Kevin McAvoy recently did a small article on Terry’s Top 5 video edits for the Red Bull site, check it out!
http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Article/terry-adams-top-5-videos-021243055069706
Category Archives: Articles
X Games & Dew Tour directors answer the Questions: What About Dirt Jumping & Flatland?
Great article by Fat Tony today on the Transworld site, asking the directors of X Games & Dew Tour what’s going on with flatland & dirt, always good to put organisers on the spot, if nothing else this at least highlights that people do care about flatland not being in these big mainstream events!
Sebastian Grubinger Top 5’s
Sebastian rips, truly underrated, check his clip from yesterday for a small taste of what he’s up to. I always enjoy these top 5’s, short and sweet!
Whiplash variations:
All kind of,… walkarounds, jumplashes,… there are too many! Wish i could do multiple x-footed!
Places to ride:
Vienna heldenplatz (sometimes I hate it), St.Florian where i started, Linz under the bridge, places that are flat and have a good vibe! I love places next to water!
People to ride with:
I could name so many! Markus Redelberger, Micheal Sommer, Lukas Dobusch, Anton from russia and the rest of Vienna locals, Alexis and the Heresy crew, almost everybody motivates me I ride with!
Websites to check:
Flatmatters, Global-flat, Blog.freeee.jp, Distance-cycles.eu, Heresybikes.com, orf.at(news), zamg.ac.at (weather).
Bikeparts:
Heresy frame, S&M Intrikat handlebars, Season stem, Magic fruits pegs, Arestic/trid design adjustible headset spacer.
Movies:
FBM – I love my bicycle, the ones Dane Beardsley made, Intrikat movies, OG Martons, Animal bmx movies, This is United, … there are a lot!
Video parts to watch:
Corey Martinez – This is United, Marttis solo dvds + webclips, Rum DVD – Akira and Takaaki Fukuda, Akiras part from Soul, Garrett Reynolds Props Bio, Paul Rodriguez – me, myself and i, ZAI movies…
Favourite riders:
Akira Okamura, Pete Olsen, Alexis Desolneux, Martti Kuoppa, Michael Husser, Ikko Tanaka, Markus Redlberger, Michael Sommer, George Manos, Chad Johnston, Mo Rich, and many many more. I enjoy to watch everybody ride!
Bike companies:
Heresybikes, Magicfruits, wethepeople, twenty, animal.
Swear words you use when you ride:
Oida, geh scheissn, fuck, geh bitte, aaarrrghhh and some combinations..
Brands:
Carhartt, Heresybikes, Puma shoes, Ottakringer, personal rec.
Drinks:
Water, fresh orange juice, milk, tee, cold beer.
Tricks to do:
Some new pedal stuff i’m working on, whiplash variations, I enjoy doing backwards manual, everything on my bike as long as i don’t crash too hard all the time!
Food:
Everything, haha, i love eating!
Things your hating on:
Being sick or injured, money things, stress, flat tires, problems with my computer (and i always have them!)
Things to do besides riding:
Chill alone, grow my own herbes and vegetables, hang out/spend time with my family and girl, go mountain hiking/clinming, cook and eat and go to the stadium and watch football.
Books:
All kinds of crime thrillers or detective stories
Magazines:
Freedom bmx, Soul, Dig, Newspapers, Skateboard mags,
Films:
I prefer some thriller and detective stuff like I mentioned befort with books, no special preferences,…also some stupid comedy stuff is great,… don’t care much about that!
Editorial: Why winning the Masters matters?
Whilst I was riding at the Phil Dolan jam, my phone, and email messages were going wild like never before with messages asking all the same thing, who won the masters?
This got me thinking….. of all the events on the flatland calendar, which event matters the most, what carries the most weight of credibility…..
The answer is simple, if you win the BMX Masters you follow in the footsteps of this years winner Matthias Dandois, and past champions, Adam Kun, Raphael Chiquet, Sam Foakes, Three times champion Justin Miller, and before that world champions such as Akira Okamura, Martti Kuoppa, Phil Dolan (who won the worlds twice in Koln, once in Madrid), and yours truly in Koln 1994, the contest has a lot of history, beginning as the German championships, with flatland running underneath the bridge, that many camp and park cars under these days. Moving one year away from Jugendpark to the North brigade, which ironically the year I was crowned World Champion.
Why is winning the Masters such a big deal?…
I think it’s partly the tradition, the history the contest has, the fact the format has never changed in all those years, this helps build rider respect, future winners will have grown up watching riders such as Adam Kun, Matthias Dandois, Rapahel Chiquet, Sam Foakes, Justin Miller, and try to emulate their heroes, I always remember that riders from overseas would go to the Masters, because they knew what to expect.
