Editorial: 4 years of Flatmatters!

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Effraim — 24 Comments ↓

Editorial: Effraim.

“It’s a full time job that you don’t get paid for basically” Anthony Buglio at FlatWeb TV said recently during a recent Skype conversation with me for an up and coming Interview. It summed up my commitment very simply. Flatmatters started 4 years as a blogspot site to gain a creative outlet that I felt I lost even before the FM page in UK Ride was dropped.

Today, Wednesday November 28th. 4 years on, the sport/artform has changed a lot. Edits were not as commonplace as they are now. By and large “content” it is a lot easier to come by now daily, riders know they have a place to showcase their work, not just FM but many other sites. This week as we hit the 4 year mark, I am consumed with a mixture of emotion. last year was a great year for me riding wise, producing around 30 progressive videos. This year due to injury after injury, currently nursing a back injury, I am bummed I haven’t been able to create what I wanted to. So my apologises to all those that have “Hey Effraim, wheres the 4 year edit?”, my answer in the positive form is good things come to those that wait, for now how about a repost of my 3 year edit?….

2012 has been I think the best year for flatland since I started Flatmatters in 2008, I am in the process of reviewing the year and believe me the selection process is tougher than ever before. Every week it seemed an amazing edit dropped, that made me think wow this is a must watch edit for people!

So whats in store for the 4 year anniversary, well…

As well you will already know, Fat Tony kindly contributed the Behind the Scenes scoop on the 2013 flatland calendar. The Shuichi Osada interview dropped yesterday. Today I am publishing Part 1 of the “The riders perspective on 2012”, Part 1 of the Viki Gomez interview drops Friday, theres also a big John Yull Interview dropping, so plenty to look forward, not to mention, maybe a surprise edit here and there….
So it’s somewhat forced, rather than this being about me, although one of more ideas all along was to have a whole bunch of varied exclusive content drop over the next fortnight or so, as a celebration of 4 years. Rather than just one day.
Last but not least, thank you to all the riders that have supported flatmatters over the last 4 years. The original intention was for FM to be a source of motivation for riders worldwide. And I am proud to say I feel like it has more than done that.
The question really is, whats next?

Leave us a comment and let me know what you think.

Flatmatters

Effraim Catlow

The Shuichi Osada interview!!

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Effraim — 9 Comments ↓

Intro: Effraim.
Interview: Effraim & Takuji Kasahara.
Translation: Takuji Kasahara.
Photos: Takuji Kasahara.

So Day 2 of the Flatmatters 4 years anniversary, and today an interview with one of my favourite current riders, Shuichi Osada!
The task of interviewing someone you quickly realise you know nothing about is an interesting puzzle to start with, you could say well thats everything to learn, but in reality where do you start? The following interview with Shuichi Osada is the result of a few months going back and forth with my friend Takuiji Kasahara in order to find out more about a rider I admire so much.
In 2011 as I looked through in access of 2,000 flatland videos. Shuichi’s riding stood out like a breath of fresh air. I had to know more about him, so I sent a few questions, and asked Takuji to chip in with a few questions that would help the flatland world know more about this amazing rider.
Thank you Takuji and Shuichi for putting the time into making this happen.
I’m really stoked what Shuichi has to say about his combos, and the concepts behind them. Hopefully you learn a lil’ something about this japanese shredder! I cannot wait to see his part on the new Zai DVD! Read on…

Firstly introductions, your age, how long riding, whereabouts in Japan are you from?
Shuichi Osada, 29 years of age, been riding 12 years is from Kisarazu, Chiba.

How did you get into flatland riding?
Back in the days when I was seventeen, X Games was big here and flatland got featured on magazines often that’s what got me into flatland. There was not much information about the bikes and I knew nothing about BMX so I bought my first BMX was for street and I was practicing flatland on it at first.

How is the riding scene where you live?
Not many riders and riding spots here, not so good.

Has the riding scene got bigger since you started riding where you live?
The scene was bigger when I started riding, since then it had been getting smaller and smaller and it hasn’t changed past five years.

Tell us about your new company, Buoyancy, what does the name mean? What’s the company all about?
I wanted to name my company something related with fishing. Of course I’ll produce BMX parts other than that, hoping to organize enjoyable contests or events for riders.

Do you have any riders representing Buoyancy?
Takumi Matsumoto, Takuji Kasahara, Naoki Watanabe, Yorimitsu Miyata, Shinichi Kiba (Russia), Hiroki Iwata (Tang meng) and myself.

Are you only selling Buoyancy in Japan, or will your products be available worldwide?
So far it’s only handlebars and basically available only in Japan, but if there is a demand for the products hopefully it will be available internationally.

Your riding really catches the eye, tell me about your riding style, what’s your vision for flatland?
The originality and riding-styles are very important things in flatland and that is what has been attractive to me. In the past few years I’ve been working on switches with swinging a frame and pivoting on the pegs at the same time because I wanted to create switches which is impossible to do with back wheel tricks.
The contest and the result are given a huge weight in current flatland scene in general and riders take difficulty in the first place, due to this, a lot of simple and cool tricks or unique tricks have been slept in our mind so I want to enjoy flatland with free thought.

Are you into contest riding, or more about pushing yourself outside of the contest environment? You compete as an Expert rider right?
I’m not a good contest rider. It’s hard to get a motivation for the constancy, also I get nervous at a contest. I normally ride without caring about a contest. I compete as a pro.

What inspires your riding?
My favourite riders and music.

What do you do besides riding?
I like fishing and lately been into candle making.

What if anything provided the hook to keep you riding flatland?
It’s like a cycle of that the images on my mind get realized then new images/ideas derived from it, this continues endlessly. I’m not the kind of riders who pick up tricks instantly, all my difficult tricks hasn’t come up suddenly, those came slowly from passing through the repetition of the cycle. I feel I’m enjoying flatland more than ever because I have a special feeling towards on my tricks and new ideas on my mind. Even though I’m getting aged and suffering from chronic pain on my body but it’s still ridable so I will continue to ride for a while.

