Subscribe To Dig BMX Magazine!

Posted by: Brink | Monday, February 28, 2005

Subscribe to Dig BMX magazine for $24.95 U.S., £24.95 U.K. or 45 Euro and get nine issues, one free Dig BMX T-shirt and one free etnies Forward BMX DVD! Don't delay, do it today! Subscribe now!


Lots 'o BMX Team News!

Posted by: Brink | Friday, February 25, 2005

Mike Escamilla has been taking things a little easy for the last couple of weeks to let the swollen and bruised ass he received at Skate Street during the “Frontyard Jam” heal up. But as of this writing, he's now in Mexico for a week-long Red Bull road trip with a bunch of heavy hitters, including Edwin De La Rosa and Corey Martinez. The trip also includes a 2005 version of a contest that Red Bull hosted at a drainage ditch last year. Mike wrote to inform us that he and the crew were sitting in traffic en route to a spot, when a car sitting not too far behind his vehicle was instantly, out of nowhere, swarmed by cops from down the lanes and in between traffic, running right by the van with guns drawn, yelling all kinds of crazy stuff in Mexican. Holy Shit! Mike's 3rd shoe, the Rooftop 3 is surely worth checking out.

Taj Mihelich
has been riding a bunch since returning from Michigan where he hung out with his family a couple of weeks ago. The weather has'nt been too cooperative lately, but sessions have been 100% when they have been going down. T1 hosted an FBM BBQ last week with lots of attendees as well as some good music to boot. etnies and MacNeil rider Dave Freimuth and his wife were in town for about a week on a small road trip to get out of Appleton. With Dave around and now that he has a front brake on, Taj got inspired to learn Canadian nosepicks. He’s still hanging strong with the front brake but is planning on taking it off in preparation for the upcoming Toronto Metro Jam on March 4th-6th. Taj’s third shoe, the Roscoe, is I stores now.


Ruben Alcantara is still down in New Zealand with the Fly bikes crew hanging out, riding and filming for the upcoming Fly bikes video that should be out sometime this summer. Uncharacteristically, while riding at a skatepark, Ruben's front wheel washed out at the bottom of a hip that was apparently a little more slippery than he thought and he bailed, splitting his chin wide open and earning himself 6 stitches. Just one more trophy scar to add to the collection, but don’t worry girls, even though he currently looks like Rocky Balboa, he’s still hot! Ruben's first shoe, the Terranea, will be available in June, so demand it your local shop get it and keep an eye out for it.


Jamie Bestwick spent the beginning of last week at home in snowy PA and then busted a quick mid-week trip to England where he learned that Prince Charles is marrying Camilla. Jamie is quite bummed about that honestly, but to make up for it he found out that he and wifey Kerri are going to be having a baby boy. Congrats Limeys! Jamie will be heading to Florida for a demo this coming weekend before he starts filming a commercial for the upcoming Mountain Dew 5-stop contest series. Just so you know, Jamie loves his new snow blower and there will be a contest right here on etnies.com that Jamie cooked up all by himself very soon. So stay tuned!

Joe Rich has a hard life…not! He embarked on a road trip out to Cali with Van Homan and Leigh Ramsdell before heading over to Hawaii for a week to hang out, surf, swim, snorkel, catch some sun and ride while shooting photos. Joe headed back to California last Wednesday to go hang out with good friend Ron Kimler at Woodward West where the two did some serious shredding before hiking and snowboarding up at Mammoth. Joe is credited with taking the shot from South Africa of etnies teammate, Sergio Layos on the cover of DIG BMX mag.

Sergio Layos is down in New Zealand with etnies teammate Ruben Alcantara and the rest of the Fly bikes team, hanging out, touring around in some RV’s and filming for the upcoming Fly video. Sergio has going through roll after roll of film, shooting all the amazing riding going down as well as all the beautiful scenery that New Zealand has to offer.

Dave Freimuth spent the last week or so down in Austin with his pregnant wife Patie. The duo did the Valentine's Day thing by going to the beach in Corpus Christi and riding horses there in the sun…Ahhhhhh! How romantic. They also indulged in typical vacation things: like playing miniature golf, laying out and eating plenty of seafood. On the way back to Austin, Dave and Patie headed to San Antonio to visit the Alamo and the riverwalk, while back in Austin they did some shopping, which Dave had gotten enough of, and started riding again with everyone, sessioning the T1 ramp and pulling a flawless whip to grind that Dave Parrick shot a sequence of.

