There would be art everywhere. Kept my eyes and my cell phone camera open on the way to and from work today and did a little google image search looking for some other art and here you go... Art at the gas station! yup. Guerilla art and gardening is the best. If you have love for your town, make it look nice, as best you can. Gorilla art Art done by a gorilla I hadn't seen this yet so it was kind of a treat to watch. Rueben is seriously the nicest dude in BMX, well.. it's a tie with Joe Rich, and I am glad Reuben chose Santa Cruz for this trip. Mike Manzoori does a great job with anything he touches, and man can he film moving shots! The Derby Snake Run part (prolly around minute 5?) is sweet. When Rueben says that they got to the "mountains" to ride a skatepark look for a couple background shots of Mike, Carp and I. We're famous! Oh, and check out Mike's car in the Screen Grab below! Double famous. Rueben got me in the mood to watch some skating. Natas Kuapas from Wheels of Fire."This is me going down the street...ohhh, durt!"
So my vimeo account now has 100 videos "liked" or whatever, which means I spend too much time on the computer watching videos instead of building things or riding bikes, oh well. This was a good one to go centennial on.... liquor "get some" trailer from james stevens on Vimeo. And 99 was damn fine as well. Jarrod Allen and Third Eye Grind singing "wish you would, barspin off that ledge my friend!". Jarrod Allen by Jarrod Allen from Chris McMahon | SJBMX on Vimeo.
Kelly gave his house a nice little housewarming party. The house was literally warmed by the sometimes-too-large pallet bonfire outback.
Read some interview with Chad Shack about the things he is working on and doing (neither of which include bmx any more). Dude was really good at little bikes, and has an impressive body of video work too, although I never try to take it personally when people move on to other things, there are a lot of ways to get kicks, afterall. I thought I would reminisce with this one a bit. One of my favorite parts from one of my favorite videos, can't believe how well Tracy Chapman worked for this part, although Ryan Fowler and I did drive like 6 hours from Oregon to Redding with Tracy Chapman's self titled album on repeat. Also, I think dude in the yellow shirt in the intro might be Jeremy Whitek? Dave, you wanna weigh in on this one?
Spent some time laughing and riding in the woods this weekend and checking out some sweet improvements at an out of the way spot, including an amazing treehouse/platform thing. It was kinda like this. Dirt don't lie but sometimes I forget about all the sweet concrete tucked in the corner's of this world. Anthony? Click this to go to a place that always has a better case of the Mondays than the gloomy canyon.
ALMOST FORGOT! Camping trip at the Canyon soon. Sasquatch's lair is currently being getrofitted to make adequate sitting, sleeping and firegazing room. You'll know more about it as it gets closer, but I thought I would drop this artist's conception of what the trip should look like.
As a kid (and by "kid" I mean through the age of 26) I was/am a huge Star Wars fan. I would like to say "who wasn't" but every so often I meet people who couldn't give a wookies dump about one of the greatest series of movies ever. In fact, some of the first trails I built were called Endor (the planet which hosted the redwood tree laden moon that they visit in Return of the Jedi). So who do I want to party with? Well, everyone involved with Star Wars: George Lucas, every fictional character, actor, set designer, key grip and even some other people that are similarly stoked on Star Wars. But that doesn't make for a good post, so if I had to pick one person, then the choice is obvious: Lando Calrissian/Billy Dee Williams Now, a part of me wants to hate Lando. He was a traitor who sold out his friend Han Solo (also on the party list). However, as you really look into the movies you see some of his humanity, and how his hand was forced. In the end, Lando's story is one of redemption as he spends years infiltrating Jabba's lair just to rescue the friend he betrayed, so he is alright in my book. Oh, and he is a total badass and you know Lando is down to party because that is exactly what he is doing with all the Ewoks at the end of Return of the Jedi. (A bmx/star wars crossover! Ewok bridges at the trails). So that is the Lando side of things.
But why Billy Dee Williams? If you are asking that question than you haven't seen this commercial. Get with it. That dude is sooo smooth. I even got a tentative agreement from part of the Country Clubbin blogging staff that they would switch from Country Club to Colt 45 for tonight because Billy Dee is so rad. And as if that wasn't enough, the guy is not only an accomplished actor who made his way to the top from humble beginnings, but he is also an accomplished artist. Visit this site devoted to his painting.
yesterdays from jackson allen on Vimeo. The closest thing the canyon ever had to a web video. Edit is one year old now, mostly consisting of 3+ year old footage. Thought I would bring it back.
