etnies

BMX Team Report 12-29-04

In the last couple of weeks, Mike Escamilla has done the Tony Hawk radio show and shot some photos for an upcoming etnies ad, as well as some top secret photos for an upcoming Ride BMX issue with Jeff Zielinski. He also did some filming with Glen Milligan and has been riding with Gary Young quite a bit. Last week, Mike rode the Primo ramps with Gary and also did some riding over at Ben Snowdens backyard ramp facility, where he learned Superman seat grabs. During the remainder of the week, Mike spent time being a taxi driver for family members who were in town for Christmas. MikeҒs etnies Rooftop 3 shoe is available now in stores everywhere, so go buy a pair or two!

Taj Mihelich has been riding a bunch in freezing temperatures in Austin. Keith Mulligan from Ride magazine was in town to shoot Taj at the Skatepark of Austin, the Banana Farm Ramp and the T1 Ramp. Taj has also been playing music a bunch and working at T1, as usual. Check out the newest issue of Dig BMX to see his epic cover. Tajs etnies Roscoe shoe will be available in January 2005. Pick up a pair of those, also!

Ruben Alcantara is home in Spain, loving life and shredding the trails now that they have had a little rain. He's also been hitting the streets quite bit around Malaga and working on the Fly Bikes video. Ruben has been kicking ass on his motorcycle, so much so that he has been launching about 50 feet or so off a pretty good-sized hip that he and his friends built. The surf has been pretty good lately, so Ruben has gone out a little here and there. He spent Christmas just hanging out with his family. Ruben is currently riding the final samples of his etnies Terranea shoe, which will be available in June 2005.

Jamie Bestwick is home in State College, Pennsylvania, taking care of his pregnant wife, Kerry, freezing his ғbleeps off and shredding BMX 's happiest place on Earth, Woodward. Jamie is getting ready for the 2005 contest season, in which he will be competing in the new Mountain Dew Action Sports Tour, as well as the usual events like the X and Gravity Games--not to mention the Tony Hawk Boom Boom Huck Jam tour that he was just recently invited on. It's going to be a busy year, for sure.

Joe Rich is home in Austin keeping himself very busy. He shot photos with Keith Mulligan a couple of weeks ago for Ride BMX at the T1 ramp, as well as at the Banana Farm Ramp for an upcoming etnies ad. Joe has also been on a street mission as of late. He's been planning on building a dark room in the back of Terrible One. Joe spent Christmas with his parents, who now live in Austin. Being the big kid that he is, he received some pretty cool toys from them.

Dave Freimuth started the week finishing up his last-minute Christmas shopping. He attended all kinds of family gatherings over the last three days. Apparently, Santa wasn't keeping a very good eye on Dave this year, as he somehow managed to sneak onto the "nice" list, receiving a digi camera, a practice putting green, a golfing glove, a book by Brett Favre, a mini DVD player, a pantload of gift certificates, and a gas grill. Dave's lovin' it! And to top it all off, the wifey was just glowin' after she put on the ring Dave gave her. Now, he just has to stake out the jewelry store to see if he can catch her trying to return it! Merry Christmas, Dave!

The week before Christmas, Dave had to shovel five inches of snow from his driveway--which he claims he loves doing--just to be able to pull his car out! He and Pattie also joined a winter volleyball league. Besides all this, Dave has been riding Area 51 a bunch, learning many barspin variations. He has a bet going with John Heaton to learn as many as possible.

Josh Stricker just got back from England, where he spent a lot of time hanging with the Seventies distribution crew. He came out to California to spend Christmas with his family and enjoy far better weather than they have to offer in Pennsylvania. Josh will be shooting with Ride BMX magazine and he also has an interview coming out in an upcoming Ride UK. Keep your eyes peeled for it.