Dave heads to Puerto Rico this Wednesday to get some riding done, as well as some surfing and chilling. He'll be with good friends, and etnies-wearing buddies, Brian Kachinsky, Chad Degroot, Chad Milwaukee and Mike and Andy Kent.

John Heaton has been a sick little boy lately. The flu has been kicking his ass and has had him sidelined for a good amount of time. Prior to the flu, John got to ride with Gillian, the sister of his good friend Ian Carmichael who passed away. John he hosted a charity event for Ian a while back. Other than that, John currently has a removable tooth that he is going to get permanently attached.

Josh Stricker is now a resident of Austin, TX. Well, at least for now. He just got a place with some friends and from all accounts Josh has been killing everything he rides down there, shooting photos with Sandy Carson and loving life.


Garrett Byrnes is down in Australia with his girl Crystal and good friend JB, where they are touring around, riding, filming and shooting lots and lots of pictures. Garrett’s birthday was on Tuesday. He is now 25 years old. Happy Birthday Garrett!


Sandy Carson
has his parents and his girl’s mother in town right now, so he's been playing tour guide. This is the first time Sandy’s parents have been to the US in over 12 years. Sandy has been managing to sneak out of the house here and there to get some riding in at Jason Sunday’s trails and a little flatland in the evenings. Sandy just wrapped his part of producing issue 45 of DIG BMX magazine, as well as playing and recording some music. Sandy is also finishing up a small contribution to the next T1 zine that should be out soon and currently has the cover and feature interview in a new BMX magazine
from South Africa called Source…no, it isn't the hip-hop mag.


The New etnies RV Has Arrived!

Posted by: Brink | Tuesday, February 22, 2005

etnies would like to introduce you to our brand new RV. This fine, custom, luxury vehicle is a 40-foot Class A motorhome complete with two flat screen TVs, DVD player, VCR, 300-watt stereo system, satellite dish and more.

The RV comfortably sleeps six people, has three slideout beds and expands to 20-feet wide in the front. The custom etnies wrapping, or paintjob, for lack of a better explanation, on the RV was done by etnies art director Jason Hefron, and we think it looks killer.

When you see the RV on the road or in a local gas staion or hotel parking lot, honk your horns, blow a kiss, get creative--just show some love! Stay tuned for upcoming contests involving the new etnies RV, lots of free etnies goods, and you!


Empire's "Thanks for Saying Thanks" Contest and Video Premiere!

Posted by: Brink | Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Don't miss the Empire BMX and T-1 "Thanks For Saying Thanks" contest at the Ramp Ranch in Austin, Texas on Sunday. February 27. There will be novice, expert, pro and, for all the geezers who can still ride, 30+ divisions. Also, you'll surely want to peep the new Empire video, will be premiering at the contest.


etnies Backyard Jam on FUEL!

Posted by: Brink | Monday, February 21, 2005

Be sure to tune into Fuel TV on Saturday, February 26 at 2:30pm and 5:30pm ET; Saturday, March 19 at 2:30pm ET/PT and Sunday, April 3 at 3pm ET for the etnies Backyard Jam from Derby England. The feature is an hour long show totally dedicated to the Jam so if you can't be home, set the Tivo or VCR (for all of you who are still in the stone age).


WIN FREE ETNIES SHOES!

Posted by: Brink | Wednesday, February 9, 2005

This month, etnies will be giving away five pairs of shoes. The winners will be drawn from our newsletter subscriber list on Friday, February 18 and announced /contacted on Monday, February 21. The winners will be able to choose from any of February’s featured models, including the Lo-Cut 3, the Tip, the Floyd Militia, or Rooftop 3. Hurry up and subscribe if you aren’t already or you’ll miss the boat. Good Luck!






BMX Team Report 02-07-05

Posted by: Brink | Monday, February 7, 2005


Mike Escamilla cruised by the etnies HQ last week to confirm some recent rumors before heading up to Northern California. Yes, Mike, as well as good friends Dustin Guenther and Rich Hirsch signed a two year deal with Redline bikes. Mike is going to be a hard-working, huge part of overhauling the freestyle program. On Super Bowl Sunday, Mike drove down to hang out with his brother in San Francisco and help him on a chopper that he’s building, which is a great way to pass the time while his bruised ass heals from last weeks rectal impalement at Skate Street in Ventura. Mike’s etnies pro model, the Rooftop 3, is in stores now!

