Morgan in New Zealand
Posted by: Morgan Wade | Wednesday, February 28, 2007
I'm gonna start this off by saying, "I FEEL LIKE SHIT!" Getting sick freaking sucks man. Every day near the end of the day I feel like I'm getting better, but when I wake up in the morning I feel worse than I did the day before. BLAAAAAHHHHH! Anyway, here's some more day-late news.
Injury report.... At the X-Air Event in Wellington New Zealand three weeks ago, I was going to ride in as many events as I could just for fun. So I entered Park, Dirt, and the Water Jump. I was able to ride in none of these.... After one practice on the park course I was feeling pretty good about the comp and had some big plans.
I got to the dirt jumps for practice and there were a few people riding them, so I went up and got in line. I asked Guettler what the speed for the first jump was and he told me to jump the first set like I was jumping a box backwards, and also that it was really easy to over clear because of the mellow lip. Then I watched a kid take a crank and a half down the roll-in and over shoot the first jump by three or so feet. I put two and two together and rolled in, gave it one full crank and pulled off the lip. About .0042 seconds after I left the lip I knew that I was going to case the landing pretty bad. The closer I got to it the more I realized I was going to tag my front wheel as well. I thought I could maybe bounce my front off the top to sprocket the landing... nope. In a fraction of a second I had head-tube cased the landing, bent my frame/fork, and done a face grind all the way down the landing.
I didn't get knocked out, but I did get knocked a bit silly and I managed to burn most of the skin off of my upper lip, nose, and cheek. I smashed six of my front teeth out, and almost bit through my lower lip with my bottom teeth. I don't know how they didn't go all the way through because the hole that was in there was really deep. Luckily for me I'm having a lot of work done on my teeth right now and all the ones I smashed out were temporary and I still had the nubs of my real teeth in there.
Now, I have a few very liberal friends that continually talk crap on America and rave about how amazing Canada is because of the socialized medicine. I'll agree that America's system is flawed and the medical bills can be absolutely ridiculous. I'll even say that the idea of socialized medicine is a good idea in a perfect world, but it's not a perfect world and human nature is what makes it not work. For instance, New Zealand has socialized medicine and I was sent to the hospital in Wellington to get some stitches in my lip. I get there, my face still covered in dirt and blood, only to sit for about two hours (which is normal in the states) and then be told that I would heal fine. The Doc. gave me some pain pills (not even as strong as ibuprofen), turned me around, and showed me the door. They didn't even clean the dirt out of my cut's. If you ask me, the doctors don't give a crap because they've already got their paycheck from the government and have no threat of being sued for anything. I could not believe how poorly they treated me at the hospital; I could have gotten a really bad infection. Luckily I'm no stranger to road rash and open wounds. I was able to go to a drug store and purchase the proper things to clean and take care of my face. I'll also add that anything you buy having to do with medicine is about four times the price it is in the states. People always take for granted how good they have it in America, but I guess the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, isn't it?
Never the less, my face is healing well and I was able to get new teeth the day after I got home! Big thanks to my Dr. Rick Coker for getting me in so quick! Dr. Coker actually cares, he didn't even charge me, he just fixed me. Amazing!
Other than the medical treatment I got, New Zealand was freakin awesome! It was my first time to be over there, so everything was new to me. The mountains, the crystal clear water, and the security. It was so beautiful over there; everywhere you looked there was something neat to see. The riding wasn't too bad ether. After the contest I was to go on a road trip from Wellington to Auckland with Corey Martinez and Aaron (lip gloss) Ross. Will Stroud was filming and Walter Pieringer was shooting photos. We didn't ride much street until we got to Auckland, and in the four days we spent there that was pretty much all we did.
It seemed like we got kicked out of a lot of places, but the thing that was weird was almost all of the security guards were cool. When I say cool I mean they were psyched on what we were doing but had to ask us to leave so they could keep there jobs. It was weird.
Overall we had a great time and got a lot of good footage. It's a good thing one doesn't need teeth to ride a bike!
So now I'm at home getting ready for another Levi Strauss trip from San Francisco to San Diego starting on March 3d. I'll then be in Arizona for spring break.
