etnies

BMX Team Report 11-19-03

Mike Escamilla
has been at Woodward West for the last few days in serious training with living legend and good friend Dave Osato for the upcoming LG Action Sports event in Pomona, California this week. He has also been on Osatos golf schedule, playing daily as well as attending hockey games Canadian-style. Mike also got a new truck and the Samurai video is going to be available in two weeks from TIP Distribution.

Taj Mihelich
finished filming his etnies commercial for the 2003 year-end issue of Props
video magazine. He also shot photos with Jeff Zielinski for a double-sided poster (etnies' Joe Rich is on the other side) in an upcoming issue of Ride BMX
magazine. The BBQ that Taj put on at the T1 ramp was fun. Slayer played in town this past weekend and
Taj was there to witness the satanic insanity. As usual, he has been also riding the ramp at T1 and working more than he should. Taj heads out to California on Tuesday November 18 to attend the LG Action Sports event in Pomona on November 19-20.

Joe Rich
got done finishing an edit of etnies team mate Taj Mihelich's etnies commercial for the 2003 year-end issue of Props
video magazine. He also shot photos with Ride
magazine's Jeff Zielinski for a double-sided poster due out in a future issue of said magazine. Joe also rode his dirt bike this past week with some friends and has also been riding the ramp at T1, the skatepark of Austin and working at the office a bunch.

Ruben Alcantara
has been enjoying his time at home in Spain riding with friends, spending time with his family and just basically relaxing. HeҒs heading out to Austin on November 17, then onto California the next day to attend the LG Action Sports event in Pomona, where he will be competing. Ruben's shoe on etnies is coming soon. So keep an eye out.

John Heaton
has been riding at the X Dreams park in Rochester, New York, where hes in training for this week's LG Action Sports event in Pomona,
California. In fact, John will be in California 'til the end of the month. He has also been playing Hockey lately and claims that he hasnҒt been fighting and even scored a couple of goals. A yearly ritual for most Northeast Canadians is setting your car up for winter by changing out your good Summer wheels for crappy winter wheels, which is how John spent his Sunday.

Nate Wessel
is in England building ramps at the Seventies warehouse for etnies teammate Ian Morris, who just so happens to be the Seventies company owner.

Sandy Carson
is home in Austin enjoying a decent level of normality in his new apartment, He has been, as always, working on Dig
magazine, riding as much as he can at the T1 offices and the 9th street trails. Sandy is still working a little on getting footage for the federal video and recording some of his own music.

Josh Stricker
has been slowly but surely moving his and his girl's belongings into their new place in New York from Philly. He went on a short road trip up to Providence, Rhode Island this past week with some friends and rode Skater Island, as well as some other parks, and is currently enjoying the surprisingly good weather to its fullest by riding trails with his crew. Josh has also been riding with etnies teammate Edwin Delarosa in the city.

Garrett Byrnes
is still down with a broken wrist and wearing a cast. He goes to the doctor this Wednesday to get X-rays and to see if it started healing. If yes, then he gets a new cast and its all good. If no, then heҒll take the cast off and start riding his bike again until he has to get surgery on it. Besides playing the waiting game, Garrett has been taking pictures and skating a little. Hes planning on going to Austin this coming Friday to hang with etnies team rider Joe Rich and friends.

Edwin Delarosa
has been chilling at home in New York. The weather has been decent, so he has been enjoying riding outdoors with etnies teammate Josh Stricker in the city. He has been finishing up his interview for Ride UK
magazine. Edwin got a ticket for riding his bike on the sidewalk right outside his apartment in New York on Sunday. He may be moving to Brooklyn in the near future. Edwin's wrist is feeling good enough for him to ride lately. In fact, he is going to Vegas this coming week for Red Bull to do some TV stuff, but is unsure what itҒs all about. Any opportunity to go to Vegas is worth taking.

Working On Videos

Mike Escamilla has been working non-stop on finishing up the Samurai video that is due out within the next two weeks. Hes working on having a premiere during the year-end LG Pomona California contest. Mike also, went to Woodward West this past weekend to get some serious training in for the LG year-end contest.