John Heaton has been pretty much chillin' (pun intended) this holiday season. He spent the beginning of the week riding in St. Thomas playing hockey, and did some Christmas shopping (just like the rest of us). John kept Christmas eve and day mellow, hanging out with his girl AndreaԒs family and then heading down to his folks' place for Christmas dinner. John had planned to escape to nicer weather in Florida for Chad Degroot's jam at Mission Skatepark, but for one reason or another, plans changed. John is going to hang out in Ottawa with his lady instead and play some more hockey and also visit his friend, Rob Morgan.

Sandy Carson has been riding his ass of since finishing the last issue of Dig BMX (which is bi-monthly in the Winter). Hes been riding at Jason Sunday's new trails, which have been relocated since the last ones got plowed. Sandy has also been riding at the T1 Ramp and the Banana Farm Ramp, where he also shot photos of etnies teammate Joe Rich for an upcoming etnies ad. HeҒs also been shooting all the other Austin locals for upcoming issues of Dig. Sandy was kind enough to help his girl Jen paint her house, and the two of them have been doing the whole Christmas thing, also. Sandy even shot the new Taj cover for Dig. Don't say he didn't.

Garrett Byrnes has been home in New Jersey, dreaming of warmer climates. The weather has been like a yo-yo, one minute, 55 degrees, the next minute, 10. Weather permitting, Garrett has been donning the 10 mil wetsuit and hitting the surf for a few last rides before calling it quits for the Winter. His wrist is doing way better, so hes been shredding the local parks on his bike and board before trying to migrate to the warmer destinations. Garrett is heading out to Austin in January before going to Cali and then on to Australia for a month or so.

Nate Wessel has been keeping himself busy, as usual. Chenga had some phony wrestling go down, cage match and all that jazz. Nate said it looked pretty cheesy, but some blood was shed, which mad it that much more entertaining. Nate took off snowboarding for a few days, had a blast and stayed in one piece, thank god! Nate rode Chenga quite a bit last week and will be heading down to Orlando on December 27 for Chad DegrootҒs Jam at Mission Skatepark on New Year's Eve, which is sponsored by etnies. After Florida, Nate will be heading out to Philly to help build the new and improved Little Devil warehouse at its new location.

Taj Roscoe Pro Shoe In Shops Now!

Go buy a pair of Taj Mihelich's brand-new etnies BMX pro shoe, the Roscoe, in shops now!

"With this shoe, my goal was to simplify. I was feeling really inspired by old classic running shoes during the design process, but at the same time, I wanted have a more traditional cup-type sole. I also wanted to play around with some different color palettes. I was really excited to get to use the System G2 on this shoe, because it's an entirely internal cushioning system. It works well with a shoe that might look plain on the topside, but be completely ready for action on the inside."--Taj Mihelich

Frontyard Jam!