It could be, that this is one of the only long term running contests where flatland is involved with the rest of bmx, so the media interest is a lot greater, flatland is always right there in the thick of it! The crowds are always big in Jugendpark, the rider attendance numbers are always good, I remember judging in 2008, and there were 59 riders in pro qualifying, every year I went there were always 30+ riders in the pro contest.
Between 2005-2009, Flatland was at its peak at the Masters, so much so that the organisers were able to afford to pay for a tent to cover the flatland area as always as bleachers either side (check the videos from 2005 as example), this added to the atmosphere, that undercover area has made for some of the best contests ever to go down in the history of flatland. Unforgettable memories!
Because of the media attention, it carries a huge weight with sponsors, what is ironic the last two years, but for DeepBMX, the flatland contest would not have happened at all.
So the flatland world has a lot to thank the DeepBMX crew for, they kept the tradition alive.
Winning the Masters last year helped Adam Kun raise his profile within the sport, not just flatland, but in the sport of BMX. It seemed that right after last years win, he was on the Nike team, and it must have helped his Monster contract.
People outside of the close knit flatland scene whether riders or media take notice as to who wins the masters.
I also believe that the Masters is a huge test of the mental as well as the physical, that many riders have struggled with. Matthias Dandois is currently the most consistent contest rider on the flatland scene over the past 5 years, and up until this year he had never won the BMX masters! I am sure he will tell you the same thing, this is the biggest contest of the year, you have one shot at it, the hardest one to win. Justin Miller’s 3peat may well never be achieved again.
Another perhaps deciding factor is, the Masters is still classed as the World Championships, same venue, same organisers (aside from DeepBMX organising), so if you win the masters, you are effectively the world champion. It is an unwritten rule.
I’d like to take this chance to pay respect to all the Champions, past and present!
Winning the Masters does matter!
Long may it continue!
Repo: York Contest
On Saturday at the York contest the masters and pro classes were held. And to be honest, I was a little disappointed by the lack of riders in each class. But I know other people have many other things to do these days.
The masters are awesome to watch. I really hope that some of them make the step up to the pro ranks next year. If I’m correct, I believe there were 12 riders in the master class and eight qualified. I honestly think that everyone rode really well. Some guys had some trouble with the floor, as it wasn’t too great.
The final runs were awesome. Everyone who was in them threw down their hardest stuff. The trio of the Pralex team are definitely progressing in and going for their new tricks instead of just doing the same old, which I really respected. Another standout was Jussi from Finland and Todd Gully. Both of those guys worked really hard it was awesome to see them get second and third. I have to give it to Dave Debuono for having a flawless run. His links were smooth and he hit every single thing he went for. It was awesome to see him walk away with the win.
The pro class only had six riders in it. Five of them were from America and one guy from Peru. And just as a side note, Kevin Jones was judging the pro class. Bo Wade and Stephen Cerra had quite a bit of trouble in their runs, unfortunately. I feel like they will do better next time if they attend. This guy Antonio from Peru was killing it during practice and during his runs. It was a real treat to watch him. He just couldn’t pull it together in the finals. Dane Beardsley is always a treat to watch. No one does any of the crazy technical slow rolling tricks he does. He definitely deserved his third place winnings. He even finished his final run with a front tire quickly losing air. Terry Adams was on point in his runs, pulling all of his original tricks and getting the crowd hyped up. And the winner of the whole thing, Matt Wilhelm spun his way into victory. It’s mind-blowing how fast this guy can actually spin. He rode really hard and was very consistent in both of his runs. It was awesome getting to witness his riding firsthand.
The contest had probably the best vibe and so many riders got to ride with their favorite pros and some even got to talk to Kevin. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I don’t think I heard one complaint the whole time. Well, okay, maybe one complaint, it was hot as hell.
Text by Louis Orth, Photo credit: http://www.terryadamsbmx.com
York Pre Jam + Am Flat repo
Text by Louis Orth. Photo credit: Terry Adams.
Yesterday we had a pre-jam at the Pit here in York to warm up for the 4th stop of the Am Flat Series. A lot of riders were out there killing it. In that field we had top leader of the expert class Joe Cicman, we had the edit king, Frank Macchio, and even Kevin Jones was out there busting out. A lot of older guys were out there and some young dudes as well. This contest is going to be interesting and I’m excited to see what’s going to happen. Tomorrow we will have the beginners, veterans, and expert classes. It should be a good time.
Who’s more stoked here, Terry or the one and only Kevin Jones?
