FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Sarasota BMX Academy are pleased to announce the launch our of operations in full scale. In collaboration with IMG Academy and SRQ BMX, our premiere BMX training facility are offering training packages for individuals and teams as well as training camps and weekly clinics. On one of the oldest BMX locations in USA, Sarasota can now showcase their international Olympic-standard BMX track, designed both for professionals and amateur riders.

Every Saturday we are opening up the Sarasota BMX track to public 10 AM to 3 PM. We're hosting Beginner classes at 10 AM, followed by an intermediate/expert clinic at 1 PM. You just want to ride the track? No problem. A BMX bike and a full face helmet is all that you need! (which you can rent)

MVD Racewear proudly presents their new online shop in BMX and Motorsports apparel. Mvdracewear.com offers a wide range of sports clothing to Supermoto, MX and BMX fans.The online shop is multilingual and has a great modern look and feel. The smart layout enables the customer to easily find the way trough a complete range of sports wear.Smart clothing, smart navigation MVD Racewear carries a wide range of apparel and accessories, special developed for Supermoto, BMX and MX riders. The brand MVD Racewear was founded in 2007 by multiple Dutch champion Marcel van Drunen and has since been a well-known name in the sportsworld.

Pro Open. Sunday results. KY, USA.
1 JEREMY SMITH, DAYTON, OH
2 JUSTIN POSEY, WINSTON-SALEM, NC
3 CAMERON MOORE, HARO/PROMAX, CHAPEL HILL, NC
4 TYLER KLUMPER, TARPON SPRINGS, FL
5 OLIJUWON DAVIS, SPEEDPEDDLERS, ST CHARLES, IL
6 ELLIOT MCGRATH, STAATS-CIARI, NEW HOPE, MN
7 TYLER WHITFIELD, THRODWN, ROCKFORD, IL

Saturday results Pro Open. Bluegrass National #2

1 JUSTIN POSEY, MARION UNIVERSITY, WINSTON-SALEM, NC
2 TYLER WHITFIELD, THRODWN, ROCKFORD, IL
3 VICTOR BEHM, MAYSLANDING, NJ
4 OLIJUWON DAVIS, SPEEDPEDDLERS, ST CHARLES, IL
5 ELLIOT MCGRATH, STAATS-CIARI, NEW HOPE, MN
6 CAMERON MOORE, HARO/PROMAX, CHAPEL HILL, NC
7 JEREMY SMITH, DAYTON, OH

I had 72 hours before departing back to Pittsburgh from a shoot in Ohio. With no concept or plan, Chris Myhren and I spontaneously decided to embark on the journey of creating a mini-doc. Our only problem besides my limited time was the lack of a mini-doc subject. At 9pm Sunday evening through a mutual friend and 3-way phone call we met Tommy Zula. Our first conversation with Tommy was a whirlwind. He was driving back to Ohio from a BMX competition in New York and his ETA was 3am. So after chatting with him and figuring out he had an awesome story worth telling, we asked him if he could shoot at 6am… and I’m pretty sure he responded “dood totally!” Our call ended at 10pm and that’s when pre-production started.

Chris and I both wanted to create a BMX film that was not your stereotypical “trick” video that have become ubiquitous online. The bike was not only a physical transportation device but also a mental and emotional one, which Tommy used to escape the rough part of town and his difficult home life. Tommy’s personality and passion, not his latest BMX tricks, was our focus for the film. Prepping late into the night/morning, we figured out a structure for the film but knew it was all dependent upon Tommy’s interview. We wanted to film at sunrise/sunset with Tommy both days, which meant we were shooting non-stop (35 hours in 2 days). To best utilize our only light source (the sun), we shot all of our exteriors either early in the morning or late in the afternoon around sunset. I wish I could tell all the stories and moments that happened along the way filming for those 2 days in Ohio but unfortunately there is a character limit to video descriptions.

Once we were done shooting and had the edit locked we tackled sound design and then grading the film. As crazy as it may sound or not sound, the opening sound effects of the bike were straight out of camera. The internal microphone on the Weapon did a great job capturing the sounds of the bike as I followed Tommy throughout the streets. However, the rest of our bike sound effects were reordered by our friend Joe with a Sennheiser MKH416 through a Zoom H4N sporadically throughout the second day. In post it was a matter of layering sound effects and adding some ambience/wooshes/impacts when necessary.

The grade was done within Premiere 2017 using Lumetri. Honestly, I was not the biggest fan of how Lumetri handled the RED footage, but I very well may not have been doing something correctly. For some odd reason when I adjusted the RGB curve or other settings it would drastically affect the look of the footage. We never did find a solution other than doing minuscule adjustments at a time. We graded the film using a Lutify.me LUT called Magnetite as a starting point for the look we wanted to achieve. The trick with using most LUTs is to dial them way back until they are only around 20-40% opacity/strength. For the most part those LUTs in particular are very strong and unless that is the specific look you are going for it’s almost always necessary to dial them back. From there we just adjusted the levels in Lumetri to our taste.

The entire film (besides the drone shots) was shot on my RED Weapon at 6K in a variety of frame rates at a 2:41 aspect ratio. For the handheld footage we shot normal speed but for most of the MoVi shots we filmed at 72 or 100 frames per second. There were some instances when we shot 3K/4K to achieve even higher frame rates. I’m a huge fan how 72 frames per second looks with a 180 degree shutter. Balancing the MoVi M15 with the Weapon was very easy using my Leica R lenses and thin Switronix 75w batts. The Leica R lenses gave us a very creamy yet distinct look with each lens’ unique bookeh and flaring. To keep a 180 degree shutter we used a Tiffen Vari-ND filter to maintain exposure. Our friend Brian used an Inspire 1 and DJI Phantom 3 for the drone shots.

Overall, I cannot thank everyone else who had a role in the making of this mini-doc. We honestly could not have done it without the incredibly generous time and input everyone gave us in the process. Finally, thank you Tommy for inspiring us by your story to devote even more time to our passions in life. Until next time!

USA Cycling today announced the creation of the U.S. Junior BMX Development Team. The team, which will serve as the premiere BMX development team in the United States, will focus on developing athletes who will be targeted to win medals at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

USA Cycling and Director of BMX Jamie Staff have teamed up with Dale Holmes Racing to improve the development of young American riders. Both Staff and Holmes are passionate about youth development in the sport and hope their combined 60 years of experience will help to develop the United States’ next, great BMX athletes.

Dale & Ross video shot and produced for CBC.

Sunday Results Silver Dollar National Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pro Open

1 NIC LONG, HARO/PROMAX, LAKESIDE, CA
2 JACOB PEEBLES, JET RACING, CHICO, CA
3 MIKE SWEARINGEN, ONTARIO, CA
4 TYLER BROWN, 316 RACING/DK BICYCLES, CHULA VISTA, CA
5 MATTHEW CHISM, HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA
6 TOMAS FERNANDEZ, ALBUQUERQUE, NM
7 COREY SALAS, SIMI VALLEY, CA
8 DAIKI IKEDA, FACTORY RIFT/TANGENT, ROCKLIN, CA

46 & Over Intermediate

1 STEPHEN A. DOLPHIN, DEVO TRAINING ACADEMY, ANAHEIM, CA
2 CHRIS MOELLER, SAN CLEMENTA, CA
3 MAX WOODS, DYERSBURG, TN
4 NICK (STORM TROOPER) DISANTI, FACTORY SKYWAY, MARICOPA, AZ
5 BILLY WARDYNSKI, ICEE/ANDERSON, OAKLEY, CA