Team Report 12-15-04

Mike Escamilla has been chilling at home in Long Beach, riding some and shooting photos with Jeff Zeilinski for an upcoming etnies ad in Ride. On Tuesday, He rode with Gary Young at the Pala Pool and went to check out Tony Hawk's new concrete backyard skatepark. Mike rode with Gary again at Primo on Tuesday and met up with Jay Miron. He was also around for the taping of Cary Hart's new TV show called Inked, and rode with etnies teammate Nate Wessel at Volume Bikes and shot some amazing photos. Go buy Mike's Rooftop 3 shoe in stores now.
Taj Mihelich just got back from France, where he attended a premiere of the new Terrible One video, You Get What You Get. He also visited some friends in a band in Ireland before heading back to Austin to get some work done at T1. Taj's third etnies shoe, the Roscoe, will be unleashed in just a few weeks, in January 2005.
Ruben Alcantara is home in Malaga, Spain where he has been riding a crap load, surfing and shredding on his motorcycle, which he is stoked to have learned table tops on. Hen has been enjoying time with his family and is getting set to do a scene report in Malaga for Crme magazine. Check out Ruben's current Dig BMX magazine cover. Ruben is currently running the final samples of his upcoming etnies signature shoe called the Terranea, which is due in stores in June 2005.
Jamie Bestwick went home to England with his wife Kerry to visit family and friends and get a taste of what hes not missing. Following that, he will return to Pennsylvania to get back to his regular schedule of shredding Woodward, where he will be preparing for the 2005 comp season. Jamie also has been invited on Tony Hawk's upcoming Boom Boom Huck Jam.
Joe Rich is home in Austin, working on getting all the clearance for the Terrible One video music. It's turning out to be somewhat of a pain on a couple of songs, but he蒒s getting there. Joe has been riding a bunch with everyone in Austin and has also had some out of towners visiting to shred all that Austin has to offer. Last week, Joe and Paul Buchanan installed some lights on the T1 ramp for the dark Winter nights that are coming. Banana Ramp sessions have been going off on a regular basis, and Joe has been shooting photos there for an upcoming etnies ad. Joe also recently went on a fast and a strict liquid diet for five days straight to cleanse his body.
Dave Freimuth helped put on a Terrible One video premiere at Area 51 last week. It went off with a pretty good turnout of kids. Following the vid was an all-night session at the park, as well as some good games of PIG. This week, Dave has been riding with John Heaton, Nate Wessel and Chad Degroot at Chenga World in Ohio.
Apparently, John Heaton has been eating a little too much candy, because he just found out that hes going to have to fork out $2500 to get his choppers fixed (much to his dismay).John and Max Vincent headed down to Chenga to meet up with Freimuth, Wessel and Chad Degroot to shred and party in Cleveland. Thanks go out to Scott Powell for dealing with Heaton and the crew.
Josh Stricker was out in Cali for Thanksgiving before heading over to England, where he has been hanging out with the Seventies crew and shredding Hastings, Romford, Brixton and all the other spots that England has to offer.

Sandy Carson is home in Austin and working hard on upcoming issues of Dig BMX. He has been shredding with all the locals and shooting pics of Joe Rich for an upcoming etnies ad and working on an art show. Check it out at sandycarson.com
Garrett Byrnes has been riding trails and is chomping at the bit to get out of New Jersey and head down to Austin to hang with everyone. From there, he will be heading over to Australia with his girl, Crystal. His newly fixed wrist has been feeling good, but the doc said that it still looks broken. Doc also said that if itҒs not bothering Garrett, he should just keep riding on it, because its not going to get any worse.
Nate Wessel just got done building one of the most amazing ramps ever seen, for a kid in Maryland. Following that, Nate headed out to St. Louis for his good friend Steve SwopeҒs wedding, then to Cleveland to get in some chill time and ride with Freimuth, Heaton and Chad Degroot at Chenga.

Taj Roscoe Pro Shoe Coming!

Get ready to go buy a pair of Taj Mihelich's brand-new etnies BMX pro shoe, the Roscoe, at a shop near you in January 2005!

"With this shoe, my goal was to simplify. I was feeling really inspired by old classic running shoes during the design process, but at the same time, I wanted have a more traditional cup-type sole. I also wanted to play around with some different color palettes. I was really excited to get to use the System G2 on this shoe, because it's an entirely internal cushioning system. It works well with a shoe that might look plain on the topside, but be completely ready for action on the inside."--Taj Mihelich

Last Call Chenga Contest Results!

Beginner
1. Dan Westlake 2. Blake Rickman 3. Tony Smith 4. Fat Randy 5. Ben Stalets 6. Tom Falk 7. Jared Young 8. Oliver Thacker 9. Ryan Roach 10. Jeff Clay 11. Jimmy Barnicke 12. Ron Herman 13. Robert Benza 14. Ben Wilson 15. Dan Foley 16. Mike Salupo 17. Dave Thomas 18. Tim Young 19. Logan Fleck 20. Adam Ghannoum 21. Tyler Fleck 22. Kevin Paquette 23. Logan Beylal 24. Christine Kozsloski 25. Mike Atwell