Today, we had three different classes competing against each other. We had Jay-Rod from the Freestyle BMX Shows announcing the event. For the beginners there only four guys in their class, but every single one of them killed it, all rode without any brakes. The next class was the vet class and they all did really good and they were only four guys in that class as well. Their bikes were setup completely opposite from the beginners. They all had front and back brakes.
After the vets had finished everyone had assumed that the expert class would begin. We found out that they got pushed back to 3 PM. I don’t think many people were happy about that. After two and a half hours of practice the expert class finally got underway. There were 15 riders in this class and only 8 would qualify. Somehow, I qualified with seven other riders. During the finals, everyone went off throwing their best stuff down. Joe Cicman again had a flawless run.
After the finals we all headed to the infamous Pit. Terry Adams, Matt Wilhelm, Stephan Cerra, the Gangi dudes, and even a true underground rider Mark Harris were there ripping it up. Even Kevin Jones was riding and talking with everyone. Definitely something you did not want to miss.
Today is going to be the masters and pro contest. It is going to be completely wild.
Repo: Phil Dolan’s 40th birthday jam weekend
Text by Effraim, Photos provided by Armin Batoumeni.
As I reflect on Phil Dolan’s 40th birthday jam weekend, it brings a smile to my face.
Jams are 100 percent positive for the scene, and with the mix of the older and newer generation we began to see some positive light for the future in the UK, which believe me, has been lacking for years.
The plans were loose, day 1 riding at TGM, and Day 2 at Phil’s riding spot in Camden, see what happens, see who turns up? Easy right?
Armin Batoumeni made his way from Paris by eurostar, on his bike for the first time in 7 years! And within an hour he was killing it! What a natural rider!
Phil decided to come out on his birthday weekend holding hands with Armin mid cliffhanger (see photo above), nuff banter followed, well actually all weekend!!
Besides the surprise of Armin being there, it was also a surprise to see James White later in the day, who’s had a lengthy amount of time off (since groundtactics finals).
Towards the end of the first day, a jam circle formed at the mile (as it always seems to do), there were some great moments that can only bring a smile to your face, Armin’s super fast death trucks that had us all scared! Phil nose manualling the mile, followed by James coasting down the mile no handed hang five (jones style), the sessions like this seem to be lost in contests, but happen naturally in jams.
Funny moment at end of the day when myself, James, Phil and Armen were chatting and Jason Forde started spinning a hitch right in front of us. (see photo)
The session went on till late evening, till myself, Phil, Armin and Johann headed back to Phil’s place for the night. Thank you to Sharlene and Phil for being amazing hosts..
Day 2, at Phil’s Camden riding spot, infamous for Phil and Viki videos recently posted online, around 15 people showed up. As if yesterdays guests were surprises, it’s been also maybe ten years since we have seen Amos Burke at a UK flatland event! It had been quite a weekend for surprise turnouts!
Needless to say Phil was on hometurf and shredding, rolling from one end of the court to the other like only he does, Johann was on hand filming Phil’s combos for an up and coming Emer edit, complete with D lock to steady the camera shot, so look out for that.
Chris Massey brought down up and comer Ashley Adams all the way from Bolton, it was great to see both Ashley and Yinka progressing in their riding, sessioning together. (check the last two photos)
By day 2 Armin was feeling the bike a lot more, multiple jumps crackpacker to steam, cliff kickflips, and even much to my amusement learning how to pump rolling tricks, not that he needed to!
As Phil headed to a local pub, I stayed at the jam to offer some trick advice to a few of the remaining riders, jams are awesome for this, and was a great feeling to give something back, and see the riders progressing as a result!
The vibes were laidback, the sessions at times were amazing, the whole weekend was fun! Amos is already hard at work at organising a flatland jam in hastings, so keep an eye right here for the news on that!
Thanks to everyone who came and supported the jam!
Steve Lapsley and the AM Flatland Circuit
Great interview by Louis Orth on the ESPN site discussing Steve’s motivations putting on the AM Flat Circuit. Hit the link:
http://espn.go.com/action/bmx/blog/_/post/6765748/steve-lapsley-flatland-circuit
Top 5’s with Phil Dolan
This morning I am making the 2 hour trip to the Green mile for Phil Dolan’s 40th birthday jam weekend, now seems like the perfect time to drop his top 5’s? enjoy!
Whiplash variations to do:
Downside switch on frame.
Places to ride:
Fave places to ride were Japanese museum on side of mountain. Long Beach parking by beach, and the Mile when it was fresh as daisy before Jason Forde made it rough 🙂
People to ride with:
Best sessions I ever had were with Marrti. Occasionally the elusive James White.
