This past weekend Las Vegas saw more than 50 top pro dirt riders at the annual Extreme Thing and Ricardo Laguna Pro BMX Dirt Challenge. Josh Metz sent in these 29 photos from the event and Ricardo Laguna himself sent us the results and a quick recap.

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If you know where the Casselberry trails are in the Orlando, Florida area, head on over there on April 5th at 11am for a jam. Bring your donation money to help keep the place running, too. This place is wild as shit, so we can't wait to see the videos and photos from the event!

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Magnolia and Mutiny are giving away a prize pack to the lucky lady with the best video part. We can't wait to see the entries, so get to work clocking that footy and go upload your part!


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There's going to be a big street jam put on by First Rule in Oakland, California on April 19th. We just showed you the jam they put on in San Diego, so we are sure the one in Oakland will be just as rad.

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The same weekend as the Toronto BMX Jam a few weeks ago there was a flatland contest—it was even at the same venue. However, since the contests are completely separate and time didn't permit, we weren't able to catch any of the flat contest. Lucky for us Steve Lapsley was on hand to deliver this 12 minute video from the pro class riding including Justin Miller, Matthias Dandois, Dane Beardsley, and a bunch of other international rippers.

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Defgrip just posted their latest video interview. This one is with Lotek and Freemont owner Rich Hirsch.


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Odyssey just uploaded Adam Banton's part from their Electronical DVD. Banton always comes through with really creative lines and moves—super original and very fun to watch. Check out the video here then hit up the Odyssey site for a new Banton wallpaper.

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Mickey Marshall, Cody Miller, and Michael Allen put together this mix of street and backyard ramp riding from a few days of riding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The backyard ramps down South aren't quite what they used to be, but they sure look fun as hell!

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Alex Milanese from Morgantown, West Virginia just picked himself up a new set of Eastern Stealth cranks from our giveaway featured in this month's Complete Cranks Buyer's Guide.


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While going through a bunch of old photos on my hard drive the other night I came across a dozen old photos of Nathan Williams that I pulled together for this gallery. Since Nathan is the currently the most searched rider on our site, I figured there would be plenty of people psyched on these even though Nathan's bike has way less pegs, more brakes, and his no-handers are much more vertical.

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Probably the best thing about YouTube: rare, random, impossible-to-see-otherwise footage. This guy filmed Ryan Nyquist and infamous Norcal local Chris "Butthead" Bryant riding their local spot in '94 and decided to put it up.

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All good things have to come to an end. The Sugar Hills spot will not survive the year 2009. The dirt jump spot at the Valkendijk lasted over 20 years though so really, we cannot complain...

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Tony Malouf and Miles Rogoish team up for yet another edit. This one features one week's worth of riding with Miles in the South, a sweet fedora hat, and plenty of ET variations.

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On April 4th at The Grind in El Centro, California there will be a local contest that encourages everyone to bring their a-game. Check out the info and head on out there if you are in the area.

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Eastern is sending one of their complete bikes to some of the team riders to see what a bike right out of the box can hold up to during some serious riding. This first video features Adam Banton and Kelly Bolton riding the Element at Woodward West.

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Here's the official flyer and info for the annual street and flat contest in Athens, Georgia known as then Twilight BMX Jam.


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The guys over at First Rule recently held a street jam in San Diego. These street jam videos seem to keep popping up every couple of weeks and we love them. Keep them coming! What other cities will have street jams? Send us your videos!

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Edited by Jarrod himself, he got spots and tricks.

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Ian Schwartz, Fuzzy Hall, Aaron Bostom, Tom White, and Geoff Slattery all made it from the pages of the magazine onto downloadable desktop backgrounds this week.

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great dirt jumps that some bikers made

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Just a day after our last guests dropped in, Morgan Wade came back to the office with Dave Freimuth. The video camera was turned on in the middle of a good conversation about the Mt. Baldy full pipe. The conversations continued about the recent old school jam, family life, and more.

