sweet transport...

this week i lashed out on a new bike rack for the back of my car... chucking the bike in the back seat wasn't cutting it any more and as soon as you have more than one person in the car it's all over. So... i went down to spokesNT and got myself a QSpear rack and it's AWESOME.

this is the rack to get! forget those horrible three bike, wing nut, clamp down, type things! throw the bike on and strap it up with some occy strap/zip tie things and it's done... for somewhere close to $180 retail it's alot but so worth it.

for more bmx related stuff definately go to focalpoint... and...

"profit margins have dwindled so much that manufacturers have had to cut back somewhere, and unfortunately, that means relegating the seat post to a stub. Some even eliminated the post all together, building a seat attachment point to the frame. Bad news for seat posts, worse news for our good friend the seat post clamp" hahaha so don't forget to lift that seat up BOI! THESEATPOSTBLOG

rain rain rain

I made the mistake of telling someone today "the rain hasn't been that bad, it hasn't put me out of riding once this wet season" and today it did! But once again it was dry at Leanyer Skatepark throughout the whole day! Out of control.
Team Army made some progress on the trails spot we sussed out a while back and a plywood ramp began to find it's way to a new home.

head down arse up hard into it

felatio (the flay show)

supercan whip against the sunset

built...

pulled down...

and now on the move

Also... you may have noticed Ryan Guettler wearing a NYRM shirt in that vid I linked to yesterday.

If not then  nahyouritemate.

Guettler.

uploaded last night on the Mirraco Vimeo page.

Son Of A Ditch from Mirraco on Vimeo.

look at this... and this... and this.

raineturnbullphoto

According to his profile Raine Turnbull is from Canberra and lists his occupation as "Photographer/Bum" and I like that! He has a blog and really you NEED to go have a look at it HERE. It's awesome! The photos are crazy and it looks like he's been travelling a fair bit and even went to the TERRIBLE ONE ramp!!! soooo jealous.

I have been seeking out ALOT of photography type stuff recently and there really is no end to the good sites available online. Including www.dprubinich.com from David Rubinich out of Adelaide. Go there. Click Portfolio and check the third photo out.

what a hop! what a drop!

Also... Don't forget that Cairns has a bmx scene to go with it's awesome park too.

And it's own resident brand.

http://www.nightfallbikeco.com/ 

http://nightfallbikeco.blogspot.com/

and... Nick Cooper does Cairns for UNITmx - youtube

WHAT THE HELL MAN! (warning! rant in progress.)

WELL........................ what to say....

"Convic Construction was created with an aim to provide the most progressive & highest quality skatepark construction worldwide. Life long skateboarders Simon Oxenham & Cameron Melville (RIP) combined their 10 years skate construction experience to form this international company in 1999.
Convic have now been involved in the design & construction of over 300 skateparks throughout Australia, China & South East Asia, more concrete parks than any other contractor worldwide." - convic.com

CONVIC CONVIC CONVIC

Convic. YOU GUYS ROCK.

The City of Cairns. YOU ALSO ROCK.

but...

Darwin city council, NT Government. YOU GUYS SUCK!!!

and i really cannot stress that enough.

WHY would you spend a rumoured six-figure sum plus on the pile of clunky, block like crap and ridiculous bumps we call a "skatepark" at leanyer.

Not to mention the debacle of DCC talking about building only its second ever skatepark in Parap/Vesty's beach/WHERE EVER only to shelve the idea because of "a lack of suitable locations".

HOW ABOUT THE DARWIN ESPLANADE?!?!
how is THAT for a location!...

or... something couldn't be squeezed in down at the "waterfront" all these years later?

allow me to introduce.... Cairns. The OTHER northern capital and their skatepark/skateplaza/skatebowl/beachside WONDERLAND!

"Cairns, at 2300m2, is the biggest skatepark in Australia and integrates with the Cairns Esplanade and foreshore. It features a small 4-5ft clover bowl with rounded hips and pockets. The big bowl has a square 6ft shallow end and 7ft deep end. The bowl has an over vert corner, half pipe whip section and a vert wall ranging from 8ft -10ft (topped with pool coping) that snakes between the 6 and 7ft sections. In the middle of the bowl is a cradle, mogul and a three sided tombstone. Heaps of transfers as the bowl wraps around itself, but it can be tricky to get lines straight off, gotta work it out! The 2000m2 of skateable Plaza is essentially a collection of intersecting paths that cross each other to create session spots. Long runs with ledges, rails, banks, stairs and gaps all over the place. Heavily landscaped areas between the paths; which is ideal for escaping the northern heat. A shelter is located near the big bowl and at night the lights come on." - skateboard.com.au

if you need anymore proof of what a good idea this is and what a good skatepark looks like in a prominent location then look at sydney's iconic BONDI BEACH.

now go back to the top and look at that overview again....

ahhhhh. what a beautiful sight!

rant over. travel to cairns... i will be. as will many others.

Change your flat tyre but don't take the wheel off!!

from flybikes

WOW!

