Aggro Rag Freestyle Mag! Plywood Hoods Zines ’84-’89: The Complete Collection by Mike Daily
Aggro Rag Freestyle Mag! Plywood Hoods Zines 84-89: The Complete Collection contains all 1-12 issues of what in my opinion was and is the holy grail of the ‘zine era. For those of you not familar with ‘zines, they were largely put together with a typewriter, a xerox machine, hand writing, drawings and whatever your imagination could think up–countless hours spent cutting and pasting pre-Apple computers. In a lot of ways I think the ‘zine era had a lot more personality than any magazine or website could ever give you.
Flatmatters would probably not here without Aggro Rag, which inspired me to start my own ‘zine (Totally Intense) during my younger years. It was my childhood dream to get hold of an issue of Aggro Rag. When the book arrived on my 39th birthday last week, I felt like my collection was complete. My overwhelming thought writing this review, is that you really cannot put a price on what this book is worth. But at $24.43 this book is a steal of a deal!
The book is no holds barred, 443 pages of history! A historical archive of one of the most influential crews to ever leave their mark on BMX, the Plywood Hoods, and of course the most influential flatlander of all time, Kevin Jones.
The book opens with some great Foreword/Intro writing by Andy Jenkins and Mark Lewman, both of Freestylin’ magazine fame. Andy recalls the first time he met Mike Daily at an AFA contest in New York in 1986, and Lew writes about their meeting through US mail: “When Freestyle was new. The sport felt like it moved so fast you could feel it shifting under your feet. Paradoxically, the information moved as slowly as the pace of a monthly magazine or an AFA contest; between these events, BMX kids were left to their own devices to fill in the gaps and write their own history… Along with with VHS sister media, Dorkin’ in York, A-rag became a national underground phenomenon and within 3 years it was the, uppercase italics, premier Xeroxed freestyle publication.”
Lewman’s intro is followed by Daily’s three-page new interview with Kevin Jones “about the cover”. Kevin recalls about the cover shot: “It’s a squeakerson, or whatever. Wheelchair walk, sittin’ on the handlebars. I don’t really remember what it would have been called.”, his first triple decade on the CW in the photo, his breakdance influences, riding with Skyway Tuffs and later going on to ride for Skyway, and collecting old bike parts. It is brilliant engaging stuff!
It is great to see the advances through the ‘zine as the issues developed, not only in riding, but design, editorial, content, xerox art, and graphics. A one-page intro leads into each issue.
If you are paying attention, you will notice that the number “43” appears throughout: in the publication date, the price, and so on, another Plywood Hoods touch to the book that adds personality to the project. You sense as much as the Hoods pioneered modern day flatland, none of this has gone to their heads: They had a blast. BMX was truly about having fun and expressing themselves whether through riding, Dorkin’ videos, ‘zines or any other creative outlet.
Photo credit: Jared Souney.
It would be a massive review if I were to list in detail everything that is contained within the book: countless editorials as you’d expect from 12 issues (Issue 3 contains words that ring true to this day, Society and its perception of us–if you have ever been kicked out of a car park, you will relate) and Issue 9 “Are you a contest zombie?”, brilliant insight into the Hoods way of thinking. Mike Daily writes about the differing attitudes they came across at an AFA Austin Texas contest they covered in the same issue. The Hoods were hanging out at the hotel with a bunch of “well-known freestyle personalities”, and Daily comments: “Instead of checking the tape out, though, the other guys in the room felt the need to cut down mostly every rider for one reason or another.” The Hoods didn’t say anything, Daily writs, and it wasn’t until later that night that they discovered that all three of them had simultaneously thought, “These guys are fake.”
Daily goes to comment about the mocking of Jason Parkes that had ensued. To bring context to this story without including the whole article, the Hoods were big fans of Jason Parkes, and I can totally appreciate why. One of the riders asks, “You LIKE that stuff?” to which Mark Eaton replies “YEAH!” confidently. It is golden, gripping stuff from the archives.
Daily goes on to talk about these kids that live just for the contests, and do their thing without a care in the world. He wraps the article up with: “What I am trying to say is, don’t expect every freestyler in the free world to have the same values you have. Not everyone rides simply to show superiority over others. By the same token, not everyone rides solely for personal pleasure either. Just don’t look down upon a fellow biker for what he stands for, or what he does in a contest, or how he freestyles. The bottom line is…just ride. There shouldn’t be anything else.”
Somewhere through my younger years putting together Totally Intense ‘zine, I coined the phrase “Ride first, read later” and I never knew where I got it from. As it turns out, I got it from Mike and Aggro Rag. And this attitude–to just ride your bike–shines through in every story in the book, time after time.
I’ve gone into detail about this editorial, and I thought it worthwhile as it shows the Hoods way of thinking. They were totally open to riding their bikes in all forms, whether at the lot, a ditch, a backyard ramp, whatever. There is something really pure about what they did, and probably still are doing today, just not all together, as they moved to different parts of the country. The legacy lives on.
Of course there is much more content besides: cartoons, and AFA/2-Hip contest reports. Throughout, the rivalry between Kevin Jones and Rick Moliterno comes up in AFA repos and even the Dizz Hicks interview in Issue 9, which I found interesting. It was something as a kid growing up reading Freestylin’ I never got a sense of, and later on in the three-part intro to Daily’s 16-page grand finale to the book, “Kevin Jones: The Man. The Interview.”
The Hoods document numerous how-to’s, skateboarding, a visit to the home of Freestylin’, (Torrance, CA), and skatepark sessions. In Issue 6, Mike Daily recalls: “The biggest perk [of being a ‘zine guy back in the mid- 80’s] for me was being asked to contribute to Freestylin’. That was the shit. As cool as it was to make your own ‘zine, getting something printed in Freestylin’ was infinitely cooler. Andy [Jenkins] requested permission to reprint an editorial I’d published in Aggro Rag. It was called ‘A Puppet No More’ and ran in an ‘Off the Deep End’ with a photo of my favourite rider, Ceppie Maes. I think it won a design award.”
At 443 pages, over time I pick up the book and I find something new that I had previously missed. One of my favourite things about this book is the amount of Interviews with groundbreaking and influential people/characters in BMX and flatland. It struck me that a lot like the Hoods riding, Mike Daily and the Hoods were interested in other riders that brought something fresh to the table. The list is extensive: Dale Mitzel, Jamie McKulik, Kenneth Evans, Mario Salas, Dave Pak, Gary Pollak (the inventor of Pinky Squeaks and Perverted Boomerangs), John Swarr, Craig Grasso (his infamous naked ramp run at the Enchanted Ramp in SD appears on the cover of Issue 11), John Huddleston, Ceppie Maes, Dizz Hicks, Jason Parkes, Aaron Dull (who did the caboose on the other coast of the US at the same time as Kevin), and Pete Augustin. Chris Day in Daily’s intro to Issue 11 gets asked how he felt about all the random “fidge sequences” in Dorkin’ 2. The list goes on: Jym Dellavalle, Dave Mirra (four-page new interview in Issue 12), Chris Moeller, Perry Mervar before he turned Pro, Marty Stoyer and…
Of course, the highlight for many: “Kevin Jones: The Man. The interview.” is so engaging. The most influential flatland rider of all time has largely remained mysterious, which only adds to the intrigue. Throughout the 443 pages of the book, when you read the Plywood Hoods’ attitude towards fame and contests, it becomes a clearer: You get the impression that Jones and the Hoods went and had fun every day, whether it was a ten-hour day riding at Mount Rose, or blasting a tabletop at the local skatepark. It was all about fun and the regular “fidge” moment.
As I already commented, there is a wonderful purity to what the Hoods achieved that might never be matched in this day and age of the Internet–riders of all levels who send in footage daily. I feel thankful that the Hoods took the time to document what they got up on their bikes in video form as well as in ‘zine format, and collated it together in this wonderful book. I have often wondered what flatland would have been like now without Kevin Jones and the Plywood Hoods.
The Book fittingly ends with the part I am sure, anyone who is interested in flatland will want to read. The Kevin Jones interview opens with a three-part intro which gives you eight pages of insight into Kevin’s background as a breakdancer and his early days on Skyway. Mike Daily writes about Kevin getting picked up by Skyway, and dropping a whole new realm of tricks at the AFA Masters in Austin, Texas, on May 2, 1987. Kevin dropped the trolley, the crank-a-roni, the elephant glide, and after his run had ended unfortunately, the locomotive. Lew at Freestylin’ reported: “Kevin Jones got the crowd louder during his run than anyone else the whole weekend, including the pros.”
Everyone, it seems–aside from Kevin–couldn’t believe that he got second place to Rick Moliterno. Kevin comments: ” I would have been satisfied if I’d have made the top ten, and then I got second. I didn’t know why there was all the controversy about it…[Rick] beating me. I was just glad to get second, plus I got sponsored. That’s all I wanted to do anyways was get sponsored. I never early cared about getting first.”
The intro goes back to Kevin’s younger years to document his first competition at the AFA Masters in Long Island, New York, in September 1986. Kevin was already making personal modifications to his CW, such as the homemade locking lever, and bringing new tricks to the table. He dropped a handstand-type boomerang which immediately earned him a lot of respect (Rick Moliterno even commented: “The man don’t joke about boomerangs.” Kevin managed to tie with CW’s Greg Kove “with a completely blown run,” Daily reports.
Mike Daily goes onto the write about Kevin’s contest achievements, and also the Hoods’ first hearing about Tim Treacy doing a scuffing trick call the backyard. Once Kevin had worked out what the technique involved, he went about developing his first scuffing move, the locomotive, whilst holding the beam in his parents’ garage. He planned to drop it as his last trick in Austin, Texas. Around this time, both Kevin and Aaron were inventing the same tricks on the east and west coasts of the country: the trolley or the puppet, the caboose or the stick bitch.
I could go on and on, as I am mesmerised by the text. It’s fascinating stuff. Daily discusses the post-Skyway era with Kevin’s time on GT, his contract with GT being terminated (this is a bit I will leave for you to find out about!), AM riders being inspired by Kevin, and so on. I don’t want to reel off the whole book.
The new Kevin Jones interview–with quotes by various friends and fans–addresses the origin of scuffing, the best basketball sneakers of the 80’s/90’s, trick names, what Kevin feels about modern day flat, why he waited so long to turn pro, what bike frames he designed, family life, having kids, his dream job and why he stopped making up new tricks. There is a great part where they talk about the Hang 5, and the impact it’s had on street riding in the modern day.
It’s a fitting end to a beautiful piece of flatland and BMX history that I will hold dear to myself forever.
This book is a must-have if you are into flatland and BMX riding–whether you’re old school, new school, mid school. Whatever label you care to put on it, going to school will get you an education, help you learn about the sport, and learn about these influential riders that have shaped what we do and love today. And now after 20 or so years wondering, I now know what the art of “fidging” is.