Just got done doing the interviews for that new MTV show called “Scared.” They're featuring the crash I had at the Allen, TX Park where I smashed my face open...yeah it was awesome. I did the interview at the park last Friday, so I got to ride the park a bit too!
Check out the photo gallery for a lot more photos!
Good times!
Simpel Session on Fuel TV
Posted by: Cropley | Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Simpel Session will be on Fuel TV all this week 4 times a day on the "Weekly Update with Boost Mobile" (11:30 pm; 2:30 pm; 5:30 pm; 8:30 pm Eastern time). The show is 30 minutes long, has a bunch of riding footage and, among others, it has Joe's interview in it. Tune in a check it.
Spring e-Collection!
Posted by: Brink | Monday, February 26, 2007
Check out the new e-Collection footwear in the etnies online store!
Tavarua - Nixon High Tide Hold'em
Posted by: Mike Escamilla | Thursday, February 22, 2007
On February 7th thru the 17th, Nixon watches held the Nixon High Tide Hold'em. They invited a bunch of team riders and industry friends to Tavarua Island, Fiji. We all went down for a week of fun, surf, fishing and diving. Nixon also had a ton of challenges and games for us to compete in, everything from poker to tennis to spearfishing. The week was amazing, the best crew I've ever had the pleasure of spending time with. Here are some photos from the week. Hope you enjoy them, they were fun to take……
The Crew Included:
Chris Malloy, Keith Malloy, Dan Malloy, Brad Gerlach, Yadin Nicol, Mark Healy, Asher Pacey, Sal Masekela, Tristan Prettyman, Joy Bryant , Mark Cunningham, Dave Downing, Todd Richards, Jeffrey Bastian, Kate Earl, Mike Escamilla, Danny Way and family, Brandon Lillard, Chad Dinenia, Aamoin Goodwin.
Check out more photos on Rooftop's MySpace Blog. Surfer Mag also has some photos of the trip here, here and here.
Ramp is Done
Posted by: Taj Mihelich | Tuesday, February 20, 2007The new ramp addition is done and awesome!
- Unrelated to ramps! Roscoe got to chase this goat (Yagi).
"Grounded" Weekend Teaser
Posted by: Cropley | Friday, February 16, 2007Jamie Bestwick commercial... full video coming out soon!
Download or subscribe to the Podcast below...
Jamie Bestwick on the Daily Habit Tonight
Posted by: Cropley | Friday, February 16, 2007
Jamie Bestwick is going to be on the Daily Habit tonight on Fuel TV so you better be watching! It airs at 6PM/9PM Pacific time...
Kachinsky Blogs from The Great White North!
Posted by: Brian Kachinsky | Thursday, February 15, 2007
Checking in from the great white north!
This is going to be a quick one. I figured this winter would be pretty boring since I am rehabilitating my knee and enduring this cold and snowy winter in Chicago, but in the last few weeks I...
- met a real live Ninja Turtle
- went improv belly-dancing with Chad Degroot (we pretty much stole the show...and the dancer's scarf)
- went to the top of the Hancock building with Chad Degroot (veiw pictured) and to the top the Sears tower with Danny Hickerson and Joe Rich
- stayed at the Hard Rock hotel in Miami the week before Anna Nicole Smith stayed there
- had mini beers at a mini bar (the bar, stools, and bartenders were mini) with Kevin Porter
- got a prototype of my signature frame
- my car finally hit puberty at 200,000 miles...look at that mustache! (don't be jealous Morgan) I already bought him a razor
Knee is feeling good and I will be out in California in three weeks to get it checked out and film a show for Fuel TV's Daily Habit. Hope all is well.
See y’all soon!
Love,
Brian
John Heaton Primo Commercial
Posted by: Cropley | Thursday, February 15, 2007Found this John Heaton Primo commercial at VitalBMX...
See More BMX Videos at VitalBMX.com
Mesh is 2 Years Old!
Posted by: Cropley | Wednesday, February 14, 2007Mesh Skatepark is 2 years old this month! To celebrate, UGP is having a jam with their team, BBQ, and an all day Jam on Sunday the 25th. Adam Baker, Karl Poynter, Tony Malouf, Dan Sieg, Chad DeGroot, Quinn Semling, Tom Haugen, Dave Brumlow, Kip Williamson, Dave Freimuth and Brian Kachinsky will be at the park around 6pm.