Taj Mihelich just drove back from snowy Michigan where he hung out with his family and took a break from his bike for a bit. Now that he’s home, he’s has been doing a lot of drawing for T1 and a possible etnies shirt. He’s also been catching up on T1 business while planning some South by Southwest stuff. Taj rode the T1 ramp with all the out-of-towners who make T1 a must-ride hot spot and has been feeling a lot more comfortable without the back brake and learning more stuff to do with the front brake. The weather has been pretty crappy as of late, so Taj has been chilling around the office and with his lady at home. Taj’s third etnies shoe, the Roscoe, is in stores now

Ruben Alcantara spent a good forty-plus hours flying to New Zealand from Malaga, Spain and is glad it’s over for sure. He has been hanging out at a backpacker’s hostel in Raglan where a skatepark is just minutes away. According to Ruben, the bowl there is hella fun so I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of crazy stuff coming out of there when the Fly Bikes video is finally released. Since the beach is also close, obviously Ruben is not going to pass up the opportunity to go surf in between riding, going to the movies and sightseeing. The Fly Bikes crew will be in town in a few days and they’ll all jump in a couple of RV’s and tour the island for the next three weeks to film and shoot photos for Fly. Ruben’s etnies Terranea shoe will be available in June 2005

Jamie Bestwick has been enjoying the slightly warmer weather and making the most of it. The whole week was spent taking care of business, riding at camp Woodward and looking after his pregnant wife Kerry. Sunday was spent checking out the Tony Hawk Boom Boom Huck Jam that he rode in. Jamie has also been looking waiting for his riding buddy, Alistair Whitton, to get back from New Zealand so he has someone to sesh with.

Joe Rich spent the week on the road heading out to California--stopping in New Mexico, Vegas and various other hot spots along the way to ride and film for the next Fit video as well as to get plenty of riding for himself. Joe just jetted off to Hawaii for a week to hang out, ride and film some more Van Homan.

Dave Freimuth is getting ready to head out to Texas and has been riding quite a bit in preparation for the trip. He’s also been skateboarding and finds it quite refreshing; claiming it opens up doors to what is possible on a bike. Dave’s ride is currently in pieces ready to get reassembled and shipped to Texas. He and Brian Kachinsky will be heading to Puerto Rico in late February to finish shooting photos for Dave’s upcoming RIDE UK interview that has been a long time in the making. Sunday was spent watching the Super Bowl

John Heaton has been playing hockey as usual. He’s also had to get a some work done on his car lately and was kinda stuck at home for a bit, but once that was resolved he was back to traveling and back in the skateparks. This past week he rode X Wheels and St. Thomas skateparks. Some ramps have been added to X Wheels, making John a happy camper. Sunday John spent the day watching the Super Bowl like every other redneck out there.

Josh Stricker is in Austin, and, according to all the locals, he’s been killing it! Sandy Carson says, “Just wait for the next issue of DIG!” Josh has been hanging out in Austin with Wiz and Scerbo and is heading out on the Dead Memory trip with his bud Keith Terra that will be covered by RIDE UK mag. The crew headed down to Houston and almost got arrested for riding at a spot down there. On the way back to Austin the van broke down. How’s that for a crappy trip. Check out the Josh Stricker cover and interview in the current issue of RIDE UK.

Sergio Layos is home in Madrid chillin’ with his brother and family—riding locally and filming for the upcoming Fly Bikes video due out this summer.

Sandy Carson removed the front brake and peg setup and is back to his usual bike. He also fulfilled one of his lifelong dreams this past week by going street riding with Dave Parrick around Austin. Last week he also rode the Skatepark of Austin and a bunch of street with Josh Stricker, taking some epic shots of Stricker for an upcoming issue of DIG. Sandy also rode T1 a bunch with Joe and Taj and shot photos of Kevin Porter and Bob Scerbo there. Sandy has been working on his own personal website, which he claims is one of the most tedious things ever! The Federal video is out so go get it and check Sandy’s part.

Garrett Byrnes flew to New Zealand a week and a half ago to hang out with his girl Crystal and buddy JB for a few months. Garrett has been, and will continue to, be surfing as well as riding plenty of old but fun cement parks. He took his camera and will be documenting his trip. We can’t wait to see the results.


History of BMX!

Posted by: Brink | Monday, February 7, 2005

The highly anticipated, critically acclaimed, feature documentary:
Joe Kid on a Stingray -The History of BMX.

Produced & Directed by Mark Eaton and John Swarr of Bang! Pictures Inc.

Executive Produced & Narrated by Jesse James of West Coast Choppers.