(not my photo) Went skiing this weekend. Fresh snow and a real good time with old friends. Thought I saw a guy wearing a sweatshirt that said "Snowboarding is Fun; Skateboarding is Free", which is kind of how I feel about skiing and bmx. Skiing is an amazing feeling and if I woke up tomorrow and bicycles had never been invented (sounds like a good twilight zone episode) I would probably run for the hills, ski all day-everyday and start a blog called YETI GULCH. But BMX is more fun, relatively inexpensive and doesn't make your feet look like this. Taj's blog is always good, and I love the ones with drawings. You can find his blog in the links from now on, but this post in particular had me laughing. I would seriously buy a bunch of the grips he has proposed, particularly the Roscoe signature grip. Otis grip? Geoff Slattery is now on United Pro team I guess and has a sweet video up on their site But I think this video is even sweeter. My dream is to own enough property to have an amazing trails/ramp/landscaping/garden set-up, but here is some proof that you don't need too much room to get rad.
NEIL YOUNG So when I first conceived of the "I wanna party with that dude!" feature this is who I was thinking of. I have never liked sites that automatically play music when you visit them, but if the canyon had a soundtrack it would mostly be Neil Young songs. From his time with Buffalo Springfield, CSNY, Crazy Horse, and the Santa Cruz based super group the Ducks, all the way through his good samaritan, bridge school benefit, farm aid days Neil Young has been rocking in the free world and making flannel even cooler than it already is. As prolific as Dylan without the unfortunate religious years, as elusive as Brian Wilson but not nearly as crazy, Neil Young is someone I wouldn't mind cracking a cold one with at any point in his career.
Both enigmas, Neil Young and Sasquatch may have more in common than we know. Perhaps they party together, drinking moonshine at cookouts deep in the Santa Cruz Mountains with some wicked sing/growl-a-longs to songs from "After the Goldrush", although I know Sasquatch and I both love the album Zuma.
I couldn't tell you what my top five neil young songs are because that really just depends on what mood I am in. But here are five jams: cocaine eyes pocahontas Roll Another Number for the Road Cortez the Killer Transformer Man and to bring it full circle to bmx, Neil Young songs have backed some great video parts, including one of the best parts of all time in my opinion (see second video down and skip directly to 21 min 20 sec).
Started digging way too late this year for a variety of reasons...I mean excuses, but here are some progress pics from the cell. One or two more rains would be nice. A familiar view of the trails.Jim came up today and we battled some roots, here he is strolling through the second part of the s-turnRide the SNAKE25 footer....skimmer. Chris San Agustin just put up this Jon Ivers edit. Jon shreds!
Another day at the canyon. A little work got done, a little closer to riding the line. Mike reminded me about all these old pictures. Never ran this one. Visit theyaintready. These dudes definitely have a good time and they live trails. Trievel interview, Shitpants interview, hiring day laborers to build landings, crazy pictures from the club and beyond. I remember saying that 2009 was the year of the interview and this site knows it. Definitely some laugh out loud material. Tons of posts. Cruise around. In the Gnar posted some nice words about the Canyon, check out the ongoing radness that goes on over there.
New video from derelict bmx. I can never really hear the word derilict without thinking of this movie. English Dave King makes riding trails look like a mystical adventure. In a good way. seen on deluxe Derelict BMX - March in 50 Frames Per Second from Dave King on Vimeo. You can catch a clip of Mr. Segment in that video. I just ordered two of the best shirts of all time so Mike and I can be twins. Would that make me Arnold?
Luke Brennan has been taking really great photos. I think it must be the pea coats. He just got flashes so we can expect some more great ones. This photo looks religious it is so good. Think I will make Friday the regualar "I wanna party with that dude" day.
Apparently Nyquist enjoyed the ware-spot when he visited recently. Read about it. Jordan went down to the jam at lonnie paxton's house this weekend. Curious to hear more about how that went. While the trail foreman was out of town we went out to chunky hills for a session in the middle of a hurricane. I saw a video recently with people riding trails in the wind and it looked amazing, but I had forgotten how awful it actually is. The trails were great though. Brandon got some new wheels and painted his frame (tan) and now our bikes look like cousins. BFFs?
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear.." -Henry David Thoreau
Andy and I may have had too much to drink last night, but neither of us were this messed up.
Dave said it himself, but 3 months of no posts and then a three for one deal! Some really great old photos along with a few new ones. Go to dave's site to see some time captured.
Triangle Head made this video back when he didn't have to answer questions about suspension parts 50 hours a week. Kurt provides a bunch of bangers and Andy's has some epic clips. I might even make a cameo doing a slightly intoxicated 360 or two. d from Kurt Siever on Vimeo. Brian Foster had been shredding longer than most of the kids at the FunSpot have been alive. So many good things in the video, manual line to half barspin being my personal fave.
Some more history. Chad Herrington doing every jumping variation of your dreams and nightmares. I remember looking at a BmxPlus! with a spotlight on the following monstrosity. The large black cable running from the back wheel to the front axle? TWO WHEEL DRIVE! Give barenda look. They do a really successful job of walking you through a new and improved line that looks amazing. I would love to ride there with headphones that just had rollercoaster noises playing. seen on prettyshady. Oh and....Help me ascertain the location of the gold.
