Slash was a BMXer

If you've been alive at any point in the last 33 years, you've heard this song.  Yesterday someone had a post on Facebook with the Guns 'N' Roses BMX T-shirt on it.  So I commented that Slash was a BMXer.  Someone else came back with this interview (below), that I'd never seen.  I knew I had to post it, it's pretty cool.

There was a story, way back in the 80's, just after Guns 'N' Roses hit big time, that Slash an Duff met each other at a bank, while riding their BMX bikes.  No one was sure if it was true, but it was cool at the time.  GNR was as big as could be, and BMX freestyle was a tiny, weird little sport.  It was cool to think this guitar hero had been one of us at some point.

Then a year or so later, there came a rumor that Brian Blyther, and one or two other riders got back stage at a Guns 'N' Roses concert, and Slash walked up to them and said, "Hey, you're Brian Blyther."  I think I asked Brian about this once, and he confirmed it.  Brian, call me out if I'm wrong.  Anyhow, it was another cool story, tying one of the world's best known guitar players to BMX and freestyle.

Many hears later, I saw a photo or two of someone jumping, from like 1978, that was supposed to be Slash, but you couldn't tell for sure.  Then, yesterday, somebody shares this interview, and here's the man himself, talking about his days as a hardcore BMX biker in his early teens.  Pretty cool little interview.




Here's a little bonus footage of Slash goofin' around with his bike on tour, not sure if there was beer involved, or he was just rusty from years of not riding much. Thanks Jared Cyr for posting this clip on Facebook.

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The Birth of the Freestyle Movement - 2nd edition book signing party

 NorCal/Golden Gate Park riders, Mike Golden and Chris Rothe, checking out the second edition of The Birth of the Freestyle Movement , at the signing party.  Chris Rothe and Maurice Meyer are the ones who thought to offer me a ride, knowing I wouldn't make it to the event otherwise.  Huge thanks to Drob, Chris, Chris' son Max, and Mark McKee for letting me hang with them all weekend.  It was an epic time.

This event, put on by author Dominic Phipps, as a book signing and promo party, was held at the 10 Barrel Brewing company downtown San Diego, the afternoon and evening of May 25th, 2019.  The first edition of the book came out in 2017, and while it was really good by all accounts, people started giving Dominic ideas about the scenes and things not covered in the book.  I've heard that the NorCal/Golden Gate Park scene was mentioned by nearly everyone, along with the Dirt Brothers and several other scenes that had major influence on BMX freestyle's early development.  So Dominic went back to work, and revamped the book, which is the 2nd edition, seen below.

Huge classic photos were blown up and on display at the party.  Really cool touch.  No flatland pics, but the epic ramp, pool, and street photos brought back memories to all of us.  My personal favorite was the huge Dave Voelker air, and you can find out why in the "part 2" blog post.  At one point I was sitting near these photos, and Pete Augustin came up and put his phone right up near my head.  I was thinking, "Man, you don't need my pic, I look like hell these days."  Then I realized he was taking a selfie with the big photo of him that was behind him, which probably made a really cool pic.  A selfie with himself.  I think all the riders in the photos got pics with the photos at some point. 

Freestyle pioneer, BMX Action Trick Team founder, and all around entrepreneur, R.L. Osborn (right), and his son Dylan, at the skatepark earlier in the day.  Both were at party later.

While the official reason for the party was the 2nd edition book launch of The Birth of the Freestyle Movement, the real reason was to bring together as many crazy characters from 80's BMX freestyle as possible.  That was a huge success.  The biggest surprise appearance was R.L. Osborn.  He's kept such a low profile since moving on from freestyle, that we actually had Sasquatch out looking for R.L. at one point.  The word was that he was sick of the inherent drama of the BMX world way back when, and when the Old School events started happening, he wasn't sure if he wanted to rehash the old days all over again.  It was really cool to see him at the skatepark earlier in the day, he was a huge influence on my own life, and many many others. 

The original skatepark legends, Eddie Fiola, Mike Dominguez, Brian Blyther, and Rich Sigur were all at the event.  Martin Aparijo was representing 80's flatland legends, along with R.L. Osborn.  Todd Anderson was there representing the Camarillo Ramp crew and.  Dave Voelker was there representing San Diego and bass fishermen everywhere.  Kevin Martin, Ron Wilkerson's announcer, organizer, and all around solid guy BITD, was there.  Racing legend Stu Thomsen was there.  Oakley announcer The Duke was there.  I met a guy from Moo's Bike Shop in Riverside, part of the late 70's early 80's BMX racing scene, old school even to me,who told some us some good stories about those days.   