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little tiny skatepark with all ur typical drugees

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Bike

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Money For Nothing & Freaks For Free. New T-1 Freaky Friday Installment

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Here's an edit of two guys I have never heard of or know anything about. Both of these guys are really dialed though and Lahsaan Kobza could pretty much hang 5 anything.

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Tony Minozzi throwing the bars at a high security hip in Norfolk Virginia

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my job

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You might be familiar with Leif Valin the flatlander, but what about Leif the artist? He has been sending me e-mails with drawings and other random things he made for the last three years and I’ve been saving them in a folder aptly named “Leif Artfolio.” After amassing a collection of 25 of Leif’s pieces, I figured it was time for me to share some them with the rest of the BMX community. So here are a few of my favorites from those e-mails and a few of Leif’s most recent works, as well.

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Fit is keeping right on track with their weekly videos leading up to the release of their Stay Fit video. The newest webisode features Florida's young gun Trey Jones. The kid is good and has a strong future in BMX ahead of him.

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Heath Pinter recently had his annual St. Patrick's Day Trails Jam. We've already posted two videos from the jam, but you can never get enough flow and style like what's in this video, so here's our own edit!

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Beginning in Spring 2009, the Swiss Bicycle Festival "Bike Days" delivers insight into the Swiss bicycle industry yearly. About 80 exhibitors with more than 200 brands present their current products in the bicycle trade show. Next to the event site, the bicycles can be tested on various signposted trails on different terrains.

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Maddd Hottttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I couldn't track down a last name for this 16 year old out of England, but this new skatepark video he just dropped is pretty amazing. 720 barspin? Nyquist better watch out...


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Germany will host a high-class BMX dirt jump contest called the “BIG IN BAVARIA”. The comp unites the world’s best BMX dirt jumpers during the BIKE EXPO, the brand new international bicycle trade show from July 23rd to 26th.

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Ian Schwartz talks about a new shoe, Mike Hoder gets broke off then proves he's not just a hucker with solid tech moves, Jackson Ratima shows you his new bike...and more from the Lotek crew.

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Jomopro is just one week away and we can't wait to get back to Joplin for a third year in a row. Check out this quick commercial for the event and if you need a reminder how insane this contest was last year take a look at some of last year's videos at the links inside...


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This past Monday Dakota Roche, Morgan Wade, and Will Stroud stopped by the office in between filming for Levi's Web videos. Ryan Fudger and Jeff Zielinski sat down with them for a bit to catch up about Levi's projects, Dakota getting bumped up to the pro team, and other randomness.

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Eight minutes of Cam White talking about BMX, contests, life, the industry, and more.

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In this issue we have an amazing article with Stephen Murray and Mike Aitken about the crashes that changed their lives, a full-length Darin Read interview, and articles with Garrett Reynolds, Colin Mackay, Edwin DeLaRosa, Dustin Griess, and more. Keep reading for the issue's full contents.

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Here is Kevin Porter's section in the new Vinyl full length DVD "The Best of Both Worlds". Kevin's unique style and ability to create technical lines has landed him this amazing video part.

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Björn is the full package. He has made his mark on the international BMX scene via video parts and contest appearances with his technical yet creative style.


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We had a great response from our handlebar buyer's guide a while back so we went back to your favorite companies to get you the specs on 16 sets of cranks. Click the page numbers at the bottom to see and compare all the products. Also, check out the first page of the post for your chance to win a pair of Eastern Stealth Cranks.

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I imagine the C stands for Cruiser, not Cilencki, but damn Jim can get down (and up and around) on the thing. I haven't had the chance to ride one of these, but I hear nothing but fun things about it. I once saw Jim Bauer almost manual up a ten stair on one, too. He looped out...manualing up a ten stair. True.


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Press Release:

Asia’s Premiere Action Sports Event Celebrates 11th Anniversary

The city of Shanghai will once again host KIA X Games Asia, Asia’s premiere action sports competition, as it returns to China for the third consecutive year — celebrating 11 years of Asian X Games events.