Taj Mihelich has been home in Austin working at T1, as usual. He and the T1 crew--as well as a lot of friends--were working on having a vert ramp jam benefit fund on the T1 ramp this past weekend to raise money for the ONLY vert ramp in Austin (that is need of some serious TLC), but the weather didnҒt cooperate canceling the bands that were scheduled to play. Some riding went down, but things just didnt work out. Taj has also been riding trails a bunch with friends
and etnies teammates Joe Rich, Sandy Carson and Ruben Alcantara, as well as the Skatepark of Austin. Taj is also working on filming a commercial for etnies for an upcoming Props video magazine. TajҒs third etnies shoe is currently in the works.

Joe Rich is in Austin enjoying his time at home hanging with his friends and riding all that Austin has to offer: the Skatepark of Austin, the 9th street trails (which are awesome right now) and the T1 ramp. Joe is also working on filming Taj for an etnies commercial for Props video magazine, as well as taking pictures of him for possible etnies ads.

Ruben Alcantara is down in Austin right now hanging out with his friends and etnies teammates Taj, Joe and Sandy, riding everything from the 9th street trails to the Skatepark of Austin. Ruben will be coming out to California for the LG championships in Pomona California on the November 18 with Taj. Ruben has a new Bad-Ass! ad in Ride BMX magazine.

Sandy Carson is back in Austin after spending his summer in the Northwest. He's back on the early schedule of working Dig magazine, making sure he is up to speed on that stuff before going riding with all the guys for the remainder of the day at T1, the 9th street trails and the Skatepark of Austin--as well as plenty of street. Sandy, as well as all the T1 guys and Ruben, have also been riding a brand-new empty pool out there.

Dave Freimuth is wrapping-up final editing on Baco 10 with good friend Chad Degroot down in Florida. Late last week, Dave went home to Appleton, Wisconsin to spend time with his wife, Pattie, and settle in with the crappy weather there.

Nate Wessel has been down in Florida hanging out with his girl, Rhonda, for the last week and getting some rest and relaxation after finishing-up the grueling but fun Square One demo tour that hit numerous parks around the East and Midwest. Nate is heading to Spain Sunday to shoot photos. After that, hes off to England to build ramps at the Seventies warehouse for etnies teammate and Seventies company owner, Ian Morris. Nate will be there till November 25, when he will fly back to Cleveland to spend Thanksgiving with his family.

Josh Stricker just got the cover of the new Faction BMX magazine. He went back home to Pennsylvania, then moved to New York with his girl after getting back from the final etnies Backyard Jam in Derby, England a couple of weeks ago. Josh is getting in as much riding as he can now that the bad weather is starting to set in on the East Coast.

Edwin Delarosa has been wrapping-up filming footage for an upcoming etnies commercial in Props video magazine, as well as shooting photos with good friend and photo genius Rob Dolecki for an an upcoming Ride UK interview. Edwin has been bitchinҒ that its getting cold in New York now.

Garrett Byrnes is home in New Jersey contemplating what to do about his wrist. He still has to visit the doctor again to see what the verdict is, but heҒs doing everything in his power to take care of it with good nutrition and drinking plenty of water. Hes also been taking some risks, though, by skating a bunch.

Jason Enns has been bummed due to plenty of rain in Vancouver, which is not allowing him to ride as much as he would like. HeҒs still waiting for the previous owners to move out of the new house that he and his girl Portia just bought.

New etnies BMX Team Rider Interviews

Be sure to check out new interviews with Nate Wessel
and Joe Rich
at bmxonline.com and Sandy Carson
at The Sand Pebbles web site. Enjoy!

Autumn's Cranking

Besides getting a new tattoo on his wrist this past week, Mike Escamilla
has been working non-stop getting the Samurai video done in time for a premiere at the upcoming LG BMX championships in Pomona, California, November 19-20, 2003.