What in your eyes is a pro rider?
The riders who compete pro class that doesn’t mean they are pros. Pro rider is who earns money from riding and makes living off from doing something related with BMX. But in my opinion, doing demos/shows are different it doesn’t require high skills or it requires different skills I say. They are making money as performers. The definition of the pro flatland rider is a rider who makes whose living from the income from sponsors or making money from making parts or other BMX related things.

Who are your favourite riders in japan?
It’s too many to list though. I like riders who has originality and own style or silhouette on their riding. Takumi Matsumoto, Takuji Kasahara, Naoki Watanabe, Yorimistu Miyata, Shinichi Kiba, Hiroki Iwata. I asked to them to use my handle bars because I like their riding. I also like Takuma Kawamura and Hirokazu Miura and Yosuke Shibuya.

Tell me about your bike set up? What are you running besides the Buoyancy bars?
Frame: St.martin FOOT JAM 18.8″
Fork: Magic Fruits Straw V2 Fork
Bar: Buoyancy
Stem: Camacura makuross stem 35mm
Headset: FSA Impact
Crank: Profile mg crank
BB set: ARESTIC SPANISH BB
Sprocket: Magic Fruits Jellyfish V3 25T
Pedal: Primo balance Mag pedal
Seat: We the People Bel Air Pivotal(short)
Post: S&M Bikes_Long Johnson Pivotal Post
F Peg: Hommage P38
R Peg: Hommage P38
F Hub: Nankai 500AFS
R Hub: Nankai 9T
F Rim: Odyssey 7KA (36H)
R Rim: Sun Rhyno Lite
F Tyre: Ares A-Class 1.90
R Tyre: KHE Mac 1.5
Grip: Deco logo grip
Bar end: Odyssey Par End
Grip Stop: Hommage ring grip

Who are your favourite riders worldwide?
Martti Kuoppa and Stephane Royer and others.

What kind of music are you into?
I like instrumental rock bands such as “Soft” and “Special others” and others. I’m choosing the songs according to my mood of the moment while I’m riding.

Interesting concept (about your riding style), do you see yourself ever riding back wheel as well? It seems like in japan, riders are either front wheel or back wheel? Why do you think that is?
Even if I try back wheel tricks it’s going to be just the moves using my front wheel skills, that is a deterioration in the quality of my front tricks. In the other words, it’s possible to create new front moves with taking new ideas from back wheel tricks done by others, so I don’t think I will try back wheel.
Like you said, you see a lot of riders here in Japan limit ourselves either front wheel or back wheel, I think it’s because of the bike setting. It’s simply the best bike setting for front and back is far different. Also I think originality and style are important things in Flatland so delving deeply into single subject is more suitable for flatland, rather than being just a jack of all trades or master of none.

Do you have a winter spot for riding?
It doesn’t snow often in my town. It won’t be a big problem although daylight hours gets shorter and my night riding spot isn’t so good and I have my knee and elbow pain. I take it slow and I’m thinking to go to the gym to fix my body in this winter.

Do you put a concept on your combo? If so please explain how’s it like.
Yes, I put a concept on my combo.
My combos I created a while ago was inspired by Yammar’s tricks. I was impressed with his smooth combos which is linking a few tricks without loosing a momentum. It’s not interesting if I do same things as what he was doing so I came up with the idea which is linking many tricks by using pivots with a good tempo to make it looks like one single trick.
I thought if I could do that it would be greater. And these days, I like laid-back style music and clothes and been thinking if I could express these kind of styles on my riding. So I’ve been working on around the world style tricks with pivots these days. They are still in the works and need some time to combo them up although I think I can show it to you next year.

Getting towards final questions. Any plans for the new products?
Yes, I have plans to produce products other than handlebars. For instance rail-seats, these days the pivotal seat is the standard and it became hard to find rail-seats even a lot of front wheel riders still prefer to use it.  

Sponsors:
Hommage &  Buoyancy.

Last words?
I’ll keep on riding and do my best for my brand at my own pace.  

https://www.flatmattersonline.com/shuichi-osada-starts-buoyancy

https://www.flatmattersonline.com/syuichi-osada-edits

https://www.flatmattersonline.com/shuichi-osada-shreds

Behind The Scenes – 2013 Flatland Calendar Presented by DK Bicycles (Part 2)

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Effraim — Leave comments ↓

Text and photos by Fat Tony.

Last week we showed you seven photos from the making of the newest flatland calendar, and this week we have six more for you including Terry Adams, Jean-Francois Boulianne, and Yohei Uchino!

As always, the 2013 Flatland Calendar presented by DK Bicycles is FREE with all orders placed with flatlandfuel.com, so go get yours now!

Alex Jumelin – Las Vegas, Nevada
As empty as this road seems, we still had to break for cars pretty often. If you recall in Alex’s Freegun edit (https://www.flatmattersonline.com/must-watch-alex-jumelin-welcome-to-freegun-edit), there were a few cars that passed by before he pulled the combo at this spot. When shooting the video I had my camera on a tripod at the edge of the road, so I didn’t have to move when cars came. However, when shooting the photo for the Saint Martin page of the calendar, I had a flash on a light stand on the road, and I was lying in the middle of the road as well. Luckily Alex’s friend Michael from She Is Christine (who performed the music in the video) was with us, so he helped watch for cars and helped move the flash out of the way when they were approaching.

Dane Beardsley – Austin, Texas
Dane Beardsley typically only likes to shoot photos at locations were he would actually session, so while shooting the cover of the calendar for DK Bicycles with Dane we went to this tennis court where he used to ride when he lived in Austin for a while. The sun was going down and we were losing daylight fast, so instead of using the sunset as an obstacle to overcome, I used it to my advantage to get a really cool backlit light orb effect. I laid down in the grass to get some greenery in the foreground, and when the sun was at just the right spot and about to set I got the shot I was going for.

Eric Wright – Long Beach, California
I passed off my iPhone 5 to Eric Wright’s wife Sam while I was shooting him and asked her to snap a few pictures for a behind the scenes look at our shoot at the infamous Globe spot in Long Beach. So if you’ve ever wondered what goes into getting a flatland photo, this gives you a pretty good look at what it’s like for me to get the shot!

