20 November 2009 by james and filed in Events, Skate
Wow where did the last month go? Well I actually did post an item however I forgot to click the publish button. So much for 350.org and the International Day of Climate Action back on 24 October.
I feel very fortunate to be here in Venice, CA at the moment. The new skatepark at Venice Beach has only been open for a few weeks and has been 20 years in the making. The history of this place and skating is huge. You have seen Dogtown and Z-Boys haven’t you?
It’s on again next month and I’m a bit disappointed that it will be the first one I miss. Managed to make it to all the other ones when they were held across the three eastern states. Now this premier old school BMX gathering has found a home at the Knox BMX track in Melbourne, Victoria and held in conjunction with the Thunderdome BMX race meeting.
Each year this has just grown bigger and bigger and the organisers are hoping for a larger turnout than the 150 plus bikes out on show last year.
Details on the flyer below or look out for posts on the popular old school BMX forums.
Luke sent through the following race report in what seems like a big day of racing and a couple of great results. Thanks to Corey Gibson from xenonphoto.com.au for use of the photo.
I recently raced in the Eastfield Experience race meet at Kilsyth BMX track. I arrived at the track to see cars parked up the street and people walking up to 100 meters just to get to the track. The amount of people was amazing, it was like our state titles. I was racing two classes at the race meet, 15 boys and A men (junior pro) and after practice was feeling rather confident in my riding.
After my first three motos I had won all my 15 boys races and finished a 1st and two 2nds in A men which i was really happy about. In the fourth moto I knew I had quarter and semi finals coming up so I saved as much energy as I could and got a third in 15 boys qualifying first for the final and qualified 2nd for my quarter final in A men. In the quarter final in A men I had a shocking gate draw and got put in lane 8 which made me think I wouldn’t be able to qualify for the semi finals. I came out the gate and pushed as hard as I could and found myself leading into the first turn and then led the rest of the race from there and took the win which I think shocked a few people as im racing much older people. The semi finals were much the same, I lead into the first turn and came across the line in 2nd place and qualified 3rd for the final.
The A men had a 3 final, final which means you have 3 final races and the person with the best points wins overall. The first final I had my best start for the day and came across the line in 2nd, the second final I got pushed up the first corner and had to fight through and got a 4th. In between my second and third A men final i had my 15 boys final, I was so tired from racing A men but was confident I could win. I led from start to finish and headed straight back up for my final A men race. I had a great start and was coming 2nd into the first turn but by the end of the race I got past and finished 3rd giving me 3rd overall in A men for the day.
I was stoked with my efforts and got some well earned prize money haha
If you are in the Bellflower, CA area this weekend then why not check out the BMX Revival being held at the BMX track. In conjunction with an ABA race meeting there will be a vintage BMX show and swap meet. No judging or competitions so it should be a pretty chilled event.
23 September 2009 by james and filed in BMX, BMX Team
Andrew is heading off to China this weekend to attend the same comp he has been going to for the last couple of years. The CX Games don’t seem to get a lot of press outside of Asia, however, Andrew says he has a great time.
He also sent through a couple of riding photos. The second one is at Rampfest in Melbourne and if you know the line you will realise just how mad it is.
11 September 2009 by james and filed in BMX Team, Events
Sorry for the lack of updates as I have been on the road a bit and taking time away from RSABOUT. Anyway, enough of the excuses and here’s a report from the recent Spinal Disorder comp held on the Gold Coast on 30 August 2009 by BMX team rider Andrew Gul.
The Spinal Disorder Comp for 2009 was held on the sunny Gold Coast as part of the Gold Coast Show. Blue skies and a warm 23 degrees celcius was perfect conditions to ride. The wind was picking up a bit by the end of day but that didn’t effect the keen riders all riding for that $2000 1st place.
Practice kicked off at 10am with groups of 10 riders at a time getting there 30mins in. Pro comp didn’t kick off till about 5:30pm and the lights were rolled out. The ramp was was set up with a wall ride at the 5ft end against the container sub then went to a 5ft spine then into a sweet 6ft qtr. That was the end most guys were gettin 7-8ft out. The ramp was awesome and the riders were throwing down like it was everyones local.
First run I went straight into a flip x on the spine landing a little flat and it took me a bit to get some pace up again. Got a few tricks out but it wasn’t the run I wanted to throw down. Second run I banged a flip one foot x straight up and pulled it clean so I went straight into a flair and then hit the spine for a superman and I didn’t pull out enough sending me to flat again. I tried to salvage my run with a few whips and tucks and the went for a bar spin abubica on the sub. Got onto it sweet but again i didnt pull out enough and cased front wheel coming in.
There were 4 riders after me so I sat and watched everyone pull their runs and in the end it was Nick Cooper who pulled everything he tried and took the win. It would have been nice to bring it home 2 years in row but thats BMX.
Presentation was cut short due to some kids playing fisty cuffs and this got police and security involved which pretty much got the event shut down. So thanks to those few little kids ending the night early but other than that the event was awesome.
My mate Kyle Adderley did such a good job being the MC as well as having a crack in pro. While skate legend Corbin Harris filled in as MC towards the end of the night. I wanna thank Dinny Spicer for another awesome event and the guys at Fuel TV and Unit Clothing and StrictlyBMX for making it happen. Thats all from me guys. I got a new ride just before the comp so now i got some keen sticker placement to do. Peace- Andrew Gul
Robert from Lewis and Sons Powder Coaters held the old school BMX Show N Shine last month and his brother put together a quick bit of footage from the day. Enjoy.
I’ve been a bit slack about uploading a few photos from the day. Every I have spoken with had a great day and I spent most of the time chatting with people I only get to see a few times a year and checking out the new old school BMXs people have built. Big thanks goes out to Robert and the Lewis family and Ross and Joel who work with Robert. Just a pity I won’t be able to make it next year.
These couple of photos show most of the people and then a group shot of the Aussie guys who hang out at the VintageBMX.com forums.
Andrew traveled up to Darwin recently for a show and here’s a few photos from the day. Not tough to see this wasn’t Melbourne with all the blue sky in the background. Enjoy.
