The second round of the 2013 UK BMX Vert series took place at Ben Manuel’s Pitwheels Skatepark in Upton, Yorkshire on Sunday 22nd September. Zach Shaw seems to be taking the grassroots future of vert in his own hands, in more ways than one. Not content with organising this series, he is also starting to breed competitors for the junior groups. The surnames in a number of groups had a familiar ring, and if you had perfected time travel and gone back 23 years the 11 foot vert ramp and competitors in A group wouldn’t have looked out of place.
A sunny Sunday in South Yorkshire played host to 3 groups - vert squirt, am and pro. BMX is becoming a family affair, as various father son/daughter/stepson/stepdaughter combinations stretched across the groups. In vert squirt the combined age of the 5 competitors was less than how long the majority of riders in pro had been riding. Awesome. Jessica Laidlaw, Zak Berstein
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.