Consider this the first in a multi-part series entitled "I want to party with that dude!" We will take a look into the distant and not so distant past (and maybe even the future) and spotlight some people I wouldn't mind having a beer with. Joe Breeze circa 1978. Joe Breeze was one of the early pioneers of mountain biking, before it became the soulless shell of an industry/spectacle it is today. This is a pretty classic shot from those days, foot off, middle of a high-speed, 50 foot "i-don't-give-a-shit-about-erosion" cornering drift. Denim? check. Crazy facial hair? check. Ridiculously wide bars? Check. These guys cobbled their bikes together out of road bikes, bmx, cruiser and motorcycle parts and then walked them up huge hills in Marin just to bomb down and feel the wind in their dirty hair. You can track down the sweet dogtown-esque documentary about the birth of mountain biking, Klunkerz . I know Joe Breeze is still a nut, still rides, and there is the possibility I could somehow wind up drinking a beer with him now, but I think I would rather have hoisted a pint with the dude in the picture.
This was recently brought to my attention. Apparently one of the 3 mascots for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver is named Quatchi and looks suspiciously like Sasquatch. You may remember this post which ended with an appeal to our legal team to win a lawsuit against nike for copyright infringement. Well, now you can lump the damn olympics in with Nike. What's next, Joe Sasquatch selling cigarillos to kids? Sasquatch Canyon will have to go after big tobacco.
At least some of the copy from their website rings true, "The sasquatch is a popular figure in local native legends of the Pacific West Coast. The sasquatch reminds us of the mystery and wonder that exist in the natural world...." Amen.
Mike must be as strong as bigfoot, cause look what he did to his stem! go check out two spotlights on great photographers: JOEY COBBS!!!!!! one of my favorite photographers period. and jeff allen
First I gotta recommend checking out inthegnar.com, always interesting, but this post in particular. Lake jumping is ridiculous, but check out the 2nd video in the post. could have been disaster.
New Vinyl/Dig collaboration. I like how a lot of the footage is pretty pulled back, long distance stuff, yet it still seems like everyone is hauling ass...which can mean only one thing: they are. More BMX >> Speaking of cool collaborations, how you like them apples? Every sunny saturday it seems like half of santa cruz wakes up a little groggy and makes its way out to the trails spots while the other half go ride street. I fall in the first camp but love to watch some good street riding. Dan Cox videos are all street, but I am always excited to see them. Voices was great, Tomorrow We Work looks even better. Here is the Spain Trip section. Odio Casa Mafia En Espania from Joe Cox on Vimeo. My boss builds these crazy lego models. If you stand back a little bit you can't even tell they are made from legos. Leaving angry notes at the trails makes me feel better (I'm not a mean guy, but the destruction drives me crazy). Wise up kids!
Jim comes from a family of people that excel at riding two wheeled machines. Something about the blood in his veins just makes him good at riding all kinds of bikes. I'd characterize Jim's riding style as natural, he doesn't ever really force anything and it looks better that way. Jim's made a name for himself in the mountain bike world, but i wouldn't ever call him a mountain biker because he spends a lot of time on his bmx, like he always has. A lot of times Jim just rides whatever bike is running best. No matter what bike he is on he is always having fun.
Loving this day light savings business. Just cleaning out some old pictures. Unfortunately I don't know who took this shot. Lima definitely shreds but Dusty will tell you what he thinks about bent leg turndowns. Mostly just like this photo because it shows the Trail People Jam course. France looks like heaven. If you have ever stood on a vert ramp you can't help but respect anyone who can ride vert. With that said, I only truly enjoy watching two people ride it, Jamie Bestwick and this guy Coco Zurita. Both love trails and it couldn't be more obvious. photos of COCO by Lloyd Ramsay
Last night I heard some pretty heady conversations flying around Andy Maguire's living room, and discovered that Triangle Head is an amateur astronomer. This site is for you Kurt. Here are some examples of what can be found. They post a picture a day. The first picture is Mt. Ranier and some swirly clouds. Second picture is of Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. The surface is a thick layer of ice, but scientists think that there may be a warmer ocean beneath the surface, and a strong possibility of life. Scientists believe the underwater inhabitants probably look something like this or even this: Be afraid.
I have only watched the first two sections so far, but this is already one of my favorite web videos ever. robbo robinson clips are always sweet. HIDEOUT BMX from Enter the Treehouse on Vimeo.
Spent some time in the woods today, maybe the canyon will ride again.
yup.
Art done by a gorilla
I hadn't seen this yet so it was kind of a treat to watch. Rueben is seriously the nicest dude in BMX, well.. it's a tie with Joe Rich, and I am glad Reuben chose Santa Cruz for this trip. Mike Manzoori does a great job with anything he touches, and man can he film moving shots! The Derby Snake Run part (prolly around minute 5?) is sweet. When Rueben says that they got to the "mountains" to ride a skatepark look for a couple background shots of Mike, Carp and I. We're famous! Oh, and check out Mike's car in the Screen Grab below! Double famous. Rueben got me in the mood to watch some skating. Natas Kuapas from Wheels of Fire."This is me going down the street...ohhh, durt!"
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