The book is $24.43, an absolute steal!!! Go preorder this right now direct from Mike Daily on http://aggrorag.com Mike is offering signed copies + t-shirts and hoodies package deals until 11:59pm PST on Wednesday, March 13th, and is expecting to ship all preorders worldwide from Oregon before the book’s official release date of April 3, 2013 (4.3.13). It will be something you will look back on for years to come.
Thank you Mike Daily, and thank you to Kevin Jones and the Plywood Hoods for making flatland and BMX what is today!
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Well worth checking out this special episode of FlatWebTV that dropped last week!
Let me clear the air and say that up front I know that this is going to ruffle some feathers for a few reasons. One being that it’s me and nobody seems to be able to match my ability to kick up dust and stir the pot. What can I say? It’s a gift. Another more serious reason, and I say this with all due respect to those that hold the opposing viewpoint because many I consider good people and friends of mine, is that the position that I will argue against is something that many people hold very dear. The notion that riders need to get out there and support rider owned or BMX-centric companies runs deep with people all around the world from all walks of life. It appears to run as deep as the piety of those among us who are religious, and it boils the blood no less than some heated political debate between two people of opposing political affiliations. I understand that, and I understand that my views on the subject are on the fringe but I ask that you hear me out regardless of who I am and whether or not you disagree because like most things I say I feel it’s a point that needs to be raised.
Recently The Come Up, an online BMX publication, posted an article about DC shoes abandoning their BMX program and why it shouldn’t strike the BMX community at large as some mortal blow. That much I agree with completely. If DC wants to pack up and leave for business reasons, I say we part ways with some dignity and wish them luck on any and all ventures involving 13 year old mall-rats. I did say some dignity after all.
The points that were made that followed what I mention above though took a turn for a position that I’ve been arguing with people about for the better part of a decade. Adam talked about a few things that are noble in theory but ultimately futile in practice. In case you’re wondering what I mean I’ll provide a quote for context:
“BMX riders need to be proud to support real BMX companies. We need people who are willing to work their asses off to put BMX riding in front of the public through independent events like Simple Session and Texas Toast. Basically BMX riders need to remember to be proud to ride BMX bikes.”
As I said on the surface this makes total sense and is an admirable sentiment. Put money into the hands of companies that work hard to promote the sport. Look at the list of people and companies that throw their weight behind great events and those are the parts you should be running. There are problems lurking with this position because when put into practice you don’t always get desirable results.
I’ve asked for clarification from a number of different people over the years because it’s roughly the same argument that people put forward year after year when it comes to what we need to do to improve the sport. I’ve never once gotten any clarification outside of vague often cryptic responses and outright dismissal from those I’ve asked. So I’ll pose a few of the questions here and see where it leads us.
First off, while it is great that people should support companies that support the events and riders that get paid to ride for a living, what benefit is it to the consumer if the companies that do all this supporting are completely worthless? Remember power balance? They got nailed with a class action lawsuit for 57 million dollars for claiming that their products had even an iota of scientific research put into them to back up the claim that they enhanced performance. If memory serves there was a period where they were actively involved in supporting contests and maybe even a few riders. Should we just hand our money over to companies that are actively trying to defraud the public?
Maybe that’s an extreme example so I’ll offer a few more, but in the hypothetical so that I don’t step on too many toes. If there is a company that sponsors a major BMX/flatland contest and they make parts that are altogether worthless, why should any consumer invest in their products? Why should people pay for sub-par quality because this company sponsors events? What if there is another company that produces incredibly high quality components but doesn’t invest in say, Texas Toast or Voodoo jam? The company that produces the better parts will fold and the company with the lesser quality product line will thrive.
I’ve been told that because I don’t buy a certain company’s products, I don’t support them. I’ve also been told that because I have no brand loyalty, I don’t support BMX. Why? I think on the whole that makes me a smart consumer that actively goes out of his way to find things that work for him and in the process the companies that make the parts I buy are rewarded with my business. This is how every single business on the planet works at its most fundamental level. You make good products, and the buyers will come provided they know about it.
I got into a discussion/argument about this with Jim Mckay and he could not define what he meant by supporting BMX. I questioned and probed and did my best to figure out what his definition of support was and couldn’t come up with anything. I’ve had the same conversation with other people that lead me through the same dialogue over and over again ending with the other person getting upset and leaving the conversation all together.
If the answer to the question of “what does it mean to support bmx?” is so simple, then why is it so incredibly difficult to get an answer out of the people that espouse such a viewpoint? I wish I could answer that, but I can’t, and the question will remain unanswered until someone eloquent enough comes along and provides an explanation. I highly doubt this will happen, but I remain hopeful even though that may come off as disingenuous to everyone reading.
I do want to support BMX, and I feel like I do in my own way. I ride, I go through parts, and I buy new ones. My buying decisions are based off what I feel my needs are today or what they might be tomorrow. Consumers should have no obligation to keep a company afloat. If a company isn’t making good products, they will go out of business because nobody will buy their parts. That is simply the way of things and no amount of good vibes will ever be able to fix that, or sustain a failing model of business in the long run.
What people need to understand is that the vast majority of what goes on in the business world of BMX is completely out of the consumers hands. Odyssey was a joke of a company until they started putting out products that the market responded to and actively sought out, and now they’re one of the biggest brands in BMX. Nobody that I can think of could possibly touch the diversity of their portfolio, or the overall consistency of their quality. But there are bigger fish than Odyssey, and they’re the ones that determine what events are available for you to go to when you “support” anything.
Flatland was in its death throes after it was dropped from the X-games. We had absolutely nothing, except for an obscure sponsor that was already making waves overseas: Redbull. They supported the BMX worlds and I remember as a new rider what in the hell a Red Bull was and what it was doing on the contest floor. Energy drinks were not a thing then. They sure as hell are now.
Without the support of larger companies like Redbull, and now Monster among a few others, contests post X-games would have dwindled to nothing and we would be in a sorry state of affairs. No flatland company has the capital to hold a contest on the scale of the events that the energy drink companies have backed. That being said, if they dropped out tomorrow out of lack of interest and every bmx rider in the country boycott every energy drink company, they wouldn’t lose a dime. We have no buying power when it comes to markets larger than our own. We rise and fall with the tide, and when it goes in a handful of riders at the top prosper and smaller companies pop up, and when it goes out both of those groups dwindle.
Redbull only sponsors our events because they make money hand over fist and you can’t have Travis Pastrana jump docks in San Francisco every day of the week. The one reason, the ONLY reason, that any of the larger companies take an interest in us is not because anyone there really loves what we do, it’s because they have money to play with and we’re a cute little diversion. We’re nothing to them but a tax shelter. They give us money and then write it off. The benefit being we get a sick contest and oodles of prize money, but it’s a drop in the bucket to them.
So that’s it, if those guys fold and take off we are utterly boned. Maybe someone will take their place, maybe not. The point is that no matter what BMX companies do, the sport will always rely on outside support from sponsors with coffers that dwarf our entire micro-economy. We cannot hold a candle to the wealth that they bring and we will never be able to. This is especially true of flatland. We are completely helpless and by now we should know it.
As helpless as it is a call to arms in support of something that in the end means nothing will only hurt us. People will always support BMX in their own way, or they will just stop riding. If you want to support BMX then simply keep riding. If you are already deeply enough involved to be reading this, or to take an active interest in the comings and goings of our, for lack of a better term, heard of cats, then there is absolutely nothing that you need to be told. You already buy parts. You already spend money. You can make up your own mind as to what company will best suit your needs, and the ones that don’t will either find a different customer or they will fail.
The death of a brand is often seen as a sad state of affairs. I used to see it that way too until I realized that its existence was only being sustained by a minority of people that either threw money at a lost cause (Ie: support BMX!) for no reason, or it didn’t fill anyone’s needs. The people who tell you to support companies are making an emotional plea that in the long run will not keep those companies afloat, and ultimately your dollar will be sucked into the void right before the door closes and they dissipate from our economy. It will have been for naught, and the sport will be worse off because of it.
Think about all that money disappearing into thin air and you will understand why I believe “support BMX” is just about the dumbest most counter-productive sentiment anyone could hold in our sport. That money could have been put to better use by riders choosing the best parts to meet their needs instead of mindlessly wasted on nothing, but that’s where this philosophy can lead you.
The alternative, which Jim hinted at, is that we’re already doing our part by buying what we need. I buy tires because my lot sucks, so that means I support Odyssey. Fair enough, but if that’s true why do we need the sermon about support?
I don’t know. Nobody in the pulpit seems to know either. That’s very telling, and something to be kept in mind when someone makes the assertion that our sport is failing because it doesn’t get enough “support” from BMX riders riding BMX parts when the alternative is not riding at all.
They say that good things come to those that wait! And in this case, that saying is totally on point, this interview with Mike has pretty much taken a year to complete. One of the all time flatland’s greats, the stylish Michael Steingraeber, or “Mike S” as many of you now know him, has been killing it on the scene forever. Nowadays he would considered a contest veteran, always in the finals at the major events when he competed regularly and more often than not on the Podium, add to that Multiple X Games medallist, amazing parts on Props Groundwork, and the Intrikat videos. With that in mind, I felt it was well and truly time we did an interview! Respect!
When I look at the flatland scene in general Mike there’s not many that have been riding steadily as long as I have, but you have been around since I can remember, I think the Trier Worlds 1991 was the first time I met you, when did you first start riding? Give us some background about how you got started
Yeah, I guess you’re right about that: I have been riding forever!
I first stumbled across BMX in 1983. For some reason or other I started riding 20″ bikes that fall, not yet BMXs. I had inherited what we called a “Bonanza Bike” from my older brother and just started having fun with that. The younger brother of my brothers girlfriend at the time had a BMX and that’s been my first experience with a real BMX. Mind you, BMX was very popular at the time, E.T. Had just come out at the movies, you’d see pictures of racing on cereal boxes and the occasional article would pop up in a mainstream magazine. So I started to hang out with my new friend with a BMX, we rode everything we came across and all I wished for for Christmas that year was a BMX bike. I guess I must have been a good boy, because my wish came true. Luckily my brother understood my passion for BMX right away and gave me an issue of the German BMX magazine at the time, BMX Speed as a present. It had a “how to” in it: front wheel hops! So I tried that over and over. It was quite difficult to be honest! But I never looked back, bought issue after issue of that magazine, tried to learn all the tricks they had how to’s of and just lived BMX. I still do I guess…
Can you remember when you started, if there was much of a contest scene, and did that help your riding progress?
Where I grew up, a small town of about 10000 people, an hour north of Hamburg there was not much. No ramps, no race track, no contests or jams. It was three riders for the most part and a school yard. That’s all there was. No videos, no Internet, nothing. So we tried to collect everything we could find, watch every sports program on TV just to make sure we didn’t miss that one show where they’d have a report about something BMX related.