This year the event will showcase more than 200 of the best action sports athletes from more than 20 countries and five continents in world-class competition in the sports of Skateboard, BMX, In-Line Skate and Sport Climbing. New to the Asian X Games, this year’s event will also feature a Moto X Big Air demonstration. Televised live from Shanghai’s KIC Jiangwan Stadium, X Games Asia will air May 1 - May 3 on ESPN Asia networks and will be organized by sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports along with the Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Sports Federation. The event will also be shown on ESPN International networks in Latin America, Australia, Middle East and Africa.

“We are thrilled to be back in China, and look forward to delivering another exhilarating event to action sports fans in Shanghai,” said Rick Alessandri, senior vice president, X Games Franchise. “We are excited to work closely with KIA Motors to continue this tradition of bringing world-class action sports competition to China.”

This year, competitors can look forward to an increase in prize money for the event, and Skateboard, BMX, and In-Line participants for the street discipline can also expect a new course design that will resemble real street conditions.

The KIA X Games Asia has earned a strong global reputation with a significant increase in awareness about action sports in the region. Last year’s event was enthusiastically received by the Shanghai community and broke attendance records with more than 52,800 people passing through the gates of Yangpu district’s KIC Jiangwan Sports Center - an increase of more than 55% from 2007.

The Games are bolstered by the addition of a new Silver Sponsor in Mountain Dew and the elevation of Apparel sponsor Pony to the Silver category. New brands like Doritos and Cold Stone have also picked up sponsorship packages. And ESPN has entered in to a collaboration with licensing agent IMG for the launch of an X Games consumer products line planned for later this year in China.

Leading up to this year’s event, KIA X Games Asia 2009 kicked off with a three-city, eight-stop roadshow tour in December and will finish at Shanghai’s Wanda Shopping Mall April 25-26. The roadshows include demos in BMX freestyle and In-Line skate, musical performances, entertainment acts, prize giveaways and an interactive mini-skate park for spectators to test their skills.

Event Partners
The event is proudly sanctioned by the Chinese Extreme Sports Association and is organized by ESPN STAR Sports, the Shanghai Media Group and the Shanghai Sports Federation. The Shanghai Yang Pu District Government is the event’s Special Organizer and the Shanghai Sports Competition Management Centre is the co-organizer while the Shanghai Extreme Sports Association is the supporting organizer. The KIC Jiangwan Sports Center is the official venue.

About ESPN’s X Games Franchise
ESPN held its first X Games in 1995. ESPN’s Global X Events and Development group is responsible for creating the company’s action sports programming currently airing on ESPN, ESPN2 and across its various international networks.   In addition to the two U.S.-based X-branded events - X Games, and Winter X Games, ESPN has held X Games competitions and demonstration events around the world, including Dubai, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Korea, Malaysia, China and Spain.  The global X franchise has also expanded its reach to ESPN.com/Action, the definitive site for action sports fans, and to consumer products such as X Games bikes, protective gear, skateboards and DVDs.

Stefan Lantschner, Bruno Hoffmann, Owain Clegg, Ben Hennon, Hannu Cools, and a few more European Carhartt riders went on a trip to Great Canary Island, just north of Africa. Dominik Wrobel was on hand to document it all in the form of this awesome full-length video.

There’s a new public skatepark opening this Friday, March 27th in Santa Clarita, California. Check out the flyer for details and if you are in the area show up and give your support to a city who is helping out BMX.

Click To Download Now - Issue 144, May 2008
(Download may take 6-8 minutes.)

This Issue Includes:

On the Cover: You really need to love Barcelona’s random pieces of public art. Karl Poynter shows his appreciation with a classic table launched off a Spanish sidewalk fin. Photo by Jeff Zielinski.

- Departments -

First Words:
Editor in Chief, Keith Mulligan gets a little sentimental about long-time friend Jimmy Levan after his serioius head injury.

