On the last day at Battle in the Rockies, it was awesome to get two riding sessions in with one of my childhood heroes, Bill Neumann. One of the smoothest cats to ever do this flatland thing we all love. On the way back to the McGraw residence, I caught up with Bill to talk about his roots in riding, his consistency, dropping the hitchhiker at the same contest as Kevin Jones, the Riders Brand. We also discuss beating Dennis McCoy back in the day, quitting riding and getting back into it and a whole lot more. Hope you all enjoy this as much as I did interviewing him.
Category Archives: Catching Up Interviews
Insight: Dustyn Alt into his 2nd Place Bike Days 2018 Run
The Bike Days weekend was awesome as always. Dustyn Alt took home the second place. I wanted to try something new, spur of the moment idea as Dustyn downloaded his run to his YT channel back at Dan hennig’s house after the contest. Let’s discuss his run, and get insight into his run.
Watch his full run again here:
https://www.flatmattersonline.com/dustyn-alt-2nd-place-bike-days-2018
Catching Up with Bill Nitschke
Each one of these Catching Up interviews i’m enjoying more and more. Next up was the turn of the man who invented the Whopper, and the man who has more energy than anyone I have ever met, ladies and gentlemen here is the Bill Nitschke Interview!
1:36: Introduction
2:13: Growing up riding in the AFA contests.
4:33: Meeting up with Todd Carter in the Ohio scene.
5:16: How did Bill get into flatland?
7:20: What shaped Bill’s riding, his presence on the contest floor is unreal to watch live!
10:43: Inventing the whopper, and tells the story and what went down?
15:58: Spike Jonze shooting the whopper.
16:34: Favourite memories from competing?
17:37: Being the first person to do a tail whip over a set of doubles on dirt.
21:54: Getting involved in Standrad Bykes.
24:29: Leaving Standard Bykes and getting picked up by Homeless and starting Indy Industries.
27:26: Always keeping riding despite being burnt on contests.
28:07 Contests taking a back seat and becoming more show riding oriented.
29:36: The return of the AFA contests bringing Bill back to the contest scene.
32:34: Hitting the biggest Whopper I’ve ever seen at Battle in Rockies 2017 and the aura he sets when he rides in a contest.
35:50: How does competing in Battle format contests go for Bill Nitschke, all that stop start style?
39:45: Plans for 2018.
42:22: Final thanks.
Catching Up with Todd Carter
I’m really enjoying doing these “Catching Up” interviews and today I interview Todd Carter, one of the smoothest riders in the flatland game and a man that doesn’t get enough credit in the flatland scene. Lot of history with Todd’s longevity in the sport. It was great to interview Todd and hear his story, grab a cuppa and enjoy this episode:
00:56: How long has Todd been riding for, and how did he get into flatland?
3:13: What was Todd’s first flatland competition?
4:38: I never knew that myself and Todd both rode for Hutch, and the Ohio scene shaping Todd’s riding.
8:00: What are some of Todd’s favourite memories from the AFA Masters?
10:29: How flatland is good for physical and emotional health, and forget about life issues?
11:54: What can modern day flatland learn from era such as the AFA masters where there 130 people in Todd’s class?
14:20: Moving from Ohio to Los Angeles and living the Californian dream.
17:45: Moving back to Ohio and building a flatland spot.
21:40: Coming from that era where what music you rode to was a big deal. What music is Todd into?
23:42: Bringing the American Flatland Association back.
26:00: Having two kids that both ride flatland.
29:36: The transition from expert rider to professional.
32:35: Plans for 2018?
33:21: Being a good rolemodel for the flatland scene, and what device would he give to the future generations?
35:47: Any final thanks?
Catching Up with James McGraw
James McGraw invited me over to judge the Battle in the Rockies 2017, Round 5 in the 2017 AFA series who better to interview for the FM “Catching Up series than the man behind the BITR contest and the return of the AFA series than James McGraw. You definitely want to tune in and listen to this one, this is possibly my favourite catching up yet.
00:31: History on Battle in the Rockies, introducing the video contest as a chance to compete at the event no matter where you are in the word.
1:21: Has James original intention with organising BITR stayed the same four years on?
2:58: Bringing the AFA Back for the flatland scene, what was James intention in doing so?
6:07: What is a successful flatland contest for James?
9:16: How long has James competed for, and his fondest memories looking back over the years?
10:15: James was the first rider to do a backwards bar ride in a contest.
12:01: Moto Sasaki couldn’t make it to this years event after winning the free ticket last year, how did you arrive at inviting Mates Tucek to Colorado?
14:51: Plans for the AFA and BITR in 2018?
19:28: Behind every event there’s always a ton of people working to make the event happen, who are some of the people that help you out and deserve some recognition?
Catching Up With Matti Hemmings
With the UK Flatland Championships taking place next weekend at the Wheels and Finns Festival in Joss Bay, Kent it seemed like the perfect time to drop this.
During BMX Cologne, I caught up with UK Flatland Championship organiser and Professional flatland rider Matti Hemmings to talk about the up and coming Wheels and Finns event on the 9/10th September. As well as that we talk about his daily schedule, holding the world record for a couple of flatland moves, living in Portishead, never practising a routine for contests and the BMX Cologne event. Hope you enjoy this one, leave us a comment and let us know what you think.
** The wind was blowing once again, so turn this one up.
Catching Up with Dave Nourie
At the 2017 BMX Cologne contest I caught up with 80’s Haro Flatland BMX legend Dave Nourie. We talk about his ordeal of getting to Cologne, his new Haro ride, stories from the 80’s Haro tours, his heartfelt responsibility to keep the old school alive in a new school era at contests, and a whole lot more. I even learnt that Dave did not invent the stubble duck which I thought was the case for years, this is a good one. Don’t miss it!
Catching Up with Sebastian Grubinger
During the BMX Cologne contest weekend I caught up with Heresy rider, Sebastian Grubinger to talk about the history of the BMX Cologne. We discuss his first experiences there, his riding spot back in Vienna Austria being made smaller, his opinion on contest areas being a rolling rider, the Heresy brand, his prolific posting on instagram, the importance of the video part and a whole lot more. This was a great catch up with Sebastian, good times in Cologne once again!
Catching up with Bert Ribul at Bike Days 2017
We continue on in the series of Flatmattersonline catch up interviews, this episode it is the turn of Bert Ribul from estonia. We talk about Bert’s return from injury, the Bike days event, his work life and riding life balance and much more.
Video: Davis Dudelis.
Catching Up with Davis Dudelis at Bike Days 2017
Kind of a nice story with the Catching Up series, both Dustyn Alt and Davis Dudelis made finals at Bike Days, Round 1 of the 2017 World Circuit. This interview was done on the friday, we discuss the Bike Days competition with Davis, running a BMX School, his bike set up which intrigued me, and much more. Hope you all enjoy!