Jean-Francois Boulianne – Austin, Texas
JFB is always full of energy, and always super fun to be around. When Flatware agreed to sponsor the calendar I was really stoked to get JF in there this year. During the Texas Toast pre-jam at the OG Garage in Austin I set up my flashes in a back corner while everyone was sessioning and made the photo as dark as possible so the image didn’t give away where we were. Thanks to JF’s red shirt and blue jeans there was just enough color present that with the right lighting it made for a really interesting photo of one of his signature tricks.

Terry Adams – Hammond, Louisiana
Terry Adams is known for riding and shooting in some pretty wild locations, but every once in a while it’s cool to capture a rider in his natural habitat as well. One day when I was in Terry’s hometown we went to film a video at his “oak tree spot” on the SLU college campus, and after we were finished filming I snapped a few photos. One photo was shot with a fisheye and was used for a Dan’s Comp ad, and the other photo of a brakeless decade landed on the Freegun Underwear page of the calendar.

Yohei Uchino – Joplin, Missouri
I’ve been to Joplin, Missouri for the JoMoPro contest for the past five years in a row, and I tried to shoot a flatland photo somewhere around the town at least three of those years prior to this one. After coming up very empty handed and making do with some less-than-desirable situations in the past I finally decided to shoot what was right in front of me the whole time—inside the Foundry music venue where the flatland contest takes place. This year Ucchie was in town from Japan so I asked him to arrive at the venue at about 9:00am the day of the contest before the venue opened so we could shoot a photo. Jet-lagged and tired, he showed up and made it happen, then went on to win the contest later that night.

Behind The Scenes – 2013 Flatland Calendar Presented by DK Bicycles (Part 1)

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Effraim — Leave comments ↓

Text and photos by Fat Tony.

Every photo has a story behind it, and to help shed some light on what went into the fifth annual Flatland Calendar, I wanted to share some of those photos and stories that were created while working on the project this year. From Adam Kun in his home country of Hungary to three crazy Canadians in the Southern United States, here are seven behind the scenes photos…

As always, the 2013 Flatland Calendar presented by DK Bicycles is FREE with all orders placed with flatlandfuel.com, so go get yours now!

Adam Kun – Budapest, Hungary
I traveled around Europe for about five weeks this summer, and on the very last day of my trip I had plans to meet up with Adam Kun in Budapest, Hungary to shoot a photo. About a half an hour before we met up I was out street riding and wanted to try a gap over a trashcan. While doing a warm up run for the gap I crashed into a metal light pole and messed up my ankle, wrist, and knee pretty bad. By the time I met Adam at the city’s most iconic riding spot (Hero’s Square) the pain was really setting in. I couldn’t even hold the camera on my own, so I mounted it on a tripod to shoot the photo. Once we were done shooting I was in so much pain I could barely stand it and had to leave as quickly as possible. Even though my entire body was in pain, we managed to get a sick shot, and Monster Energy stepped up to the plate and sponsored the calendar so the photo could get a proper home.

Alex Jumelin – Las Vegas, Nevada
If you remember Alex Jumelin’s Freegun video from a few months ago (https://www.flatmattersonline.com/must-watch-alex-jumelin-welcome-to-freegun-edit), then this scene is probably pretty familiar. The day before Alex got into town I drove around Las Vegas and the surrounding dessert area for about seven hours looking for spots to film and to shoot photos, and this freeway service road about 20 miles from the strip made for a really dope spot. We filmed a solid combo here for the edit and shot Alex’s photo for the Saint Martin page in the calendar.

Chad Johnston – Long Beach, California
This spot in Downtown Long Beach is just a few blocks from both my house and Chad’s house. It’s a really popular street riding spot, but on this sunny So Cal day Chad put it to good use for his photo on the Primo page of the calendar. The view here is looking straight down Long Beach Blvd. from the Performing Arts Center on Ocean Blvd. This is LBC at it’s best!

Dane Beardsley – Austin, Texas
After DK Bicycles agreed to be the title sponsor of the calendar I was excited to find out that Dane Beardsley was going to be in Austin for the Texas Toast contest and I’d get to shoot with him there for the cover and poster. The sun was quickly setting, so we were racing against clock to shoot the cover at a tennis court that he likes to ride at. This was the first trick we shot, but neither of us were that into it. After looking at the image on the back of my camera for a bit Dane decided to try another trick, and that other one is the one that eventually landed on the cover.

Dane Beardsley – Austin, Texas
On the way to the tennis court where Dane and I shot the cover photo he pointed out a big ditch that he thought could be good for a photo. I barely caught a glimpse of the spot out of the corner of my eye as we passed it, but I saw the water puddles and immediately knew exactly what kind of photo I could get there. After Dane and I shot the cover the sun was already gone, but we still had just enough light left for one last photo. We had to move fast and squeeze through a hole in one fence and hop another before going down a super steep bank into the ditch. Then Dane had to quickly sweep some debris out of the way while I set up my flashes—one of which was standing in water. I also had to walk through and stand in water to shoot the photo, but in the end it worked out exactly how I had planned and we got a great reflection photo that was perfect for the DK Bicycles poster.

Eric Wright – Long Beach, California
The Globe in Long Beach’s Rainbow Harbor has seen countless flatland riders come and go over the years, and Innertwine Clothing’s Eric Wright is one of them that’s sessioned there more than a few times. Even though the spot is only about a mile from my house, I’ve never actually shot a photo there, so when it came time to shoot with Eric I put aside my desires to stay away from what is considered cliché’ and snapped a picture-perfect fisheye shot of Eric doing Alex Jumelin’s signature one-footed pumping cliffhanger. From this angle you can see exactly how I had my three flashes set up for the shot.

