Life of Bikes

A Wicked Ride BMX Freestyle Documentary Trailer Release

If you love BMX and Freestyle, this project is for you.  Groups of kids in New England, like Chris Lashua, Joe Johnson, Darren Pelio, Dennis Langlais, Kevin Robinson and hundreds of others were a part of building one of the coolest places to be as a BMX kid in the 1980s.  Take a look.

 

Interbike 2012 - The Year Freestyle Resurfaces?

Among all the pretty cool bike technology and business happening in Vegas at Interbike, there was a huge piece of bicycle history called "Generations of Freestyle". It was a very impressive collection of bikes from the 30 + years of BMX Freestyle, memorabilia, and coolest of all if course was the riders. Bob Haro, Martin Aparajo, Ron Wilkerson, Dave Nourie, Dennis McCoy, Joe Johnson, Eddie Fiola, Mat Hoffman, Mike Dominquez, Brian Blyther, Dave Voelker, Kevin Martin, Lee Reynolds, Chris Lashua, Dennis Langlais, Rich Sigur, Tony Murray and Marc McGlyn. It was literally like having many of the 80s AFA and 2 Hip lineups all in one place 20 years later. Also in attendance was Windy Osborn with some of the most incredible photos from her collections.

Haro stepped up big in this convention hall and to the sport by honoring all the Haro pioneers with an exact rebuild of the first Haro Freestyle frame and fork, built to precisely the specifications Bob Haro designed himself 30 years ago. Truly classy and inspiring to see the sustained commitment to the sport and their desire to provide all of us old timers with a new batch of memories and bikes to ride. Well done Haro and thank you to Bob Haro for leading the way for BMX repeatedly. Stay tuned as Bob and and few others introduce some truly awesome BMX products.

Interbike 2012

As a first visit to Interbike, I'm looking forward to see it all.   I've been to dozens of tradeshows and most seem pretty much the same.  This seems different.  As Chris Lashua and I will be walking through looking for new technology stories, Interbike seems to have many to offer.  I'm particularly looking forward to see some new details from Bob Haro's venture, Ikonix.  Some have said, "Bob's back".  Bob's never left in my mind. He is the root that planted the sport of Freestyle.  I do agree that he is now diving back into a part of BMX that has been sorely missing for a few decades, bike design.  Can't wait to see more.

 

King of Flatland 25th Anniversary

Certain days stand out for different reasons.  When you have been a part of such a great event series with some great friends, getting together for another shot at it is a no brainer.  John Cote and his dad put on a great series of contests for five years from 1987 to 1992.  They are at again!  Well done.  I am looking forward to next year.  This was a great day.

 

The Eye of an Artist...The Heart of a BMXer - Windy Osborn Inducted to the Hall of Fame

To be involved in the first few decades of BMX was to be treated to the photography of a few great photographers.  Windy Osborn was front of the class in this group along with Bob Osborn, John Kerr and several others.  Take a few minutes and hear Windy's thoughts on being inducted into the National BMX Hall of Fame.

 

2012 National BMX Hall of Fame - Windy Osborn from USA BMX on Vimeo.

Pioneers - Dennis McCoy - "The Real McCoy"

If you have ever been involved in Freestyle at all, you know Dennis McCoy.  With about 30 years of Freestyle experience, Dennis is a pioneer and legend.  The list of tricks invented, wild stories and  incredible perseverance are only outmatched by his absolute love of the sport.

His nickname is fitting, "The Real McCoy".  He lived his sport and has never stopped.  I admire that and always enjoy a chance to see Dennis jump on a bike.  The BMX Hall of Fame will be calling.

Take a look at this competition run from 1985, just as Dennis was about to move up to the Pro class.  This was in an era of balance tricks and few combos.  Dennis blew everyone in the building away with this run.

 

Why we love BMX?

We love BMX at any age.  It was born when my generation were young kids, but it didn't mean that it ended when we "grew up".  We love it because its a part of us.  Take a look at Kevin's video and you may understand why we love the sport and why kids that don't automatically fall in love with other sports find a cool thing to do on bikes.  Kevin is a pioneer and an ambassodor to the sport. 

http://espn.go.com/action/bmx/blog/_/post/6583386/catching-kevin-robinson

New England BMX Freestyle Documentary Movie In Production...Where are You?

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. 

 

Rye Airfield Reunion event #1...more to come

 

New School Old School - A Helmet?

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.

 

In Search of the Perfect Air

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.

Take a look for yourself.