Repo + Photos: Effraim + Jean William Prevost.
Hello everyone!
** As some of you will know, I like to do day to day repos whilst I’m away judging events. I have already a lot of questions about a livestream, I will do my best to answer those in the next few days before the contest goes down!
Repo + Photos: Effraim, Matti Hemmings, Miguel Pargas.
It’s hard not to get nostalgic going back to The Green Mile, it turns out it’s been 5-6 years since I was last at this legendary riding spot for the UK flatland scene (search TGM on the sidebar of the website to see what I am talking about.
Yinka Thomas threw down a jam last weekend, with the help of Jason Forde and my schedule was for once free so attending the jam was a no brainer.
The forecast wasn’t looking too great, but it was worth the risk as it os October after all you just never know. As it turns out the weather forecast was pretty much bang on, with two heavy showers throughout the day enough for the ground not to dry all day.
Two Flatland Assassins, Chris Young & Pete Brandt took over the Clocktower in San Francisco, California recently for a session in the Fall whilst Chris was in town. Flatland is all about different styles, and friends pushing each other, and this comes through right here with Chris’ glass smooth flow across the granite marble riding surface, and Pete’s attack mode on both and front/back wheel make this one a fun watch, look out for Pete’s last line at 2:58!
I’ve been sat on these clips on my phone for a few months now, rather than dump them for no one to see. I thought I would try my hand at a raw edit filmed in practise in between judging duties, from the Fise Montpellier event featuring Yu Shoji, Sietse van Berkel, Matthias Dandois, Kio Hayakawa, Toon Pakphum, Masato Ito, and Moto Sasaki.
Enjoy!
I can’t remember the last time we had a Must Watch edit that dropped exclusively on the site. Lee Musselwhite comes through with this short and banging new BANE edit, with series of NBD’s that you want to be watching on repeat. This is a treat, thanks Lee for sharing!
Intro/Interview: Yasuyuki Takeo.
Photography: Riku Shinde.
In the late ’90s, top Japanese flatland riders emerged from nowhere and started competing in the X-Games hosted by ESPN, the most prominent sports channel in the US.
By the early ’00s, it wasn’t surprising that Japanese riders were on the podium of international contests. The Japanese scene attracted riders’ attention worldwide, and they invented new techniques and trends one after another.
Yoshihiro Shinde has been one of the top riders in Japan for a long time. He continues to pursue Flatland while working as a product designer for an enterprise company on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
He is in his forties and does not ride BMX for a living. However, when he said he wanted to master BMX, his words somehow resonated with me. Even though I had left the BMX scene, I wanted to know what the word meant.
While many riders stick with only certain tricks, he has mastered all kinds of tricks since he started riding. Stating “I want to master BMX Flatland” would probably sound cliche, but I felt he was sincere in his view of Flatland and his weighty words.
He continues pursuing Flatland to master it, entirely different from riding for love, money, or fame. Here is his story.
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It’s been a couple of weeks since the X-Games in Chiba, Japan! I had a couple of clips left on my phone from practise, from two days of filming during practise. Featuring the winner Kio Hayakawa, Terry Adams, Moto Sasaki, Yohei Uchino, and alternate Yu Katagiri who didn’t get to compete sadly.
Great to see flatland back at the X Games!
Intro/Interview: Effraim.
Photography: Kio Hayakawa & Hikaru Funya.
Kio Hayakawa!! This young talent from Japan is making big waves in the global flatland scene. I met Kio for the first time at the X Games in Chiba, Japan and it was obvious the man is on a mission. Riding more than anyone else at the contest, and so consistent on all his new tricks. It’s kind of daunting to see, and I would imagine even more daunting for his competitors.
There is something wonderfully pure about his riding, and his work ethic. It’s kind of cheesy to say the future is bright for Kio, because he’s already here as is proven by his X-Games gold medal. He kicked the door down, and shouted loud and clear his intentions. His riding does the talking, hammers getting dropped with an amazing consistent ratio.. Let’s get into this interview with two years in a row Flatmattersonline Rider of the Year, and of course X Games Gold Medalist, welcome to the Kio Hayakawa Interview…..
Intro/Interview: Effraim.
Photography: Jason Halayko.
Hello everyone,
After a few days break from my back to back trips to Lyon France and straight to Japan for the X Games. It’s time to get back to posting some content for you all at home.
And next up in the Fm year end award winner interviews is Viki Gomez, winner of the editorial choice for edit of the year 2021!
We discuss the award, filming the part, direction changes in Viki’s riding, motivations with contests vs edits, Titanium bikes and his new video part Rise 4 Ever (which you can watch below!
RISE 4 EVER from Viki Gomez on Vimeo.
Yesterday was a good day for flatland, the return of flatland to the X Games after a 19 year hiatus. They started just like every other so far, you collect the bag with your covid 19 test on your door handle, get the test done.
Daily procedure, it is what it is. Boring part out the way, ready to enjoy the rest of the day.