Team Pralex – New Orleans, Louisiana
If you follow flatlanders on Twitter, then you probably know that Prasheel Gopal likes to fake re-Tweet things. Sometimes it’s funny, other times it’s crossing the line, and sometimes it gets him exactly what he wants. That was the case when he fake re-Tweeted me saying that I was going to shoot with Team Pralex at Voodoo Jam for the calendar. It was pretty funny at the time, but once the idea was in my head, I actually thought it would be kind of rad to get the three guys (Prasheel Gopal, Alex Poirier, and Mark Kuhlmann) all in one photo together. I didn’t know how well it would work out, or if would be possible at all, but I wanted to give it a shot anyway. During the Voodoo Jam pre-jam I took the trio to the New Orleans Lakefront for a nice clean backdrop showing just a moody sky and the calm lake. I set up one flash pointing at each rider, and after a couple dozen attempts, all three riders managed to choreograph and time their tricks properly and the mission was a success.

 Thanks to Fat Tony for exclusively showing the behind the scenes calendar shoot here on FM! Part 2 next week.

Get your calendar from: http://www.flatlandfuel.com

Repo: King of Southsea

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Effraim — 10 Comments ↓

Text: Effraim
Photos: Adwin Wing

Youngest competitor of the day, Richie Spencer.

Winner of the pro class, Sam Foakes, backpacker switch.

As with any event outdoors in the UK, the threat of rain rears it’s ugly head everytime, nothing is a given. With bright sunshine/or at least dry right up until the thursday since the olympics, of course sod’s law reared it’s ugly head. The forecast was terrible from the friday onwards, straight rain for 4-5 days, in summer!
This was the third year for the King of Southsea event, and by far the best year in terms for attending visiting riders, this year saw Prasheel Gopal make the trip from Toronto, Moya from Madrid, Navid Saleki who’s from Sweden but lives in Holland, Romain Georges, Thomas Legrand, Jean Michel Chauvel, and friends make the trip from Caen, France. The days leading up to the event there was such a good vibe, all you can do is keep fingers crossed for the event.
Prasheel and Moya both arrived on Thursday, we had a nice evening session, before the forecast rain hit on friday, which meant the traditional late night friday session didn’t happen, instead drinking did, Cunners stealing the friday show with the line of the weekend “Flatlanders are the worst thing about flatland”, so many good times throughout the bank holiday weekend, and like Prasheel said more than once, these are the best parts that you can’t get online, but thats another story, aoosssstttt….

After hanging out with Prasheel Gopal for close to a week, i came to the conclusion that flatland needs more people like him, the man made the effort to come here all the way from Toronto, immediately embraced the culture, got involved in the banter, and after a day I truly felt like he was part of the UK scene. He works a 9-5 job, and arranges his holiday time carefully so he can support the events he likes, in the words of the man himself “brilliant”.
We talked a lot about events, and how watching it at home, just isn’t the same. Based off this weekend alone, I would have to agree with him. The comradery between everyone, is something I won’t forget in a long time.

Low v-necks, Expert winner Prasheel Gopal, made the step up to pro, killing it for 4th place tie with Steve Green. Brilliant!

On the Saturday morning I was in the rink for 8am drying the area ready for 10pm opening, and short heavy shower put rest to those plans at 9am, and I feared the worst. By 930 it was beginning to look better, and sure enough stayed dry all day until 6. Which considering the forecast was amazing, the downside is I’m sure the forecast did put a few people off, so firstly big ups and respect to everyone who came and supported this years event, especially the overseas riders that really means a lot!

The Novice class were up first, and due to the nature of King of Southsea, both am and pro park riders entered flatland to get points for the overall. Ten Riders in the contest, not bad for novice in the UK. Declan Brooks I don’t think ever rides flatland at all, and did a really nice long carved vadar to half cab 180 bar with ease. His face when I announced he was the winner of the Novice class was a picture I won’t ever forget, Declan ended up winning Pro Spine, Highest air in Keyhole, Pro Street, Best trick on Plaza and the King of Southsea title, at 15 years old this kid is the real deal, and speaks volumes he is so natural on flatground. Tom Brace rode his yellow happy place to second place, with smooth backwards half hikers, I don’t recall seeing Tom ride before, so I was stoked to see a fresh face in the mix. Matt Spencer made the trip down to Southsea fresh back from a flatland trip to the Czech Republic, and brought his son along to, who entered the contest, his son got one of the loudest cheers of the Novice class for his can openers. His dad wasn’t to bad either and scored a third place finish for his smooth steamrollers.
Panty dropper, Ronnie Surridge had been trying to get decades back all week ready for the flatland contest, and I didn’t see him land one until his run, first go, hanging on for dear life! One of my favourite moments of the weekend! The small crowd we had appreciated it, Ronnie was stoked! Southsea was warming up nicely!

King of the banter, Cunners.

Expert class up next, and after much deliberation with Prasheel Gopal, he had to win the Expert class to turn Pro, “let’s do it proper”, the man delivered and was definitely a cut above the other am riders on this day. Especially digging his jumplash to plasticman! He is in the process of making a highlights video of his riding from the contest so I’ll leave the rest till you see that. Jean Michel Chauvel rode smooth as you like for second place, really nice mix of old school/mid school, half cab to pedalling wheelie to hang 5 for example. TGM Maz has improved his consistency a lot with all the show riding he is doing the past few years for Team Extreme, nailing a smooth steam to hitch, spinning lawns, and snapping out of his boomerangs with nuff style. Thomas Legrand was uber close to a podium spot, nailing some unique ride in, ride outs, great to have support at King of Southsea each year from the French guys, merci! Yinka Thomas, Cunners aka King of the banter! and Edwin Wing rounded out the Expert class. Really good level from the Experts, I hope this continues.

Messiah turbines from Steve Green on the way to tie for 4th with Prasheel Gopal.

The Pro class was up next, a real air of expectation in the air with Sam Foakes competing again, even the park riders stopped to watch him! That normally doesn’t happen, after a shaky start on a hang 5 which he waved off laughing, if you watched the first run edit you will have been amazed like me of how he translated his “no pumping style” to the contest arena after 4 years out of the limelight. Just amazing. First place was easily his.
Second place all the way from Northern France, one of the most underrated riders on the euro scene in my opinion, Romain Georges does not mess around, and goes for the hard shit! Which I respect a lot, during the first run, he hit a really nice xft no handed guillotine to crackpacker to steam 3 bar flip steam opposite pedal rideout, so so good! Keep an eye for his guy!
Alberto Moya nailed a nice steam jump to cliff, amongst some really unique forward karl 360 to steam variations for third place. Aoosstttttt….

