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BMX Team Report 01-19-05

Mike Escamilla was recently seen scoping out an abandoned missile base in the hills where he grew up to shoot some photos, etc. It was night, there were about 20 giant bulls near some silos, and Mike thought that he had scared them all away. But, when he came up over this one small hill, there stood one massive bull about 15 feet away, ready to charge. Mike turned and started to run down the hill, but he slipped and pulled his quad muscle pretty bad. He managed to get himself out of there in one piece, but could barely walk for a few days. Dang cows! Besides this fiasco, Mike is also still recovering from a slam he sustained at Woodward West. Go buy a pair of his etnies Rooftop 3 shoes to make him feel better.

Taj Mihelich has been chilling with a bunch of visitors in Austin. Taj has also been riding regular sessions on the T1 ramp and at the Skatepark of Austin, as well as working hard over at T1 on the new format 'zine that they are doing. His new etnies Roscoe shoe is now available at finer BMX shops near you. Go buy a pair.

Ruben Alcantara is spending time with his family at home in Spain, enjoying the fabulous weather. He’s been riding his bike a bunch in Malaga, and is currently hanging with the Fly Bikes crew, who are in town to do some filming for their upcoming video. Ruben rode his dirt bike last week and has been having lots of fun doing that. He is currently wearing the final samples of his etnies Terranea shoe, which will be available in June 2005.

Jamie Bestwick spent the whole week in Phoenix rehearsing for Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Huck Jam. The first stop took place at the Glendale Arena in Phoenix, and it was awesome! Jamie then headed home to State College, Pennsylvania for some very well-deserved rest, relaxation and quality time with his wife, Kerry.

Joe Rich is bitching because it’s a little cold in Austin right now, which has put a damper on some of the outdoor sessions that he had planned. He did get to ride with the amazing Adam Baker this past week when he was in town on a break from school in Arizona. Joe also got to ride with T1 / etnies rider Garrett Byrnes, who was in town passing through on his way to Cali then on to Australia. Joe has also been working on the new perfect bound T1 'zine that is a little more like a real book. That project has kept Joe super-busy digging through black and white photos for content. Other than that, he has been doing the usual T1 routine of answering emails, packing shipments, etc.

Sergio Layos has pretty much been chilling this week (no pun intended). He and his brother Angel went snowboarding at an indoor snowboard park in Madrid. Sergio has also spent many hours in the photo lab developing pictures that he has been taking, as well as riding a bunch of stuff around Madrid and hanging out with his family. Sergio did go down to Malaga to hang with etnies teammate Ruben Alcantara and film some footage for the upcoming Fly Bikes video, which is due out some time or another. Check out Sergio's brand-new bio right here on the etnies site.

Dave Freimuth has pretty much been a lazy man lately, chilling at home with his newly-pregnant wife, Pattie. What? Pregnant? Who knows how that could have happened? He’s been getting ready to head down to Florida to jump aboard the next Props Mega Tour as part of the We The People team. The tour should be starting up in Florida any day now. Dave also just bought the first season of the Ali G show and claims it’s the best DVD ever!

John Heaton spent the week up in Vancouver, BC working on MacNeil stuff and riding with the ever-0amazing Dave Osato at all the local concrete parks and the very private Igloo Ramp Complex that Dave owns.

Josh Stricker finally made it to nicer weather. He is currently bumming around in Austin, Texas with the rest of the slackers down there, and making plans to stay as long as possible. Cold beer, pretty girls--it's safe to say that Josh is in Heaven. He is currently working on collecting footage for an etnies commercial.

Garrett Byrnes finally got out of the crappy weather in New Jersey and headed South for Austin, where he hung out with the T1 crew and all the other freaks down there, as well as etnies' own Josh Stricker. Garrett actually drove down with Stricker and a couple of other guys. On the way, the crew rode street in some of the Southern states, and while in Austin, they rode the T1 ramp and the Skatepark of Austin. Garrett then headed out to California for a week to shoot photos with the magazines and etnies, as well as log some footage for future use. Now he's going to Australia for two months. It’s a hard life!

Sandy Carson has been riding a crapload of street and shooting Dig photos of all the local talent, as well as some of the current visitors who spend their Winters in Austin. He’s also been shooting photos of etnies riders Garrett Byrnes and Josh Stricker, who recently road-tripped down to Austin. Sandy’s girl’s brother has been in town, so they have been doing the tourist thing. They went to the Alamo in San Antonio one day last week. Besides this, Sandy also rode a newly-discovered abandoned pool that cost him a quick $160, due to the fact his car got towed while they were sessioning. According to Sandy, “Those photos better be reeeeeally good!”

Woozy Jam!

Rumble, humble, trumble, videotaping! Head on over to the Woozy Jam in Cologne, Germany on February 12, 2005.

* Riding all day long for everyone.
* Random stuff to win.
* Video Premiere (secret).
* Party out back of Evil.
* Free places to sleep.

For detailed info, kindly visit: woozybmx.com

BMX Team Report 01-12-05

Mike Escamilla had a fun but mellow Christmas and New Year's. He spent the beginning of last week up in San Francisco with his family, then headed down to Woodward West to ride with the likes of Glen P.P. Milligan, Mike Parenti, Corey Martinez, Edwin De La Rosa and Rich Hirsch, who are in town to do some kind of road trip for Tip Distribution. Mike crashed and hurt his neck and back while there, and has also been really bummed about the crappy, non-stop rain that SoCal has been receiving for the last few weeks. To cheer Mike up, go buy a pair of his Rooftop 3 shoes, available in stores now.