I did once make it to Hamburg to watch a GT BMX demo with Eddie Fiola and Dave Breed. And it got rained out. What a disappointment! However, that show had been organized by the same bike shop that would later start Dranonfly, one of my first sponsors. Pretty cool actually.
And I finally met the Hamburg locals at some point, met Christoph Huber for the first time and started riding with him and the other Hamburg locals. A big city an hour away was a long way away at the time, but I tried hanging out with them as best I could, tried to be part of the scene. My first trip to a contest was with those Hamburg locals, too: 1987 or 88 I think, we took the train down to Cologne for one of the infamous Jugendpark Contests. What an adventure that was, and I finished second in the beginner flatland class. Back then you’d get a trophy if you finished top three, so that was the first of many to come! Good times!
Who was your first sponsor?
My first sponsor was Mutation Clothing, followed by Dragonfly shortly thereafter. I’ve had a couple of shoe hook ups through Mutation, then finally ended up with Vans in 1998. They’ve been pretty good through the years, still giving me the occasional pair of shoes.
What year did you start using the no stem handlebar combo?
Not sure! I think I’ve had it in 1995. Went to The USA in 94 for The first time and changes my bike setup after that, running my bars way backwards. Then I made the first pair of my handlebars the following year. Throughout the whole time you have been riding, was there a point when you felt most inspired?
Most inspired in which way? I’m sure it’s safe to say I felt very inspired by the Dorkin’ in York videos by the Plywood Hoods, late 1980s to mid 1990s. Then I guess even though I always feel like Kevin Jones laid the foundation for the tricks I do, Edgar Placencia’s part in “Wheelies” gave my riding a certain direction and pushed my style.
Throughout my years competing, I always remember you would make funny hand gestures at the crowd, they always made me laugh, brought across your personality to the contest run, did you use those gestures to relax yourself, I always curious about that, had to ask!
It felt right at the time…When you ride in a contest, in front of a crowd, you are not just a competitor, but also a performer, an entertainer of sorts. People watching you shouldn’t be bored. I guess it was part of me trying to be entertaining.
When I think of you Michael, and all the memories, certain things spring to mind, Trier, funky chicken whip to switch foot locomotive, Aalborg Denmark 92 the elephant glide whips sitting on bars, the X Games in Philly when you were in the lead until Martti’s last run, and when you took your riding “Switch”, all combos both ways? What moments stands out to you, over your riding career?
You remember well! Trier in 1991, a flawless run if I remember correctly, finishing off with probably my first original switch, chick whip to x-footed locomotive. That felt great! And the X-Games silver medal in 2002, leading after the first run, watching everybody else do their second runs and not beating my score. Such a strange feeling sitting there thinking: “Oh, I’m guaranteed 5th!”, then 4th, 3rd and…second. Couldn’t beat Martti’s run. But silver was great!
Looking back I’m just really stoked I got to do all the things I did, competing all over the place, seeing the world, riding my little bike.
I haven’t made too many bad choices, really, always been free to do what I like, not too much pressure from my sponsors. Most importantly staying real, just riding a little kids bike having fun!
How long did you ride for Dragonfly for?
Phew, a long time! I guess they picked me up when they were a distribution in Germany, not even really a bike company. I believe that was in 1995. They have supported me for a long, long time, and I basically stayed until they were gone. I started talking to Christoph at Mankind about riding for him, designing a frame in 2010. That’s when I officially didn’t ride for Dragonfly anymore. They had basically left the scene a year or two before that. No more new products, oh well! About 15 years then, pretty cool. I’ve always tried to build good relationships with my sponsors, not going from one to another all the time. It’s pretty hard to believe a guy telling you his bike is the best, then next season another brand is the best and so on. That’s just not my style!
Moving onto sponsorship Modern day. How are things going with Mankind?
I love riding for them. Christoph Huber, the Mankind boss has been a friend of mine since the late 1980s and he gave me the chance to design a frame the way I like it, no questions asked. He doesn’t put any pressure on me as far a competing goes. I just ride and have fun using his products. I love it!
When did you make the move from Hamburg to Köln? Why did you move, I heard a rumour that it was purely for the Hyatt riding spot?
After all these years travelling the world I thought I should try a new place in Germany as well. I thought about moving to Koblenz to hang out with my good friend Frank Lukas a lot more. I stayed at his place for two weeks, started looking for a room and tried riding his local spots. And what happened was that I wasn’t happy riding any of the spots in Koblenz and hopped on the train to ride LVR in Cologne a lot. Then I found a room in Cologne pretty easily and that’s how I ended up here. So yes, LVR played a big role in my choosing Cologne as my home spot. That was in 2007, coming to 6 years in Cologne now.
That’s a good story Mike. Let’s go back to the “Switch” riding, what inspired this direction? And what was the time period to learn combos both ways?
There are different aspects to my riding switch. One of them is that as a flatlander, maybe more so when we were scuffing all day long, you stand on one leg a lot and use the other leg for scuffing or balancing a lot. And it’s always the same leg you’re putting all your weight on. That’s not very healthy and my lower back started to act up. So I figured I should try to do my tricks switch. The other reason was that I was trying to figure out the direction Flatland was heading, or which direction I wanted it to head to. I actually really liked the tricks I was doing at the time and I didn’t want to learn a different style of tricks. So I tried learning the same tricks switch. This is a bit strange, but I actually thought I was doing what should be done and that I would be the best teacher doing the same tricks I already did, just switch!
Anyway, it was a long process, when I first started trying a few scuffing tricks, like a lard yard, or a caboose, it felt really difficult. Kind of like when you start riding. But it was a lot of fun, too. I was living in Hamburg at the time, riding the Kunsthalle spot and I would try some basic tricks switch. Then someone wold walk past and ask how long I had been riding, probably expecting me to say a few weeks, and I’d say something like 15 years or so and it would make me look pretty bad at what I was doing. It was funny to me back then! Anyway, once your legs understand what they are doing you start learning tricks a bit quicker. But it still felt strange doing tricks switch. And I loved it, because it felt like a totally new accomplishment!
So aside from your lower back, have you had any other injuries? You always have seemed in good shape, you don’t drink do you?
I rolled my ankle badly falling on a surfer to bar ride attempt in the late 80s. I had to have surgery and was out of riding for about half a year. I’ve had a broken hand in the early 90s, but nothing serious. Wore a cast for a while and that was it.
I know you can get injured riding Flatland, but to me it’s more the mental aspect that makes it so difficult. It just wears you out spending all those hours on your bike, year after year, trying to learn tricks that shouldn’t be possible in the first place. If you want to compete you’ve got to try to dial them in and then pull them off under pressure. It feels great when you do pull it off and it feels horrible when you don’t. Once you start playing mind games with yourself it’s getting a bit too much and might be time for a break.
It always seemed like you placed better in the US then in Europe, particularly with the X Games, how did you feel about that at the time if you can remember?
I didn’t do too bad in Europe, but I guess you’re right, I got even better results overseas. Maybe part of it was me being from overseas, and being the new guy, too. And judging was a bit different at the big contests in the US. You HAD to be very consistent over there.
What I liked about that judging was that it was consistent: you knew how the judges were going to judge and it was always the same. You can’t forget that those big ESPN contests were not just contests, but a mix of that and a TV show. I liked the organisation over there, and I liked the contests in Europe as well, a bit more wild, a bit more real BMX in a way.
Now you don’t compete as much, has your riding style changed much at all? The way you practise?
It has changed a lot. I don’t make money riding my bike so I have to go to work and I don’t have as much time to ride anymore. But it also means there is no pressure to prepare for such and such contest, and I really enjoy to just ride for the sake of riding. I still find myself going through the same links as if I was practicing for a contest. Old habits die hard I guess.
What’s a typical day like for Mike S in Köln?
M.: Right now I’m not back to work, so I just chill through the morning, have a coffee at a cafe, surf the web and if it’s not too cold I go for a ride. Usually I go to work at a photo lab, either early morning shift starting at 6am or late shift working until 11pm. Not the best, not the worst either. Then ride in my free time.
Martti Kuoppa called you the most dialled contest rider in a Flatmatters article about contest preparation, what work did you put in before contests?
Well, I guess first of all thanks Martti! I’ve always tried to be consistent in my riding, just doing my links and combos over and over, not changing them around too much. I do enjoy riding okay in a contest, but the preparation required sometimes took the fun out of riding for me. That’s one of the reasons why I’m not keen on competing anymore.
Come to think of it it’s actually pretty funny that I would try to do my links three times in a session, and it would take a while depending on my balance that day, or my focus. And that’s all, no three in a row, let alone 5 in a row. So I basically never felt very consistent in practice, but it worked for me to be consistent enough in my contest runs. Sometimes anyway…
You’ve had a fair few classic video parts over the years, which part are you most proud of?
Being in Groundworks was great! I guess that’s the one that meant the most to me!
But being in the Intrikat videos probably did the most for making a name for myself. I’m very glad I met Chad and that he wanted to film with me!
Yeah for sure. Now of course you competed last year at the OG Contest in Hungary and you don’t compete much anymore, why did you choose that event? And congratulations on reaching top 3, how did that feel?
It was quite simple: András Pentek told me he had that event coming up and asked me whether he could invite me to be one of the international riders. I hadn’t been to Hungary before and had always meant to go there once. And once I had agreed on riding in the event I felt the old fire again, changing my riding a bit, going back to working on consistency of my links and tricks. I enjoyed that, but I don’t need it all the time. Once at the event I was pretty nervous, as usual. But I pulled a few tricks, and it felt like some of the other guys didn’t really try to do well. Anyway, I was a bit surprised and very happy about finishing on the podium.
The funny thing was that I left a few guys behind me who I was going to judge at Circle Of Balance the following week.
What was your experience like judging the Red Bull COB?
It was great, actually! You know, I had competed in the first three COBs, now I was still able to be part of it, just without the pressure of having to perform. Well, they made us judges come out into the arena doing a trick to introduce ourselves. I chose a simple trick and couldn’t even pull that. Good thing I was “only” judging.
While judging is hardly ever easy, I find battle style contests to be easier to judge than runs. It’s just either one guy or the other. No points, no thinking about how much better was this guy so how big a gap in points does he deserve. And no 25th rider where it becomes difficult to remember the first rider and his run.
And just to have mentioned it: I prefer judging a battle style contest, but I do prefer to ride contests with individual runs. It’s the true form to me!
Besides judging, you did a lot of stuff beside the scenes for the Rebel jam? Do you see yourself doing more of this kind of thing in the future?
I’ve helped out at contests before, helped building the contest area, helped running events, and been judging. I feel like my experience can be helpful and I love doing it. I will always try to be in touch with Flatland as much as I can and try to push it. If you need help, need an experienced judge, hit me up!
We talked about style a lot during the Rebel jam weekend, what is style for you?
