As you might have read, Killjoy, the new BMX vid from the Utah cobras, premiered at the Tower theater the other night to a packed house much like their last vid "That's It." Though, this time around, the crowd appeared somewhat older and wiser, as did the vid. Where That's It showcased the incredible creativity of the Utah scene, it was also youthful and a little rough around the edges. Shawn "Elf" Waters (riding and directing) and Jordan Utley (editing/producing) and the rest of the Utah gang stepped up their game emphasizing story, technicality and (even more) creativity in their effort. Killjoy was preceded by a short Odyssey BMX video, produced by Joe Rich, based on a roadtrip the Mike Aiken and Tom Dugan took through Idaho and Montana, ripping up the parks along the way:
With an amplitude rarely matched by others, Dugan is clearly at the top of his game, skying concrete features with a similar and complimentary style to Aitken's. Aitken's performance is triumphant, for a different reason: today, he is alive and has relearned how to ride a bike after a near fatal fall and head injury, which resulted in a three week coma, right side paralysis and broken eye socket, jaw and sinuses. In fact, his Killjoy segment was nothing short of profound, with Aitken's karaoke stylings of Dylan's "Like a rolling stone" sung with a depth and poignance that left the crowd barely able to watch. After that, the crowd was visibly uncomfortable during the rest of Mike's segment, especially as he crashed a few times, at least once hitting his head on the ground. I don't think that BMXer has moved a crowd like that. Thanks for sharing Mike and Elf.
Other segments were inspirational for their creativity and solid editing. I was particularly impressed by Cam Wood's segment with a playgound spinney thing 3, step down fakie slideout 3 and parking post scamper ghost ride. That's what I mean, until you see it, it's hard to imagine, after you see it, words fail you. Elf's segment was also triumphant with a mix of innovation and trickery, including a segment ending rail slide made almost impossible by interference between an axle peg and adjacent wall. Fahzure really appreciated the fitting accompaniment, "Poison" by the MC5, about whom Dave Marsh, then editor of CREEM Magazine famously said, "They were the best band that any of us had ever seen. When they didn't conquer the world, it was very confusing." Here's another favorite by the fab 5:
While it appears that Mike (and others) have picked up on the helmet wearing, especially where the amplitude is greater and the surfaces harder, BMX, Freeride and DH all carry significant risk. Tara Llanes, TJ Lavin, Stephen Murray, Jay Eggleston, Chris Canfield and Ty Pinney have all suffered head/spine injuries, in recent years. Those that know him, know Fahzure is a big proponent of plastic and foam, having recently taken to wearing a Leatt cervical brace. Here Fahzure tests the limits of foam and plastic (warning, this is not pretty), which did their job allowing him to get back up and stick it:
While these riders (Fahzure, excepted) have become the source of inspiration and have rallied communities around them, their injuries are not the sort of inspiration anyone wishes for. This holiday season, after buying a copy of Killjoy (try your local S&M or Animal retailer), consider giving the gift of a helmet, some plastic and foam or consider adopting their use for the ones you love, spreading a little more joy and a little less killing. You can also assist those who have gone down by making a donation to the Athlete Recovery Fund, the organization supporting extreme free sports athletes trying to get their health back. Let's be careful out there.
You might have noticed there's been less writing, as of late. On the other hand, there's been more riding.
My friend P-dawg introduced me to the concept of "The Progression." Back when I got to know and love him he was a skater/snowboarder in his early 30's teaching the groms of the Aspen Valley how to pull 3 disaters on the skate in the summer, clean 7's on the board in the winter. He continued his progression by building a belt full of tools that has made him a successful conservationist, educator, parent and partner. Today, he's a school teacher, surfer and product rep. He constantly emphasizes the importance of The Progression.
The Progression is the source of inspiration in BMX (Ryan Guettler, Great Quotes:
"He (Ryan's son) might just want a freecoaster and go backwards everywhere and that's Okay" & "I hope to be ride until I'm 40-45 years old"),
Bob, "The Man" Burnquist is big on The Progression.