Amos Burke, two footed backyard.

Moya, one foot halfpacker, 3rd place in Pro.

Steve Green and Prasheel Gopal tied for fourth place, just missing the podium. Steve laced together a huge steamroller to right arm halfpacker turbine juggle to leftside halfpacker backpacker round the back to halfpacker, kept going till he fell, that was awesome to see. Prasheel went for harder stuff on his Pro but, lacing a nice hitch juggler steam jump to crackpacker juggle hitch steam pivot rideout! The man that loves all things English was stoked and ready for the pub!
As I already said Navid Saleki made the trip from Holland, and impressed with his originality. Loved his crackpacker jump to mega spin! 6th place for the flatlander/model from Sweden, couldn’t resist saying that, sorry Navid hahaha.
Norbert Onodi is a regular at UK events, and rode well on this day. Hitting a smooth rolaid in his second run.
This was Lee Wilson’s first contest in two years, and he had a bit of bad luck with bike problems, i’m pretty sure he will be back on the contest scene soon, he did hit a smooth xft karl pivot steam combo with the usual Lee Wilson signature buttery.
Amos Burke rounded out the Pro Class, on this day he had a tough time. But was great to see after all these years in the game, Amos was going for hard shit, much respect due!

Midst crackpacker mega spin switch, Navid Saleki.

The underlying memory I took out of this weekend was the friendship, the unspoken language of flatland. Meeting riders from other countries and immediately having that bond, the vibe was competitive at all, just awesome laid-back times in Southsea! Thank you to everyone one more time for their support, Thanks to all the sponsors who helped out, Flat Squirrel, DeepBMX, Flatware, Jay Gear, Stance, Hybition, Emer clothing, Volunteers, Judges and lastly thanks to Sam Foakes for paying for the trophies and medals! Congrats to all the winners, full results below!

I’m leaving for Japan right now, its 3:20am Wednesday morning.

Keep an eye on the site, for updates, live tweets, inside scoops, whatever I can get my hands on!

Novice Flat.
Declan Brooks
Tom Brace
Matt Spencer
Ronnie Surridge
Shane Dixon
Richie Spencer
Jake Miles
Morgan Glave
Troy Heywood
Sam Venton

Expert Flat.
Prasheel Gopal
Jean Michel Chauvel
TGM Maz
Thomas Legrand
Yinka Thomas
Mark Cunners
Edwin Wing

Pro Flat.
Sam Foakes
Romain Georges
Alberto Moya
Tie- Steve Green
Prasheel Gopal
Navid Saleki
Norbert Onodi
Lee Wilson
Amos Burke

Keisuke Tanigawa Interview!

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Effraim — 15 Comments ↓

Intro: Effraim
Interview: Effraim
Photos: Keisuke Tanigawa
Translation: Gunter Mats

Style. Substance. Two words I think of when I think of Keisuke Tanagawa. Over the past year or so, Keisuke’s one clip videos and edits have really stood out to me, and he quickly became one of my favourite riders. This man is destined for great things if he wants it! I was curious to know more about him, putting this interview together was not an easy task. At which point I must thanks Gunter Mats for helping translate my words to Keisuke, and then translating his answers for you all to read. I hope you learn something you didn’t know about one of the most stylish riders on the planet.

Firstly, tell us all about yourself please! Where are you from? How long riding? How old are you?
I’m from Oita, Japan, which is in the countryside in Kyushu island. I’ve been riding for 11 years, since I was 15. I was born in 1986, and I am 26 years old.

What got you into flatland riding?
When I was 15 years old, I read a skateboard magazine, “Ollie” and I fell in love with BMX. At that time, Ollie has a how-to BMX column every month, and I saw Enoyoung on it. I think that he did a how-to junkyard and hitchhiker. I was so amazed like “It’s impossible!!” and enthralled by BMX. A bike which I bought first by my allowance was Opera by York Fellow. After I rode it for about 3 months, I noticed that the pedal rotated during a megaspin. So I changed my bike to Flower with a freecoaster.

How is your local riding scene? Many people to ride with?
My local scene is not so big. I always ride with about 3 riders.  About 15 riders are at my local. However, they ride not for contest such as KOG but for fun. I ride at the place with a roof which is often shown on my videos, 4 days per week, 2-3 hours per day.

When you started riding, did you go immediately into the japanese contest scene, or was a lil’ time riding on your own getting ready before it?
I begun to become conscious of contests after some years since I started BMX. I went to KOG in Fukushikma alone, and was really surprised and shocked beyond words for seeing Martti, Viki, Alex, who came to Japan at that time and Moto, who is same age as me.  Over 100 riders were at the contest, but I knew none of them and everyone has great skills. I felt like getting out from the contest because of anxiety and my powerlessness. I started to practice hard since it, and I got second place of expert class at the next KOG in Kobe. Then, I seriously got to aim to become a KOG prorider.

Who are you sponsored by?
ARESBYKES/Kagoshima FunRide.

Tell me why you think flatland is so big in japan?
I’m sure that the following riders have founded Japanese BMX scene.  York Uno/Takashi Ito/Hiroya Morisaki/Roiji Yamamoto/Akira Okamura/KotaroTanaka…
I think, however, that more riders also have. When I started BMX, they were outstanding and big goals; ”I want to become like them,” or “I want to ride better than them. “ Since then the generation changed and the scene becomes one of now. Japanese riders has played active parts in overseas before I started BMX! Moreover, they fought in overseas with ARESBYKES on their back and  foreign skilled riders also rode ARESBYKES… They are real “samurai” (haha) It’s quite natural that the next generation became enthusiastic!! We are really blessed.