To me it’s quite simple: smoothness is a good starting point. Once a rider knows his tricks well, he will start to work on his style. Or he might just have it. To me it’s a matter of not just barely pulling off a trick, but doing it easily…and with style. It’s actually difficult to put in words for me. Just one example: at the Eindhoven Rebel Jam we judged style as well, and one of the judges told me he loved one riders sketchiness and thought it was extremely stylish. While I was highly entertained and very impressed by that particular rider actually pulling his tricks even though it looked like he would fall off, I would never in a hundred years call that stylish. That’s why it’s such a difficult category to judge. And that’s where as an organizer of an event you have the responsibility to chose good judges!
Besides riding, I recall you do take a lot of photographs, and you work at Photo place. Can you see yourself doing this in the future perhaps as a full time profession?
I do want to take more pictures and hopefully have more published. I love photography, but it’s a difficult field to make a living in. We’ll see what’s going to happen!
Any final words of wisdom or thanks to finish this up Mike?
Where to start? The way I’ve come to know BMX I have to say I just love it! I’ve traveled the world, met riders everywhere, slept on people’s floor or couch. People gave me lifts to contests or sessions, people let me take their picture. It does feel like one big family! I sometimes wish there was more connection between Flatland and other disciplines, like in the old days. It’s all BMX to me. But it’s also all good the way things are. We have big
events, great pros, good up and comers. What else do we need?
I have to thank a few sponsors that supported me along the way: Vans, Dragonfly, Mutation, Eastpak, JYKK Japan,
and currently Mankind, Vans, Atmosfair Clothing, KHE bikes, People’s Store. Surely I forgot someone…
Thanks to my friends who ride with me, thanks to flatmattersonline for this interview!
As always: do what you like to do: want to ride front wheel only, do that! Backwheel only? Do it! Both wheels, street, park, dirt? Do it!
Whatever it is you want to do on your bike, just go for it. And if you don’t want to ride for a day, for a week, or a month: just don’t ride. The need will come back, and if you push yourself too hard you’ll destroy it!
Ride on!
Thank you Mike! Was amazing to catch up with you! Hope you all enjoyed this one!
Down to the final part of my review of 2012! If you have been following the reviews, you will know they are pretty detailed, and true to form, it doesn’t change here!
September kicked off with some contest news, Lee Musselwhite won the UK Championships for the second year in a row in Bristol. Over in Budapest, Adam Kun won the OSG 3 contest which looked like one of the best events of the year, great to see Mike S on the podium, go back and look through the trailers and contest footage, great contest in all aspects. This is of course served as the warm up to the biggest contest of the year, the Red Bull Circle of Balance in Kyoto, Japan! This was definitely my highlight of the year, flatland on the big stage, and of course I had the honour of hosting the live feed to all of you at home.
When Andy Zeiss, “Hey E, do you think you can talk about flatland for two and half hours with Frank Lucas”. I laughed to myself and thought that is not a problem at all, I planned a loose show taking into account Frank had previously rode in the Circle of Balance event. Unfortunately Frank was unable to make it, so after a few meetings at the event we invited a few guests (The US Haro Team were in the house! Ryan Nyquist, Dennis McCoy were chosen, and a few riders as they would drop out of the contest, and I proposed inviting people to tweet into me with shootouts and thoughts on the events, to give it that interactive feel. The build up to the final show you all watched was incredible, the Haro team put on an epic show outside of the event. It was role reversal in Japan, Flatland centre stage, Park riding as a warm up. Then I started to have doubts, “shit two and a half hours is a long time on your own”, as it turned out, the show honestly felt like half an hour, when your having a blast like that, it’s easy to see why!
Thinking about the event now still gives me goosebumps, and I still have visions of standing up for the last final battle and screaming my lungs off with Dennis and Terry thinking we were going going fall off the top of the bleachers. Flatland this night definitely went to a higher place, congratulations once more to Viki Gomez, achieving his third COB win over a ten year period, something I do not think will happen again. Hosting the show was a total blast and something I will never forget, thank you Andy, Red Bull, and flatland!
The aftermath of the Circle Of Balance was quite rightly taken up with tons of videos from the contest, I especially liked Deep Bmx’s take on it, who toured Japan, and showed that tour vibe, with lil’ parts showing the contest. I also did caught up with the winner Viki Gomez that is well worth a read again, great hearing his perspective and emotion at winning for the third time. Once again if you check the bibliography after this article and can you scroll through each video as you so wish.
Getting back home and back to reality, and the jetlag even though I was only in the land of rising sun for 4 days, was hell for a week. I got back home and remember the first video that I watched was a trailer featuring Shuichi Osada one of my favourite riders from japan, a feeling hit me, why did I come home? Then dropped Aki’s video, right after the COB! This was largely slept on, I’m guessing due to the timing of its release…
September 13th was an awesome day for edits and news! Long Beach’s Sean Fontenot dropped a crazy “Never give up” edit with some mind boggling xfted cab stuff and took the harshest slams, this dude has that fire, go back and watch this one! Dedication to the cause! 2012 was a great year for Jean Francois Bouilainne, and he deserves his hook up with Flatware, a few days later JFB teamed up with Sevisual to bring you his “Welcome to Flatware edit!”!
The FlatWeb TV guys gave so much to flatland last year, aside from the regular shows which is enough work, I really thought there individual edits stood out, and the edit from Vancouver stood out, so good to see some fresh Cory Fester footage! The day finished with the Nora Cup Nominees being announced, with many people speculating as always, it was for sure between Ucchie and Dominik.
On September 17th, one of the most underrated riders on the planet in my opinion, Thomas Noyer dropped a crazy edit entitled “Pieces of Combos” that further enhanced his rep in flatland circles. I expect big things from this man in 2013! Pete Brandt and the crew featured in a tight “Clocktower jam SF” edit on the same day. Always get good vibes watching the SF jam edits, makes me want to go back someday!
A day later and Red Bull released a really tight edit from the COB event, the event already had mad amount of coverage, but this came over as being fresh, which is amazing in itself after how much coverage came out.
On the 21st, Yohei “Ucchie” Uchino was voted as the Nora Cup Flatlander of the year! Winning the first two stops of the Word Circuit and a banging 430 part. A part of me does feel this award goes out to early in the year as there still were a few months to go, but hey, it might not have made much difference anyway…
As the month began to wind down, the edits/news didn’t, JFB was on a high from the FlatWare hook and took the win at the FlatDance 2012 event in Slovakia.
I’m always looking for the next “big rider”, and this kid might well be it, all year he released progressive videos! If you do not know the name “Mateus Beckmann”, type his name into the search bar, and watch a young kid enjoying flatland progression, it is beautiful to watch unfold!
Alberto Moya enjoyed a great 2012, released his 360 bar flip Cliffhanger, entitled “Aoosttt” as well as yet another scene video featuring the riding of Moya, Guelo, and Varo Hernandez. Like Thomas Noyer, I expect big things from Moya this year!
Two of the best edits of the year dropped on the 26th and 27th. And in a way summed one of the great things about 2012! Diversity. Matt Wilhlem’s “At home” edit has all cringing at screen with “that slam”, and amazed as always at the speed of his riding! James White “Whitelines” edit follows a calmer route in riding but equally impressive, and his “bikeflip” surprised the flatland world. The term “Must Watch” was seeming to overdone, but was truly worth it. I imagine these two edits played on repeat at many a flatlanders house over the rest of the year!
Jean William Prevost killed it at the Red Bull COB, and was a name now everybody was talking about. His Interview with Marked Mayhem was perfectly timed, talking about his riding, his travels, and contest experience. Another guy to look out for this year, how would he follow up the success of Japan. Toronto is fast approaching…
On the same day I caught up with Flatland legend, Kerry Gatt to discuss his COB experience, this actually turned out to be one of my favourite interviews of the year. If you missed this one, hit the bibliography, great read!
The month finished with a couple of sweet edits from Jesse Puente “Welcome to Wrung”, Davis Dudelis 60 meter Nose manual, and Mike S exercising at LVR! What a blinding month to the growing list!
In October, the edits were still going from the Red Bull COB. This was one was on a different tip though, and focussed documentary style on Deco owner and rider(s) Chad Degroot and Kerry Gatt! Take a peak back at this one, great edit by Hiroshi!
A day later Tom at Sevisual released a dope black and white edit from the The bridge jam in Vienna, great riding from Markus Redlburger, Sebastian Grubinger, amongst others.
On October 4th I was out in Tossa del Mar, an hour north of Barcelona to judge the Rebel jam. Sunshine, beaches, and beautiful postcard views for a week. As always the Rebel jam is run entirely different. And actually made judging flatland a lot easer, if you had to pick winners from the weekend that would be Jesse Puente who had the run of his life, Matthias Dandois, and Alexis Desolneux who hit two of his hardest moves. But the Rebel jam is all about the BMX experience, I hope to go back to this venue one day. Beautiful.
The worst thing about the Rebel jam was the wi-fi, painfully slow which made updating the site very tricky and time consuming more than usual. Whilst all eyes were on the Rebel jam, there are still amazing edits dropping worldwide. Case in point, the Huntington beach edit featuring Terry Adams, Bobby Carter and Sean Fontenot, this edit captured that HB vibe from the 90’s, and whilst it wasn’t a throwback edit at all, it took many of us way back to that time when HB was the capital of the flatland world.
On October 9th,the Flat WebTV guys dropped an amazing post Red Bull COB show, that featured great insight from the winner Viki Gomez, the MC Scott O’Brien, myself on livefeed, Mike S from judging perspective, plus many more. Well with going back and watching this one!
Two days later, Jason Plourde dropped an intense edit entitled “Liberate”, last year it really felt Jasn had found his way, destroying the back wheel with Raphael Chiquet like pivots, and multiple footjam decade variations mid combo, mixing them into whoppers, amongst other tricks. Amazing!
A week after Rebel jam the focus shifted to the other side of the world. Austin, Texas. And the Texas Toast event, plenty on the line for the year end AM Flat titles, TJ Perry took the win in am, we interviewed him shortly after which caused quite a response! Todd Carter was right behind Tj and took the year end title, congrats Todd! (hit the bibliography for interviews with TJ and Todd!) And in Pro, Dominik Nekolny dropped a hammer last combo, that had many saying the hardest line every done in a contest. One thing is for certain, after a bad start to the weekend with the Pralex car getting broken into and Dom’s bag getting stolen. Winning the event, and the year end title in pro, improved things! What a year for Dominik! Texas Toast along with the Rebel jam took a great deal of the coverage during October!
Some of UK scene headed to Bristol (who has one of the best scenes in the UK) for Mayko Lee’s birthday jam, and as well as the Bristol crew putting on a sweet jam for Mayko Lee, they dropped a tight edit a few days after the event, and we caught up with Josh to see what work went into putting the day on! Hit the bibliography if you missed this one, or refresh the mind maybe.
October 17th was another great day for flatland! Any footage of Steve Mulder is awesome, multiple hanggliders are relatively unheard of in this day in age of peg to peg boomerangs, Mulder completely smashed it with 5 brakeless! To my knowledge thats a record, unless he’s beat it himself? Steve?
