Congratulations to Matthias Dandois taking the top spot in the first qualification round at Fise Chengdu, Matthias was followed by Moto Sasaki and Jean William Prevost. Stay tuned for further updates on a busy weekend for flatland across the globe.
Category Archives: News
Battle in the Rockies Day 3
Day 3 of my annual Battle in the Rockies trip, and if there was any day for a chill day this was it. We woke up to snow and freezing temperatures in Monument, Colorado. After a little discussion at breakfast it seemed like the best day to get contest stuff organised ready for the weekend, trophies done, Halloween, etc.
We started the day with a visit to Touch of Shade, James’ business. James was organising the trophies, getting banners ready and even offered to make an FM banner and stickers, so if you are at the event this weekend. Come and see me for some free stickers, stoked! Thank you James!
James has been in the game a long time, so it’s always amazing to check the memorabilia he has displayed around his work place and office. For example, check his previous signature frames above with London Bikes.
After a few hours and lunch at the Tintadome it was time to head back to James’ house and get ready for Halloween and Trick or Treat with his kids. Halloween doesn’t seem so big in the UK, but here it was a huge deal. The snow had stopped so we took the opportunity to dry the flatland slab ready for some outdoor sessions Thursday and Friday when it is supposed to be back into double figures once again. Mates Tucek took the chance to have a ride for an hour or so, whilst myself and James moaned it was too cold to ride for old guys.
Trick or Treat as an experience walking James’ neighbourhood as the kids collected enough Candy to keep them going for a month or so. Never seen anything like it, it was a nice end to a much needed relaxing day. The sun is coming out now as I type this and the Slab is looking good for a session today, can’t wait! Short and sweet today, hope you are all enjoying the updates at home!
Fise Chengdu 2018 this weekend!
It’s a busy weekend across the globe for flatland contests, not only is it the Battle in the Rockies here in Denver. But it is the Fise World finals in Chengdu, China with the year end title up for grabs? Who’s going to take the win?
Battle in the Rockies Day 2
Yesterday was the first full day in Monument, Colorado for the Battle in the Rockies contest this coming weekend. And the first day is always a hard one for me, after 18.5 hours of travelling and a 6 hour time difference the body clock and the altitude takes some adjustment for me. It didn’t seem to bother Mates Tucek at all (watch the Tintadome session edit that I just posted as a reference).
As forecast, the weather turned from the 79 degrees and sunshine, to freezing and snowing over one day. Welcome to Colorado, various people said to me throughout the day. We started the day with an hour trip back to Denver to the Rackhouse, the venue for the Battle in the Rockies contest that will host the AFA finals once again this year. This year the lighting is much better with some new big opening windows bringing in natural daylight and the area was cleared from what I remember last year so it’s already going to be much bigger than last year.
James McGraw & Mates Tucek – Tintadome Session
James and Mates Tintadome session from James McGraw on Vimeo.
James McGraw & Mates Tucek went back for a second late night session whilst I was sleeping. James kills the back wheel and Mates kills the front (lacing a lot of stuff from his MOC entries this year), amazing edit from one session at the Tintadome. And fitting soundtrack at halloween to boot.
Must Watch – Group Asphaltanic Rites / Heresy BMX
GROUP ASPHALTANIC RITES from HERESY BMX on Vimeo.
This morning I woke up in Monument, Colorado to a special treat from the Heresy BMX family. It is almost goes without saying that many of you will not even read this description before hitting play on the video, that’s the hold and respect the Heresy crew have on the flatland community.
The flatland team seems to be a thing of the past for the most part so it’s great that Alexis is able to continuing growing the team adding Pete Olsen to the team who totally fits the HSY aesthetic, and this summer Pete joined Michaël Husser, George Manos, Sebastian Grubinger, Matthieu Bonnecuelle, and head honcho Alexis Desolneux for a summer tour around various spots in Southern France. Combine that with that amazing work of Tom over at Sevisial who captures the chemistry and aesthetic of the brand and in turn whets the appetite somewhat.
From the opening triple backwards two footed backyard walk around by Pete Olsen you just wait in excitement like a little kid as to what is next to follow. The subtle change to colour was almost a nice touch in my mind, as with all Must Watch edits and particularly edits like this I like to highlight what I loved about it.
1:00 & 3:34: Sebastian Grubinger’s lines throughout are absolutely amazing. He and Pete are really pushing the backwards style in this edit and generally and it’s so good now they are repine’ the same brand. Like I said before, the fit makes sense.
4:09: Loved Michael Husser’s whiplash to two footed frontyard round the bars line is so good, and look at the dust on the ground. Even more amazing, loved the style.
5:09: Matthieu Bonnecuelle has so many nice intricate moves throughout the edit, especially loved this g-turning switch foot whiplash jump to pedal manual 180 out to jump off pedals switch foot fakie whiplash and out. The variety between each team members styles are really refreshing throughout.
5:26: One of my favourite lines of the edit, one that myself and James McGraw called out when we first watched the edit this morning, Sebastain’s gliding gerator g turned to backwards two footed backyard half backwards decade off the pedal. Subtle, but such a treat!
The shove pedal 5 line that George Manos drops at the 7:06 is absolute poetry in motion.
