Interview
KYLE BALDOCK
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by Matt Holmes
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or this 20 year old from Pacific Pines on the Gold Coast, the last year may have been one of the biggest of his life. Overcoming the death of his brother only weeks before the start of the 2011 Dew Tour saw him dig deeper than most will ever have to. Instead of throwing it all away to go through the mourning process, he made the podium in all 2011 Dew Tour BMX dirt and park events, coming seriously close to winning both Dew Cups. His road to the here and now has been a constant struggle. Doubters, haters, circumstances and life’s constant learning curve, but he’s taken it all on the chin and risen above with an unshakable positive mental attitude, letting the negative fuel his fire and motivate him to bigger and better things. We were stoked when Kyle rocked into the 2020 HQ, so here’s a little taste of his story so far. So, your first year in the US, I hear it was a tough one, but good all the same? You know, I went over there not expecting anything. I started hanging out with Ryan Guettler a lot, and Vince Byron (who went over at the same time) put me up with him and his girlfriend in their house, then we moved into Austin Colemans house, and he’s awesome, he gave me a room, helped me with broken bike parts, and intro’d me to the likes of Mirra at his warehouse. That blew me away. Especially when Mirra knew of me from clips on the web. I didn’t know what to say! And it wasn’t long till he asked me to be on MirraCo, then I was getting to go places with that crew, including a Dew Tour stop where Mirra and Ryan basically told Dennis McCoy I should be riding. So they put me in dirt and I got to the jumps and went nah.... Which was when AJ Analla came up to me and offered to swap spots as he was in park, and it was like that, done! So there was two days of practice, and I was so psyched, couldn’t sleep, so excited and my first run at 8 in the morning, I jumped the box, hit a wall ride and ten jumped the box backwards, cased, and hit the ground hard, thought I broke my ribs. Luckily I could still breathe! I was cool. Then to ride the comp alongside the people I’ve watched for so long, it blanked my mind. So when I did my run, I figured go for it and figured I’d throw a fronty bar spin, I’d only ever done one onto a resi, but threw it anyway and the bars hit my leg and I crashed... So I learnt there that the best guys on the deck are smart, they don’t have to throw the huge tricks in qualifying rounds like I did. But I had some good things, I won a Trans Am. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, so I sold it. When I got home I started thinking about how to go back stronger, and learn what I want to do there while I’m here. And once I got the call to go on the 2011 Dew Tour, I stepped it up. And that paid off real well! So just what did you learn from that experience and take over for the 2011 tour? Double flips and stuff. I got ‘em all dialed here and it only took a month to get everything smooth on the bigger jumps and ramps. But I still get the fear even though I’ve got them dialed, Stephen Murray is always in my head when I do them. If my foot comes off in it, I’m still going for it, so I don’t let go. So the first stop comes around, I was feeling strong. With the passing of my brother, which was massive for me, I felt as though I could take on anything. So when I heard my song to ride to, which was my brothers and my favourite song, we used to listen to it together, it all fell into place, it was like no one else was there, just me, which took away all the nerves. When I dropped in it was on, everything just worked, like I missed the bars or something coming in to land but would ride it out. Somehow I ended up winning the first stop. And that blew me away. As did the interview they tried to do with me when it came up I won, I didn’t know what to do or say, it hadn’t hit me at all. It wasn’t till I got home the next day that I got my head around it.
You had some big names offer some words of wisdom yeah? Dave Mirra was real good to me, he talked to me a lot about it. The run, winning and stuff. And Jamie Bestwick kinda took me under his wing letting me know what makes a good rider. Basically it’s someone that can lose and still be stoked, or in other words, a good sport. And things about not whinging about ramps, just riding what’s there better than everyone else. Dennis Enarson is a perfect example of a good rider, he’ll ride anything, whatever it is, just stoked to be riding it. To have someone like Bestwick saying that to me is something I won’t ever forget. So Dew Tour stop two? OK, two second places. Park and dirt. I rode the jumps everyday, just straight jumping em, and then come comp time I ended up double flipping the first set. It wasn’t planned, it just felt right when I rolled in. So when the third stop rolled around, I had to relearn my lesson about going too hard too early. And about judging. I went out firing, double flips, fronty whips, I was riding good, but began to work out I didn’t need to do that to make it through qualifying and even more so, worked out that they weren’t judging me against what everyone else was doing but against what I was doing, against myself, and what I did last stop. So when I got 11th, it finally sunk in. Vegas baby, stop four, bring the story... Come the last stop, Vegas. I was in a good position to win park and dirt overall. But I crashed in a run, got fourth and missed out on taking the overall Dirt Dew cup by a little bit. It didn’t bum me out. I was going against people that had mad pressure on them, and I had pressure on me, I really felt it. Before my run I had interviews galore and they were asking about my brother, what it would be like to win the cup, and what it was like to lose my brother. So while it was OK to talk about it on camera, straight after the interviews, it hit me that I’d be going home and he wouldn’t be there. To ride after that was real, real tough. They want their dollars worth out of you don’t they? Looking back, it was crazy, before stop one, I had nothing to lose, then come the last stop, I had both cups to lose... And they interview you to build their story, to give the viewers a story and if it means it affects your riding, even better for them and the show. You crack or you win, either way they win. To learn exactly how that media deal all works was gnarly. So next year, with what you’ve learned, how will you tackle it? I met a lot of riders on that trip, that was the biggest learning curve. It’s like say meeting your biggest musical star or hero, and they aren’t what you thought. Luckily there were a few that really inspired me to ride and love riding. Especially Dennis Enarson. He doesn’t care if the tranny has a massive hole in it, he’ll ride it no matter what. I love BMX, it’s not about the money, simple as that. If I had no clothes, I’d still ride my bike. No sponsors? I’d still ride.