Start:
A modern photo of a classic setup and trick.

Up Front:
Sponsor Block, Disabled List, and of course a little teaser of what’s to come on ridebmx.com this month. Also a quick interview with Ian Morris about his ideas of being “pro,” five pros tell their best trick, and lots of fine print. Oh, and a lil ol’ contest where we are going to send you to Camp Woodward for a week!

Pro Q&A - Josh Stricker:
Josh answerd our readers’ questions while sprinting full speed at *insert any obstacle here.*

Products:
Two pages of soft goods plus pegs, pedals, headsets, rims, frames, forks, bars, wheels, sprockets, tires, grips, stems, pads, and more. Whew, that’s a lot of new products.

Pro Shop:
Shad Johnson talks about the BMX only shop that helps hold the Portland, Oregon scene together…Goods BMX.

Diversions:
Mark Mulville’s top 5s as it pertains to music and seven vids reviewed, too.

Glimpse 04:
A kid paid $400 to get Aaron Ross to ride and hang out in his town. These photos are what came out of it.

Focus:
Eight pages of the stuff you have grown to know and love—amazing BMX photography.

Bio - Mark “Ratkid” Gralla:
If Bob Scerbo has such good things to say about him, you know the dude has to shred.

Bio - Drew Hosselton:
And if Smoker Dave has such good things to say about this one, he must rule, too!

Letters:
Ryan Fudger gave some good advice and didn’t even really piss anyone off this month. Don’t worry though, he ain’t gettin’ soft on you. He’ll be a dick next month.

Ten to End - Sean Sexton:
Sean, by his own definition, is creative and has a positive attitude.

- Features -

Ian Schwartz Interview - The Progressive Innovator:
Mad style, sweet bike setup, original lines and tricks… Ian is someone a lot of riders look up to and aspire to be like. This interview and these black and white photos shot in Spain do a great job of capturing the essence of Ian and everything that he stands for.

Dubai - Destert And Camels:
Wait, Walter Pieringer has an amazing/interesting/bizarre story from a foreign country? I thought we’d never see the day such an article would come up. Oh wait…never mind.

The Best Trick He’s Ever Pulled:
A conversation with Jimmy Levan about his injury resulting in a coma and how a near-death experience can make life better…

Up In The Hills:
A colorful photo essay of a SoCal pool covered with graffiti.

The Peaceful Warrior - Russell Barone Interview:
This Long Island, New York native is a Rastafarian vegan who lives a healthy, positive life and kills it on a BMX.

Full Circle - Chad Johnston & Pegless Flatland:
After seeing his first pegless flatland online video, we had to ask Chad about re-inventing his riding style sans pegs.

Mediterranean Paradise - A Sunday Foray In Barcelona:
Barcelona is one of the best places in the world to ride street, and the Sunday team made good use of their time there.

Barspin 360

Press Release:

Olá Amigos,

We have received some time ago our new “mutation” that is being tested, it´s called “LOBO”, a BMX frame. (LOBO means WOLF, the mutation in Portuguese is “Lobisomem” meaning warewolf, since is a bigger name we only use Lobo) We have started to develop it in the middle of the last year, it will be  submitted to hard riding test until 2009 end. “LOBO” is a BMX line parts that we are developing, I always rode BMX, so for me it doesn´t make sense mutantbikes without a BMX frame. LOBO frame weight 2,1Kg/ 4,6lbs and will be available in 20.83″, 21″ and 21.26″ with a 13.35″ rear end, and made with cromoly sanko tubing double butted. Some heat treated parts, like, machined dropouts, spanish bb, headset tube, chainstay and seat stay plate. Integrated headset and seat clamp with removal brake mounts. Our main focus is details, it make a part more beautiful and save some weight. I hope you enjoy as much as we do.

The integrated seat clamp is our own system that is approved and tested, soon I’ll show how it works. simple and functional.