Luis Elias Benavides published Part 1 of his Radio interview with flatland legend, Chase Gouin, they discussed his recovery with fungal/mould illness, how he got into riding, his passion for flatland riding, of particular interest to me was the question about judging, where he talks about variety, trickiontary, originality. So much more. Great interview!
I told you the 17th was a good day, and Alex Jumelin teamed up with Fat Tony to bring you a welcome to freegun edit, filmed in Las Vegas, whilst Alex was in town for the Nora Cup ceremony.
What a year for Jim McKay, fast becoming one of the best filmers in the game, another Must Watch from the pre jam for the Texas Toast at the infamous OG spot, such an amazing vibe comes across watching this edit.
Three days later and another great day for flatland edits. What I especially liked about this day was the variety of different types of edits coming in, as you will see if you go back and watch these.
Martti Kuoppa back on a bike! A great day if nothing else, and just messing around with a mega spin full whopper to mega spin decade out! That was enough for me, but the day continued! Jeff Scheer released a really good edit full of different techniques I hadn’t seen in years, but really brought a smile to my face seeing this edit! And holy shit, Sietse Van Berkel in the second half of the year seemed to just elevate to monster status riding wise, absolutely smashing it in his September 2012 edit, great style and tricks from this shredder from Holland. Big future for this guy! Anthony Buglio rounded up a cracking day with a brilliant show from the Texas Toast, really digging the shows isolated to one topic, whether interview or contest, on this occasion, great interviews and riding footage! Top marks FlatWebTV!
On October 22nd, Mr Hyper, Dez Maarsen dropped a sick downside whip to rollback rolled clip! A day later, Chase Gouin Part 2 of his radio interview with Luis Elias discussing his health, signature frame, taking part in contests, favourite riders, suggestions to beginners, and influence of flatland in his life. Definitely worth going back and listening to both interviews.
As the month started winding down, surprise surprise the edits did not! Jim McKay dropped a great short edit with Holland’s Michael Van der Kroft,who went down a similar route to Alex Jumelin with his riding, not touching the seat. It will be interesting to see in 2013, what he gets up to!
Remember the name, Kensuke Hamai! His riding is a mix of Raphael Chiquet, and Yohei Uchino, killer back wheel flow! Big future for this guy if he keeps shredding like he did in 2012! On the same day, Scott Powell released a dope edit entitled “Let the bikes in”, even though it was old footage, I was still amazed at the double foot jam combo in this one! Timeless. Over in Spain, Adam Kun won the MiraFlow contest in Sevilla!
We ended the month stoked on two edits, from Charles Paty and that name again, Adam Kun! I can already hear people saying, oh yeah that edit! Charles Paty killed it in his Superb frames testing edit, killer nose manual combos. On a different tip, Adam teamed up with the Hungarian bank, to film one of the most professional looking edits yet. Both equally awesome edits for very different reasons! A great end to yet another great month!
Now you would think, November.. The weather starts turning bad, nights drawing in, less edits! Wrong! November started like it was the middle of summer in terms of content. I remember thinking wow, this is non stop work! Four amazing edits dropped from the Texas Toast, Dax Wolford, Pete Brandt, and Guelo and Moya, hit the bibliography to watch throughout them.
A few days later, Dax was back with a dope triple turbine edit. York Uno released a really nice edit with “Doke in Kobe”. Joris Bretagnolles won the Vibration Urbaines contest in France. And Jim McKay released “A tips on making better flatland edits” article from TCU, firstly good news the TCU are finally covering flatland, and also good it was someone who knows what they are talking about! Lot of helpful tips to consider on this topic, as we of course flatlanders not film makers.
There then seemed to be a lil’ down time for the first time I can recall all year, of 5-6 days of chilled edits. Then on the 11th, things started to fire up again! Dane Beardsley enjoyed a great year, and took a well deserved first place at the Trans jam in Greenville. Anthony Brogden was spitting feather son the mic during Dane’s run! Go back and watch his second run for one hell of an incredible back wheel line.
Pete Brandt had numerous dope edits throughout the year, but this “Clocktower tales” edit really stood out for me. An inspiration to us all, the man is on it more than ever!
It didn’t seem like Jim McKay was far out of the limelight this year, and on the 12th he released the “Must Watch” edit from Texas Toast. On the same day, Fat Tony released the 2013 flatland calendar with Dane Beardsley on the cover, and Team Pralex on the back. Thanks to fat we had a couple of exclusives on the calendar behind the scenes, hit the bibliography for the juice if you missed these.
S&M made some big statements of intent this year, not only Chad blowing up and dropping one of the best edits. But Peter Olsen delivered a hammer part for us all to drool over, this edit swept across every flatland and bmx website that knew what was up that day, and on repeat for days to come. As it turns out arguably the top 3 edits of the year, were all from S&M riders! Like I said, a real big statement!!
4 days later was all about Matthias Dandois! On this day he won the Com’in Lyon contest and released a really well produced and thought out whiplash how to, that set the standard for how-tos in this digital era. Amazing quality and insight into the trick!
As November wound down as I busy getting articles ready to celebrate 4 years of Flatmatters! Rather than just an edit this year, I wanted to have exclusive content dropping all week to celebrate, and we featured during that week, two part rider perspective on 2012, a interview with the master of the foot jam decade, John Yull, a two part huge interview with Viki Gomez! We announced our media partnership with BMX Union, The Merged, Freecoaster.com, and Can I Dig it? And also during that time Alex Jumelin had a dope TCU interview, Sietse Van Berkel continued his amazing year with another banging clip.
As we rolled into the last month of the year. A few sponsorship chains were happening, firstly Yohei Uchino signed for Red Bull, and Matthias Dandois quit Ares Bykes.
On December 6th besides the part 2 of the rider perspective article dropping, Kenshiro released a sick quad decade clip, that had many of us talking! Most notably, Flat Web Tv held their 2012 awards show, and I was truly honoured to be considered for the lifetime achievement award, let alone to take the award. Watch the show above to see who else won what, if you missed it!
Now we don’t see a great deal of Brian Tunney, but when we do it is always a treat, classic rolling style, and his edit on December 7th was a Must Watch! Also on this day, the KOG organisers released an amazing expert class edit, and Sergio Balu from Brazil “amazed us! Sorry couldn’t resist, in reference to title before you ask!
December 8th was another good day for edits and even though it was towards the need of the year, the edits and sheer volume didn’t slow down hardly at all. One of the things I will take most from the year would be that fact alone, pretty amazing when you think about it. Anyway, on this day, it was great to see Catfish release a “world-wide” that reflected his travels, different cultures, wild partying and the odd amazing flatland move here and there. Thats a good watch! Com’in Lyon also released a tight edit from their contest. And over in Tokyo, Yohei Uchino narrowly beat Viki Gomez for the top spot at the G Shock Real Toughness event.
On December 12th, the news that Same Thing Daily 3 was in the works dropped. Sietse Van Berkel dropped a clip in 0 Celsuis, Ciaran Perry released some amazing old footage of himself from 2008, and Tyler Gilliard’s Welcome to FreeGun edit dropped, hopefully we will see more from this guy this year!
After much speculation, the news dropped that Matthias Dandois was riding for Haro Bikes! And would be riding Dennis Enerson’s signature SD frame. In a random bit of news related to this, I just got word today from hare manager, Colin McKay that his Welcome to Haro edit will be dropping anyway! So hold tight!
December 17th was a great day for flatland, both Sam Foakes and Matthias Dandois released sick edits, that reminded me of old times those two going head to head, anyone else notice these guys seem to have a habit of releasing edits on the same date. Also on this day, Scott O”brine put down the mic, and let us see him shred in New Orleans, dope vibes from the City Park riding spot!
On December 23rd, Adam Kun released a Must Watch edit from his last session of 2012! And whilst many of us were occupied with Christmas. In japan, the KOG/WC Finals were going down, for me it was a shame that due to the scheduling of this event, no one from outside of japan was there. It kind of diminishes all their hard work thats gone on in previous rounds. Nevertheless as we all know, the riding at the final event of the year was absolutely mind-blowing, with Hotoke taking the win, Yohei Uchino taking the World Circuit, could Dominik Nekolny have taken it? We’ll never know. And Moto Sasaki finished 3rd with a dope 1 minute long combo that on any other day would be enough. Go back and watch this edit again! Pure fire!!
Things slow down on Christmas day? Hell no! On Christmas day Alex Jumelin and Jim McKay released “The style the life” with some of AJ’s best riding to date! And FlatWebTV interviewed Chad Johnston and Peter Olsen who both won awards respectively.
On Boxing day, the KOG edits were in full flow, and ESPn released a really dope interview with Simon O’Brien. early stoked to see more of SOB shredding in 2013!
On December 28th we broke the news, that James White as on S&M! And fittingly the year ended with James White teaming up with james smith to bring you his Welcome to S&M edit! Not to forget on the same day a dope flashback edit from Waldemar Fatkin, expect big things from this stylecat this year.
And that as they say is a wrap! What an incredible year that I hope I’ve done some justice if you can be bothered to read through it all! I hope more than anything that this article in its three parts acts more of an archive that you can refer to! Big respect to every flatlander on the planet that has brought content to all of us worldwide, and kept the scene moving forward! 2013 will have a hell of a job trying to top that!
Sit down with a cuppa, OJ or whatever your are drinking this morning or evening, and spare yourself an hour to go through the year 2012, May till August FM style, hit the extensive bibliography for relevent links!
If you already read my Part 1 review of 2012, you will know the format. If not, hit the link above for what you have missed!
Spring was in full mode, perhaps not in England as it rained a lot just for a change, nevertheless the month of May started with some incredible news that I feel helped drive the positive vibes throughout 2012.
We began May with the Posse Up scene deadline and some great edits came in from scenes like LA, Baltimore, and the eventually winner, Athens, Georgia! The concept from the One Love Crew was great, I hope to see much more of this kind of thing in the future.
Also on this day, the trailer for the 430 DVD trailer was released, and certainly wetted the appetite for what was to come from Japan.
On May 2nd, arguably the biggest news of the year was announced. The legendary Red Bull Circle of Balance contest was back, and scheduled for Kyoto, Japan in September. The feel good factor was felt across the flatland world. Events worldwide seemed to gain energy as a result of the news.
Quentin Pelorson released a serious progression edit on May 3rd, this guy really stood out for me in 2012. He may or may not get much credit in broader terms, but right here he earned a ton of respect from me, the spinning ck flip to xft halfpacker in this short clip was no joke at all!
Three days later, Viki Gomez won the Bike Days contest in Switzerland, a contest that seems to be gaining in popularity every year. The podium shot seemed to cause quite a stir here on FM.