(Great Quotes: "I thought, you know, you could just fall off of bed and be riding vert. " "Flying off the 70 footer is really scary")
This snowboard coach posits that the following are supportive of rider development; The Progression:
1. Develop a training environment where high hopes and expectations are over-shadowed by positivity, support and focus on the activity at hand.
2. A rider should try and make a habit of appreciating goals reached and positive feedback from coaches and peers. On the flip-side, it is important for a rider not to worry to much, and to let go of the external pressures from coaches, parents, peers or others that can create negative feelings and self doubt.
3. Encourage group interaction and group support of each others efforts. A rider can get a lot of positive motivation and internal drive from friendly competition with friends and peers.
4. Identify the riders strengths and weaknesses in terms of skill base. Like which way do they spin easier or do we need to spend more time practicing riding switch before trying 180's or 540's.
5. Routinely practice the skills where the rider is uncomfortable. Set easy goals to build confidence and hopefully emerge from the "that feels weird zone", thereby opening up a new line of progression.
6. When the rider is fired up, feeling confident and having fun, push the progression lines where the rider is comfortable for maximum gains
7. Encourage visualization every step of the way. Practicing tricks in the mind builds confidence on the snow.
Before P-Dawg, I knew a guy named Dave who lived in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Denver. He was emblematic of the gritty, unpretentious, party-hard Denver (post) punk scene of the late 80's/early 90's. Although Dave was often dealt a poor hand (kicked out of the band, unemployed, loveless), he always had a smile on his face and was quick to encourage whatever gave you hope. I asked Dave how he maintained his hopeful, fun-embracing outlook. He said "Well whenever you get down about a situation, just draw a hotrod":
At the time, I took it a little too literally, drawing was frustrating, autos have always been a love/hate thing for me and, I certainly didn't find them the subject of fantasy. But the essence of the message is now clear: do that creative, joyous thing that puts you in your happy place.
As has been noted, fall is when we ride, as we are healed, fit and ready; low-angle light and cool temperatures create magic. Combining the former "Progression" and "happy place" principals, with a desperate bid to make the season last, we added a few more Commandments in our exploration of the tenets of the Church of the Progression:
8th Commandment: SUPPLY A TWELVE OF YEWTAH PBR FOR EVERY 3 PROGRESSION SEEKERS, WHICH WILL LEAVE THEM SLIGHTLY THIRSTY BUT, UNINJURED.
9th Commandment: BUILD A STEP-UP WITH A SOFT LANDING.
10th Commandment: SEND IT!
This fall, with few opportunities left, Tyson, Mo, Dirty, and Broniel have been an inspiration and motivation. Tyson put in the most time, building the lip while I stacked the 12 strawbales and piled on woodchips.
Tyson and I had a high jump "contest":
Flatness begets height(click to see the bb ser. #):
Tyson and I are different riders in relation to The Progression. For Tyson, it is almost purely a head game, as all the skills and ambition are already present and available. Tyson rarely crashes. It took Tyson 20 incremental attempts to get a tire grab, first, landing 15 big whips, he didn't even move a hand off the bar; just thinkin' about it, then this sick grab three runs later:
Tyson nailed truly fastplants, as the light was fading quickly:
Fahzure, on the other hand, was quick to throw anything (sometimes unsuccessfully); no-footers, crankflips and toboggans came almost as fast as they could be called out:
Nothings (aka no-no; no-hander/no-footer), too:
And, in serious Progression mode, a clean 3, on the last day, after 20+ disastrous attempts:
With the highs expected to be in the 30's or lower for the next two and a half months the Ghetto Foam Pit is done for 2011. Hey Ryan Guettler, I may be over the hill, to you, but, I can't wait for spring, to continue The Progression. Best jump ever.
50/50 BMX riders have consistently raised the bar in terms of creativity for a number of years. Their new vid features more of the improbable. If you happen to be in the SLC area Nov. 28th, be sure to drop in to the premier at the Tower theater, 7pm:
Sometimes good riders and friends move on from SLC (Chowdah), in this case, Adam Banton (Sponsor-Eastern Bikes, who will accept trade-ins of old, worn-out and broken bike parts!) recently moved to Arizona but put together this video tribute to Salt Lake City and a few of the guys that he rode with during his time there. Adam also composed and performed the music in the vid. Good luck, Adam!