Starring:

Ernie Alexander, Brian Blyther, Scot Breithaupt, Mike Buff, Travis Chipres, David Clinton, Mike Devitt, Mike Dominguez, Eddie Fiola, Hugo Gonzales, Byron Friday, Bob Hadley, Bob Haro, Kenan Harkin, Bubba Harris, Toby Henderson, John Dizz Hicks, Greg Hill, Woody Itson, Kevin Jackson, Kevin Jones, Spike Jonze, Tinker Juarez, Jon Ker, Perry Kramer, Harry Leary, Pete Loncarevich, Thom Lund, Ceppie Maes, Kevin Martin, Maurice Meyer, Dennis McCoy, Dave Mirra, Ryan Nyquist, Bob Osborn, Rl Osborn, Windy Osborn, John Palfreman, Gary Pollak, Jim Pratt, John Purse, Eddie Roman, Pat Romano, Eric Rupe, Warwick Stevenson, Steve Swope, Stu Thomsen, Rick Twomey, Jeff Utterback, Dave Voelker, Ron Wilkerson and Kip Williamson.

Be there to witness this monumental film and Old School All-Star Reception with the BMX Pros & Pioneers who have paved the way for modern day BMX, ALL at ONE EVENT! Age 21 or older and by invite only!

See the trailer!. And click here for more info.


Subscribe To Dig BMX Magazine!

Posted by: Brink | Monday, February 7, 2005

Subscribe to Dig BMX magazine for $24.95 U.S., £24.95 U.K. or 45 Euro and get nine issues, one free Dig BMX T-shirt and one free etnies Forward BMX DVD! Don't delay, do it today! Subscribe now!


etnies Backyard Jam on FUEL!

Posted by: Brink | Friday, February 4, 2005

Be sure to tune into Fuel TV on Saturday, March 19 at 2:30pm ET/PT and Sunday, April 3 at 3pm ET for the etnies Backyard Jam from Derby England. The feature is an hour long show totally dedicated to the Jam so if you can't be home, set the Tivo or VCR (for all of you who are still in the stone age).


BMX Team Report 02-03-05

Posted by: Brink | Friday, February 4, 2005

Mike Escamilla returned from New Zealand about a week ago, where he competed in an event called X-Air. He had a good time down there riding street, and believe it or not, vert. Mike has been hurt a little lately, so he’s been taking it easy. While in New Zealand, Mike chilled with the MacNeil bikes crew, rented motor scooters, cruised around the island, did some TV interviews for a local music station and an Access Hollywood-style show. While back in the U.S., Mike headed out to Ventura’s Skate Street skatepark, where he competed in Ryan Sher’s comp called The Frontyard Jam that was also not-so-coincidently sponsored by etnies. Mike had fun riding practice, but his contest runs didn’t quite go as planned. He broke himself right at the beginning of his run with a flair gone bad and got a peg in the ass, which had previously been hurt from a tailwhip nosepick bail where he fell pretty much on the same spot with the same peg. Needless to say, Mike will be chilling for a while with a grapefruit sized lump on the ass! Be sure to check Mike’s photo in the February issue of Ride from the Vancouver Metro Jam and his etnies signature shoe, the Rooftop, which is in stores now.

Taj Mihelich
has moved out of his brand new studio apartment and in with his lady friend and their two dogs. He will be renting the old place out in the near future, which will make him a landlord. Taj has kicked his Coca Cola habit (for now) and has been playing music and riding dirt bikes. T1/etnies teammate Joe Rich roped Taj into his first ever motorcycle experience, but he wasn’t too impressed and will be sticking with pedaling a bike.

This is a weird one, but believe it or not, Taj has taken off his back brake and put a front one on, and as you’d imagine, Taj picked it up pretty quick, but also quickly realized how much he really relies on his back brake. Taj is also running a new Coalition prototype stem that’s going to be all the rage very soon. T1 has been a huge part of Taj’s life, so as expected, he has been working hard over there on his own little project, Taj Media. On Monday, Taj and his girl drove up to snowy Michigan from Austin to visit Taj’s family, hang out, go sledding and even do a little cross-country skiing.

