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Public trails are hard to find. Most of the time they're private or hidden in the bush so  noone can find them. This will protect the jumps from being killed by people who don't know what they're for. Another option is the Abflughalle in Germany which is an indoor dirt spot where you have to pay to ride. The Helm Trails at the Johannes Vermeerlaan in Helmond are a public spot. Everyone can ride at any time of the day. For free. Truckloads of dirt were dropped but the last  couple of truckloads had the wrong dirt. That's why the locals are trying to get some more dirt from the local council. Dirt that holds up under the riding and the rain. Good sessions have been going on regardless and the building process never stops. Kids have their own section and also this part of the trails is being sessioned heavily. The part of the city where the trails are located (Helmond Noord) doesn't really have the best reputation but the trails are a perfect fit and we yet have to face the first incident. Last year's Helm Jam was a success and the next jam is scheduled for 9 September 2007. Until that time let's hope that the truckloads of dirt arrive to add some jumps and to fix up the existing ones with a new layer.

On a sunny day I got my bike and rode down to the Berenkuil graffiti spot in Eindhoven. I'd passed the spot a couple of times by car and noticed some new paint on the walls. Time to head down there with the camera and take some shots. This is part one (of three) of street art pieces that are currently covering the walls of this legal graffiti spot.

"I wanted to do a flatland night club tour through New Orleans. I basically presented the Idea to Red Bull that I wanted to hit 3 night clubs in one night. I wanted to pull people off the dance floors at the clubs and show people how awesome flatland was! I brought along Ben Crockett From BMX PLUS to cover the tour, MC Scott O'Brien to get the crowd hyped while I rode, and of course my Friend Mickey Gaidos to film this great piece . One cool part about the flatland Tour was that we went to each club in a stretch Limo. I was stoked that the tour went well and every person that watched had a new understanding of BMX Flatland!"

Watch the video by clicking here.

A lot has been going on in the Felt camp and I have been super busy finishing up the 2008 line of bikes. The bikes look good, be on the look out late summer. The biggest news is the Scotty Cranmer is now a bicycle shop owner. SC ACTION SPORTS opened on April 1st. It was an empty building to start so it will take a while to get fully stocked but from what I hear it is growing everyday. Of course a full line of Felt BMX bikes are in. Back in the day there was a huge BMX shop in NJ called Bicycle World of Howell, over the years ownership changed and the BMX focus was lost. The opportunity came up to open a bike shop in the building and Scotty and his family are going for it. The Howell BMX track is behind it and has plenty of land for other projects when the time comes. Cool to see another rider becoming a store owner. Don’t think the new bike shop has kept him tied down, he has been a busy man. At one point last week he had a Jeff Z. shooting him for Fox photos, Fuel TV doing a “day in the life” and Walter P. was with him for a week filming for a Props interview. In the middle of this he flew to CA to have a meeting with a new potential sponsor. Once that calmed down he headed off to Utah, New Mexico, Dallas and Austin to do some signings at Vans retail stores. 

SNAFU BMX signs Matt Sparks to the SNAFU PRO TEAM for 2007. Matt is an amazing rider who pushes the envelope when it comes to going big and innovation in the sport of BMX. Who he is and how he rides is the kind of person we are excited to have on the team.  Matt Sparks: "For a long time I've been wondering if I'll ever make it onto a companies true “pro team” and I'm excited that it can be SNAFU."

Taking a page from the Motocrossers, the grip has an inverted ridge near the flange. The MX'ers started running these on their grips so that they could use thin gauge wire and secure the grip onto the bars tightly. It also serves to keep water out saving us bmx'ers from a case of the throttle grip. On the inside of the flange side of the grip are another 4 small ridges. I can only assume these are to help keep the grip even more firmly onto the bar and to reduce any slippage during operation.

The rubber of the grip is made of a soft compound - they feel soft but definitely not too spongy. I ride with gloves but these grips have so much traction on them I could easily ride without them. Plastic bar ends compliment each grip.

Chris has gone with a smaller flange on them along with a pair being in the $10 range. Their price is a little higher than your average grip but there is nothing average about this grip from the very detailed design down to the high quality packaging.

We received the results and rider comments from the Asian X-Games. There's a surprise in the Park results. How much longer before the Asians are going to rule the Dew Tour? Heard of Kiattichai Wanitsakun before?

The National Bicycle League is looking for someone with a passion for BMX and the skills to back it up! Are you the type of person that continues to push themselves beyond expectations, passionate and committed beyond the average employee? We are looking for a Communications Coordinator who has BMX experience and enjoys an exciting, fast-paced, creative environment.

Job Description:

The Liberation Jam in Tilburg was another excuse to get together and ride together. It's a theme that Team Neighbor lives by and fits well in the Dutch BMX scene. After 5 weeks of amazing sunshine and summer temperatures in Holland also this day was a good one. We are welcoming Global Warming as long as the dikes keep the water out.

Anyway, back to the Liberation jam which was organized by BMX-er Jesse de Doelder. On the 5th of May each year we celebrate the end of World War II and festivities take place all over. In Tilburg this year Jesse got a roll-in, jump ramp and quarter to wall at a prime spot in the city center and with the back-up from Red Bull there were some good tunes too. During the day anybody could ride the set-up. Mischa Rath was on the MIC to talk some shit and gap between the launch ramp and landing changed a few times during the day. It was a little flashback to the old GT Airshows that took that same (shitty) take-off ramp all over Europe.

Yeah what can we say. You want your pin-up so here you have it. Blue BMX 125 helped us out with this one so all credits to him for sending this pin-up photo.