The Skyway/NorCal/Golden Gate Park posse was well represented.  I went to the event with Maurice Meyer, Chris Rothe, Chris' son Max, and Mark McKee, all from that scene.  Ron Wilkerson, who began his bike life as part of the Golden Gate scene, was there.  Maurice brought a plaque with Dave Vanderspek's photo and number plate, along with the commemorative brick with Dave's name one it.  Robert Peterson showed, and was as fun to talk to as ever.  Hugo Gonzales was there, I spent quite a while talking to him, hearing crazy stories from the 80's.  Mike Golden flew in from Dallas for the event.  Mat Hoffman, who started his freestyle career was the wonderkid on the Skyway team, was there, after putting on a vert contest earlier in the day.  Craig Campbell, longtime U.K. Skyway rider, was there, I heard.

BMX industry guy, infamous brother, and all around character, Frank Scura was there.  Everytime Frank and Ron Wilkerson started talking, I half expected paisley confetti to fall from the ceiling.  Wizard's long time epic photographer, Windy Osborn, was there.  I didn't even realize that until right before we left, so I didn't get a chance to say "Hi" to Windy. Epic vert rider, now nursing a reconstructed ankle back to health, Simon Tabron, was there.  I somehow missed saying "hi" to him as well.  Dennis McCoy was there, even after knocking himself out on a 900 attempt at the contest that morning.  He pulled a beautiful, smooth, barspin 540 in that run, before the 9 slam. 

One guy I was hoping would show up was Bob Haro, the man who invented this whole sport.  He wasn't there in person, but this great photo of young Bob (below) was on display.  We dated this shot, which I'd never seen before, at probably 1979 or 1980. 

Everybody wants a photo of Mat Hoffman.  We were telling stories about how Mat seemed so crazy back in the late 80's, us older guys were actually worried he might actually kill himself riding some day. A few of us were talking about how, at the Palm Springs GPV and halfpipe event, we were debating whether Mat would take himself out riding, or wind up doing construction in a few years.  That was when none of us saw freestyle lasting much longer.  Yeah, Mat proved us all wrong 100 times over. 

 Golden Gate Park posse.  L to R: Marc McKee, Max Rothe (behind Marc), J.D., Chris Rothe, and Robert Peterson, checking out the book. 

 Two of the craziest riders ever, trading tales, Dennis McCoy and Hugo Gonzales.  Hugo's a truck driver now, and loving it.  Hugo told Chris Rothe, me, and a couple others a story about this line at Campbell skatepark, inspired by a photo in the book.  Hugo said there was a line at Campbell skatepark, where he'd hit a transition, fly out over an 8 foot high fence, and land on the top of a carport next door.  But he had to hit the tranny at an angle, and not fly too far, because if he overshot, he'd fly over the 8 foot fence, case on the carport, and then Superman dive 8 feet down to the concrete on the other side of the carport roof.  Yeah, he was doing that in like '83.  Gotta love Hugo.  Talking to Hugo was probably the overall highlight of the party, for me.

Another great conversation was when Eddie Fiola introduced me to Dawn, whose first job was working in the snack bar and selling T-shirts at Pipeline Skatepark.  Dawn and I talked for at least 20-30 minutes about Pipeline and that whole scene.

That was the evening, looking around, finding someone who looked kinda like someone you knew, but hadn't seen for 10-20-30 years, and then walking over to see if that's really them, and telling stories for half an hour.  That just kept going on as most of the people got progressively buzzed and shared pizza and apps. 

Curb Dogs represent.  Robert Peterson, I forget the name of the lady in the Curb Dogs shirt (sorry),the Dig Magazine photographer in the background (he shot tons of pics, check the Dig BMX sight soon), and Maurice Meyer, rocking the Skyway T-shirt.

All in all, The Birth of the Freestyle Movement (2nd edition) signing party was a great time.  I think it was Maurice Meyer who said a friend asked him what the old school BMX events were like.  Drob told his friend, "It's like a high school reunion, except that you actually like everyone."  Exactly.

Thanks Dominic Phipps, it was a great time.  The night owl of our crew, Mark McKee, helped shut the bar down with Ron Wilkerson, Frank Scura, Scott Freeman and a few others, after we left.  If you're an old school freestyler reading this, buy the book, and check out the various package deals.  And make plans to show up at one of the old school events, it's a great time.  First class night, all the way.

Words and photos by Steve Emig/The White Bear.  This blog is brought to you by Block Bikes Online BMX Store.  Check out a few more photos on the Part 2 blog post. 