Growing up who were you inspired by, and who are you inspired by these days as a pro rider?
I was influenced by Mr. Phil Dran. (Dolan?)  I was shocked to see the video that he scuffed with both feet and controlled his bike effortlessly.
Recently I was inspired by KGB. I got big influence by their mission to pursue hard tricks thoroughly.
Especially, their switches with brakes are the best now. I don’t copy them, but pursue other possibility every day. Switches with brakes are of great depth…

Do you work for a living?
Yes.  I work normally.

For me you have one the best styles in flatland. Are you concerned with style or is it something that came to you naturally?
I always ride with ideas.  I do different combos, most of which are ad-lib every day.  Because I hate to practice same combos again and again, I practice combos made by my feelings of the days.
I make one flow by combining short combos like puzzle, so I don’t remember ones made in the day before. Therefore, all combos in the videos I uploaded are different.
In other words, I am not a rider for contests (haha).  I think only I decide combos for the contest in the practice time on KOG… This is freestyle in a sense, for which I feel more fascination than to make a solid combos. I understand that I can’t win the contest this way… Is this my style ??? 🙂

What for you is an ideal combo?
I call it “compressed trick”. It means tricks which consist of many tricks without interval between a trick and a trick.
It doesn’t mean single barflip to glide but shifting another trick just after barflip to glide…. it’s difficult to express…
Do you remember the movie titled “PANDORA”? I did five switches in the combo in it.  I did not pump between each trick and trick and link them up only by velocity of start and brakes.
This is my ideal trick. Since it consists of various tricks, it is of big difficulty and becoming different one from trend style.Therefore, condition of the surface, mentality and bike settings are the key. I just call it “compressed trick” at will.  I’m glad if you understand what I mean. If you watch my movie after understanding what I said, the tricks give you different meanings and become more interesting. I’m sure that compressed tricks are overwhelmingly difficult with both high risk and high return. I have to make them easy in order to pull them out at contests.

Tell me about your bike set up? Always front brake on the left?
Yes, I put my brake on the left.  In my opinion, it is suitable for hard tricks. With a brake on the right, it is easy to make flipping switches from steamroller but difficult to make ones to hitchhiker by braking. Many riders put brakes on the right when bikes were getting lighter and lighter. After it they put brakes off. Now, only few riders put brakes on the left with bikes of 8-9kg, so (I think) there are big fields to explore. Adding above, I can’t think I make tricks harder than Vikki’s.(haha)
I’m very serious about the settings. Since I’m under 170cm tall like normal Japanese, I need severe settings  on many aspects. In such a situation, I met “GARUDA” by ARESBIKES, which supports me mainly.  GARUDA was made with the concept [for Japanese riders to battle in the world] by Hiroya Morizaki, and was what I want. Now I’m riding a prototype called “GARUDA-T”.  It is a sample frame with a shorter chainstay, which is not on sale. Street frames are popular now, but I’m sure that frames with bent tubes in the coming flatland scene. The lengths of foot are of course different between us and tall riders.  Small riders feel the toptubes too high, while big riders can easily step them over. I’m sure that frames with bent tubes will be the center of attention in the future.

Any plans to travel outside of japan?
I have no plan, but I will come to foreign contests for sure!!

Are you excited about the Red Bull Circle of Balance coming back to japan again?
Yes, I’m eager for circle of balance to take place in Japan. Japanese flatland scene is progressing. Unknown young riders are appearing and pro riders are also evolving not  to be beaten by them. I think that Japan will play the key role in the coming flatland scene. 

If you could talk to other countries about how to make flatland grow in their country what would your advice be?
We can watch movies of contests and tricks just after on YouTube and so on. It’s very useful. This is very good, but on the other hand, many riders don’t dare to participate in contests because they can understand how skilled they are. Now we can make friends without seeing each other on Facebook. I want many riders to know that they can feel much more things at real contests than from the movies. It is important, and I have to say it to myself, to come to many contests.

Do you have any advice for beginner flatland riders reading this?
Flatland has infinite possibility. I’m not very good at sports. I don’t think that I have more stamina and muscle than others. Nevertheless, I have continued to practice to control bike as I want. Be delighted if you make tricks. Shout out if you can’t ride well. Always spend time with BMX head-on. I can do, so you can. Enjoy to your heart’s content!!

Any final words to close the interview?
First of all, thank you for featuring me, Effraim.  And I also appreciate you posting my videos.
Anyway, I love BMX and have ridden it for ten years.  I work normally now and ride for 2-3 hours after my work.
I don’t ride for contests, but concentrate only on make my skill up after I left KOG.  I don’t mean this is the goal but will come back to the contest scene.  I want to go abroad, for example, to US, besides domestic.
I want to ride with more riders from overseas.
I will participate in KOG again.  I am I thankful to KOG.  It is always my goal. 

Thank you Keisuke! Its been a pleasure catching up with you!

Voodoo Pre Jam Pictorial

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Effraim — 13 Comments ↓

All photos by Josh Weiss – follow him on Instagram @insta_weiss

Like I said yesterday, Instagram and also twitter were going off with updates on the 2012 Voodoo pre jam. Besides the shot I posted already Terry took, fellow instagrammer Josh Weiss posted some great shots of the jam. I hit him up and asked if it would be cool to feature his photographs on the site, Josh sent me a ton of photos, so i’ve picked out a few, others may appear at a later date. In related news, Ross Smith showed up at the Pre-jam yesterday, much to the delight of every flatland fan out there, check the photo! Good vibes in New Orleans! Good luck to all those competing today!

Between 50-60 riders made it out to the pre-jam yesterday.

The voice of the Voodoo jam, Scott O’Brien gets in a lil’ ride before the main event.

Alex Jumelin, Xft no handed guillotine at his soon to be new home.

Bobby Carter flew out from LA to enjoy the New Orleans vibe.

It’s not everyday Flatland legend, Ross Smith turns up at your jam, can you say Stoked!!!
Photo credit: http://islaflat.blogspot.co.uk/

Terry Adams & Scott O’Brien – Voodoo Hype interview!