Ruben Alcantara spent the beginning of the week at home in Malaga, Spain with friends and family, riding and just having a chill time. As usual, he’s been surfing and riding his dirt bike a bunch, too. Ruben thought that he and his friends had exhausted all the spots, but new ones keep popping up—so the riding continues. Ruben’s been filming constantly for the new and soon-to-be-released Fly Bikes video, which is due out this summer. His signature Terrible One frames came into T1 this past week, so peep them out. Ruben heads down to New Zealand this week with Fly Bikes owner/rider David Quesada to shoot some more for the Fly video. Ruben, Sergio Layos and Garrett Byrnes are loving Ruben’s etnies Terranea shoe and can’t wait for its release in June. Get your orders in now.

Jamie Bestwick will be in Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huck Jam, which airs on Super Bowl Sunday. Jamie has been riding a bunch and nailing down some new tricks that he’s been working on for a while and has been quite pleasantly surprised with how he’s been riding (even though this would not surprise anyone else). Jamie’s in high demand and has been working hard on putting his schedule together for the new year. If you’re a fan of the Lo-Cut II, Jamie recommends the Tech-Cut shoe. When he’s not riding, Jamie has been shooting photos, wrestling with his bulldogs and taking good care of his pregnant wife, Kerry. Watch Jamie in the Tony Hawk Boom Boom Huck Jam special right before the Super Bowl.

Joe Rich has been working hard over at T1, putting in some late nights there. Joe’s brother was in town, so Joe was stoked to get to see him and hang out some. As usual, he’s been riding the T1 ramp when the weather permits, and he also headed down to San Antonio to hit up a pool and session some ditches. Both Joe and Taj have been packing and shipping Ruben Alcantara’s signature frames that came in at the tail end of last week. Joe has also been hanging with his parents quite a bit now that they live in Austin.

Dave Freimuth has been on the go for the last couple of weeks, running himself into the ground and riding more than ever. He just got done with the Props Mega Tour and jumped onboard with the We the People team. Dave pulled the biggest nosepick of his life at the Kona skatepark in Florida on a huge quarter vert wall setup and also pulled a perfect tailwhip to peg grind on a six-foot mini, which he’s been working on for a long time. Stoked! When Dave returned home, he catered to his pregnant wife Pattie’s every beck and call. Check out the Props Mega Tour story.

John Heaton spent the beginning of last week in Vancouver working on the new version of his signature frame at MacNeil bikes. He also got to ride and hang out with Dave Osato and Dustin Guenther. John got home only to turn right around and head back up to Ottawa to ride in a contest, where he tied for first place with Canadian bad-ass Max Vincent. John was stoked that he pulled his first flair ever at the event. While up in Ottawa, Heaton treated himself to a little outdoor hockey, it was cold as hell, but he dealt with it, which eventually resulted in a case of frostbite.

This week, John spent a lot of time chilling at home, then hit the dentist to get a little work done on that ugly-ass grill. He managed to get himself down to X Wheels skatepark for a session on Wednesday night, and played some hockey on Thursday. John got sick, took some medication, went bowling on Friday night with his girl and more hockey on Saturday. John rounded off his weekend with a fun session at the St. Thomas skatepark with some friends.

Josh Stricker’s
bike fell off Brian Wizmerski’s car rack and got all busted up. Josh is working hard on becoming a resident of Austin and is apparently fitting in quite well down there by shredding with all the locals and killing every spot he hits. Just wait to see the next issue of Dig with Sandy Carson’s shots of Josh. Also check out Josh’s cover and interview in Ride UK. It rules!

Sergio Layos has been riding a bunch around downtown with his friends at all the local bike-friendly skateparks in Madrid. He’s has also been hanging out with his family, quad bike riding with some friends who came down from Northern Spain to hang out and snowboarding. Sergio has also been shooting photos of anything and everything for an upcoming etnies ad. Check the cover of the new Dig BMX for an awesome shot of Sergio riding in South Africa.

Sandy Carson is always busy. It goes without saying that he’s been working on Dig, both writing and taking photos of everyone down in Austin—especially Josh Stricker. Wait for the shots of Josh to come out in an upcoming issue of Dig and you’ll be stoked. Sandy and the rest of the crew have been sessioning the Banana Farm Ramp with all the skaters. Sandy’s good friend Seth Holton is in town, so those guys have been hanging out a bunch doing their own thing. They went down to San Antonio and rode the pool down there for a day. Check out Sandy’s interview and cover in the new Source BMX magazine from South Africa (not to be confused with the hip-hop mag). Sandy is most likely going to head west with Seth to hit up some spots in Arizona, New Mexico and maybe onto California. This past week, the weather in Austin has been kinda crappy, but the sessions have been pretty decent regardless. Whether it be at the skatepark of Austin, downtown street or at the T1 ramp—things have been going off. Sandy, with a little inspiration from Taj and Garrett, had front brakes on and it took him back to the good old days of endos and nosepicks. The roadtrip may have to be put on the backburner for a while due to Sandy having to get his car worked on. Give it a couple of weeks and they’ll be good to go.