Spoke(n) has been quite for a bit. As you may know, our friend and real hardcore cyclist, Jeff Bates, had been battling a recurrence of melanoma cancer which had spread throughout his body. This past weekend, Jeff fought his last fight with this demon rust and passed this Saturday morning, assisted by the presence of his son and a Greek god. When I say "fight," I mean something of heroic proportions as Jeff battled all the way to the end, the suddenness of his passing is stunning for the many who spent time with him just last week.
The day after Jeff passed, many of his friends honored and remembered Jeff through our common connection, done Jeff's way: alpine, singletrack, hurry up-break, xc assault. 29er's, SS mostly, ruled the day, but there was a diversity in the 35 or so riders rolling together. Periera and Lucid bikes (9, maybe) were strongly represented as their builders, riding, are close friends with Jeff and family. Like these builders, I think most everyone in the group was inspired and encouraged by Jeff at some point; Jeff saw opportunity quickly and encouraged our bicycle passion.
As in the end of his life, Jeff was not afraid to suffer on a bike, a former elite level racer, SSWC and 24hr competitor and often daily cyclist. For Fahzure, our ride, on freshly dampened aspen and pine forest singletrack, involved a fair amount of suffering on his 38lb Swiss army bike. We know that our suffering was infinitesimal compared to what Jeff had to deal with for the last few years. We also know that he handled it like a champion, never dwelling on the difficulty, always looking for opportunity and keeping his friends and family close to heart. We thank Jeff for the many great rides he shared and inspired, he'll always be with us as we ride forward with his passion and encouragement.
You may recognize this guy from his Little Devil video, the hallways of of the Sands convention center, or, as I did, loitering around SLC's downtown dead zone (soon to be the Fear Factory):
If you don't recognize him, you might recognize his backyard or spare bed(rad)room:
Matt Beringer, long time S&M and 5050 BMX rider, has pushed BMX creativity to new heights for more than a decade. He called himself an "old man." I'm not sure that Fuzzy and Fahzure would agree, but with his creative output, you could certainly call him "storied." Matt and Fahzure talked about the wash that the Red Bull BMX tour was in Moab, in fact, often a wash in Moab for Matt, with Josh L. leading the hard late night charge (there are GREATS to be had in Moab, let's nail it BMX style sometime).
Matt looks at the environment differently than you or I or transportation engineers, for that matter. When I ran into Matt he described an "X" shaped barrier, designed to stop trains, which he was exploring new tricks on. Being a Ute, Matt has had to make his peace with winter, learning to front flip on a board at Pow Mow. But Matt sees opportunity for bikes in winter, that most don't, BSX:
Matt's been working on a dual suspension BSX bike design of his own for a couple of years now, with the Cobra gang. His design features a floating rear end that make manuals and other tricks more plush. Fahzure had the opportunity to try BSX at Pow Mow and OR Winter market last year and loved the way they performed on packed snow conditions, a little bit like a reverse camber board with dull edges...kind of skatey; also very light. However, in the Pow, the snow bikes were unable to maintain float cause of their limited contact patch. Fahzure would like to take a fattie out in deep pow, steepin' up the terrain a bit, and hit a winddrift hip. Freeride.
Matt is getting ready for a small run of protos, then a small production run. With his background (that's right, Colorado, California, BC...where you get 350 or cement) there is probably no more qualified person than Matt to take BSX to the next levels. You might be able to get in on this (find him on Facebook or at Interbike)...Fahzure placed an order for one of Matt's creations, on the spot. Make mine a custom Fattie.
Pow Mow is a great place to get stalies (clean turns three days after the dump) in the winter and take the kids adventure boarding. For the past couple of years they've put up a super cross track in the summer. This year they added a BMX jump contest (this is Utah). Check it out:
The Tour of Utah Prologue rolled out today without a hitch, especially if you were a native Spanish speaker in the race. The Columbians and Spaniards dominated the race putting seven in the top 25 and taking all three podium spots. If the racing bored you, you could watch folks flipping into the aerated ski jump pool:
Brent Brookwalter is an American to watch:
Danielson's ride was very good at fifth in the end and, he knocked teammate CVV out of the hotseat:
Tejay Van Garderen could be the future of American stage racing. This year was his first Tour and he finished 4th in today's prologue:
#1 rated cyclist on U.S. soil this year, Mancebo put in a strong performance:
He's happy to have finished second:
So is his team. Do they have a bit of the Rock Racing vibe, or is it just me...and their racers?