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Effraim — 3 Comments ↓

Intro/Interview: Effraim
Photos: Provided by Scott O’Brien & Terry Adams

It seems only fitting to round up the pre hype to the Voodoo jam which begins tomorrow (with a jam) with the two main organisers, Scott O’Brien and Terry Adams. The energy and hard work these two riders put into the Voodoo jam has to be experienced. I am lucky enough to say I have been twice, and both times really enjoyed the New Orleans vibe, without further a due lets get cracking….

Did you both share jobs out equally this year, or working as a collective on the event?
Terry:– This year was a collaboration of both us working together on different things. The important thing for us bringing back Voodoo Jam this year is that Scott & I was both motivated enough to give the green light to this thing. We have done this event so many times that we have a team of companies, friends, and riders that help with certain things as well. We are more than stoked to have Voodoo Jam back in the mix this year because we know that the riders are very hungry for a dope event.
Scott:Little bit of both. We have sections of running a contest that we each take care of but we always communicate to each other as to what is going down. I would say its pretty split leading up to the event. But the day of the event actually running it is up to me. Terry does an excellent job getting sponsors and dealing with that end of things. We always discuss every aspect of the contest down to the small details. Everything is important to us and we give it a full effort.

Why in your opinion is the Voodoo jam so important for flatland?
Terry: The Voodoo Jam was created for the riders. We wanted to give an event that not only treated the riders the way they deserved but also put flatland in the spotlight as well. We are very passionate about flatland and the riders & spectators can see this from the moment they walk into our venue. Our goal is show the world that flatland is dope. We always succeed in doing this.
Scott: It’s very important in a lot of ways. The venue set up is great and our fans are awesome. Quality of the event is tops.
But most of all its so important because real Flatlanders put this contest on, real Flatlanders pour their hearts into every detail and real Flatlanders enjoy the passion that comes from this contest.
This contest is more then just competing its a celebration of Flatland. At the end of the day when the contest is over Flatland is pushed to another level after Voodoo Jam is over and that’s why its important.

Seems lot a real good buzz going into the contest this year, you must be hyped on that?
Terry: Yes! We are stoked because taking 2 years off was basically left the whole flatland community wanting it back So the riders & specters are more hungry than ever to watch this thing go down. Also Scott has not been on the Voodoo Jam floor in a while so you can bet things are really going to get wild.
Scott:Yeah I am really stoked on it. Glad these riders are coming and the people of New Orleans are ready for them.

Having Voodoo back on the calendar is great for flatland, is it hard for you guys to enjoy it because your so close to it all?
Terry: For me, I am excited to be a rider in the event & to watch what we have created come alive. To watch the smiles on the riders faces & the screaming fans of flatland in that building is just as important as doing good in the contest for me.
Scott: I enjoy it in a different way. At times I feel I would love to just show up and watch. I wonder what that would be like but thats never gonna happen. LOL. I wouldn’t trade places with anyone when it comes to Voodoo Jam. I will take on the difficult parts and face the challenges but I sleep for about a week after its over though. Wish I could ride in it but thats nearly impossible given what it takes to make it happen.

So the countdown is well and truly over, whats going right now in New Orleans? Your house must be pretty crazy already with people staying?
Terry: Right now Scott is making sure the schedule is on point, meeting with DJ, and preparing a ton of things to make sure the riders are taken care of. I have been speaking with all the sponsors to make sure every one is going to have proper branding placement, gathering the prizes, and collecting the money for the pro purse. We have million and 1 things to do at this point, but to say we are ready is an understatement. This event is going to amazing this year for sure!
Scott: Well summer has just arrived and its freaking hot as hell, sorry Guys! My house is in preparation mode but come June 6th all hell is gonna break loose. Its gonna be a little crazy for sure.

Matthias, Scott and Terry waiting on judges decision….

Who are you most psyched to see ride this year?
Terry: I have been riding with JF all week and he is killing it. I am SUPER pumped to watch this guy ride in the contest. He is an animal for sure!
Scott:Really man just everyone I cant wait to see these guys! Nah, that was the politically correct answer, hahaha. Waldemar, he is a killer on his bike! Stoked!

Any final shouts?
Terry: Shout out to all the companies that make this event possible… Red Bull, Dans Comp, Raising Canes, Odyssey, Flatware, Purple Monkey, Freegun Underwear, Monolithic, Diversion TV, Flatland Fuel , 430 clothing, Deco, & Neue. Creative, Flatland ID. I want to thank all the riders that are coming out to support flatland in the USA. I also want to thank Scott O’Brien for being such a great partner & life long friend.
Scott: Have all day? haha… All the companies that supported the comp this year. My family for their support,, love you guys. Thanks to all the riders that stepped up and made sacrifices to come and support Voodoo Jam I hope you enjoy it. Southriders you know who you are. Texas Flatlanders for making Voodoo Jam their own contest. Terry Adams is the man and thanks to him for all he has done!

“Voodoo Jam is not my contest it belongs to Flatland and that makes it yours!”

Related links:

http://www.voodoojam.com

https://www.flatmattersonline.com/flatwebtv-episode-18-voodoo-jam-hype-jungle-rider-giveaway-winner-announced

https://www.flatmattersonline.com/scott-obrien-terry-adams-espn-behind-the-scenes-at-voodoo-jam

https://www.flatmattersonline.com/flatwebtv-episode-15-electron-spaceark-alex-jumelin-voodoo-jam-and-more

Milton Session – UK Grassroots

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Effraim — 4 Comments ↓

Photos and text: Effraim

Session going down!

Pat Kucza, Jersey/Portsmouth transplant, shows a lil’ raditude on this x hand hang five!

The idea to have organised sessions follows on from what I was saying on my recent flat webtv interview. I decided it was time for a change, do a lil’ experiment in my local scene and see what happens.

Two weeks ago I held a advertised session at a local public skatepark in Milton, Portsmouth. The skatepark has a basketball court next to a couple of ledges, and the worlds worst quarters and fun box.
I’ve rode there quite a few times this spring/summer, and over that time I have met street riders who are curious about flatland, or bike control as they call it. Maybe not as the modern day flatlander sees it, but its still flatland in my book.