Nuno Milhinhos
www.mutantbikes.com

Click the pages at the bottom to see each riders’ bike. Page 1 = Rob Wise. Page 2 = Hucker. Page 3 = Craig Mast. Page 4 = Tom White.

Name: Rob Wise
Age: 22
Location: Bountiful, Utah
Sponsors: DC Shoes, Volume Bikes, Demolition, Xbalm, 5050 Bike Shop, Skullcandy

Frame: Volume First Blood
Fork: Demolition Concord
Bars: Volume Gnar Bar
Stem: Demolition F40 Lt
Grips: Demolition Missile
Barends: Demolition
Detangler: SNAFU
Headset: FSA
Clamp: Demolition
Seatpost: Volume Pivotal
Seat: Volume Pivotal
Cranks: Demolition Medial,165mm
Sprocket: Demolition F1
Chain: Shadow half-link
Brakes: Demolition Vulcan
Cable: Odyssey
Brake Lever: Odyssey
Front Tire: Demolition Baja
Front Wheel: Demolition Bulimia hub with Demolition Zero rim
Rear Tire: Demolition Monaco
Rear Wheel: Demolition Ashley hub with Demolition Zero rim
Hub Guard: Demolition
Pegs: Demolition Team
Pedals: Demolition Team

Modifications/Other/Extras:
Nothin’ really, just lace my spokes on the inside on my grind side so I don’t break spokes…that’s about it.

Which parts do you go through the most?
I would have to say pedals because I love a fresh pair.

Describe your bike setup and how you like your bike to feel…
It’s set up a little bigger because I’m so tall. I like to keep my bike feeling solid—no lose parts, I hate that.

Do you remember your first “real” BMX bike?
Yes, it was a red Diamondback Viper with 4-piece bars and 2-piece cranks. So awesome.

Jump Teaser

Profile just uploaded a new video featuring Joe West riding his local park, Autumn Ramp Park in Joplin, Missouri. Since they don’t have an embed code on their videos, you’ll have to check it out on the Profile site…

profileracing.com

Empire just dropped a new promo for their upcoming team DVD. The trailer is an awesome spotlight edit from the Empire ramp featuring all their riders including Chase Hawk, Sean Sexton, Kevin Porter, Sergio Layos, and the rest.

Empire also just launched a new Web site, so check that out at empirebmx.com.

Nose Case Official Trailer

This 15 year old is good…real good. And he wears a helmet so I like him even more. Check out the freecoastin’ and 360′n action that Eli threw down recently on his March break from high school.

And people say I put shitty music in my videos…

Video edit by: John DeCaprio & Steve-O

Story by Mookie.

I grew up riding BMX and surfing. Until recently I have mainly been a mountain biker, but a chance meeting with another BMX rider changed my focus and my life.

I first met John DeCaprio at a dinner with some of our BMX friends, Garrett Byrnes, Russel Brindley (Ozzy shredder), and a few others. John was on his way back from dropping off John Jennings at the airport and met up with us. Immediately we struck up a conversation. This was the first time I met him. We talked about street riding, dirt jumping, and the old Alternative Sports Skatepark. We both left dinner with the idea of riding and working on something one day. Time went by and soon enough it was four or five years and we hadn’t talked much. Then one day I was on ridebmx.com and saw this trailer for, “The Rapture.” I watched it and enjoyed it. I looked into it further and saw John DeCaprio was the one who had helped edit it. I immediately went to therapturerherapture.com to check out and see what it was about. I realized it was John’s website and that he was talented with art and clothing, as well as BMX. So I got back in touch and we started talking.

John and I started talking more and more about things and we just started talking about things we would like to do. John does a huge event called “Jump For Jesus” and its pretty rad. We soon started talking about what we can do together. I have always done marketing and promoting (Hurley, Redsand, Quiksilver), so I was thinking of things we could do. We struck up an idea one day while riding street. After riding, John and I sat there talking about, “The Rapture,” the art he and his friends do, and BMX. I manage Brielle Cyclery in Asbury Park and wanted to bring a little bit of a BMX scene into the bike shop. So the idea of the BMX, art, and music jam was launched.