Expert
1. Maddog 2. Nick Digeroloma 3. Brandon Johnson 4. Jason White 5. Tony Maloof 6. Chris Szucs 7. Nina Buitrago 8. Eric Holley 9. Andrew Pasternak 10. Mike Sestito 11. Jonathon Hoagland 12. Pete Fortson 13. Tommy Williams 14. Rob Wagel 15. Ben Hittle 16. Nick Ulrich 17. Stevin Blake 18. Mike Potoczny 19. Danimal 20. Brandon Doscit 21. Eric Copeland 22. David Keltner 23. Craig Mast 24. Jake Tyler 25. Rhesse Mayer 26. Jordan Lahr 27. Austin Kemmick 28. Mark Pappas 29. Corey Martin 30. Phil Cepis 31. Nathan Silva 32. Stacey Mulligan 33. Tim Novack 34. Sam Morton 35. Mike "Opie" Trawicki 36. Dominic Jacobs 37. Stephen Gray 38. Jim Gaull 39. Eric Baun 40. Seth Peterson 41. Tim Meder 42. Kevin Kaltenbach 43. Nathan Powell 44. Eric Doll 45. Tyler Monaghan 46. Scott Parsons 47. Matt Neuman 48. Stephen Baosolf 49. Mike Ross 50. John Poling 51. Tim Garwood

Pro
1. Jason Perz"Dorito" $700 2. Anthony Cico $600 3. Justin Simpson $500 4. Steve Cuesta $400 5. Jeremiah Jones $300 6. Kevin "Juicer" Giusti 7. Dacian Gingrich 8. Jaimy Spritzer 9. Shanton Wilson 10. Allan Cooke 11. Chris Gerber 12. Chase Dehart 13. Bobby Simmons 14. Karl Pointer 15. Dave Moon 16. Quinn Smelling 17. New Philly Billy 18. Will Love 19. Mark Potoczny 20. Ty Stuyvesant 21. Brian Fitch 22. Jeremy Fanberg 23. Jake Finley 24. Dustin Bauer 25. Brian Stewart 26. Justin Bayliss 27. Tony Cardona 28. Pat Holiday 29. Nate Moroshan 30. Jim Rosenthal 31. Anthony Napolitan 32. Ryan Garvock 33. Bryon Striker 34. Kris Marcum 35. Mike Scezny 36. Joe Schiavi 37. Steve Byrnes 38. Dane Wild 39. Justin "Pants" Hochevar 40. Kris Kunihiro 41. Brian Foster 42. Shawn Arata 43. Christopher Howell 44. Kevin Troyer 45. Joel Barnett 46. Luke McGarry 47. Dominic Travato 48. Justin Clapison 49. Josh Kirtland 50. Timothy Brennan 51. Scott Hadix 52. Tony Cascio 53. d Pollio 54. Jon Pratt 55. Chase Hawk

This was by far the biggest Last Call contest to date. Everyone had a good time, and the riding was amazing! Thanks to everyone who came out, sponsored or supported this contest in any way. Special thanks to Zack Yankush and Micah Kranz for announcing, Jarrett Ward, Big Dave, Crandall, and Curtis for taking care of the table while I ran around, Anthony Cico for the private after session, Robbo, Nate Moroshan and the Fit guys for making the trip out, Rick Moliterno and Jaimy Spritzer for the same reason, Jason Suchan, Jordan Stewart and Team Major Air, the judges, Frieda Gonzalez for the afterparty and anyone else who helped out in any way. Thanks.

9th Annual Fort McDowell Contest

Sponsored by etnies

Some more changes were done to the ramps this year. A few were moved around, plus a new vert wall, a bigger sub box and a new mini were added into the mix. We even had some graffiti artists come in and tag companies' names on the ramps. I always like skateparks with graffiti in them for some reason, and Fort now looks awesome. Some changes were made to the trails, too. A new section that is super fun with a step-down to start, a straight set, a step-up roller and then a right hip to end. We made some new transfers to link some existing lines, too. This year's trails are the best in the nine-year existence of Fort.