On May 7th arguably one of the best contest edits of the year dropped, a little known contest outside of Japan, called the “An Cup” the edit featured back to back hammer combos unedited and totally flawless from Yohei Uchino, Hiroya Morizaki, and Yoshiki Uchino. Remember this one people? Go back and watch this one again!
2012 was quite a year for Jason Plourde, on May 10th Jason released a sweet clip pulling a double footjam decade, a trick he would further explore during the year. On the same day we broke the news that Viki Gomez had just landed a nice sponsorship deal with Levi’s. The good vibes were flowing.
On May 11th I started hyping up one of the most important events on the flatland calendar, the Voodoo jam! The hype began with a whole bunch of interviews with the likes of Mark Kuhlmann, Todd Carter, Bryan Huffman, Ron Monis, and of course Terry Adams and Scott O’Brien (who also had a great interview drop on ESPN on may 18th) , the term “hype” seemed to go down well with the flatland community, and a few days later Dominik Nekolny dropped a savage multiple xfted whiplash combo using the term as a title.
On May 20th Alex Jumelin won the Fise contest in Montpelier, France, before moving countries to the USA. Quite fitting for Alex to win his last contest in his home country. The year kept getting better and better for him.
FlatDev went to new heights last year, one of the best branded events, ton of promotional material, and in my eyes seemed to stand out from the pack in terms of professionalism. Edit after edit, interviews, qualifying videos, and perhaps a new standard for events to reach. Hey, if you want to put on a event, you could worse than check out these guys and what they have done. Top marks to the organisers!
Now let it be said, I am a big Hotoke fan, and on May 24th when Jim McKay released the “Hotoke at JomoPro 2012” I was hyped, and the whole flatland community were too. With Jim’s editing and filming skills, and Hotoke’s bike mastery, the edit was a sure winner. Go watch this one again for a sweet reminder. (I wonder how many times I will say that throughout this article).
On May 27th, It’s always amazing to see what Aki is up to, I admire riders who go in their own direction. And Aki’s backwards pumping technique had reached a whole different level with regard to technique and smoothness, I remember hitting the rewind button about five times before I even posted it! That ladies and gentlemen does not happen very often – no offence! Hit the bibliography to watch this one again!
Three days later, Dane Beardsley dropped a monster part for ESPN, teaming up with his good friend Brian Tunney. There were so many combos to marvel at, but the backwards xfted halfpacker to steam stood out to me, not just for how hard that is, but the angle of his foot as he pivoted from the backwards xfted halfpacker to steam, absolutely insane!
The month of May finished off with a really well produced edit from FlatDev (yes that name again!) with Mr Buttery himself, Shintaro Misawa. And lastly but not least, a name we don’t hear from too often from, Travis Collier produced a sweet part for a competition called “My Steaz”.
I feel like we have enough for year already, but we haven’t even got to summer yet!
June started off with the rider list being announced for the Red Bull Circle of Balance in Kyoto, Japan. As usual plenty of discussion about who should and shouldn’t be invited. In the end, there are only 16 spots, somebody is going to be disappointed, it is awesome for flatland the event came back, and I certainly feel like it shaped the second half of the year.
In my eyes and I have no doubt many others, one of the best bits of news came on June 2nd. Chase Gouin making a recovery from his severe illness (hit the bibliography for details) and back riding, with a few photos documented on the Odyssey website. After having three years off his bike, the news Chase was back riding, certainly brought a spring in my step and i’m sure many others.
On the same day, another flatland legend, West Coasts Jesse Puente announced a “originality” contest to win his signature Premuim lagger KHE frame.
On June 4th we continued the “Voodoo jam Hype” with a interview with Prasheel Gopal, and that same day Waldemar Fatkin and Stephan Kornely dropped a Must Watch edit shredding the spot in Koblenz. Good to see that friendship vibe come across, and those guys do it perfectly.
Denes Katona is a name you don’t hear too much of, but sometimes less is more! And in this case that certainly applies right here, everybody knows Denes is one of the best riders on the planet, and visiting good friend Mizo over in Ireland, Denes doesn’t disappoint and delivers some impossible whiplash combinations. Sadly this was the last we heard of Denes from 2012. Hit the bibliography watch this one again!
June of course meant, the Voodoo jam in New Orleans! And a ton of edits came out throughout the month and indeed are still coming out now in January 2013! Check the bibliography for all the best edits, especially Jim McKay’s edit below.
As always Scott O’Brien and Terry Adams put their heart and soul into putting on the best possible event. All eyes were on New Orleans that weekend. As the event wasn’t part of the World Circuit, not all the heavy hitters were there (Matthias Dandois, and Yohei Uchino both previous Voodoo jam winners spring to mind).
In the AM class, Canadian Mark Kuhlmann took the win and immediately turned pro (with reference to Scott O’Brien Flat Web TV interview) this was a great idea!, Mark only just missing the cut on his first attempt. We interviewed Mark shortly after on June 13th, to talk about his Voodoo jam experience. The pralex guys were flying the flag this weekend!
In prelims, Matt Wilhelm threw down to take the top spot into the final battles. In the end, Dominik Nekolny stomped to a first place finish. Why this event, wasn’t part of the World Circuit I have no idea, but that’s a whole different topic!
On the same day as the Voodoo jam, Jason Plourde who had an amazing year dropped a banging “Transformer freestyle” edit, if anyone is going to break into that group of elite riders that place top 5 at every event, Jason could be that guy. Style, speed and aggression in abundance!
Pockets of edits seem to all come in at once, this happened numerous times throughout the year. And on June 14th, two amazing edits from flatland legend Pete Brandt at his second home, the Clocktower in SF and Trevor Oleniuk’s visual diary of the Voodoo Jam swept across every flatland blog and website on the planet.
The end of june wrapped up with entries coming in for Jesse Puente’s originality contest, great edits from Russia, Thomas Noyer, David Nagy and Brazilian riders Lisias Taberelli and Bruno Zebu. Lisias took the win, and collected his frame at the BMX Masters! Congratulations once again Lisias.
July is always a huge month for flatland, edits come in so fast, that at times it is hard to keep up, and quite often last year, I’ve held edits back to give other edits time to be viewed and taken in.
Calvin Tan is one stylish mofo, and July 2nd he dropped a “Must Watch” edit, riding the back wheel in a unique way, his riding style screamed “fun!”, go watch it again for a reminder of what this guy brings to the game.
July 3rd was another good example of the “Pockets of edits” comment I previously made, amazing edits dropped by Gabe Kadmiri, and two from Madrid, the Flatmad crew Part 1 (& Part 2 a few days later) and James Smith teamed up with Viki Gomez to bring you “Lots and found” also filmed in Madrid, needless to say but Viki’s skills are incredible, and when you put them together with James’ filming and editing talents, your onto a winner! July 3rd was a good day!
Two days later and another amazing day for edits, with an absolute treat from The One Love crew with Dane Beardsley, I feel like people are finally coming round to how awesome Dane’s riding really is, and this “Shaka Brah” edit definitely did not disappoint. Sebastian Grubinger stars in a lot of Dane’s videos nowadays, and on this day he teamed up with Tom @ Sevisual to bring you his Heresy “Ascend” bars promo, this was a “Must Watch” edit, Steamboat whiplashes, and whiplash to infront of bars whips and back spring to mind.
A day later, and Aleski Ritsila and Bert Ribul brought another “Must watch” banger edit, two stylish cats with a big future! Really enjoyed how this edit was put together, a definite must go back and watch! Good vibes!
July 9th may well have been the best day for flatland/news edits of the year! Don’t believe me! Check the list, and then go watch them all:
Must watch – Voodoo jam edit by Jim McKay!
Botak Raziff wins Flat Dev 2012! Final Battle edit!
Dez Maarsen/ Michael van deer Krost Summer weekend Session
Hiroya Morisaki wins stop 2 of G Shock Real Toughness
York jam 2012 edit by York Uno
Red Bull COB teaser
Edit overload! And they just kept coming and coming!
The BMX masters is one of the biggest contests on the calendar. Last year it was run as the World Championship, and on July 15th Matthias Dandois took the title that had eluded him for a long time, and added to his list of contest wins. Pretty much winning every event on the planet at some point in his career. The highlights edit dropped a few days later, and as always with the Worlds/BMX masters, this event gets lot more attention and comments than any other edit pretty much.
July 16th was another great day in a list of many last year! Both Alex Jumelin and Sam Foakes dropped banger edits, even though Sam didn’t realise he was having an edit filmed at the Flatmatters jam in Manchester. Flatland is quite nice like that sometimes! Alex continued on his personal rampage, having one of the best years of his long career, both edits and riders have been hugely influential this year.
July 20th was another amazing day for news/edits, kicking things off with Russia winning the Real Toughness contest in Osaka, Jesse Puente signing for Wrung Streetwear, we dropped an exclusive interview with Joe Miller to help hype up Round 2 of the AM FLT series, and two great great edits from the BMX Worlds 2012 by Freedom BMx and Deep BMX!
The next few days were taken up with the news of the return of the legendary Aggro Rag ‘zine and Yohei Uchino continued his winning streak, winning the 2nd round of the World Circuit and looking on course to win the World Circuit title in Berlin…
On July 25th, I dropped an exclusive interview with japanese stylecat, Keisuke Tanigawa, one of my favourite riders currently. Who later went on to win the No runs contest in Saga, japan later in the month.
Over in Austin, Texas, John Yull continued to light the fuse, dropping another Must watch edit for one of his sponsors, Tempest Brand. Flatlanders worldwide were taking notes on his creative foot-jam decade combinations.
The Olympics were in full fever around this time, and a whole load of BMX riders were due to perform at the opening show. Johann Chann teamed up with James White, Jason Forde, TGM Maz, and Keelan Phillips to bring the world a lil’ snippet of their routine as last minute the decision was made to axe the whole BMX show. Quite what effect that show would have had on future generations we will never know.
The month of July ended with flurry of edits, The name Pedro Melo is not heard enough on Flatmatters, so you know when an edit drops, it will be amazing. And his “One too hot hour” was a Must Watch for the flatland community.
Lisias Taberelli dropped an amazing “Outside BMX Worlds” edit, that captured the Koln vibe really well. The Brazilian energy came through loud and clear.
The OG crew put on dope events, and released an amazing trailer for the Offline Sports Game contest in September, this looked like being one of the best events of the year.
Summer holidays in flow, and a busy month for me organising the King of Southsea contest at the end of month. A ton of edits dropped in August and Laszlo Tivadar & Steve Mulder started the month off nicely, with a tasty 5 combos edit and 5 brakeless hanggliders respectively!
The exciting news that the Dew Tour were holding a flatland contest was announced on August 4th, the contest scheduled for August 19th in Ocean City, Maryland was invitational only with 4 riders, Matthias Dandois, Alex Jumelin, Terry Adams, and Matt Wilhelm were confirmed. Another positive for an amazing year for flatland!