The idea was something to bring everyone in. You can sometimes ride down the street and session things and kids just tag along with you. Asbury Park has a huge heritage of art and music as well. Artists like Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, The Bouncing Souls, and others established their career roots in Asbury. So the idea was something that we knew the locale could work with. People like to be entertained, and something that is free to all is a good thing. I didn’t want the party to be just about the store, I wanted the party to be about the kids, adults, the artists, and to show that we do these things for everyone. We wanted to give back to everyone who comes in to Brielle Cyclery or someone who visits theraputuretherapture.com, or buys a Rapture T-Shirt, or John’s art.

We finalized our plans, got our permissions, and the date was set. The setup was like no other. I cleared the walls off for art and the floor out for an in-store session! One door you walked in you had a live band with the riders hanging out, and the other a 4ft quarter that guys were boosting on with an incredible view from the boardwalk. To top off the view, everyone who came in the door was entered to win a Mirraco BMX bike courtesy of the guys at Mirraco! John also gave out tons of The Rapture stickers, and shirts. We had about 50ft of wall with art plastered all over, along with using other nooks and crannies of the shop as well. The ramps were dead center so people walking buy on the boardwalk to get a glance. It was pretty nuts! Everyone who entered the door seemed amazed.

We had a 4ft quarter at the door on the boardwalk and people would just see guys go up, then disappear, and reappear. John and I built an insane small street course. We had a down ledge, a roller, and small ledge, and a quarter everyone was skiing on. We had an amazing turnout of riders. The list of riders includes Garrett Byrnes, Van Homan, Ian Elkins, Brandon Kitson, Big Daddy (Pat Laughlin), John DeCaprio, Ronnie Brown, Joe Hulette, Travis Applegate, Dennis Dreher, and Mookie (me, John Krutak). We had John DeCaprio going so high with no-footed can-cans I thought our lights were coming down; Garrett Byrnes going high and doing some tech moves; Van Homan doing the sickest turndowns I have seen; and Big Daddy backflipping in the store! Even the younger kids were killing it as well. Standouts included Ian Elkins spinning 360s, barspins, and tailwhips, and 16-year-old Brandon Kitson who was so damn smooth. Big Daddy was even giving kids pointers and said he does it for them and wants them to have a good time—and that’s what its all about.

The art was amazing, too. Every artist had something different. You cold walk along the wall and every five feet would be totally different. The artists were Becky Blair, Travis Applegate, John DeCaprio, Tonya Fallon, Cheryl Syminink, and Sean Brady. We had Cheryl Syminink with crazy glass art, Travis Applegate doing outsider/graffiti art, John DeCaprio with abstract/traditional paintings, Tonya Fallon with surfboard art, Sean Brady with some insane photos that looked like shooting stars, Becky Blair with insane paintings and custom choppers and artwork from Barry. There was clothing as well from The Rapture, Within Arms Reach, and SMACK.

For live music we had two different types—Barry and the Penetrators got the crowd started early with reggae beats and were jamming. Shooter McGavin was next busting the doors down late with the punk rock and getting everyone pumped. They even got me on my bike to ride. When the bands weren’t playing we had some sick old punk rock music playing. Kicking it old school and keeping the scene alive. The tunes drew in people from the boardwalk and you could here us a block away. Watching the bands as you passed the store was pretty crazy as well.

