Were you involved in the New England Freestyle BMX scene in the early days? We are looking for all the folks involved for a documentary movie project that will tell the story of how it all came together to put our region on the map and the great group of guys that made it all happen. Contact me to get involved for look for the Facebook group called "Grass Roots: The Origins of a New England Freestyle BMX Community".
Teaser set of clips from the first batch of videos received.
I love the progression of Freestyle. It absolutely amazes me where these guys have taken the sport. Why is that a helmet is such a bad thing? Is the "brain bucket" style helmets so distracting or is it back to the "hardcore" attitude that grew in the late 80s as the sport got more and more commerical? I get it. Freestyle is HARDCORE bike riding. Wearing a helmet in this type of riding will do one simple thing for you, allow you to keep riding your bike HARDCORE.
Regret sucks. Wear a helmet to avoid this...or worse, being incapatitated or dead. Brian is lucky to get a second chance here. He also is speaking clearly, which is not common when your skull is fractured. Come on guys. Wear a helmet.
Of the millions of airs done on BMX bikes since the late 70s, is there "one" that you can really call perfect? What would the criteria be?
Height
Style
Difficulty
Flow
Smoothness
Landing
This is a clip of Joe Johnson in the late 80s while riding for GT. What is your criteria and what would be the perfect air?
Watch a few things in this clip:
Joe's body goes up almost on a vertical plane, without a bunch of gyrations or movement. This contributes to how smooth it looks overall, the overall flow and a smooth landing. You could also say this contributes to the style as well.
The height is outrageous even by today's standards. The ramp is estimated at 10' tall. The air is about 10 feet in my estimation. What may not be very well known is that typically a higher air is easier than a lower one. The higher arc of a bigger air slows everything down and allows the rider to position better for a smooth landing or whatever variations they are doing in the arc.
The difficulty of the air may not be obvious. At first glance, it is a one foot invert. Look close and it is a really special and stylish air by one of the sport's masters. It is the style that makes this so rad. Lots of riders can and did one foot inverts. I would argue that Joe's style, and degree to which he clicks this, makes it more difficult than many combo airs. One other thing to notice. Joe switches from his normal left foot forward to landing "goofy footed" or his right foot forward (for a rider who airs to the right). This adds a level of difficulty to a smooth finish. It doesn't seem to affect Joe here, but at that height, it would be a bit weird if you were not used to all the change that high.
In 2012, I will be continuing my efforts to create new ,and at times unusual, bike video. The two projects are:
Grass Roots: The Origins of a New England BMX Freestyle Community. This is a documentary film that tells the story of a group of Bad News Bears types building a community of riders that emerged as national and global pioneers during an amazing time early in the sport. The film features a mountain of footage from the 80s and will also feature a look at a years worth of riding by the original players featured (action and interview). I have partnered with Freestyle legend Dennis Langlais, Jeff Winston to lead the project along with many of the original riders and team managers from the scene as advisors, contributors and historians. They include Ron Stebenne, Bill Curtin, Joe Johson, Chris Lashua, Steve Macomber, Todd and Darren Pelio, Kieran Chapman, Paul Delaiarro, Rob LeClair, Mike Zocchi, Daq Woods, etc... The list just keeps going and going. Thank you to all that have joined in. We are all in to tell the story.
Life of Bikes. An ongoing mission to shoot, edit and publish bike-related video content from new perspectives, new places and tell stories about living a life that has always come back to one thing, pedaling on two wheels (or flying on them). Using a variety of riding types, I am always looking at the world through a lens of a bike.
2012 is going to be a fun and interesting year. I hope you can join me. For more information or to get involved please contact Scott Moroney at moroneyscott@gmail.com or join the Facebook group "Grass Roots: The Origins of a New England BMX Freestyle Community".
Equipment used in the videos in a Countour HD, GoPro HD, Flip HD, Iphone 4 and a variety of older VHS and DV cameras. Who knows if we will come across any 8mm. That would be awesome! The forthcoming Grass Roots movie will be shot using several different cameras, including the next generation of action sports cameras and more traditional professional camera.
In any sport, a tie-breaker can be one of the most dramatic and exciting parts of the competition. The competitors have to raise up their skill levels incredibly higher, the pressure of being perfect skyrockets and, most of all, the spotlight is on. The video below is from the 1987 AFA Masters event in Columbus, Ohio between Mark Eaton and Gary Pollack. Both riders were from Pennsylvania and some of the most innovative at the time. The styles were vastly different, but equally fun to watch. I was there to see in person and recently received a VHS tape of it from Kurt Schmidt. The atmosphere was one of the most intense of the day. The format is a winner-take-all 1 minute run off. This was for third place in a division with some of the top riders globally, including Karl Rothe and Joe Grutolla. Total entry count was 100 riders in this division alone (including yours-truly...I finished somewhere in the middle if memory serves correctly). Take a look.
About a year ago I recorded some really old school ramp tricks. These are the backbone of the sport and are still a ton of fun today. I love the high flying acrobatics of today's riding, but a good clean run with some technical tricks mixed in is still a pleasure to watch...or do.
I did not invent these tricks, but love them. Riders like Dennis Langlais, Jeff Larson, Mike Dominguez and Brian Blyther deserve the credit. Thank you!
I hadn't been to a BMX track in over 25 years when I heard of one near my office. My daughter ended up riding a fundraising ride there and it was a blast to cruise around the track and see her learn.
If you rode a BMX bike as a kid, you will have a blast doing it now. Your not too old. Save that excuse.
When I opened my YouTube account a few years back I had a video that seemed kind of funny and maybe even a little unique. I was bored and was eager to get back on my bikes, but the New England Winter was still lingering on. I had heard it could be done, but didn't know anyone that had tried. I learned how to ride and do a few old freestyle tricks. This is the last of the three videos. Enjoy it, comment that I need to get a life and tell me whatever. I have heard the whole range of comments, but more than 50,000 people have watched it.
To watch what you love go up and down over the course of several decades is tough. Over the course of almost 30 years of being involved in BMX, I have either been involved first hand or cheered and growned from the somewhat sidelines of the sport. Thanks to some pioneers like Mat Hoffman, Dennis McCoy, Steve Swoope, Jay Miron, Dave Mirra, Tim Hall, Chris Moehler, Brian Foster, TJ Lavin back in the 90's; we have a sport that is not only thriving, its growing as it takes on a more global community. This video from Austrailia takes BMX one step upwards in the same way the last major leep took place, the Mega Ramp with Mat Hoffman. Take a look. Simpley AMAZING!!!!!
Everybody loves a crash. Most of us love them as long as the person doesn't get too hurt. In this clip an old school BMX dude was trying to show his kids and some young locals how to jump a huge dirt pile the local DPW had left for something. He was full on at it a few times. By the time I made my way over with a camera he was still at it, and still crashing it. He was fine and smiled throughout each crash. This took place at a skatepark in Fitchburg, MA. If you are this dude, let me know your name.