The Australian Connection
FIT BIKE CO.
FIT BIKE CO
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The Australian Connection FIT BIKE CO.
THE AUSTRALIAN CONNECTION Photos by Nick Gascoine Interview by Matt Holmes Answers and bio’s by Andre ‘Dre’ Regli
At a time when some in the local industry are trimming budgets, Fit Bike Co’s Australian connection are pushing hard to see big things happen here on these shores. With Andre ‘Dre’ Regli coming on board as team manager, their heavy hitting team of shredders has been on a mission with trips, webclips and more on an almost weekly basis. They recently hit up our nations capital to get the team together, clock up some clips and have a good time. What better time than to find out what’s going on with their crew.
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Pool Life
l o o P . e f Li e Rubinich Photostory by Dav
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Pool Life
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Interview ANDREW LAZURUK
Let’s start with the basics, tell us a little bit about yourself? I’m 24, from Nelson BC, Canada and I ride for MacNeil bikes, Hart & Huntington clothing and Tenpack Distribution. Have you lived in Canada / Kelowna all your life? I’ve lived Canada my whole life not Kelowna though. I moved from Nelson to Kelowna in the summer of 2005. You have travelled to New Zealand a number of times over the years, what made you first want to travel to New Zealand?
By Mike Davies
Ya I’ve been to new Zealand three times now, each time for about a month. The summer I moved to Kelowna also happened to be the summer the Luke Gilfoyle and Richard Gregory went from New Zealand to Canada. They ended up staying in Kelowna too and that’s where I met them. We ended up being really good friends and hanging out a bunch while they were there, so when they had to go home to NZ, going to visit them was definitely a big part of what made me want to go there. I can’t thank those dudes enough for making my first trip over there so much fun. What would be the most important part of travelling to New Zealand for you, is it the riding, the friends, escaping the Canadian Winter? Man it’s hard to pick just one, all of those things are huge reasons to keep going back. I really don’t like snow or cold weather so missing Canadian winter and being somewhere warm is awesome. Riding there is rad too, it was really cool to ride some of the older parks and now there are so many new ones since the last time I was there I’m looking forward to going back. I’ve been lucky to meet and be friends with a lot of amazing people over there so going back and catching up with them is really important to me too.
In the past years we have seen many photos and videos and read stories of riders from New Zealand and Australia making the journey across the Pacific to indulge in the beauty of Canada and the many riding spots it has to offer. But the story goes both ways, over the years many Canadian riders have also made the trip halfway across the world to ride and enjoy what New Zealand and Australia has to offer. In this interview we catch lazaruk to hear his thoughts and stories on making the journey across the Pacific to the sunny shores of New Zealand and what it means to him him.
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What would you describe as one of your best riding memories from your travels to New Zealand? That would probably have to be during my first trip down there and road tripping to Wellington for x-air. I travelled from Auckland down to Wellington with the Bolter brothers, Ewok, and a bunch of other awesome dudes. Got to meet a ton of people and ride a ton of fun spots, it was one of the best road trips I’ve been on. Definitely one of my best NZ riding memories. And your best memories from New Zealand off the bike? I definitely can’t pick just one. Everytime I’m there I have an amazing time. I’ve been really lucky to stay with Luke and his brother Ashley each time I’ve been over there. Those guys are the best, some of my best friends, so just hanging out at the house drinking beers, BBQing, and partying with them is always a good time.
Interview ANDREW LAZURUK
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Name Of Fun
MITCH MORISONS SUMMER
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IN THE NAME OF FUN.
Name Of Fun MITCH MORISONS SUMMER
THE PHOTOGRAPHERS SUMMER. PICTURES BY MITCH MORISON. GOOD TIMES WITH FRIENDS.