A day later JF Boulianne won Round 3 of the AM FLT Circuit, in Anderson Indiana, the contest got rained out, but fortunately there was an indoor spot that looks like a reception area to get the contest done, and the ranking points proved to be hugely important.
On the other side of the world, Yohei Uchino won yet another contest, this time the G Shock Real Toughness event in Sendai, Japan, and along with the World Circuit was looking like he was going to take the G Shock Real Toughness Series also.
On August 7th we returned to these “Pockets of edits” I mentioned earlier, Dylan Worsley’s xft backwards halfpacker clip was a timely reminder, not only that he’s still got it, but that he’s still out there shredding hard, stoked to see this! Jason Plourde, Matt Wilhelm and Dane Beardsley all had Must Watch edits on this day, all totally different styles, which is a good point from the year, 2012 seemed to me to bring more diversity than recent previous years. jason and Matt are both fast paced but yet totally different styles, and Dane’s Cross Country edit in Portland, Oregon was at the opposite end of the scale yet of course equally as hard. Flatland is beautiful!
Three days later, and Jason Plourde was most def on a roll with the multiple decade concept, go back and watch this absolutely hammer short clip!
On August 11th, the King of Ground dropped the Official edit from Round 2. And Naoto Tamaru released this must watch edit that seemed to go underneath the radar, featuring Nauto, Kenshiro Ojma and featured an jaw dropping back wheel combo from Yohei Uchino, two footed death truck to out opposite side backwards peg time machine flip to xft upside down wheelie, absolutely nuts!
August 19th was another great day for flatland. With great edits from the One Love crew, Lisias Taberelli, Prasheel Gopal, and the news that Matthias Dandois won the Dew Tour flatland contest in Ocean City, Maryland!
August 25th was one hell of a busy day for me, actually that whole week was! King of Southsea was in full flow. The FM house was full of riders, Prasheel Gopal, Alberto Moya, Navid Saleki and friend, Johann Chann and Trevor Lacey. KOS saw the return of Sam Foakes to competition after a few years out, and as many expected he did not disappoint, taking the win, with Romain Georges in second place. Prasheel took the win in Expert. Whilst all that was going on, Phil Dolan who wasn’t at King of Southsea tut tut, continued his solo mission, with his latest clips exploring the figure of 8 concept. And Trevor Meyer dropped an insane Summer 2012 edit that had the FM house stoked in between numerous viewings of the new 430 DVD!
Two days later I released Sam Foakes winning run rom the KOS. Dez Maarsen won the Chuncheon Cup, and Chad Johnston dropped one of the best edits of the year hands down! Pegless riding at its very best that seemed to utilise all techniques in flatland into one. Mind blown. Chad is a beast!
August as you would expect in the height of summer, finished with tons of edits. Actually that slowed down all year but anyway, it seems busier when your finishing up summer season at the skatepark, and trying to ride and run the website. On August 29th, Argentine shredder Gonzalo Bellanti released a really nice “Post BMX Worlds Hype” edit that documented his progression, this kid has a bright future. Fresh off the Chuncheon Cup win, Dez Maarsen dropped a sick brakeless edit, the man was looking ready for the Red Bull COB. And last but not least, even though the footage is old, one of the best edits of the year, was this Lost Footage edit of Matthias Dandois, shot arguably in his prime. Seriously go back and watch this!
Phew!! A lot happened as you can appreciate from May till August, argueably the busiest months of the year! Stay tuned for Part 3, coming soon….
Almost daily I get new ideas for the site, in the case of reviewing 2012 I felt the “Defining moments of 2011” didn’t really do the whole year justice I felt like I skipped a lot, in doing so, this article quickly turn into a bit of a monster!
How do you reflect on such a good year with just “Defining Moments” I thought to myself?
I do believe 2012 was one of the best years for flatland that I can ever remember.
So I started documenting all the edits and articles/news as I always do, this time I used the loose criteria, did they make me go back and take numerous watches/views.
I realised pretty quickly that this idea was a monsteras I hit rewind on some many edits, but much like when I’m riding, once I get an idea for trick/or article I stick at it until it’s done.
Two months later, staring at all these video references/notes, after much gnashing of teeth, re-edit after re-edit, here I am with Part 1!
I started brainstorming ideas best to showcase the year as concisely as possible.
This is what I came up with:
This article will come in three parts, Four months summary at a time, with a bibliography.
Let me know what you think in the comments. I am interested to see what people think. Hope you enjoy my breakdown! Anyway, enough of me rambling, let’s crack on!
Welcome to Part 1 of 3 for my review of 2012. Hold tight!
As early as January 4th, One of my favourite riders to watch, Stephan Hearn dropped an amazing ESPN profile edit dropped which kick started the year off nicely! Stephan’s riding since his Create part has always amazed me! 2012 has seen a lot of new faces come to the forefront which is amazing and much needed for our sport/artform. On January 14th, Kensuke Hamai from Japan dropped a “Must Watch” back wheel edit, with effortless switches which further pushed the foundations made by the likes of Nathan Penonzek, Raphael Chiquet and more recently Yohei Uchino.
Working on interviews as I have said many times is one of my favourite parts of putting together FM, first up for the year was Athens stylecat, Jody Temple, who kindly put together a really nice edit for coincide with the interview on January 18th. The year seems to have flown by, as this edit feels like it dropped a month ago.
On January 19th, Quentin Pelorson from France dropped some bombs on the Grenoble scene edit, the forward karl step to halfpacker (11.27) still has me hitting the rewind months ahead, I hope in time this guys riding gets the recognition it really does deserve. Really excited to see how his riding develops this year!
After the well received FM exclusive edit on January 20th, I dropped the first big interview of the year, with Jody Temple. This is most certainly well worth going back over and reading again, plus some awesome photographs to boot!
Also on this day, the first major jam of the year took place in Zuma Beach, So Cal. The One Love Jam saw a reunion of some flatland legends like Dylan Worsley, Day Smith, Brian Tunney, Cory Fester, Chad Johnston, Ed Nussbaum, and many more shredders. The One Love crew added a highest bunnyhop event that helped attract more riders and sponsors, and of course fun! Good times on the West Coast!
On February 6th was a great day for flatland! Tomoaki Yoshimura dropped a “Must Watch” back wheel edit, with his amazing two footed scuffing technique on forward puppets, Tomoaki had a great year featuring a lot across every flat website/blog on the planet. Hope to see more creative riding from this guy in 2013.
Also on February 6th I dropped the second big interview with Flatland legend, Simon O’Brien, I feel like sometimes this dude and what he’s done gets forgotten very quickly, as he’s out there in Australia, but as it turns out later in the year he featured a lot more. As we would later in the year find out.
Also, Adam Kun teamed up with his friend Tom at Sevisual to show the world his new brakeless style. Like I said February 6th was a good day!
On February 11th, Alex Jumelin joined forces with Matthias Dandois to kick start his year with a bang, 2012 was one of Alex’s most productive years yet, and this edit at his work/home riding spot in Paris set the tone of the year.
On the same day, Aleksi Ritsila dropped his Welcome to S&M edit, all I can say is Wow! Go watch that again. I wish the flatland world could see more of this style cat, but on the flipside it’s kinda nice getting brief glimpses of his awesome riding.
George Manos came over to the UK in February, and filmed a few FM exclusives at my indoor spot, but the real treat came on Feb 18th when he teamed up with the talented film maker/videographer, James Smith. The black and white tone and darkness of the edit captured George’s personality and minimalistic riding style perfectly, go watch that edit again!
Two days later, as we all recovered from Georges amazing edit, Tom at Sevisual got together with spanish style cat, Viki Gomez whilst he was over with Adam Kun for a contest in Madrid to film a sweet part in Madrid. Viki won the contest on home soil..
March always starts with the Toronto contest, now that the Circle Cow contest is no more. Toronto really is the first big contest of the year, and the first chance many of us get to see what the heavy hitters are up to for the year. And of course Canada has always historically helped breed some of the worlds best flatlanders. In 2012, Moto Sasaki took the win from Czech’s Dominik Nekolny, the result was uber close, a real tough to call, with how Dom ended the year at Texas Toast you wouldn’t bet on Dom going back this year to take top honours in Canada.
Whilst George Manos stayed at my house, I asked him if he would write an article about his thoughts on originality in flatland, on March 2nd, we released his thoughts and philosophy, entitled “Originality – a hidden identity” that gave you the flatland world some insight into this talented riders world.
Four days later, Bert Ribul had me thinking “is the guy that could step up and be the next big thing?”, so many crazy brakeless switches with nuff style, as I remember this is the first post I ever “stickied”, I may have got carried away with the amount of time I kept it stickied for. Bert’s edit was one of the best of the year, and certainly helped his invite to the Red Bull Circe of Balance later in the year. And 2013 looks like being a good year already for Bert!
On March 15th, Jean William Prevost dropped an amazing “Spring Cleaning” edit, killer back wheel pedal pivots, turbines, and so much flow, the edit had many saying “If he can hold it together he will win a contest…”… They were later proved they were not far wrong on that prediction….
On April 6th, one of the best edits of the years dropped and surprised the world, embracing the old, but making it new, John Yull’s “3 years” edit had me screaming at the laptop numerous times, it was great to see John back firing, John flipped the old and made it new! Killer foot jam decade variations, power mowers, the list goes on! As we all know John this year is working on his part for Same Thing Daily 3. Really excited to see what John has in store for us.
Hiroya Morizaki came out the blocks hot in 2012, winning the first round of the KOG, dialling in his no scuff mega spin whopper combo, everyone knows that no one rides like Hiroya, when the man is on, as I said on the Red Bull COB live feed, “get out of town”.
Shortly after the KOG, of course it was time for one of the best contests of the year and Round One of the World Circuit series, Jomopro. On the eve of the contest, April 9th, Fat Tony dropped an amazing practise edit which was really the first time we saw a lot of the japanese riders in 2012, and wow, Yohei Uchino stood out, as it turned out. Ucchie put his previous demons from the Jomopro contest to bed, and stomped his way to a well deserved win.
On April 10th, the news broke that Flatland Fuel’s Pat Schoolen was recovering from an operation to remove a tumour, thankfully Pat recovered well. But this news certainly shook the flatland world for a minute.
On April 11th, I dropped the story of the trip to the One Wheel Motion TGM jam in London, which certainly let a few of us know that Sam Foakes was back on it, and not slowing down anytime soon.
A day later, OGBikeCo released an amazing edit of the underrated Peter Sarlos, go back and watch this edit, Peter absolutely kills it!
2012 was a great year for Jim McKay, and the first main edit he dropped was the best trick contest edit from the Jomopro contest, we all marvelled at Hotoke’s insane front wheel line, not to mention Terry’s winning combo.
Also on this day, James Smith dropped the hilarious “The downfall of flatland parody” that followed on from TCU edit, James certainly ruffled a few feathers with this one, but in my opinion it is always good to reminded not to take yourself to seriously me thinks.