Woodward was nice enough to donate a couple one week passes to Camp Woodward to give away. They will be given away to two lucky winner after 5pm on that Sunday.
More info is coming soon, so check the Mesh website for updates.
Peeps!
Posted by: Brink | Friday, February 9, 2007
This is Pepe...nicknaked Peeps. He rides for etnies. Check his new kicks...keeping his feet warm in the Washington DC snow.
Hannu Cools Checks in from Australia
Posted by: Cropley | Wednesday, February 7, 2007Hannu Cools
- View from the hospital window...
hello there
After being in hospital for 4 days with an infected elbow, I am back on the track after a couple days. Don’t really trust it yet to ride my bike, so I’m chilling around and taking pictures of Toby Forte.
We went to this old school rusty miniramp next to the harbour water. Really nice spot to ride and to shoot pics. There is a homeless guy living there called Mr. Hicks. He was the first person in Australia to recognize my accent, pretty crazy. After talking with him for couple minutes I found out this guy is really smart.
I seriously think he could be a professor or something. But he just chooses to live in nature, feeding his friends (some crows, pelicans and other birds and animals), the pelican even allowed Mr. Hicks to touch him! Hope I can chat with this guy some more before I go further, would like to hear his story.
Yesterday we went to Bundi beach... touristy place with an awesome concrete skatepark and bowl on the beach! Afterwards we went to the trails again and I was pretty sad that I couldn't ride yet! Today Jason took us to the Blue Mountains, on the way we rode two concrete parks. I was able to ride a little bit today. Went to the mountains and had an awesome view there.
Jason showed us a cave with a wall build on the entrance. He said there is a story that a hippie lived here during the war.
Went home, had some food (damn still can’t drink any beer with this antibiotics in my body) and going to bed soon. Hopefully my elbow will be even better tomorrow so I can ride some more.
greetz
hannuman
The BMX Team Reports
Posted by: Cropley | Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Ruben Alcantara has been chilling in Malaga, enjoying the bitchen weather and working on the trails, while doing a little final filming for "GROUNDED."
Mike Escamilla started his week off by shooting photos with Jeremy Wray for this EXPN article they are working on together. Later in the week Mike went snowboarding with Aaron Nardi and shot more photos for the same EXPN article. He also ran around town a bit, went and got some clothes from Hurley and had lunch with Glenn Milligan and Brian Castillo. Super bowl Sunday he went and rode with Nate Moroshan and Glenn Milligan instead of watching the game and ran around town some more. Oh, and at some point in this past week, Mike found out that he’s not riding for Redline anymore....
Jamie Bestwick has been out in California for the last week or so hanging with his family. He’s also been doing a little filming at Tony Hawk’s warehouse for the upcoming etnies DVD. Last Thursday, Jamie filmed an episode of FUEL TV’s DAILY HABIT...the show should be airing in a few weeks.
For the second time in 2 months, Jamie came away from Woodward West with whiplash. Whilst riding the resi vert, a 540 turned into a nightmare when Jamie’s front wheel went through a gap in the resi mat and stopped him dead (Jamie and a couple of other Woodward staff members later fixed it so no one will ever do that again). Imagine that, 540 no hander to Vander roll???? So, yet again, Woodward West gave Jamie a pain in the neck! Oh well, at least Povah's car didn’t get smashed up like last time!
- No new photos of Morgan, so we're bringing out the archives...
Morgan Wade…lets see! I’ve been at home a lot lately, not doing much of anything, especially riding bikes. =( The weather's been really crappy lately, so I’ve been all cooped up in the house, forced to play hours upon hours of GTA Vice City and Hitman Blood Money! Both games have been beaten! I own Miami now and am an outstanding killer if the money's right! Aside from PS2, I have been hanging out with Natalie playing a lot of Penuchle with her and my mom and dad! Let me rephrase that, losing a lot of penuchle to my mom and dad! He's pro at cards!
- Photoshop? You decide...