Taj Mihelich spent some well-deserved time off for Christmas and New Year's in Austin with friends. This past week, he hung out with the busiest-man-with-nothing-to-do in BMX, Dave Parrick, eating sushi and hanging out. Taj built a new bike and did some serious and much needed wheel maintenance. He also built a small sub / wall ride on the three-foot mini-ramp out in back of T1, which he and the crew shredded on both their bikes and skateboards. Taj watched an apartment opposite his go up in flames on New Year's Eve, apparently due to some fireworks gone awry. Other Taj time has been spent at the gym, playing his bass guitar and, as usual, keeping things running smoothly over at T1. Go buy a pair of his new etnies Roscoe shoe, available in stores now.

Ruben Alcantara spent Christmas with family in Malaga, Spain. He got an awesome telescope for his 6th floor penthouse suite apartment. Ruben and the Fly Bikes crew headed up to the mountains in the Fly RV for New Year's Eve celebrations, and also to shred the snow bike that they made. Ruben says it takes a little getting used to, but once you do, you can pull airs, jumps and pretty much everything you can do on your regular bike. According to Ruben, New Year's Eve was a small-but-cool affair in the RV. Besides this, he’s been shredding all of Malaga, finding new spots, shooting photos for both Fly and etnies, as well as video. Ruben has also been surfing and riding his motorcycle a bunch. Ruben's etnies Terranea shoe will be available in June 2005.

Jamie Bestwick threw a no-holds-barred party at his house in State College, Pennsylvania on New Year's Eve. Needless to say, some crazy stuff went down, like loud music, fireworks and plenty of mayhem. On January 2, Jamie flew out to San Diego to start a strict two-week rehearsal for the upcoming Boom Boom Huck Jam, which he will be featured in. The rehearsals took place at the Tony Hawk Foundation building behind closed doors. The first show at the Glendale Arena in Phoenix, Arizona on January 15 will be taped and shown during the Super Bowl. Jamie is going to be a father.

Joe Rich spent the holidays getting some Spring cleaning done at T1. It’s not that he wanted to do it, it’s just that the office needed it, plus the building next door went up in flames on Christmas Day, so there was a little water damage and a smokey smell in the carpets. Other than that, they lucked out. He also did a little painting here and there to spruce up the office. As always, Joe has also been riding quite bit when the weather breaks. He also, did some filming for an upcoming Empire BMX video that he, Sandy and Taj will be featured in. Joe put a new bike together and has been riding it on the T1 ramp, the Banana Farm ramp and a bunch of street, as well.

Christmas and New Year's was one big blur for Dave Freimuth. He’s not sure entirely what went down, but from what he can remember, it was really fun. However, he thinks he may be in deep trouble with the wife. Since recovering from the holiday season festivities, Dave has been riding at Area 51 with Brian Kachinsky (etnies flow rider), and getting ready to head out to Florida for the upcoming Props Mega Tour, in which he is hoping to sneak into the We the People crew. Dave and his beautiful wife Pattie found out this past week that they are going to be parents.

John Heaton has been keeping himself busy over the holiday season. First, he headed down to an indoor skatepark in Buffalo, New York and also had fun doing some snowboarding for the first time in a couple of years. As usual, John played some hockey and spent New Year's with friends and his girl, Andrea. This past week, John headed down to Rochester to ride the X Dreams skatepark and hang out with Max Vincent. He also played hockey and checked out a Hamilton Bulldogs game. On Monday, January 10, John headed over to Vancouver to do some riding and get some work done over at MacNeil bikes.

Josh Stricker spent the holidays out in Southern California, hanging with his family and friends. He built a new bike and figured on encountering nice weather in which to get some riding in, take some photos, shoot an etnies commercial. But much to his dismay, it rained nonstop, and still continues to do so. Josh went home only to find that his truck had been towed to the impound lot, where it has been chilling for the last few weeks. He feels that it’s just not worth getting it out now, seeing as how he is going down to Austin, and like last year, has no date planned to return to Philly. He’s just winging it, as usual.

Sandy Carson spent New Year's with food poisoning instead of a hangover. (It is very unusual for a Scotsman not to be hung over on New Year's Day.) Since the weather has been quite nice, Sandy has been riding all of Austin’s hot spots, like Jason Sunday’s trails, the T1 ramp and the Skatepark of Austin. There have been a million people in town, so he’s been trying to avoid traffic. Sandy also headed over to the Ramp Ranch and has been doing some digging at the 9th Street Trails. He’s also been filming for a new Empire BMX video, which is due out later this year. Besides all of this, Sandy has been shooting photos of everyone, including etnies / T1 riders Taj Mihelich and Joe Rich, with his new camera for an upcoming issue of Dig BMX. He’s also been working on his own web site, sandycarson.com, which he claims is one of the most tedious, never-ending tasks ever. In some quieter times, Sandy has been playing music at a small studio downtown, as well as skateboarding quite a bit.

Garrett Byrnes has been quite stoked on the weirdly mild weather they have been having in New Jersey, which, much to his surprise, has allowed him to get some surfing in. Garrett also rode one of the final sessions at the Little Devil warehouse with Brian Wizmerski and Van Homan before they move and rebuild the ramps. New Year's was kinda mellow, as he just hung out with his girlfriend, Crystal.

Sergio Layos spent New Year's up in the mountains riding a snow bike with his friends from Fly Bikes. This past week, he rode in Bilbao, Santander and Burgos. Sergio also visited Fly Bikes and rode with his good friend Eduardo Terreros, who just recently broke his leg riding. Sergio will be heading down to Southern Spain to hang out with Ruben Alcantara in Malaga and shred all that the city has to offer.