My weekend started out by doing a demo for the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nations Elementary School. Bright and early at 9:00 a.m., Ryan Sher, Danny Williams, Cody (Manchild) Nick Schest, Andy Leland, Jerry and myself did a little riding for the kids of the community. It was pretty cool, and the kids seemed really psyched. At the end of the demo, Steve (the organizer of the contest and head dude in charge) raffled off 20 bikes from Dragonfly and the little 16 and 18-inch Hoffmans. The kids were really psyched then. After that, we rode for a bit more, then I took off to round-up more prizes for the comp that started on Friday.

Friday was really just a practice day, but it's always fun to go out and ride and see all the people who make the trek down to Phoenix for the contest. This year's turnout was pretty good. Along with Ryan Sher coming out from San Diego, the Vegas kids were in attendance, like Mr. Paul Peil, and even Ricardo Laguna was there. I even heard a rumor of Ruel Erickson being around somewhere. Weird. The Albuquerque kids even rented a RV so they could come out and stay the whole weekend.

Friday is pretty hazy for me, because I was lucky enough to knock myself out really good and go to the hospital. I don't remember doing it, but I was told I did a toboggan and didn't put my hand back on--straight to KO. Ryan had to fill me in on the blanks. He told some pretty funny stories about me telling the EMT that the President was Bill Clinton. (Wishful thinking?) And then about me hitting on some girls in the ER--none of which I remember. In fact, I couldn't remember the whole week prior, which was a first in my book. It was wild, to say the least.

On Friday, I woke up still unaware of what I did, but had the worst headache of my life, plus a meaty palm and a really sore shoulder. Ryan again had to remind me that I nearly died the night before. We headed out to the comp around 1:00 to find the amateur contest about to start. Am Dirt ran first and had a pretty small turnout, but the riding was amazing, nonetheless. Highlights included Tucson Jon getting kicked out for sandbagging (You'll hear more about him later.) and Derek Riggs. Derek, who lives in Casa Blanca, has had the only consistently running set of trails in the state for the past few years, and it shows. We like to call Derek Indian Aitken because, well, he rules. His style is amazing, he goes super high on everything, and every trick he does is stretched to the max. He won convincingly over the rest of the class. I think he should have got kicked out of Am, too. Ha-ha.

Street was next, and it was packed: three classes of Am with 30 kids in Expert, 18 kids in Intermediate and 10 kids in Beginner. It's good to see so many kids ride. I was psyched. Am Street highlights included the Gilbert kids all shredding. Josh Betley, Asian Andy, Josh Bierman, PJ Waxman, and Matt all killed the street course. Tailwhips non-stop, big airs and some original moves made all these kids stand out. Ryan Chadwick had probably the best single run of the weekend, which included a tailwhip bunny hop. Hot stuff. But, he couldn't beat out Phoenix skatepark local Steven Pelsner, who won by flairing the six-foot, and then turned around and alley oop flaired the same ramp!

Saturday ended with the Kronik Energy Best Trick Contest and some bands. This contest was owned by Greg Litecky. Everyone going in knew that he was the favorite. He'd been talking about this wild gap for weeks leading up to the comp, and when Greg says he's gonna do something, he does. This time was no different. Greg won the 300 bucks with a wall ride to tailwhip across the eight-foot vert wall, over the 16-foot wide, six-foot quarter, across another four-plus foot cap and into the take-off of the 45 degree hip. That trick was crazy. Everyone knew from that point on that he had won. Thanks to Kronik Energy for throwing Best Trick. Next time, I think you can just give Greg the 300 bucks ahead of time to save his ankles from another flat landing. Ha-ha. We took off before the bands started playing, but I heard they were really good. Sunday was supposed to be Pro, and it was forecasted to rain. It seems it never rains in Phoenixexcept on the weekend of the Fort contest.

