FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Following the news about the demolition of the “Oeiras” pool, Paulo Martins decided to organize a Jam with the intention of showing to the “Camara Municipal” (City Hall) and the local people that the pool continues to be an attractive place for the practice of sport activities like the BMX, Skate and in-line. At the event we could find regulars since many years from this mythical place in the national history of BMX, friends from other cities and two reporters from the local newspaper. In what concerns to the riding we cannot say we saw something amazing, mainly because it was a (very!) hot afternoon, but also because the central goal of the Jam was to put together old friends.

Lakejumping has never been easier. A new ski slope was opened in Eindhoven yesterday which makes for the perfect set-up for an afternoon of lake jump fun. Times of digging a jump in front of the canal or losing a launch ramp from the pick-up on the way to a lake jump session are definitely over. The ramp set up is 6 meters high and works for skateboards, snowboards, telemark ski's, freestyle ski's, body slides and of course BMX bikes. It's downhill straight to a 4 feet high launch ramp that sends you to the IJzeren Man lake. 

This coming weekend FATBMX will be off to England for the Download festival. With bands like Tool, Guns 'n Roses, Metallica, The Prodigy, The All-American Rejects, Deftones, Korn and Sick of it All [url=http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/lineup/index.asp]live on stage[/url] during the Snickers Bowl BMX contest it should be a good weekend. The Pro BMX rider list looks as follows:

-Jamie Bestwick
-Simon Tabron
-Koji Kraft
-Joe Rich
-Ruben Alcantara
-Matt Fairbairn
-Dennis McCoy

Elite men results Day one, Saturday 3 June 2006:
1 Arturs Matisons/LAT
2 Maris Strombergs/LAT
3 Artis Zentins/LAT
4 Rob Van Den Wildenberg/NED
5 Arnaud Dubois/BEL
6 Arno Kanis/NED
7 Kelvin Batey/ENG
8 Manuel De Vecchi/ITA 

If you know how to find these guys, wish them a happy B-day......

6 June - Sandy Carson 1972
7 June - Tom Haugen 1976
10 June - Zach Shaw 1971

Zack Held and his crew are putting on a trails jam in Red Devil, Union City on 10 June. That's in the NorCal area and for directions we can tell you to click on the flyer or contact Zack at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

There will be a Biggest Boost contest which should be interesting. The tricksters out there can enter the Best Trick contest and those who have it all can go for the Best Run of the day.

Hopefully Zack listed his Cell number on the flyer which is always handy in case you have some final questions or when you're really lost.

On the right you see a photo of the current situation of the Helm Trails in Helmond. Easily the biggest public dirt jump spot in The Netherlands. The jumps in the photo might not look huge but they are not for whimps. At 6 feet high they are a decent size. Trials are never finished so a lot of building will be done. No one has jumped yet so we'll have to see if they work this way or not. The fun part about dirt is that it takes a shovel to get the exact transition, distance and landing that you wish. First runs should be going on early next week.

Backyard Qualifiers Sunday June 4th Liverpool Rampworx. I'm taking it that most of you reading this have probably ridden, been to or at least heard of the Backyard Jam. If you haven't what the hell is wrong with you?! Go to Backyard Jam website and sort yourself out! For the rest of you the waiting is over, the 2006 Backyard Jam dates have been set. Due to the increasingly high number of riders we turn away we have made a few changes. For the first time the Backyard Jam will have two expert classes; under 14 and over 14, there are also more chances to qualify meaning more riders from more areas can take part.

Sunday June 4th at Liverpool Rampworx will see the birth of a series of expert qualifiers located around the UK to help extract the finest riders to compete in the Backyard Jam. This helps ensure less disappointed riders as previously caused by limiting registration numbers and location to one single event. 

A couple of weeks ago we introduced DC Podcasts, kicking things off by making tricktips from our skate team available first. This week we're keeping the ball rolling by pushing live all the tricktips from the BMX team. From Kagy to Doyle to Bohan, DC has made tons of tricktips available for download on iTunes. Podcasts are proving to be especially useful when it comes to learning new tricks. They've ended the days of watching and memorizing tricks on your VCR. Now all you have to do is update your video iPod and you can head to the skatepark, armed with the confidence of a DC tricktip that's ready to be played in the palm of your hand. With the rider by your side while learning a new trick, it really doesn't get any better than DC tricktip podcasts. 

The Canadian Concrete BMX skatepark series will bring some of the most amazing international, national, and local talent, of all ages together for 3 huge jam format contests this summer. For the many spectators attending, this is a free event! We're focusing on expanding the sport and bringing the kids together with the pros and getting everyone excited about BMX, something that no other can offer! We're kicking off the series in June of 2006, at Kirkstone, in August we're at the renowned Richmond skatepark, and for the grand finale, it's being held at one of the oldest, and possibly the most famous Canadian parks: Seylynn in North Vancouver.

The Canadian Concrete series is meant to support and stimulate the growth of future professional riders, as well as promote the entire BMX industry. There will be different classes for skill level, and depending on the total amount of entries, separate age categories. All entrants will need to sign a waiver, and pay the entry fee for each jam.