Time Away…

I (Mr.Jon) has quite the desire to ride again. You see, here recently I’ve been placed on the injured list at work. A sprain in my “Lumbar” region has prevented me from riding for a few weeks now.
What else can I do besides capture my bros’ escaping reality, all on top of their bmx beauties! That’s right…(Their)! Cause….
Rob Sparkman has joined forces to help establish our skills and develop more detail within his own….(one hell of a rider if you ask me!)

Meanwhile, Jason “Danger” has the urge to launch out of the quarters with terminal velocity, and Rob “Sparkman” has the mind stone to conquer all!

Me, just learning a few tricks with the camera ’till it’s time to flow!
(Being El’ Director if you know what I mean).

Here’s “Danger” and “Sparkman” trying out Shull Park…enjoy!

Goals.

Jon had the exciting privilege of hitting up The Flow the other day. After he took a spill and killed his iPhone, he said something to me that stuck ….

He was telling me about watching all of the kids riding around pulling tricks with no fear or recompense.  He said quote, “We are in the sack.”  I’m not really sure what that meant in literal terms. It sounds really gross. But I do get the vibe of what my bro-friend was saying. ”It is time to buck up.”

I’ve been analyzing my own personal style and progress since that chat.

I started riding last April.  In the last year I’ve been able to narrow down my focus from both MTB and BMX, to just BMX (ie. little bike). That took some time to weed through. At that point, after a couple really stupid and quite bothersome injuries, I finally figured out how to disengage the bike mid-crash to minimize injury. Oh, and also how to wear pads.

Photo: Andy Long

I also feel like I’ve developed my ramp legs. Dodge Park helped me get past a good bit of fear. A concrete bowl has little mercy in the event of a crash.

I’m happy with my bunny hops, 180′s (on a quarter), and dropping in.

I’m not happy with a multitude of other things that I’ve not developed in the last 12 months.

In considering all of the above, I figured it was time to set some goals for myself. I’m still frustrated that I give into fear pretty often and don’t really commit to learning more skills. I’ve still got to get my base manual and fakie dialed in. Getting those 2 tricks dialed will open up a whole slew of new tricks. Seems to me that a large part of other things branch off of the basic skills. Duh Einstein. Baby steps.

Looking into the future (in the year 2000 ), I’m setting dialing goals for this upcoming season:

• Manual
• Fakie (with roll out)
• Wall Ride

These seem pretty basic and who knows, with applying myself to them I may develop them quite quickly. Time will tell.

Things to look forward to soon:

• Jon has yet to really let loose on his new Fuse 3. Snow is a bitch.
• Canal Winchester’s skatepark will be opening in not too distant future. Its all concrete, built very similar to JFK. I’m super stoked about that.
• I will be purchasing an Eastern Night Prowler by April’s end. (I’m settling for my new Stolen Cell Block bars until then.)
• Energy Drink wars. Go Rockstar & Juice! Jon likes NOS.
• Tons of biking videos (Progress 2).
• No crashes – sike.
• Finally popping the cherry at the West Campus Skatepark. Hoch says its amazing!

I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to Jon and I analyzing tricks, sucking down energy drinks, and wrapping up injuries. Last year was amazing. I can only anticipate how awesome the next 6 months will be. If you are feeling frisky, get on a bike or board and join us. I have a bike you can borrow, fyi, we call it “The Widowmaker”.

The new season approaches….

I (Jon) had a lot of things to learn within my first season…shit, even took a major crash at the beginning. All in all, I had a blast! So stoked for season two and my new Fuse 3! Hope to surprise myself with some new tricks! For now, enjoy a re-cap of season one…

Woops.

I’ve been working on my transfers. Seems to be going well. I’m  slowly moving on to stalls and some other things. This one looked promising, at first anyways.

