for our third episode, Ladies and Gentlemen… Tim Treacy from San Francisco! Tim was one of the first pioneers of the scuffing technique in flatland in the 1980’s. San Francisco was a hot bed of creative talent back in the day at Golden Gate Park that are now legendary in flatland circles and via coverage in Freestylin’ inspired riders across the globe.
Have you ever done a backyard? Maybe a two footed rolling backyard in the modern era? Were you ever curious. Where did this trick come from?
Episode 3 focuses on the Backyard, myself and Pete Brandt dig beneath the surface of this trick and interview the man behind this staple move in flatland. It’s time for the interview!
Four months of hard work finally paid off on Saturday at Sport Zone. The larger room and new floor was perfect! Three riders could ride at the same time and we definitely needed the extra space as there were 36 riders from 5 countries at the event. It was a combined contest, the Hungarian Championships in collaboration with Bringasport (Hungarian Cycle Federation) and the Veres Verseny 2019.
The finals day at the UCI World Championships was a great day for flatland. The day started with Women’s flat and four riders knuckled down and give it their all, Irina Sadovnik was battling a knee injury and with the help of Trish and her medical skills she was able to ride. Sometimes when you are faced with a physical obstacle such as an injury your focus is heightened. The injuries were stacking up in China and kind of became one of the main topics of everyones discussions during the two week trip.
Lionel Cardoso on the MIC duties, and David on the decks. props to these guys who killed it throughout the series and the two weeks in China!