The whole night was a success and everyone had a great time. I have to admit I was amazed at the show we put on and that it was all inside a store. We may not have had the best ramps in the world, or a huge stage for the bands, or the best displays for the artists, but everything worked because we had a lot of help. The event was covered by Chris Flanegan, George Hoernig, Dave Pawson and his lady, Brett from NJBMX, and the videographer was Steve-O (not the famous one). Thanks and much appreciation to all of the names above. All in all the show was about having an awesome time, being supportive to local artists, clothing companies, riders, and to Asbury’s finest shop Brielle Cyclery (shameless plug for the owners so they will let us do it again). We hope and plan to do more events in support of underground artist and riders that take time to do what they love. For more information and updates on future events visit therapturetherapture.com and catch new pics of local New Jersey riders and artist. Also visit www.briellecyclery.com or myspace.com/briellecyclery for updates on events and new products. Once again we would like to thank all the artists, Brielle Cyclery, Mirraco, The Rapture, the bands, the city of Asbury Park, and everyone who came out joined in and shed a smile. After all that’s what its about, enjoying life…

Last week we posted the Ramp Resurrection video featuring a few of the Odyssey team riders. In the post we announced a contest, and today we have a winner. Adam Crabill from Stephenson, Virginia just snagged himself a new pair of GSport rims and Odyssey tires. Congrats to Adam!

Press Release:

Partnership includes unparalleled grassroots programming, launch of Gatorade Winter Free Flow Tour in January 2010 and FUEL TV content deal

Burr Ridge, Ill. – March 23, 2009 – Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports, today announced Gatorade has signed on as the title sponsor for the Free Flow Tour. Gatorade will support the summer Free Flow Tour series as well as the soon-to-be-launched amateur snowboard and freeski series.

In the coming months, Gatorade will work hand-in-hand with local skateparks and skate and BMX shops to elevate activation at the close to 50 Free Flow Tour summer events, which will enhance the overall experience for participating riders at each stop along the Tour.  Gatorade will also implement a legacy program at each skatepark as part of this grassroots effort.

In addition to the grassroots program and Tour-wide entitlement and category rights, Gatorade and Alli have partnered with FUEL TV on a Gatorade Free Flow Tour content play.  Alli and Gatorade will create three original half-hour programs across summer and winter to air on FUEL TV, and FUEL TV will provide exposure and promotion across their network and online platform.

“The Free Flow Tour is as important as anything we are doing at Alli; we are providing amateur athletes an ascension path to the pros and identifying the rising stars of action sports,” said Wade Martin, CEO of Alli.  “Gatorade is the ideal partner to support the growth of action sports and elevate the Gatorade Free Flow Tour to the next level.”

“Supporting action sports at a grassroots and amateur level is where we want to make a mark in this space,” said Jeff Urban, senior vice president of sports marketing for Gatorade.  “The Free Flow Tour is an amazing platform for talented young riders to use as a launching pad to the next level.”

Gatorade sponsors three action sports athletes: skateboarder Chaz Ortiz, snowboarder Ellery Hollingsworth and BMX rider Nigel Sylvester. The Free Flow Tour partnership is a marquee element of Gatorade’s larger brand presence in action sports.

“My pro skating career got a jump start from the Free Flow Tour,” said Chaz Ortiz, 2007 Free Flow Tour Skate Park champion and 2008 Skate Park Dew Cup champion. “It’s great Gatorade is joining with the Free Flow Tour to support the growth of action sports and provide kids with a path to achieve their dreams of being a pro athlete.”

Also launching will be the Gatorade Free Flow Tour website, which joins the Dew Tour, Winter Dew Tour, King of Wake, Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship and Maloof Money Cup within the Allisports.com family of sites. The Free Flow Tour website will include up-to-date information on upcoming Free Flow Tour events and results as well as video highlights and original programming from both summer and winter events.

The Free Flow Tour is the official amateur series of the Dew Tour and the Winter Dew Tour and provides amateur athletes the prospect of professional sponsorship and recognition by the pros. Previous Free Flow Tour winners include reigning skate park Dew Cup champion Ortiz, who is now among the professional ranks, and pro BMX park rider Mike Spinner, who finished the Dew Tour ranked second overall in 2007 and ‘08.

The three dates and of the ‘09 BMX Flatland World Circuit events have been confirmed. Check out the official flyer here and be sure to check out the BFWC Web site for full details on the circuit and individual events.

bmxflatlandworldcircuit.com