Whilst I was completing my comprehensive exams for my Ph.D. studies, I rode my flatland bike as much as possible in an attempt to keep my head straight. The video below is a compilation of some of those sessions. Some of the camera placement is pretty sketchy and I’m basically just doing the same five tricks over and over, but here it is nonetheless [runtime: 2:41]:

I also neglected to thank Kip Williamson, The Clowndog dudes, Taj Mihelich, Sandy Carson, A.J. at The Peddler, Tommy at Ozone, as well as Chad and …

At long last, I finished building my new flatland bike. This build is based on a SubRosa Pandora DTT frame with 19″ double toptubes (hence the “DTT”) and a gun-metal, raw finish. The forks are Primo Strands.

Odyssey Milk Bars, Aaron Ross grips, and Elemetary V3 stem comprise the front end. Eclat levers hold down the Hombre brakes front and rear. Something looks a bit off, huh?

Odyssey Chase Gouin tires and Shadow rims with a Bruce Crisman Reverse freecoaster on the back and an Odyssey Vandero hub on the front make …

I finally have a new piece up on the ESPN BMX site. This one is about the generational differences between first and second generations of riders. Heraclitus once wrote that generations turn over every thirty years. Well, it’s about that time.

You’re right, Roy, you’re hopeless. Hopelessly obsessed with a time in your sport that died a long time ago… — McGoo

Here’s an excerpt:

The experience of a BMXer today is much more likely to be mediated by technology than it was in the ’80s. Given the proliferation of technology into every aspect …

Yes, after almost a year of hemming and hawing, waiting to see if Sunday was actually going to release Morning 24 forks with 990 mounts, I finally just put the damn thing together.

I’m trying out some Salt Plus U-brakes on the rear (not pictured), and so far I like them better than any other brakes I’ve had (way better springs than standard 990s). A.J. at The Peddler built these wheels with Sun Rim Rhyno Lite rims, an Odyssey Vandero front hub, and a KHE Reverse freecoaster on the back. Odyssey …

In the June, 1987 issue of FREESTYLIN’ Magazine, underground BMX rider and zine-maker Carl Marquardt described a ramp trick he called a “flakie”: a backflip fakie air. His friend and fellow rider Paul Mackles had offered him $100 if he pulled it. Three years later, Mat Hoffman did the damn thing at a contest in Paris. In his usual methodical style, Mat worked on it in secret in Oklahoma for months beforehand. As he puts it in The Ride of My Life (Harper-Entertainment, 2002), “To make it, I needed at …

Ronnie Bonner just sent me a phone picture of a letter I wrote him from Seattle sometime in the 90s. The letter was written on a photocopy of a photo of Ronnie at the Ocala Skatepark in 1991. It originally ran in issue #43 (no joke) of my zine “Front Wheel Drive.”

Me, Ronnie, BMX: We go back like carseats.

Empire BMX is moving mad closer to the HEADUBE Headquarters, and we are stoked.

Just sayin’.

Traveling on a plane with a bike is expensive. Bicycles are one of those “special items” that airlines have “special fees” for. A long time ago, Chris Moeller claimed that S&M was going to make bike bags that read “Camping Equipment” on the side to avoid just this problem. I don’t know that they ever did, but Fat Tony does a good job of illuminating the options in this piece for Ride BMX. Here’s an excerpt:
Don’t ask me why, but if an airline knows you have a bicycle in your …

Our good friend Sandy Carson has another show of his photographs coming up soon.

Here are the details from Sandy:
I want to formally invite you to the opening of my first group exhibition of the year Storytelling at the L. Nowlin Gallery here in Austin. This exhibit, curated by the Austin Photography Group, features 40 Austin photographers and opens next Saturday, January 15th from 6-8pm. I shall be showing a piece from my Black Friday series from 2009.
Here’s a preview of the show. See you all there!

The skate zine show There Is Xerox On The Insides Of Your Eyelids is headed to Southern California at the Torrance Art Museum. The show opens July 24th and runs until September 4th.

I need to get in on this…
With thanks to Andy Jenkins and The Skateboard Mag.