After months of hard work repairing winter damage and the ever growing grass and weeds at the trails it was time for the first session of the year at the Helm Trails in Helmond, Netherlands. And not just a session. Team France, lead by Patrick Guimez, were in town for the C1 comp in Eindhoven and had a session in the morning at the park but they were not done yet for the day. A 20 minute drive East and they had arrived at the Helm trails. With some help from the entire French squad the tarps were removed and the jumps were watered and swept to get them in perfect shape for the maiden session of 2022. Some sections were rebuilt and were tested at the same time but it appeared to be no problem for the French to get through. Istvan Caillet actually completed the 'middle line' first try but he was the only one to do that. It took others a bit longer but personal goals were reached like at all new spots that you visit. The youngsters did well and did not stop.
Quintin Morien started pulling tricks left and right as did Istvan and Thibaut Panaville. Also legendary team coach Patrick Guimez himself showed that at age 44 you can still ride trails and throw some tricks in there also. It is great to see that the freestyle squad is in the hands of someone who has been there and done that. Patrick passes on his experience and has educated the French riders on trails etiquette as well. You case, you repair the damage. You help watering the jumps. You help cover the jumps after the session. You get beer as a thank you to the locals for the session. ;-) even though some of it was radler and 0.0% stuff. It didn't really matter, it's the guesture that counts.
It was the late '80-s when issue number 15 came out and these items made it on the RAD side of the RAD-LAME list: Bresie'Z, Robert's graffitied Renault 14, Speedfreaks video, Vla, Divorze Posse's Demo Tape (that's a cassette by the way....), A Full PO Box, Watching Jason Ellis cutting Mike Canning's hair, Prantl's 360 at the Energie hal, English riders visiting the Leiden freestyle contest, DP's Black Medallion, Advertisers, D-signs designs, On Edge Apparel, DJ Kid Sundance, Tye Dye shirts, 'zines, Lambert's Harley, Mini-ramp Hengelo and Double seatpost clamps.Man, most of these things aren't too hot any longer but back in 1989 they made it on the RAD list. To see what made it on the Lame side, turn to page 17.
We have a Jason Ellis interview in issue 15, a street sk8 comp in Eindhoven, 540 sequence of Albert Moonen, the Circus came to town and brought 2 BMX-ers from England, The Cologne contest Number 2 took place at the Jugendpark, Merijn Bonte got an interview, Free Converse sticker, Divorze Posse live, we had an article about miniramps that were the new thing at the end of the eighties, Matt Pingel had his fair share of contributions in the issue and Martijn Deijkers wrote a scene report on Adelberg, Germany. Andreas Althaus got an interview as well, we had a report on the King Of Concrete, concert report on the Bad Brains and a wrtie up on a demo in Uden.
Dude, what a list! Did you get your cup of coffee yet? Because here comes the full issue.
Nathan Williams 'Why Not?’ video part is an independent project with Christian Rigal behind the lens. With no deadline in sight the goal was to take some time, make something special and try something different, why not? Filmed entirely in 4k/5k resolution from California to Texas, this part is just under 9 minutes of insanity that will leave you wondering what you just saw, and if it was switch?
I'm pretty sure there are BMX trails out there that have been around since 1989 and are still running. I'm not sure if there are trails that have seen 2 jams a year annually. We can blame Covid for not having a jam at the Sugar Hills Trails in Aarle-Rixtel but the pandemic has next to disappeared in The Netherlands making it possible for all to get together and have a good time. We've missed this, a lot. With the Mini FATJAM happening at the beginning of the year and the FATJAM somewhere at the end of August each year, the weather risk is certainly present. We had snow on Friday(!) but the trails certainly could you the moisture as the two weeks prior had been sunny and dry making it hard to shape the jumps the right way.
Come Saturday morning the trails were in excellent condition with no dust and no mud in sight. The temperature would not get above 6 (that's Celsius!) so you either had to ride to stay warm, or simply drink a lot. Riding was done constantly for 5 hours by riders lining up on the starting hill who could choose either line to get back in line for another run. The far left took the dare devils to the Killer Jump and the far right line had the biggest sets. In between another 4 lines were ready for action. It is awesome to see the Team NL riders line up with the youngsters, street riders and old schoolers. There was no pressure for anyone so everyone did what they wanted to do. Making it through (new) lines might be the challenge for some while doing tricks through the sets is the challenge for others. But the Mini FATJAM is more than that.
Aarle-Rixtel - Na twee jaar wachten kon vandaag het BMX-geweld weer losbarsten op de hoek van de Buizerdstraat/Valkendijk in Aarle-Rixtel. Daar vond de 31ste editie van de FATJAM plaats.
"Average sighting of Crazy Pete at New Brighton Bowl, shows up over the space of a few sessions and pulls out what you see here, riding our local skatepark unlike any other that has ever placed their tread on these grounds, pulling out the wackiest shit but so casually, spliff in mouth and barely breaking a sweat."
BNGBNGMCR's Mancunian Winter is back for round two! You already know what to do...
Tim Sulkowski - BMX at Modern Skatepark by Brad Oz.
British champion. Olympic champion. UCI BMX Racing World champion. This is Bethany Shriever.
Jake Seeley's 2022 Street Sweeper complete.