Sergio Henao and his teammate Oscar Sevilla made it a great day for GOBERNACION DE ANTIOQUIA-INDEPORTES ANTIO finishing 1-3 on the day...another familiar name.
Dave Z. had a prominent booth in the expo area but his performance was off the mark for a TT national champ. He finished 66th.
A climbers course suited Levi well, he finished sixth.
Fahzure and Spoke(n) have at times been accused of being narrow minded (focused?), devoting lots of energy to bicycles, often at the expense of other information and opportunity. While bicycle culture is broad and deep, it is only part of life, not its entirety. How does one utilize the cycling experience to expand consciousness, develop self awareness, destroy the ego and be open to possibility and potential? One way, is to ride with others, especially those focused on growing your potential. Parents understand this with respect to their children, but as we get a little older (more rigid, less capable) accessing the joy and wonder of growth and novel experience is increasingly difficult for many. Sometimes you need a guide.
Kristen Ulmer has been exploring the mind/body activity interface for more than a decade. Back in the '90s Kristen helped pull skiing out of it's narrow (I'm not talking waist width) focus by pushing the limits of free and extreme skiing. The challenges associated with risk, evaluation, injury, innovation and competition were not well understood and considered. These mind/body challenges and, a maturing career, led Kristen to begin work with Zen meditation as a way to continue to grow the extreme sports experience. Kristen, working with Genpo Roshi, has developed the Big Mind practice of mind/body integration.
Seeing Kristen at the Outdoor Retailer show in SLC, she suggested that Fahzure consider the opportunity to take extreme to the next level (mine already goes up to 11...what could be next?). Kristen will be guiding Mountain Biking and Big Mind! August 13, 2011 in Park City, Utah from 10a-5pm. She suggested that some spiritual practice experience would be helpful: yoga, meditation and breathwork all qualify. You're probably also well equipped if you have explored the work of Watts, Trungpa, Hahn, Castenada or Hoffman.
Giro has diversified its product line, recently adding shoes. Fahzure doesn't find SPD shoes all that interesting and the Freeride shoes are not yet available (2012). Giro did have some new offerings in helmets and gloves, first up the Feature, $90. Can you say Trans Alp, brah...this would look good on Van Dine.
The citified Reverb comes with a removable demi-visor and quick-fit, auto-adjust occipital lobe retention, $60:
Giro gloves now have a pad that wraps from the outer palm to the back of the hand, good for Kung Fu fighting:
Best of Show =this Sweet single speed crosser was the most inspired bike at Dealer Camp, found at the Blackburn booth (note rack w/ integrated lock holder):
Waterproof pannier (he said it "pan-yeah"...when did the Tour end?), $80 ea:
New lights, the Scorch 2.0 with 230 lumens ($95) and the Super Flea ($45) w/ aluminum heat sink and double the lumens of the Flea:
These Blackburn racks aint your daddy's Blackburn (MTN-1) rack...disk compatible, super duty, seatpost mount (w/ pump holder):
Blackburn U-locks have a hexagonal shackle that will not twist open when cut, cable are Kevlar sheathed:
Also, Best of Show this purple suede saddle on the Felt BMXer (click to covet):
One of the best hosts and most dedicated to the fun to be found in the mountain bike can be found in Willy Warren, Kona representative for UT and CO. Willy can connect with anyone:
He has super cool personal bikes like this Ute, which he wheelies like nobody else:
This one has custom rack and fenders. You can get fenders like these from Honey Skateboards:
Also on hand the Operator, Kona's DH/Extreme FR platform:
Doc and Terry from Superco hooked up with homie Flo, 10002 represent!
While normally not to be trusted, these guys antied up and made sure that everyone had a good time and that Willy got on the road safely.