Garrett Byrnes headed out to Southern California for some sunshine and riding. He was on his bike 24-7, hitting all the spots. While there, Garrett rode at the bike-friendly Long Beach park, blasting the hips and airing the crap out of the vert wall. He shot some photos with Ride magazine’s Keith Mulligan while dodging the tweakers sitting over in the corner. Garret also rode at the Chino park, some ditches and plenty of street with the likes of Mike Ardelean and Jim Bauer. Garrett hit the etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest and killed the place for sure, followed by a stop at etnies to stock up on swag. He also just finished a bike feature for an upcoming issue of Ride before heading out to Australia for two months with his girl Crystal and good friend JB.


See Bestwick Before Super Bowl

Posted by: Brink | Thursday, February 3, 2005

Be sure to watch the opening ceremony of the Super Bowl on CBS to see a preview of Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Huck Jam featuring Jamie Bestwick.


Props Mega Tour 2005

Posted by: Brink | Wednesday, February 2, 2005

I caught up with the Props Mega Tour only a few times over its nine-day span to help get the party started. Ronnie Bonner at UGP had a pre-tour barbeque and ditch jam at the Sparky's Distribution warehouse. By "ditch jam," I mean they had quick-creted a small tranny in the ditch and built a four-foot sub on the sidewalk. Many rode, and even more ate free burgers and wieners.

Almost every rider from every team was on hand. I was amazed at how few familiar faces were actually there. I guess these days you really need to be on top of it to know every new and upcoming rider by face. The legendary Gonz was on hand to both entertain and annoy. I have an odd feeling that Gonz will probably clock more footage that almost all the other young rippers on the trip without ever touching a bike.

The first real riding session of the Mega Tour went down at Mission Skatepark in Longwood, Florida. There were too many kids and too many tricks. The stand-outs that I noticed were Tobias Wicke and Josh Nenza from the Man Made team. Josh 540 tailtapped a seven-foot coping-to-coping and Tobias three whip to peg bonked on the big ol' deck spine. A barbeque and bar session followed.

I spent the next couple of days sessioning Mission and Chad Degroot's pool table until we caught up with the We the People and Premium teams in Gainesville to session a six-foot mini-ramp in a public park. Tobias toothpicked everything. Joe Riley blasted all over, and Chad killed the sub. Then a local took himself out on a manual. Mike Andrews from Eastern drove eight hours straight from New Orleans just to meet us in Gainesville to help direct us to the party that night. An Old Milwaukee session at his local watering hole and a quick van party at the Holiday Inn soon followed.

We caught up with the Premium team again on the UFC campus the next day to watch a quick rail session with roughly 15 dudes, and then we hit the road. We enjoyed two more days of Mission Skatepark and some pool sharkin' at Chad's. There was a quick hit trail session and street ride with the Premium team before we hit up Orlando's big public concrete park on their Sunday night bike session.

Monday was our day to finally get up and rolling before noon to drive to Kona Skatepark in Jacksonville, Florida. (Home of Superbowl 39!) for our super-private bike session set-up by Chad's Team Manager at Haro. Thanks, man. Kona is definitely one of the best parks in the entire world, as far as I'm concerned. No particular part of it is very exceptional, it's just that the mix of bowls, snake runs, vert ramps and street courses—dating from 1975 to the resent day—Is absolutely amazing. The place really needs to be ridden to be appreciated.

Dave Osato toothpicked the big vert wall, I nosepicked it, Kachinsky nose wheelied the biggest grind bar ever, Mike Cleveland whipped the big ol' hip, Allan Cooke step-down barspun into the deep bowl, then we were back on the road home in time to try to score VIP spots at Club Paris that night.

We stole Dave Osato and Dustin Guenther from the We the People team for one last session at Mission. Tom Haugen was there, also, and a proper front brake session went down right up until Osato decided to whip into a 360 nosepick over the deck spine.

With the session done, my going away party officially started with one last BBQ bar visit and Dave Osato show before my flight home to the frozen tundra. There was one last Mega Tour session at the Skatepark of Tampa, but I missed it. All I heard days after was that Josh Nenza tailwhipped to the sky. Party on. Thanks to Leigh Ramsdell and John Povah.

—Dave Freimuth


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