Our German shepherd, Jack, has been jumping out of our yard a lot lately to gallivant and explore the unknown woods, so he's been spending a lot of time in the pen as a result...the knot-head can break out of anything you put him in, for real! He managed to scale the gate of the pen (it's about 5 feet tall) and squeeze through a hole at the top about the size of a 10 lb Pomeranian. Near the top was a little piece of sharp fence material, you can guess where this is going....
We found him in a huge puddle of blood; his fur and legs were soaked with it. I thought he was dead at first, but he ran around like nothing was wrong. So, Natalie and I took him to the emergency vet clinic and it turned out that it was just one little cut on his arm, about an inch long and maybe a 1/4 inch deep. He lost a ton of blood, though, and that was enough to freak me out and take him right in to get fixed! He's fine though, just got a few stitches and a strong sedative! I don't like it when my puppy's are sick or hurt, but it was really funny watching him try to sit up strait when he was all pumped full of the sleepy juice! He looked like he was drunk...it was quite amusing! Anyway, we got home that night and watched him pass out and pretty much stay in the same place all night (I don't think you understand how amazing it is that he actually stayed in one place, let alone was sleeping.) Alright, enough about the dog, he's a hyper happy crazy puppy again, so mission accomplished! That's about all I’ve got, other than I just drove down too Austin to meet up with Walter Pieringer and Aaron Ross "the Boss" to go to New Zealand tomorrow!
Taj Mihelich hung around T1 a bunch this week. He and others tore down the little stuff on the ramp and are building a big new section that is based on the Backyard Jam box jump, but with a hip to it. When you land you immediately go into a tight bowl corner that will eventually have a hip that heads back towards the 1/4 after the spine. It’s MASSIVE looking in the backyard. Generally this week the weather’s been pretty shit, so Taj and Co. have been working in the cold. Taj has also had a couple band practices. Taj has made sure he’s kept up on rehabbing his back and should be totally ready to ride when the new ramp section is done. Should be awesome!
Josh Stricker doesn’t have too much new going on down there in Austin. He just got back into town...he drove the car he bought from his sister back and it’s been cool having a car again for Josh. While back in town, Josh has just been riding around town and, shit, nothing too special. Waiting for the happy hour shirts to get done over at S&M bikes. They’re at the printer as I write this. Josh has some signature pedals coming from PRIMO, so it’ll be cool to see how they turn out. Josh also has a limited edition etnies shoe colorway coming around Summer time.
Joe Rich was sitting at the coffee shop that has an oil change place in it while he wrote this news! ha ha, yep, time for inspection and service. Anyhow, now that you know that, all Joe’s been doing is working on the ramp and inside T1. Not very exciting. The weather is finally nice again and that beast of an addition should be coming to a close this week. Shit is nuts! A few last clips to film for “GROUNDED” and all will be well.
Sergio Layos has been home in Spain for the last couple of weeks after returning from being on the road. He left for New Zealand late last week to attend the X-Air event, as well as go on a Fly Bikes road trip.
Learn Tailwhip to Tailtaps with Brett Walker
Posted by: Cropley | Friday, February 2, 2007
Brett Walker can do tailwhip tailtaps. He can teach you how to do them too. Go learn something.
etnies & Pepper Contest!
Posted by: Brink | Friday, February 2, 2007
Kona, Hawaii's favorite sons make their long-awaited Atlantic/East West Records debut with their fourth studio album, No Shame. It's a bold artistic leap forward for the Island-born-and-bred, California-based trio. No Shame defines what Pepper is all about.
"No Shame is different from the other albums we've done because we had so much artistic freedom," says singer-guitarist Kaleo Wassman. "We had plenty of room to explore the range of possibilities of the band, which was so much fun to do."
With the band's trademark penchant for the musically unpredictable firmly in place, No Shame is indeed a tasty and rewarding blend of styles and sounds unlike anything Pepper has recorded before. The 18-track collection, which was recorded over the better part of a year, in a variety of SoCal studios with no less than 4 producers, is triumphant culmination of months of hard work that began on the road in the summer of 2005.
To celebrate the release of No Shame, etnies and Pepper are teaming up to give you some free goodies. Fill out the form for your chance to win a free pair of etnies, a Pepper CD and a Pepper T-shirt! Good luck!