And the ender, x-up ride in to brakeless straddle roni from Pete Olsen is so point. Another masterpiece from Heresy, who deserve all the plaudits they will get from this edit I am sure. This is flatland and that is why we love it. Big up everyone involved in this production.
Battle in the Rockies Day 1
Yesterday was a long day travelling to the annual Battle in the Rockies contest in Denver, Colorado. This is my fifth year at BITR! I was asking myself I wonder how long it is, door to door to get from Southsea to Denver? 6am start for me and doing two cuppas before getting a taxi to London Heathrow Terminal 3, turned out on this day there was more traffic than I have ever had before on this journey. We left at 7am and arrived just past 9pm.
The clocks just went back one hour for winter this past weekend and it’s already freezing. I started checking the weather in Colorado, as its always a running joke amongst the riders. It’s 79 degrees as I land, and snow the next day forecast, the weather in Colorado is so crazy but needless to say it’s warmer than at home currently.
Going back to the travel log theme, so three hours check in time as with all international flights. So I am already at five hours and still in London, the flight was scheduled for 9 hours 55, so basically ten hours. 15 hours later in total I am in Denver and waiting for Mates Tucek who was landing 50 minutes after me. Back in the mile high city for the fifth time, and straight away I notice the light. Being a mile high the light is so much more prominent and I see every scratch on my glasses when I am in the sunshine (this might not interest people at home but for me it’s a useful note to have). Customs seemed to take an age, with massive lines but in reality was probably only an half hour or so, but it did mean no waiting around for the bike bag. Which for many of you that have travelled, it’s a big part of the trip waiting on the bags, is it going to arrive?
Two hours later myself and James met Mates and headed to Five guys for the annual traditional Five guys burger and chips before heading to James’ home in Monument, Colorado. Catching up with James and Mates is always fun, hearing all the stories about riders coming to the event and the background to the event is always really cool. Tomorrow morning we are heading back to Denver to the Rackhouse where the BITR will be hosted and sorting out the lighting for the event. So door to door the trip took 18 and half hours, when we arrived at James’ after the usual socialising myself and Mates’ were both struggling to stay awake and got some sleep. Stay tuned for more updates day to day from my trip, hope you enjoyed this. Something a little different than my norm, its Tuesday morning here now. Let’s get a cuppa and get the day started!
Heading to the annual Battle in the Rockies contest tomorrow!
It’s that time of the year once again, the annual Battle in the Rockies contest is going down next weekend in Denver, Colorado. Tomorrow I will be heading out to Denver for another amazing week with the flatland family, so there won’t be any updates on the site tomorrow. Hopefully the weather is kind to us, as I really want to hit James’ outdoor spot up, but I’m expecting snow. James? Todd?
Look out for updates throughout the week, and perhaps the odd interview as well.
Eugene Collins Artwork
Something a lil’ different to break the edit after edit posting at the moment. And you can count on Eugene Collins to do that. Check his artwork above and description below:
“The narrative and inspiration for this three piece series spans a period of about 20 years and can be read about in the my book “The Infinitesimal Secrets of The Flatland Kings”. Originally drawn 20 years ago, this is number two in a series of three pieces. The medium is color pencil on poster board. I chose this because at the time I was most comfortable with it. At this time in my life, I was progressing as an artist and a professional rider of BMX flatland freestyle. This piece is a two-dimensional expression born from the deep-seated passion of being a BMX flatland freestyle artist. Like all artist, the flatlander seeks to share an uncharted territory in the realm of thought and creativity. This work is a visual ode to the moment in every artist’s life when he realizes that everything in life is connected to truth and balance. It is also a narrative of liberation, confidence and control. This piece seeks to illustrate the very beginning of self awareness as an artist and what it means to reach a point in time when he can master the art of creatively sharing his sentiments with others. It also underscores the need for every artist to be in touch with ones inner child and not take yourself too seriously. Every piece in this series has been torn apart and pieced back together. The reason
for this as well as more in-depth details about this piece can be read about in chapter two of the book. The series has also survived the threat of annihilation by Hurricane Katrina. I have restore these pieces, affixing them to custom made floating wooden canvases and sealing them in epoxy resin. Hanging hardware will be included.”
Must Watch – Toon Pakphum / Shadow Practise
Toon Pakphum is two years deep into his coaching lessons with Martti Kuoppa and boy does it look like it is paying off. I have a lot of respect for anyone who takes the effort of training over and over to be dialled. It is great feeling to know you have tricks on lock, at any point of the day and Toon is one of those riders as he looks to break into what I call the elite group of pro’s currently dominating the contest scene. I love to see someone carrying the fight, and Toon is most certainly doing that.
From the first line onwards I was memorized by his consistency, his head barely moving, total bike control right here.
Some of the highlights for me:
00:57: The multiple stem boomerangs, attacking it!
1:18: the brakeless crack 360 flip to steam, notice how quick he is from jump to the tyre. Amazing technique.
2:21: The backwards boomerang to half packer that just goes on and on.
2:57: The last line is a belter, again its too long to name the whole combination of tricks. Just watch this and think about the dedication and hours it has taken for Toon to get to this level. And now he is firmly knocking on the Podium spot door…