On April 28th, we broke the news that Alex Jumelin and his family would be moving from their home in Paris, France to New Orleans, USA. Certainly a career defining moment, and complete change in lifestyle.
Two days later, Jim McKay released an amazing edit entitled “Outside Jomopro 2012”, all to often after contests all thats available to see are the runs, Jim’s take Outside the contest, hit the nail on the head. An absolute treat with amazing riding from the likes of Viki Gomez, Hotoke, Dub, Matthias Dandois, and many more. Oh yeah that edit? Go watch it…
Part 2 to be continued Monday, does anyone see why this quickly became a monster? ….
Matti Hemmings, on his way to second place in his first Pro contest!
After the first attempt of Battle Vibes fell through in 2012, the supposed collaboration of Keelan Phillips and James White returned to make Battle Vibes the first UK contest of 2013.
Last Sunday February the 3rd, the concept became a reality. Keelan unfortunately failed to make the contest, rumour has it, he was standing in for Justin Bieber for a show in Germany. James White – initially unaware of his involvement in the contest, reserved a suite at the Hilton the night before in a desperate attempt to resuscitate UK flatland for the 10th time.
Ade King the undercover man behind the jam, (no relation to fellow promoter Don King) used his extensive experience with organising old school B-boy / hip hop events, and notched up a killer sound system, DJs, and silky smooth floor at a fantastic venue at a leisure centre in Northampton.
C group
Surprisingly (and perhaps alarmingly) C group was the smallest group at this event. 7 year old Richie Spencer has had a good upbringing with riding all forms of BMX- a bit of racing, skateparks, as well as competing in flatland. Third place for the little dude. Morgan Gleave took a break from his IT to enter on his 1inch Dirt bike for 2nd, and the winner was Jake with a victory in his first contest.
Expert
Expert was the largest group. Denny contributes alot to BMX, and in an attempt to be the most productive BMX rider of all time, filmed, rode and photographed his own run whilst giving props to everyone all at the same time.
Matt Spencer tag teamed his son Richie in practice, unleashed messiahs and hang fives demonstrating a noticeable improvement at every contest.
Stuart McLaren rode a great run with some classic showmanship, getting caught up in the b- boy flava with a dancing cap magic trick, where the cap magically disappears behind his back, and then reappears back on his head all throughout preforming a surfer- great run, superb showmanship with some amazing bar presses hitchhikers and a mental rollaid thrown in for good measure.
Tom Brace disguised a hit and run on Chris job with a smooth gliding messiah across the huge leisure centre floor before revealing his true intentions. Tom almost unplugged all the DJ cables and took out the Job, but the assassination proved unsuccessful.
Chris Carter, Hang Nothing.
Top guys Chris Carter and Andy Wood displayed some nice hard long double footed rolling links. All round top bloke TGM Peter Pan Maz has a nice mix of hitchhikers, spinning lawnmowers, scuffing and decades, but gelled a bit for a third place. I left the camera at home in a desperate attempt to escape my media grommet demeanour (only to get roped into writing this piece). Cliff hanger, bwds- fwds spinning lawns, hang nothings, circle Ks and little fancy footwork on the floor for second place. Mayko Lee has improved no end, not only did he take off his two hats, but also his t-shirt. Before completing his striptease, Mayko jumped on his bike performing stylish spinning lardyards in gyrator position, with double footed rolling backyards. Another caught up with the whole b-boy vibe, Mayko ended with a no handed time machine, diving onto the floor, and went straight into an attempted windmill. A drastically improved Mayko chalks up a second expert win- well done!
Am winner and strip tease artist, Mayko Lee killing it on the back wheel.
Pro
A couple of riders made the jump to A group. Manning up to the occasion was the man previously know as Stinky feet Sal, (now know as professional male model Sal), backwards cliffhangers, jugglers, hopefully we’ll see an edit of the jam soon from this multi-talented stud muffin.
Yinka Thomas also jumped to pro on this occasion with nice spinning lawns like only he can. Like many others Yinka was another victim to the wet winter months holding him back from the inevitable glory which faces him.
Lee Wilson, Bence & Andy Hale fell victims to the cold wet winter, with a few very nice complicated moves pulled. Great to see Amos putting his 21inch S&M and four steel pegs through the motions- straight from his new found status as a dad- congratulations!
James Smith took time out from his DSLR devices emporium, filming duties and looking after his designer dog to jump into his matt black Porsche 944 to multiple whiplash, halfpacker pump and backwards manny his pink mop across the leisure centre floor.
Chris Brown was on fire in practice, once again proving T-shirt off = getting serious. Nice whiplashes into all sorts of tech brakeless pinky whip trickery ensures a prosperous future for ‘velcro feet’ .
Velcro feet, aka Chris Brown works his magic.
Norbert, switch foot pedal 5.
Jason Forde, also demonstrated a man’s worth of riding with a disgustingly stylish long link including multiple, flips, spins, hitch juggler only to slightly dab right at the very end.
Jason Forde, styling it out mid steamroller.
Josh Briars whoppered his way onto the floor alongside music which made him look even manlier than usual, great mix of time machine, whiplash, and cliffhanger variants.
Josh Briars, has Whoppers on lock! On his way to a third place finish at BV!
Matti Hemmings exploded onto the floor ready for action, whiplash into hang nothing- on the stem hang five, double footed pumping deathtrucks, time machine variants, with spinning cliff with ft on bars, blizzard like spins and turbines, gave Matti a very close second.
Fresh out of his Oxygen tank at the Hilton, James White, put ‘the white bike’ through a smooth controlled treat of one handed multiple whiplashes combined with multiple one handed jugglers, double footed death trucks multiple bike flip gyrator, dump truck combos, including no handed, switch footed etc etc. All executed with a timeless smoothness we’ve all grown to expect from the living legend’s 15th comeback. All together top job by the new S&M sponsored, MCing, semi-organising Battle Vibes champion.
Don’t call it a comeback! James White has been here for years. Two footed death truck on way to victory.
The jam was a great start to the year with a great Job being done by Ade, James, and Chris Job on the mic.
Let’s hope this is a good start to an even better 2013!
Ade would like to say thanks to: Sponsor KEELAN PHILLIPS, DJ’s MKUTZ, OP1, Aidy west for p.a. Nik Vanhasslehoff, Paddy O’Donoghue, for helping a whole bunch, and James White.
Dan Margetts from Worcester UK, is a name I haven’t heard of in years and maybe you haven’t heard of him at all? Matti Hemmings hooked up with him at the old fire station in Bristol, on Monday after the Battle Vibes contest for a session, and Matti kindly fired out this FM exclusive with Dan! What do you think of Dan’s riding?
It’s gradually got bigger and heavier. Obviously It’s quite fashionable to use a street style whip at the moment but for me , the look of how this sort of set up encourages you ride coincided with where I wanted to go. I got a similar feeling watching people ride big set ups to when I first saw brakeless riding… Fluid and less forceful.. like you’ve got to give the bike respect and wait for it to respond. Small light weight bikes are by there nature quick and jerky I’m a huge critic of my riding and this was something I wanted to iron out, so started messing about with bigger set ups and here I am. The White bike…
Frame: S&M Intrikat 20”tt in limited Edition White. Forks: S&M Intrikat Prototype White. Bars: S&M Intrikat 9” Limited Edition White. Headset: Primo in matching Limited Edition White. Tyres: Fit Faf 1:95 front and back. Fastest tyres I’ve come across. Rims: Alienation brakeless rims front and back. Front hub: DK. Back hub: KHE the light version. I’ve cut down the axles a bit and lathed down a few parts to lighten it up a bit. Spokes: double butted radial lace. Crank: Éclat Onyx – I chop down the axle quite a bit. While I’m not so bothered about weight I still don’t like carrying around unnecessary heavy metal. Chain: Cult, silver. Chain wheel: AMNL Sprocky Balboa. Grips: Fit, faith Grips. I’m on about my forth pair of these. Love how they feel, tuff where you grab and nice and soft on the rest of my delicate hands. Bar ends: Odyssey par ends. I love these bar ends, for plastic bar ends they last and work so well. Stem: Shadow. Pegs: Ares with Odyssey par ends. (I love the Ares pegs, but being plastic the ends wear down pretty quick so I ‘ve got a little mod going on using odyssey bar ends) Got some griptape going as well at the moment as riding in the wet a fair amount of time. Seat: Currently using a Pivotal Fit. I’ve ground out all the undercarriage so it nice to grab.
Nice edit sent in by Moya from the Bicycle Film Festival Flat jam this weekend, featuring Alberto Moya, Guelo Monzón, Santiago Notario, Miguel Tardío, Fernando Bayona, Alex Plaza and Varo Hernandez.
Filming: Paula Llorente and Alberto Moya.
Repo by: Morgan Peckosh
This was the second event for bicycles held in the Matadero, a cultural and art center that is built in an old abandoned slaughterhouse. The first was a jam in May with some workshops for flat and bmx with little kids. We had a jam and the crowd was really excited by flatland and we were invited back.
This time the collective La Traba, that recently was told they will have to leave the building they have been squating for over 3 years, was asked to organize a small contest for flatland and Street for the Bicycle Film Festival, a festival of movies and documentaries about bicycles.
As there were two contests already in the last month, Flatland Expressions and the contest at La Traba, we decided to have a little more fun and just do a chill contest. We started with a bicycle limbo contest, where people had to go under a bar either on one wheel or two. Moya won the one Wheel limbo, with a half packer, and Alex Plaza won the two Wheel limbo. Then we did some old school contests like the gerator battle, funky chicken battle, and longest cliffhanger contest. The stubborn and militant Guelo won gerator and funky chicken battles and Moya won the longest cliffhanger. The last flatland challenge was a kind of cone slalom set up with trash cans. Nobody seemed to really get the hang of it but Fernando Bayona did do a surfer through the whole curse. Unfortunately since everyone was participating in these challenges, no one filmed it.
Second we had a small jam circle type contest where everyone competed and everyone had three runs. Then everyone voted on Best Style, Most Original, Most technical, and Most Consistency. Miguel Tardio won Best Style and Most Technical, pulling all three of his runs flawlessly and dropping some very difficult cross foot whiplash nose wheelie combos. I don´t think Miguel ever gets nervous and it is always fun to watch him in contests because his combos are at least 8 tricks longs every time.
Moya won most original. Everyone on flatmatters already knows Moya and all his one footed and frame tricks. He has a very clear visión of where he wants to take his riding and every day he is opening new doors that have never been opened by other riders.
Most consistent went to Santiago Notario who just recently (finally!) put cranks on his bike. It was his second time riding with cranks but it didn´t seem to change his smooth back Wheel, scuff, roll style.
As always in Madrid, at the end of the contest, the riding doesn´t stop. Afterwards everyone went to the center to keep riding and chill. The flatlanders of Madrid wish you a great holiday season and we promise you higher level of tricks, insanity, and fun in 2013.