I woke up Sunday to pounding rain on my window, which is not the best sound to hear when you're supposed to go ride in a contest. So, Ryan, Nick and I decided we'd just wait around for a while, go eat breakfast and see if it would keep raining. A couple of hours (and a full belly of Waffle House) later, the roads were clear and the rain had stopped, so we headed on out to the Fort. We got there to see the trails in pristine condition. Derek Riggs and his dad Jackson took it upon themselves to fix the trails that were badly beaten from the Am contest, so they were in the best condition ever. Just a bit wet--the perfect dirt to ride. I was psyched. The street course was still soaking wet, so everyone was riding dirt.

Adam Baker made the trip down in Goat (his new Honda Accord) to escape the snow in Flagstaff. He was killing the trails, as usual. After a while, the contest actually started, and was really laid back and fun. We mostly did trains through the sections and just had fun riding--something that kids forget about when they are at contests. The highlights included ADAM BAKER. He simply destroyed the trails, tailwhipping the step-down three, the step-up and opposite 360 lookbacking the last set. Oh yeah, he was in the middle of a train on that run, too. I was behind him and almost forgot what I was doing. I was in awe.

Adam won Pro and 500 bucks, and 2nd place went to Tucson sandbagger, Jon. He did probably the best turndowns of the weekend, tailwhips galore, and a million other tricks to keep him out of Am and in 2nd place. Third went to Ryan Sher, who flowed through the trails with amazing style, as usual. Ryan's always been one of my favorite riders to watch, and this weekend was no different. He unleashed his new banger: a switch turndown to back pedal to normal turndown in one jump--a trick that lots of us had joked around about but never really thought was possible. Check out the new Kink Bikes Cheap Thrills video for footy of the trick. 4th place went to Ricardo Laguna. He did the usual moves, like flips, whips, and 3s--all really dialed, as usual, for Ricardo. It was good to see him not being too serious at a contest. Fifth went to Thomas Hancock, who was just back from a year of injuries and kickin' ass. Good style with big tricks basically sums up Thomas. It's good to see him riding again.

Street was up next, and when practice started, it seemed like the contest started, too. Everyone was trying to win practice. I just sat back and observed. When the contest actually started, all bets were on Greg Litecky to repeat his performance of the night before. And that's exactly what he did. He won. Greg does really high tailwhips whenever he wants, and basically owns the Fort. Second place went to Danny Williams, ramp rider extraordinaire. He pulled the best 540 over the hip I'd ever seen, and a 540 tailwhip tire tap. Part of me thinks that Danny should have won, but I'm no judge.

Third Went to Adam Baker, who did the best-ever nosedive 360 over the spine, and even hucked a few double tailwhips over the hip. A ball ride was the best he could get, though. He was just happy with the nosedive 3. Fourth went to Ryan Sher, who went about 15 feet over the hip. If you've seen photos from the Vancouver Metro Jam, the you know what I'm saying. From what I remember, the weekend was really fun. Next year is the 10th Anniversary, so big things are planned.

I'd like to say thank you to all the sponsors of this year's event: Kink Bikes (our longest standing sponsor), etnies, F-Town!, Odyssey, Industrial Ride Shop, Kronik Energy Drink (sponsor for the Best Trick comp), Some Lady ($100 sponsor for a Game of BIKE), Standard Bikes (our second longest standing sponsor), Man Made Clothes, 2-Hip Bikes (the reason we have the ramp park), Animal, Demolition, Volume Bikes, Coalition, EVS Speed Protection, FBM, Fit Bikes, S&M Bikes, Hoffman Bikes, MacNeil, Props Visuals, Profile Racing, Odyssey, Park Tools, Stolen BMX/414 Industries/Greasycomb, Tree Bicycle Co., Empire, Soul Video Mag, Solid Bikes, UGP, Shadow Conspiracy, Rockstar Games, Inopia, Profile, Park Tools, Orchid, Little Devil, Zoo York, EVS, Em-Dash Music for the bands, Sun Cyclery, ACS, Kenda and Ati.

Check out swbmx.com for more pics, stories and message board rants.

See ya next year!
KC Badger

All-Girl Freestyle BMX Tour!

T1 Video Premiere In Cologne, Germany!

Girls' BMX Jam!