Taj Mihelich
joined in with the Halloween festivities in Austin this past week, which, for one reason or another, is one of the towns favorite holidays. The 9th Street trails have been heavily sessioned by Taj lately (with etnies teammate and good buddy, Sandy Carson) and one day the
trails were lit up for an evening session. Weird! Taj has been working a bunch, riding the T1 ramp also riding at the Skatepark of Austin with all the guys. Ride BMX
photographer Jeff Zielinski is in town to shoot photos of both. Taj is also winding-down on getting footage for an etnies commercial due out in a future Props
video magazine. The T1 guys are putting on a benefit jam on the ramp in back of the warehouse to raise some money for Austins only dilapidated vert ramp. The event is on November 9 at T1. Check out the T1 site.

Joe Rich
has been reveling in his time at home, getting into some kind of normality has been quite enjoyable for him. HeҒs been going into the office with Taj, riding the T1 ramp, riding the Skatepark of Austin, as well as riding his dirt bike a little while still trying to finish filming Taj for an upcoming etnies commercial in Props
video magazine.

Ruben Alcantara
was in England for the last etnies Backyard Jam of the year in Derby, where he crashed in qualifying, didnt make the finals and screwed-up his finger in the meantime (not too bad, just a little blood).
Ruben is back in Spain right now enjoying family time and hanging with his friends. HeҒll be back in Austin on November 17 before flying out to California for the LG BMX championships in Pomona, California November 19-20.

Edwin Delarosa
was in England for the last etnies Backyard Jam of the year in Derby a couple of weekends ago but is now back in the U.S., where hes riding with friends and shooting pictures with good friend, photographer extraordinaire Rob Dolecki, for an interview for Ride UK
coming soon. Edwin has also wrapped-up shooting footage for an upcoming etnies commercial to go in Props
video magazine.

Josh Stricker
was in England for the last etnies Backyard Jam in Derby two weekends ago, where he rode quite ғrelaxed and didnԒt make it through to the finals. Josh flew back to Pennsylvania, where he and his girl packed-up their things and moved out to New York. Josh has been riding with etnies team rider Edwin Delarosa.

Nate Wessel
has been healing-up nicely these past few months. He went on the Square One Tour this past week, where he and the rest of the team went to Philly; New Jersey (Incline Club); Rochester (X Dreams Skatepark); Rye Airfield in New Hampshire; some park in Massachusetts; East Coast Terminal in Bin
ghamton, New York; Section Eight in Ohio, as well as Chenga World skatepark in North Ridgeville, Ohio. The final stop was Studio 334 in Indiana. Nate is going to be pretty busy coming up here soon with a bunch of ramp building projects, including going to England to build a park at the new Seventies warehouse owned by etnies rider Ian Morris.

Jason Enns
has been working overtime with the coverage lately, check out his sixteen-page, plus awesome cover in the September Dig
, as well getting the cover of Novembers Transworld BMX.
Jason has had to put moving into his new house on hold since the current owners werenҒt able to move into their new place.

John Heaton
is currently freezing his nuts off in Toronto, trying to get some riding in (with little success) because of crappy weather. He is also paying regular visits to the chiropractor due to numerous falls to the back he took time and time again at the La Revolution in New York a while ago. John attended the last etnies Backyard Jam of the year in Derby, where he placed 14th in the finals, and also slammed repetitively on countless attempts at a flip to double peg on a rail.

Garrett Byrnes
was scheduled to attend the etnies Backyard Jam in Derby, England, but had to back out at the last minute because of his broken wrist that is currently in a cast. The weather has been relatively good in
Jersey, so Garrett has been out skateboarding a bunch and, when he feels up to it, riding his bike. In a couple of weeks, hes going to the doctor to see if his wrist has made any progress and to make sure that there is some bone growth. If there is not, then the doctor will have to make some kind of judgement call as to whether he will need surgery.

Sandy Carson
is back in Austin moving into his new apartment and has finally got a cell phone. He has been riding with etnies teammates Taj Mihelich and Joe Rich at the 9th street trails, as well as the T1 ramp and the Skatepark of Austin. Sandy is as always working on Dig BMX
magazine.

Dave Freimuth
attended the last etnies Backyard Jam of the year in Derby, England, where he placed a well-deserved 7th place with plenty of signature Dave Freimuth tech-style riding. Dave is currently in Florida at his good friend Chad DegrootҒs place, finishing up Baco 10
. When hes done there, he will be going home to finish-up the new Area 51 skatepark.