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A Rich Perspective
Live, learn &
JOE RICH
CREATIVE OUTPUT The Words & Photos of
Joe Rich
Intro Will Herrmann
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y first BMX video was a 3 tape VHS combination of Standards Exit 63, Generation and Role Models made for my brother by his friend and then passed down the line to my outspread arms. At the time the scratched and stretched tape held for me the start of BMX and the start of the rest of of my life. Most alternative cultures are now driven by audio visual output, it is the style magazine my mum reads morphed and twisted into video format for our community to reference, imitate and judge. Within BMX, the video has played a huge role in building our scene into what it is, it’s the guide so many follow. Of my triple VHS the Chris Stauffer section of Role Models became worn and faded due to countless pauses and rewinds, this demise was all thanks to my wanting to ride and generally be Stauffer. As I have grown older my range of vision has broadened to where I gain as much pleasure from absorbing a documentary and alternative medias as I once did from 2 hours of faded BMX videotape. The BMX video is still engaging but personally inspiration has started to come from different places. I think of BMX videos, and the format is generally the same, and why not? It’s tried and tested, but the occasional change of pace and direction can really open eyes. I was sitting on the Derby Backyard Jam street course surrounded by the majority of the UK BMX scene, the days riding was over and now everyone was gathered for the long awaited premiere of Terrible Ones ‘You get what you get’. The shabby white sheet was draped over the wall ride and the lights were turned down, the next minutes were to be filled with some of the best riders in the world. About halfway through the video a loud voice from the masses sounded out, hollering “Boring!” at the top of his voice, the outburst went by mostly un-noticed I think. At the time I felt embarrassed to be linked with the scene. The video didn’t comply with what was regarded as the usual format for BMX, in fact I believe it to be far more a travel documentary than a BMX video, but that’s just my perspective. Creating something different and trying to pursue originality is often a tough road to follow, but here we had the T1 video. The video took what I considered BMX to be and transferred it to video format, not just the tricks, not just the spots, what it did was capture the essence of what riding can truly be about. In more recent times hard copy videos have been over run by webclips and the HD, blu-ray, super-slomo, go-pro, post-production generation of video has really found its feet. I often find it hard to tell apart one video from the next, but as is true with any creative output if you can capture the atmosphere and give a honest perspective of something, generally you are on to a winner. Throughout all these changes and progressions the videos of Joe Rich have continued to capture the essence of riding, with the recent Australia trip video and numerous other installments I thought it high time to get his perspective on creative output within the BMX world.
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A Rich Perspective JOE RICH
SNOWDAYS.PIC:
“I’ve been on a good number of trips that are full of sun and blue skies. However, mother nature is always in control. Most people don’t think of Arizona when they think of snow, but that was what we woke up to when we unzipped the tent. This was the 2nd night of a 3 week long trip with Ryan Corrigan and Garrett Byrnes. It was an adventure filled with pipes, pools, and random trannys. My life has continuously revolved around trips like this.”
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New Products FRESH IS BEST
New Products Photos Tony Nolan
TSC Captive forks www.TRIPLESIX.com.au TSC’s new adjustable offset fork designed exclusively for use with female axle hubs allow you to customize your axle offset from 26mm to 32mm, effectively raking your bike out a little more or less. Of course they’re 100% 4130 Sanko chromoly with fluted, butted, tapered tubing and formed shape at dropouts to increase strength. All this is heat treated after welding has taken place.
St Martin Freecoaster www.NEWCIRCLE.com.au It’s all about the fakey. Freecoasters have been making a solid comeback over the past few years with a few different types about the place. The advantage of a freecoaster is simple, when you’re rolling backwards (or your wheel is spinning backwards), your pedals don’t move. The most reliable type is the standard clutch and bearing design as it’s the simplest, easiest to maintain and most weight effective. The St Martin coaster comes with an alloy shell, 10mm CrMo axle along with 3 sealed bearings and a RHD 9 tooth one-piece driver along with being a clutch and bearing style. Weight is an even 480 grams, comparable with some cassette hubs out there today. The guys at Newcircle carry a full range of spares as well so you never need to go hunting for that elusive axle or bearing.
Fit BF grips www.ECIIMPORTS.com Classic moto look and feel for the man with more classic moto look and feel on a BMX than pretty much anyone. Brian Foster rules. Try his grips! 145m long. Lotsa colours including classic gum shown here.
Demolition Wheels www.DEMOLITIONBRAND.com It makes sense for Demolition to drop wheelsets being that they make some of the sweetest hubs and rims out there today. So they’ve matched their Zero double walled rim and laced it up with the new Rogue cassette hub and long serving Bullimia front hub. Lots of options on drivers, colours and more.
Colony CC sprocket www.COLONYBMX.com.au Chris Courtenays signature sprocket is one of the best looking chunks of machined alloy we’ve seen in a while. The alloy in question? 7075T6 which is exquisitely machined to say the least! Exquisite will now be your word of the day, use it in a conversation and blow someones mind with your new found vocabulary. Or alternatively know that this very sprocket comes in 25 or 28 teeth variants.
Etnies Number Mid shoe www.ETNIES.com One seriously light, seriously dialed shoe from Etnies, they’re also Aaron Ross’s pro kicks. The Number Mid offers full ankle support and a pedal-hugging tread pattern for perfect grip, plus flair in the form of a swank removable strap and a retro basketball-inspired tongue logo. We be digging the translucent soles.
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New Products FRESH IS BEST
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