At first i didn't know what the point would be...

then i realised that with a pump and a few of these you wouldn't even need tools. Even just the ability to change the tube without taking the wheel off is AWESOME. (call it lazy but whatever)

Now i just wonder how much these will cost exactly........

available through triplesix distribution to local stores i would imagine....

and the story continues...

after a slow afternoon of internet and facebook trawling heres the goods...

the good keep flowing from Deanna... awesome to see.

and as far as slick photos go it doesn't get much better in this country than Cooper Brownlee.

FOCALPOINT originator and all round photographer genius. check out ONELOVEONELIFE

ONELOVEONELIFE

Leigh, Badger Bars and V8 supercar legend Russel Ingal's signature bmx? and a stolen freddo frog. really.

As most of us in Darwin already know. Leigh is the man.

but Deanna is also the man... the woman? whatever.

i also just got hold of a set of KINK KC BADGER bars... sweet 8' rise and not to wide. even though i toyed with cutting em down even more... and i still might.

and in other news... at my local supercheap auto today i saw this...

WHAT THE HELL! V-brakes... with a gyro... one piece cranks... radial laced front wheel... 1' threaded headset.

got on for a ride... brakes didn't work and reflector hanging there pointing at the ground.

yes it's for sale! and it could be yours for $139! bargain.

what a truely awesome piece of bmx inovation. HA.

and in one other vaguely bmx related news item...

a kid was arrested by police for having a STOLEN FREDDO FROG in his posession!!

he was arrested. charged. taken to court! and then had the charges dropped...

if you see this on tv check out the kids AWESOME MONGOOSE BMX SHIRT!!! hahaha

i tried to find a clip of it. the same one from tv but no.

LINK

Chris Arriaga... and Rick Thorne Sig Shoes!

Some of you out there might remember the name Chris Arriaga from a few years ago sponsored by KINK and ripping it up at parks across America featured on Props videos doing huge icepicks and alike well a little interview with him has popped up on the espn site! he's now the "Global Youth Product Developer" for Giant Bikes. It's one of the best things i've seen on the web for a while.

"We went to the E.R. but they couldn't do anything because they'd never seen anything so bad. He spent the night home alone puking and tripping out from all the bee venom. Ha"

"I've learned two main things about life's crappy situations. One is that things are always going to get better. And two is that, at some point, things are going to be crappy again.... Once you can get yourself to accept that everyday isn't rainbows and butterflies, you'll be happier"

There is also a good little edit of riding at the Giant headquarters warehouse ramps (also featuring the one and only Corey Bohan! man... that guy is everywhere! ha)

Check it out here

...but don't fall to in love with Giant. they just dumped Taj Mihelich off the team. you should remember the post about his back surgery from a while ago!

But in other news... Rick Thorne! Former Hoffman Bikes rider, Vans Warped Tour demo expert, TV presenter and all round celebrity bad arse has released a Signature shoe on Draven.

You can actually buy this brand in Darwin! I thought it was available at VOGUE BODYPIECING.

but now i think it's OFFYATREE in the mall.  The shoe looks pretty cool with a bandana print on it. almost as good as the zombie ryan guettler vans that i bought a while back. ha.

COREY BOHAN!!!

http://digbmx.com/digthis/dig-issue-73-out-now

Chris Doyle, Kevin Porter, Corey Bohan

i was trawling through the usual amount of internet bs when i saw this..............

WHEN IS THIS IN STORES!?!?

i might be oldschool but nothing can replace an amazing magazine... and this is one.

follow the link http://digbmx.com/digthis/dig-issue-73-out-now or buy it in real life.

know your history

I was going to write a big intro about knowing ya roots and supporting companies that do good in the world. but if you are really interested in the history of bmx i'm sure you can dig up enough online to keep you going for days... all the same...
start here - with a little write up about john povah. the man at etnies that does it all for bmx.

and while you are there check out some of the other gems they have lying around!!
Mike Escamilla - total legend often misunderstood

JOE RICH. etnies pro and T1 owner. 360 invert.

(another random gem from the espn site!)

also...

DON'T FORGET!

PARKWAY DRIVE!! 15 DEC 2009 7:00 PM!!! at Discovery (why i don't know) and it's a tuesday night!!! why. i don't know. but don't miss it!

"The troweling tolerance for the riding surface is approx 2-3mm so this means its as smooth as buggary" damn.

just saw this over on the Backbone site! i'm jealous.... jealous of that park and of that awesome prize money going out for their jam! clearly Canberra is looking better and better and BETTER for a trip... mainly also because of THIS crazy dirt wonderland!! maybe hit up the ACT at the same time as summernats for ultimate enjoyments!! burnouts and bmx. nothing better.

here's some shots of it being built!