Websites to check:
Flatmatters, Flatmatters, Flatmatters and Flatmatters occasionally Fatbmx!
Drinks:
Water, water,water and cold beer.
Dream Trick to do:
Forward death both feet on pedals then nice long g turn…Denes i know you could do it.
Flatland memories:
My memories not that great!
Food:
normal non processed non microwaved nutritious.
Things your hating on:
Things I hate are devolution, not learning from mistakes and my body not working.
Things to do besides riding:
Looking after wife n kids.
Books:
dont read much anymore.
Magazines:
Same.
Films:
Last film that made an impression was Donnie Darko.
Exclusive:Introducing: The Skingrowsback Stem pad
A different kind of FM exclusive right here…
Text/Photos supplied by Paul Chamberlain.
At the end of last year I was at a friends house. He’s a rider too, but he was also a bike courier for many years in the UK and here in Australia. He’s also a manufacturer and designer of many things for couriers and cyclists alike (skingrowsback). Anyway, at the end of last year, on one of his many bikes, I noticed a stempad. After looking at bikes on forums for years with everything from sweatbands to bandanas wrapped around the stems, I was totally overjoyed to see something decently padded and designed for the purpose of protecting sensitive knees from the almighty wrath of stems.
Jamie didn’t really share my degree of enthusiam for the product at the time (anyone who knows me will tell you that I do get fairly excited upon occasion). I think to him it was something simple and obvious that just seemed to work for him. Maybe he hits his knees on his stem less me, I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t realise that even Martti hits his knees on his stem. It’s a problem common to us all. Anyway, he took the stempad off of his bike at that the moment and just gave it to me. That’s the kind of guy he is. It was an instant solution to my problems. We went out for a ride and all of the plasticman stuff that I was doing at that time felt really comfortable even though I had tender spots on my knee from previous sessions. Problem solved I thought. Little did I know that that was just the beginning.
Jamie is very idealistic and only wants to design and produce the most functional and hard-wearing product that he possibly can. He makes all his products on his own here in Australia, and he spends nearly every waking hour making and thinking about them. Months have passed and the stempad is in it’s 3rd generation for me. I say ‘for me’ because I’m sure that for Jamie it’s in it’s 12th or 20th or something crazy like that. I know he’s tried many new ways to make it smaller and more compact and at the same time include more reinforcement and binding in the process to make it stiffer and stronger. He’s a perfectionist so he I think only shows me certain things.
The G1 stempad, the one that came from Jamie’s bike, was basically cordura layered over foam plus Velcro tabs to hold it in place. It was good for a time but the corners of the stem gradually cut into the foam slightly. The G2 stempad incorporated a third inner layer that eliminated this problem, as well as more stitching and binding which gave the pad a more solid shape – making it more protective and more hardwearing. I was stoked, but the pad was bigger than the G1. Perfect for me, as I run 2cm of spacers and a 53mm stem. None of the super-flatland-specific bikes on the forums with the bandanas choked around them would have shared my enthusiasm though. The product needed to be slimmed down in order to fit 26-35mm stems. So that’s where G3 came in. Same basic design as G2 but on a diet; slimmed down velcro, shorter overall, but with the same amount of stiffness and padding in all the same places as G2.
The red and white one on my bike at the moment, I guess you could call G2.1. It’s as small as G2 could go at the time and was unforutunately too big for a friends 3pc 6-bolt Quamen stem. G3 is done in my opinion so now I’m thinking about getting G2 slightly more refined because bigger stems work better for me (and Matthias!). There will probably be the options of ‘stempad’ (48-57mm stems) and ‘stempad mini’ (26mm and upwards). The stempad mini could fit any stem, covering the most offensive parts around the back and sides, but it’s nice to have a pad the covers the stem all the way up to the bars. Of course it’s more protective, but it also looks cool and opens up the whole knee on the stem trick realm a lot more.
It’s been really cool to be a small part of this development process so far and getting the product ready for the flatland market. I’m very passionate about it’s application in BMX and also about the fact that it’s handmade here in Australia by a fellow rider who simply cares about solving problems. I’d like to say that the product is finished but I know that every single time Jamie makes one it’s a new generation for him and he will always try to make it better in some subtle way that maybe only he can notice. He’s selling them now and he offers an ever-changing array of custom colour options at no extra cost. Check his site: http://www.skingrowsback.com or email me if you’d like to know more about the stempad: flatpaul@hotmail.com.
It would be really cool to see more people using the stempad and giving us constructive feedback. I hope good things come of it.
Cheers,
Paul Chamberlain