The Birth of the Freestyle Movement- 2nd Edition signing party- Part 2

A stack of the books for sale.  There were various packages with T-shirts, stickers, and other goodies to buy.  Since I'm just making a come back from being really down and out, I had to hold off on getting one for now. I'm DEFINITELY going to buy one of these when I can.  Dominic Phipps did specifically come over to me, introduce himself, and tell me I either have a line or two in the book, or a credit.  Because I write so many blog posts about the old days, he contacted me a while ago and I told him about the Vision Street Wear days.  If you rode in the 80's, or are younger and want to know learn about your history, you NEED to get this book.  This event was held at 10 Barrel Brewing Company in San Diego, CA, on May 25, 2019.

 This is one of the big photos that was displayed at the book signing party.  It's Dave Voelker blasting ten feet out in a attempt to set the official, Guiness World Records highest air, at an event at the Olympic Velodrome in 1987.  I believe Brian Blyther edged out this air of Dave's and got the record with a 10' 2" air.  That's off the 8 foot high, 8 foot wide, "rickety, AFA/Socko wooden quarterpipe, by the way.  I'm pretty sure that this event was the first world record BMX air event recognized by Guiness.  I was working for the AFA at the time, and helped Bob Morales set up this event.

 For any of you that read my old school stories on my personal blog, you I know I think of myself as a mediocre rider from the 80's, and mostly an industry guy who "just happened to be standing nearby" when a lot of cool BMX moments happened.  This is a close-up of the Voelker photo above, and that's me in the background, in the light blue T-shirt, behind the ladder, shooting photos for the AFA newsletter.  My life in the 80's freestyle world, encapsulated in a single photo.  Dave Voelker blasting epic air, and I'm ten feet away doing my industry guy thing, watching history happen. 

 The table of books up for sale, and three donated bikes that were raffled off later in the evening.  Mike Dominguez and John Povah bought so many raffle tickets that their names got pulled out 5 or 6 times each.  They waved off most of the prizes, but each took a little prize pack home.

 NorCal and Skyway represent.  L to R: unknown, unknown, Marc McKee, Mat Hoffman, Mike Golden, Maurice Meyer.  If anyone can fill in the unknowns (Drob?), let me know.

 Dean Palacios on the left talking.  I think he was a Pipeline Skatepark local back in the day.  If I'm wrong, let me know.

I think these are all Skyway riders, same line-up as above, with more added.  L to R: Hugo Gonzales, unknown, unknown, Mark McKee, Mat Hoffman, Robert Peterson, Mike Golden, Maurice Meyer, Scott(y) Freeman.  Yeah, he's 40-something now, but I still want to call him "Scotty," since he was 13 when he burst on the national scene.  Old habits die hard.  Again, if anyone can fill in the blanks, let me know.

Mountain bike Patagonia adventure

As we move into this three day weekend, I wanted to find a really good bike adventure video to inspire you all to think about some kind of bike riding over this three day weekend.  This video of trail riding in the backcountry of Patagonia, Chile fills the bill.  This just looks like an amazing time on every level.  Have fun this weekend, and get a bike out somewhere if you possibly can.

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X-Games Real BMX 2019: Simone Barraco

Simone's riding is a little more tech, a little less huge.  Good use of front wheel tricks, to mix things up a bit.  A great video clip all around.  But I'm going to stay with Brad Simms as my overall favorite of these six videos.  Again, that's just me, an old blogger who doesn't ride seriously these days. 

I don't know how the X-Games crew picks which riders to include, and that's always an issue, because there are so many good riders out there.  But these six were a good mix of different types and styles of street riding. 

As a video producer from way back in the olden days, some of the editing decisions baffle me these days.  If I was making a 90 second video for a competition, like this, I would not show any trick more than once.  Get one good angle and move on.  I would use very little, if any, slo-mo.  My cutaway shots would be about 12 to 20 frames long, super quick.  I would have almost no pedaling up to tricks, unless it was a mega gap where it helped to show the speed going in.  The first thing I learned from my video mentor, Dave Alvarez, was "keep it tight."  By that he meant, don't have a single frame of garbage that you don't need to make the piece work.  There's a lot of unneeded footage in most of today's videos. 

Anyhow, there it is, the six videos submitted in this year's X-Games Real BMX 2019.  It just occurred to me that I don't know who actually won.  My pick is Brad Simms, for the best overall video.  What do you guys think?

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S&M Bikes ripper Josh Stricker from "Please Kill Me"

You know how most videos today have a minute and a half of artsy urban footage, and then lots of slo-mo, and they show every trick three times, so you can really get the feel of it.  Yeah, this segment has none of that crap.  It's just 2 minutes and 22 seconds of S&M Bikes rider and Sheep Hills Local Josh Stricker pedaling fast at stuff and then doing insane gaps and tricks.  It's just frantic street riding.  You know, like a BMX video should be. 

Looking for the latest bikes and components from S&M?  Look no further, click below...

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