"These are the guys who built the largest parks in the world - Shanghai and Singapore etc so they know what they're doing. Simon told me he's built over 400 skateparks, he should be given OA (edit- ORDER OF AUSTRALIA! ie. a KNIGHTHOOD!!). I was amazed at how far skatepark design and construction has come the 25 odd years I've been skating. The troweling tolerance for the riding surface is approx 2-3mm so this means its as smooth as buggary. The guys that build these things are known as 'Concreatures' the most hard core muthafuckers i know but great dudes at the same time we had a good laugh." - Steve Gourlay

truely awesome.

sweet custom at spokes....

saw this the other week! the photo doesn't really do justice to how COOL this thing looks so maybe head over there and check it out! FULL DETAILS HERE

TRAILS?!?!?!?!?!??!

it's pretty bad when we have spots like this... going to waste.

drumming up some motivation...

yes. it has been HOT AS HELL lately and alot of people have commitments... so here's a little collection to help remember good times and stay motivated..... stoked on bmx?

BMX TEC! makes me laugh....

well for those of you who don't know about this website it keeps us all up to date with the latest developements in parts and accessories. And i always get excited when FLYBIKES comes out with something cool (which is everything they do pretty much!

BMXTEC-plastic-ruben-pedals

quote of the day...
30% glass filled nylon has 200% better strength than general purpose nylon
 but it is highly abrasive and will abraid or gall mating surfaces."

"Abraid or gall mating surfaces" - Careful, that's your shoe man!"

No news is good news??

well... things on the riding scene have been somewhat slow... or is it just me that is slow.
anyways i turned down a ride today to spend more time with my little girl but after she went to bed i found out.........

MASTODON IS PLAYING BIG DAY OUT.... Mastodon.
along with MANY other bands... ofcourse!
but of notable mention is Rise Against, Muse and The Mars Volta! and Aussies KARNIVOOL
it doesn't pay to have too many bands that you want to see to allow time for drinks line-up, socialising/picking up/shit talking/fighting and also for taking a piss (another big line-up)
but tickets are $140 plus booking fee.
Bris Syd Melbs Ads Perth

ALSO... in other music news... don't forget to check out NO HEROES! the free music magazine and website! the lastest issue is on there along with lots of music scene updates for hardcore type stuff. you decide what genre it is. It's another project from the people responsible for FOCALPOINTBMX anyways so you know it's good.

that's all for now but remember...

johnnycupcakes.com

WHAT THE HELL

FIT BIKE CO has disbanded.... one of the biggest breakups in HISTORY i would say!!
http://bmx.transworld.net/features/morales-hawk-roche-quit-fit-bike-co/

http://espn.go.com/action/bmx/blog?post=4516855

STOLEN BIKE!!!

Well... Jayson and i swapped frames yesterday to each try something new. but only a few hours after he put my T1 hickerson frame together, someone has stolen it out of his car at the unit block where he lives.

STOLEN FROM PALMERSTON!! - keep an eye out.... bright orange bars with blue pedals and grips!

NOW HAS...

ORANGE ODYSSEY LUMBERJACKS

BLUE ODYSSEY PLASTIC PEDALS

BLUE GRIPS

ODYSSEY AITKEN WOLF SEAT

RED SHADOW POST

RED S&M RACE STEM

BLACK PROPER 36 REAR WHEEL

PREMIUM 36 FRONT WHEEL

COLONY 3 PIECE CRANKS

PROPER 30T SPROCKET.

might even be a REWARD (like no trip to the hospital for anyone if we get it back in one piece)

DEW TOUR!!!

well some of you may be lucky enough to have cable but even then the dew tour coverage has been in small amounts and repeated often! SO... here's Ridebmx's version of events. DEW TOUR from THIS WEEKEND. yeah we rode three little jumps at humpty doo... they did this.



click on the "get link" button and take it to a new browser window for a bigger player and ALL the dew tour footage.

those jumps were fun though...

SAT-D NIGHT

well with all the websites and all the blogs and all the myspace/facebook/twitter updates in the world going on it's hard to know where to look but good news... i did look and here's the pick for tonight...

ODYSSEY has been making parts for a long time and has some of the best known and long term pro riders on their team including MIKE AITKEN (who just got voted most popular dirtjumper on another bmx website)... check out these seats and sick red walls!

pivitol. really. oh well if MACNEIL invented it... it must be GOOD! (no sarcasm itended!)

i saw flesh walls and red walls of a different tyre on the wall at K9 in coconut grove on friday and it looks awesome... like this maybe...

Also while on the odyssey sight i saw that TAJ HAS A BLOG!?!?... that's TAJ MICHELIC (former?) TERRIBLE ONE owner and rider now on Giant/Mosh. He has recently had BACK SURGERY to the lower part of his spine!!! there's a bunch of pics but most recently some random thoughts from him... he must really be bored sitting around at home. (sitting?!?! probably lying on his gut/standing/hanging from his armpits) He is a true legend of bmx and i funny guy too.

Also because i love T1 so much and they make the frame that i ride AND as it says in the stowaway catalog "Russel Bridley rides a Terrible One and so should you." here is a pic of the new BARCODE!!! holy crap... this is Joe Rich's bike. (no he's not brakeless. futher photos show fly brakes on there. to bad though. ha)

frames are being HAND MADE in the USA by SOLID BIKES... Joe Rich also has a blog but i'll let you find that one yourself. night all.