First Jam of 2010

Jason and I had some shred time this past weekend at Grandview Heights Skate Park…Had a Blast getting back into the swing of things. For Christmas I got a new Fuse 3(Candy stripe, more like Van Halen if you ask me). Love it! It takes time to get use to a new bike, considering weight and ratiio. But enough, here is the video…

falling in love: Grandview Heights Skatepark

I’ve a new love. Tis Grandview Heights Skatepark. And let me tell you the ways that I love thee! Grandview Heights in the city pool parking lot. It’s not the most beautiful thing to look at. But oh is it amazing…..  Being a bit of a noob at riding, I still need to constantly work on my fundamentals. I have found that when I go to skateparks, I tend to rely on the ramps to do my work for me. Yeah, its fun, don’t get me wrong. But I find that I get lazy.

  Not so at Grandview. It’s basically a huge parking lot, with some pieces that the city has put there. The coolest thing about it is, the pieces are mobile (heavy, but mobile), so you can in a Lego fashion, arrange your own like of layout. With the wide open parking lot, you can work on doing manuals on boxes or off. Hopping the rails, or just whatever. It’s not a park only environment. Now typically I go when nobody is there so I can do what I want, but if people are hanging out there, then obviously park etiquette comes into play. Respect your fellow riders and practice your manuals and 180′s in the adjacent parking lot, not right in front of the ramp!This park has soooo much potential to it. I’ve seen the quarters set into a half-pipe. I’ve also seen them set as one large long quarter. The options are endless. If you are looking for Woodward quality ramps, …. well, keep on driving. But if you are looking for a place to ride where you can work off some smaller ramps, and shape up on the basics of manuals, hops, fakies, and so on, then Grandview Heights Skatepark is for you.

I typically go there early afternoon before the kiddos get out of school, and it is a ghost town. Hope to see you guys there! Click here  for a map.

Here are the elements:

Center fun box - not mobile.

  

Next, a couple rails. Highly mobile, unstable really!

  

Next you've got a launch, mobile, and I love setting it up against the two quarters.

  

The quarters are all mobile, but heavier than shit! Don't try moving the big ones alone.

  

Then finally this little box of fun. I typically hop over it after rolling out of the quarters.

regurgitated material: winter lull

I’m jonesin to ride like crazy. Jon got his Specialized Fuse 3 for Christmas and hasn’t had but once to have it out since then. ZZZZZZ – waiting for spring – and I don’t like waiting. I don’t mind braving the cold, but the snow obviously complicates things. So, I just keep complaining about how sh*tty Ohio is and come up with alternative activity like basement sledding.

Just thought I’d throw up the montage of a summer of learning. Ennnnjoy -

Hopefully we will be back in action soon when Old Man Winter finally kicks the bucket!

Self Edit: Chris Wilmshurst

Self Edit from Chris Wilmshurst on Vimeo.

Missing Summer….

How many out there miss riding when-ever you pleased? I do…!
Looking through all the videos Jason and I made I’ll tell you this…I Had an awesome time this summer learning new tricks and getting the basics down. So everyone out there, get a Flow membership, keep riding, and have a great Christmas…for now enjoy a video that made STOKED come true…

should you replace your helmet? @#$% yeah.

Yeah yeah, I know, helmets are for nerds.  Wear one, or the zombie squirrels will eat your brains when they spray from the crack in your head, on to the ground.

Yesterday I went over to JFK for my normal ride before work. This day in particular a friend joined me who is interested in bmx.

Taking turns we were riding around the park. I was giving him little tip ideas of ways to flow around the park a bit easier.

On one of his last runs, he hopped down a mid part one of the ramps, then came to the end of the ramp very quickly, not realizing there was no ramp there, just a 3.5 ft drop to concrete.

His front wheel went over, he held onto the bars, and he took a 4 + foot fall, landing straight on his temple and shoulder. He wasn’t wearing a helmet.

After his injuries were significant, I called 911 and got him a squad. He ended up breaking his clavicle, obvious concussion, multiple abrasions, but luckily no serious head injury.

As I watched this happen, the scenario has replayed in my mind repeatedly.

After witnessing this, my 2nd significant BMX accident, I was thinking about helmets and their effectiveness. I began thinking about my own helmet that has been through a couple wrecks, and thought, in an accident, would my helmet protect my head?

I did some research and found that answer to be a clear NO.

Here are some tips to helmet care and replacement. If you have an accident, replace it. If you’ve not had an accident, replace it every 3 years. Read this, its informative. Click here for Bell’s helmet care info.