On this sunny saturday throughout the day, about 20-25 riders came in and out of the sessions. Chris Carter made the trip from Oxford. A few street, dirt riders made the trip from nearby Southampton. Local kids did hang fives, Milton local “Pat I am” even does x hand hang fives as smooth as you like across the whole basketball court (check the photo), other riders did truck hops, hop whips, even hop whips to foot jam all went down with ease from various people. Some kids rode backwards, did rollbacks, footjams, whatever, it was all good! It was actually interesting that most riders didn’t hit up the ledges or the boxes, but instead rode flatland. Perhaps just because of the day, whatever the case, that’s what happened.

Myself and Chris gave advice back and forth pretty all day in between sessioning most of the day, whether it be why our seats were so high, or hang fives, fakie whiplashes, etc.

These sessions aren’t hard to put on, it really is just about letting people know about it, being open to new people asking questions, having a go, encouraging them, thats the key for me. Because the session was so relaxed it was easy to be helpful to the kids who did ask questions.

Chris Carter came all the way from Oxford for the session, and impressed all the locals with his skills. Guillotines are no joke!

It was a great day, I plan to keep the momentum going with this. You never know what might happen. At the worst your seasoning with friends, you might learn a few new tricks, what could be better?
Organise a session in your town, make an event on Facebook if your on there, let other riders know whats going on, involve younger and older riders, see what happens…

It could be the start of a beautiful thing….

Todd Carter – Voodoo Hype interview

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Effraim — 5 Comments ↓

Intro/Interview: Effraim
Photos: Sent in by Todd.

Plenty of Voodoo jam hype already today, with Dom’s amazing combo and the ESPN Interview with Scott and Terry. But let’s not forget the ams. So without further a due, meet our 3rd interviewee. Todd Carter originally from Ohio, now lives in California. He has been competing since the AFA days, enjoy this one!

Anyone else miss the ‘zine days. Copy and paste feel. Todd, x hand xft hang five. Broken Spokes ‘zine cover.

So you’ve been out injured a while Todd. Tell us all what happened? How long were you out for?
I broke my hand a couple of weeks before JomoPro. It was really lame how it happened! I was simply riding out of a trick with my front wheel in the air. I reached for my grip and just partially missed. As the front wheel was landing, I was still trying to grab the grip properly. The wheel eventually landed with my fingers straddling the grip. The impact broke my hand, but fortunately there was only one fracture. I was off my bike for 6-weeks and I just started riding again this week! The hand is feeling pretty good, but It feels so great to be back!

The year started out well, 2nd place in Toronto, you must have been psyched with that?
I was super stoked with 2nd place! I was kind of shocked honestly. It was really an honor to ride alongside so many great riders in that class. Riding in the finals that night is one of the highlights in my 26-year riding career.

The weather is Cali must help your contest preparations, any kind of contest preparations you are going through right now?
The California sunshine is pretty consistent, so that does help with keeping a set practice schedule. I am approaching preparation for the Voodoo Jam just like I have many of the AMFLT events in recent years. I try to identify the main combos that I want to do, and I start the “three-times-in-a-row” strategy. It’s not for everyone, but has worked for me. A couple of weeks before an event, I try to increase the amount from three, to five-times-in-a-row. I’m not always able to do that, but it is a good challenge. In my preparation for Voodoo, I feel really behind right now because of my hand. There’s no doubt I have a ton of ground to cover between now and June 9th.

How important are contests in keeping yourself motivated?
I have been riding in contests since I was 13-years old, and I love them. Growing up during the AFA contest days, I used to plan life events around contests. I actually chose to go to a contest, rather than my high school senior prom. For me, contests have always been about fun, challenge, defeat, and of course reward. Again for me, the rewards go deeper than a trophy or podium placing. The relationships and memories created from contests are some of the most treasured that I have.

I am presuming you must be flying to New Orleans, LA to Voodoo is surely too long of a drive?
Yes, flying out…trying to maximize the time I have, to be able to get there, get settled, and acclimated.

Have you been to the Voodoo jam before? If so, how many times have you been?
I have never been before, so I am even more psyched for this! In fact I have never even been to Louisiana before!

Forward death truck, Zuma beach. Cali lifestyle.

Who are you looking to as the main competition for you?
This is a tough one because there are so many great riders in the AM class. Honestly, I look at the list of registered riders and of the names I recognize, nearly every one of them could be standing on the podium. I think that’s part of what makes contests so fun though…well fun, and crazy simultaneously.

Are you planning to drop any new tricks at Voodoo?
I have two combos that I have yet to do in any contest because I just can’t pull them consistently enough.
I feel so far behind right now, I probably will not be putting in much time on either of them before Voodoo.
But if I miraculously start hitting one or both, I would love to be able to use them.

Who are you really psyched to see ride in general in New Orleans?
I think I am most excited about just being that environment and seeing some of the best riders in the world, just go for it during their runs. I am also stoked for the pre jam on Friday, that I have seen and heard so much from over the years.

Are you ready for Scott O’Brien getting crazy on the mic?
Ha, of course! I have only seen Scott reacting on video so far, so yes, I will be psyched and ready for it! I want to see cartwheels!

Any closing comments on the Voodoo jam?
I am just so excited and blessed to still be able to ride my bike, and meet so many cool people.
I feel like flatland is just a part of who I am, and I am so grateful for the sport and how it continues to move forward.
I think events like the Voodoo jam are shots in the arm for the health of flatland and I am grateful to just be able to see it firsthand. I want to say thank you to Scott O’Brien and Terry Adams for your work on this event, and to let you know it will make a huge difference for riders! And of course I want to thank you Effraim for this interview. It’s super humbling for me, and I also thank you for all you do for flatland everyday!

Thank you for your time Todd! Good luck at Voodoo!

https://www.flatmattersonline.com/flatmode-field-trip-bmx-hall-of-fame-rad-museum-san-diego

https://www.flatmattersonline.com/posse-up-so-cal

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