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Doing reports during the trip wasn't all that easy. That's why I've been reporting from home, not Cali. The last two days there were spent cruising around with not too many things on the schedule. I drove up from Carlsbad to Fullerton on Tuesday to go see the people at Box Components. They'd noticed through Instagram (@fatbmx) that I was in SoCal and asked to stop by. Toby Henderson and Michael Gamstetter didn't have all too much to show other than an empty building and some

It was Sunday and we weren't in a rush to get up at Choq's pad. Andy Zeiss packed up his bike, Harley Davidson rim, shock, Pro-Tec helmets and whatever else he gathered during the trip and put it in two bags. The DK Golf bag and an old duffel bag. It all fit nicely. Choq had heard about this Koninginnedag party in Orange (or was it Torrance?) which doesn't make any sense to anyone who isn't Dutch. After we'd dropped off the German at LAX we made it over there and met more Dutch people in one place than I've ever seen together in one place in the States. It was like being home,

A brand new day and we had already made plans for it: the new Vans Bowl at Katella Ave and Sheep Hills over in Costa Mesa. It's amazing to see that Choq has a key of the Vans building and can go there any time he wants. It comes in handy now that the bowl has been finished. Some fellow BMX-ers were in da hizzle including Marek de Heus who was on holiday with his family for 4 weeks. Not much happened on pro level but fun was had regardless by all present. It's good to see that companies that are figthing for floor space, still make sure

When you’re on the road it’s not always easy to get things done. Not being behind a computer all the time sure hurts the communication. But spending all day behind a computer wasn’t one of our plans. Off to Oakley it was. On arrival we saw the international distributors being treated with a BBQ outside the building, in the sunshine so plenty of Oakley testing was going on at the same time. We entered the lobby and asked for Mr. Hargraves who came down to check us in.

After waking up, doing updates and answering the mail, we headed back to Woodward West. It had rained a lot at night so our plan worked out. Glad to have ridden everything outdoors the day before. Now indoor was on the program. When Andy and I rolled up we were the only ones there. We got lost before we even put our pads on. I decided to take some overview pics and at the same time check the new additions to the indoor area. Not long after that we were cruising around. We didn’t hit the foam pit once, but we got a visitor from Seattle who didn’t 

The weather was sketchy but we didn’t want to just wait and see if it would rain or not. Off to Woodward West we went. It’s a bit of a drive, but well worth it as you probably know. The TomTom kept us informed on the hours and miles we still had to go. We didn’t eat any breakfast but around noon we were getting hungry. We had Taco Bell a few times already earlier in the week so this time it was 'In ‘n Out Burgers' for brunch. Damn. Not the most healthy food to kick off the day but while in Cali it’s a must to stop there every now and then.

Day 4 USA. Temecula, California. It’s not that McGoo is chilling these days. He started Biltwell with the help of some other people a few years ago and it’s kicking off. Biltwell makes chopper parts, helmets, and whatever they feel like. With the ChopCult blog they’ve created a strong following in only a few years time. Seeing the warehouse showed that they’re serious. Orders were constantly going out the door and several projects were being worked on the day we were there. 

The Shorebreak hotel was a good move. Friendly people, killer location and stylish place. We didn’t manage to get out of there early but it didn’t matter, it was a holiday and stressing out wasn’t on the program. We drove over to Vans without grabbing a bite to eat. It was 11:45hr when we go there and someone must be getting ready for some lunch. Meeting up with Mike de Wit is always good. He was busy so he skipped lunch but showed us the new bowl that they had been working on at the Vans HQ’s. We had a chat with Sean Methven who took us out for lunch at Togo’s. We talked business, so it counted.