corey martinez

Thought I’d take some time to revisit two amazing video parts from Corey Martinez. I really like watching the guy ride. He kind of makes things look easy, but sometimes you can tell he’s really working for it too. He also seems like a pretty rad guy, someone I’d likely enjoy having a conversation with someday. He’s always been innovative in a way that just takes things to the next level- not like Charlie Crumlish innovative, but “I can probably throw a barspin in that already really difficult trick” innovative, which automatically puts him at the forefront of progression in bmx. United is working on a new video that will be out someday soon, and that will be his first major video part since Trafaelio. It’s been five years, and I can’t wait to see what unbelieveable stuff will be in his part this time.

Wide Awake Nightmare. Things to look for:
2:10 – backwards rail to half cab barspin (does anyone do this trick, even now?)
3:27 – nothing crazy, but man those tranny walls look fun. Also the next clip is an icepick grind to manual, which was the first time I ever saw that trick.
3:41 – feeble to manual on a rail. Years later, Dig mistakenly gave Bob Scerbo credit for doing this first.
3:51 – a slow-mo’d tailwhip nosepick… man how things have changed.
4:13 – the first curved wall to alley-oop 270?

Trafaelio. Things to look for:
0:30 – manual to nose manual to 180. It was a while before the masses caught up with this kind of nose manual stuff.
1:19 – look at how small the t1 ramp was!
1:36 – did he just grind a roof?
2:12 – I can’t even imagine how difficult a 450 to icepick would be.
3:09 – This is where we first see the yellow rail. how many people even do opposite 180 barspins, let alone out of an uprail?
3:20 – This was one of the first things I was told about his part, although it was described as a curved wall to 720, which is a bit inaccurate.
3:35 – I know that tailwhips are the first trick kids learn these days, but at the time this came out I (and many others) considered it the craziest rail trick ever done.

April Trails

All this footage is from about a month ago, we still had a lot of work to do to get things running nice, and everything is ugly up there before the trees bloom, but it’s worth one watch at least. Everything is dialed there now, and it only took three years to figure out how to keep things nice at our jumps. We’ve been watering heavily, chaining things off, and obtaining large tracts of carpet for the last month, and it’s really paying off. We’ve only had a couple incidents of inconsiderate people trying to ride them dry (despite the highly visible sign), and for the most part the frequency of people who shouldn’t be there (and by this I only mean people who leave a mess for others to clean up) is way down.

lotek takes a step in the right direction

…backwards. I don’t usually feel compelled to comment on industry stuff, but I was pumped to see that they’re re-issuing the Deltas and Troops. I never owned a pair of Troops, but always wanted some; the first gen Deltas were my favorite shoes ever- give them a gum sole and they’d be perfect. Since these models, Loteks haven’t really been my cup of tea, and I think it’s cool that they’re revisiting some old models.

mat ridgeway

Mat sent these photos through and they are awesome. He was living in Grand Prairie with Mark Shannon for a while and Mark shot these photos. In fact, I think I’m finally compelled to change the site header.

watch this

amazing trails

Whoever thought to build a bermshot to 270 berm is a trail building genius!

i’m moving here

girdwood tomorrow

We’re gonna head out there and have a barbecue around 4 or 5. It should be a really good time if you’re into fun.

roadfools 1

Roadfools 1 popped up on bmxboard today (I can’t  link to it, but it should be easy to get if you’re the pirating type). This video and this trip was one of the most influential events of the late ’90s, and it’s such a good watch. The video technology is primitive, the bikes are really heavy (look kids, a 44 tooth sprocket!), and if you weren’t around back then, the riding probably seems pretty basic. At the time, most of the footage in this video was unthinkable… Joe Rich doing huge back wards rails and Taj doing long icepick grinds, Robbie Morales doing rail manuals and dropout grinds and of course Jimmy Levan jumping monster gaps, including the church gap pictured above (which to this day is one of the most impressive things ever done on a bike).

There were lots of things industry wise that came out of this video too. It was really the beginning of the end of Standard (don’t be fooled by the recent reincarnation, the Standard of old is deceased), and Terrible One began on that bus.

The thing that makes this video timeless is that it was the first really good depiction of what a roadtrip is about. If you’ve only seen the newer Roadfools, putting together a “dream team” and trvelling to a bunch of well known spots is not really how it began (and in my opinion, isn’t all that interesting). In Roadfools 1 we met a group of riders and got to know them a bit; that’s something I’ll always appreciate.

chill bro

Every once in a while I feel the need to plug something really awesome. I know this video came out a couple years ago, but it’s one of those videos that will be just as good ten years from now as it was when it came out. Chill Bro came out right around the “dvds are dead” period, and was one of the first examples of videomakers majorly stepping up to prove that hard copies still matter (ironically, I do not own a copy of this and am embedding the google video version, but we can’t all be perfect).

If I wanted to define classic bmx from this time period I would probably use this as an example. For sure there are some trendy tricks, but when Aaron Ross is throwing them down 15 stairs it’s somehow not as terrible. I don’t even like Chase Hawk’s riding that much but his part in this is totally in my top ten. You can tell he grew up around dudes who know what bmx is about, there’s a little bit of Joe and Taj, definitely some Aitken, but all at ten feet and dipped or folded. I love that they weren’t afraid to film at a skatepark (gasp!). I mean, generic park footage is really boring, but when a guy has something to offer and the setups aren’t totally stock, the footage is so much better than forcing out an “all street” part (think Aitken in Fitlife). Not that Chase can’t ride street, but there’s something amazing about him blasting 9th street or the T1 ramp. The song fits that part so well too. Then there are the eccentricities, like Joel Moody’s section of almost entirely hang five variations, and Kevin Porter’s eye for interesting setups and circus tricks. He definitely inspired me to go out and learn some boneless variations. Tony Cardona had a bit of a breakout part in this one, and he’s not afraid to do a fufanu, which I appreciate.

The art direction in Chill Bro was absolutely perfect for that project, it was unique without being overly flashy or indulgent, and along with the great soundtrack it gave the video some common ground and personality amidst so many different riding styles.

Give this video another watch if you’ve got half an hour. It’s one of the many reasons I buy all my stuff from Empire, and I can’t wait to see how Dave Parrick will handle the next one after Joel Moody did such a great job with Chill Bro.