VANS X COLONY PACK WYLIE & MILO OUT MARCH 2012
Road Trip tHe set iN pertH
PHOTOS BY LUKE CRIDLAN/WORDS BY CALVIN KOSOVICH PERTH IS THE SECOND MOST ISOLATED CITY IN THE WORLD BUT IN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS IT’S BEEN A GOOD STREET RIDING DESTINATION. AFTER TALKING TO MARC OVER AT THE SET HE DECIDED TO DO A SMALL TRIP TO PERTH WITH CHRIS O’DONNEL, KYM GROSSER, TIM CAWTHORNE AND MYSELF.
DAY 1
Rolled into Perth domestic airport around lunch time to pick up suspect one, Chris O’Donnell, spaced out and tired we headed to the local BMX store Royal BMX. Caught up with some lads and checked into the hostel, Chris was keen to hit up Jus Burgers after getting tipped of by Dave Dillewaard who came through on a non riding trip earlier this year. The burgers killed it so we headed around the corner to the Ezra pound for a quick beer. Kym Grossers flight was scheduled for 10pm so we had the day to spare before the trip kicked off. We decided to hit up a rail spot that was in a park D-Money got a quick over tooth grind on the down, good start to the trip. As it was a Wednesday we headed down to Manning skatepark for a night session which went off well a lot of locals were throwing as usual. After that it was time to pick up Kym at the airport, supplies ready and waiting for his arrival.
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Road Trip tHe set iN pertH First clip of the trip, mid line.
DAY 2 Breakfast then straight into BMX, we headed to Mt Lawley University to search for a street playground. Danger fired out a rad line in the first five minutes of getting there, followed by Kym, who went to town on some crazy colourful sculptures and myself getting a cheeky little something. Rolled down the road deeper into the University and Kym spotted a ledge to fire reel setup, which he banged out a solid ice on. I found a rad little ledge setup to bin hop over and scored a clip. Drove over to the other side of town to hit up UWA, which has an amazing fold out rail setup. Danger put down a switch hanger only to get a flat on impact. Kym got an ice on the inside of the rail which was super dialed. After getting a few clips we went back to Royal BMX to fix up Dangers flat tire. He’d seen a spot the day before on the side of the road when we were driving so we went to check it out. It was a quick gap to wall and a ledge that ran down the side of the road. D-Money put down a big tuck no hands with some solid pace. Beers and Al Green followed soon after that and we called it a day.
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The Giant of Dirt
dANe seArls
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tHe GiANt of dirt
dANe seArls
seArls
The Giant of Dirt
Dane Words by those who knew
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“Burrier is situated on the Southern side of the With Shoalhaven River approximately 30 kilometres ryan from Nowra. It has two well known bush camping parks, Coolendel & Grady’s (which are great locations dawson for launching your canoe) Four wheel driving enthusiasts also enjoy this area.” Sounds like a good time to me.
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Feature
G PHOTOS BY MITCH MORISON. WORDS BY WILL HERRMANN
forest dweller
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RoadTrip foCAlpoiNt so we were driving home to melbourne, we grab some food in Albury with tenna before we say our goodbyes and he brings up that he might have a railhop photo to shoot. this wasn’t what i expected but it was nuts, the run off as soon as he lands is steep with sketchy plants and rocks everywhere and to top it off there is a fence at the bottom. No idea how he survived it but he did.
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RoadTrip foCAlpoiNt
ANY EXCUSE WILL DO FOR A ROADTRIP, THIS ONE WAS BECAUSE OF THE LONG WEEKEND THAT MELBOURNE EXPERIENCE AT THE END OF OCTOBER EVERY YEAR. SO MYSELF, DJ, MARNOLD AND VANDENBERG HAD PLANNED TO GO TO CANBERRA AND HIT UP SPOTS WITH THE LOCAL CREW. HOWEVER I FORGOT I WAS GOING TO BE IN BRISBANE AROUND THAT TIME, IT ACTUALLY WORKED OUT GOOD AS I DROVE BACK DOWN THE LONG, LONG ROAD FROM BRISBANE WHILST THE GUYS FLEW INTO CANBERRA AND MET UP WITH ME. TENNA ALSO GOT WIND OF THE TRIP BEING PLANNED, SO HE JUMPED IN THE CAR AND CRUISED UP TO CANBERRA FROM ALBURY TO MEET UP WITH US. WE THEN SPENT THE FOLLOWING FOUR DAYS RIDING AROUND TOWN, EXPLORING THE SURROUNDING SUBURBS AND BEING SHOWN A FEW HIDDEN GEMS BY ZAC AND JACKO. IT’S SUMMER NOW MY FRIENDS, GET IN THE CAR OR ON A PLANE AND GO EXPLORE!
Photos and words by Cooper Brownlee and the crew
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Interview todd meYN
Todd Meyn is somewhat of an enigma in Australia, with more knowing his name from webclips than from riding in his own country. From humble beginnings, he’s taken his love for BMX to the world at a very young age and is stamping his name into the history of BMX in Australia and the world. I nter v i ew a n d p h otos by B re t Tr ig g
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Interview todd meYN
The Art Jam All GlAm of Rail reVolVer Goes off! Extreme dude, long jump slide out
There are three things you should do mighty quickly before you read all of this.. Go and buy a copy of Judas Priest,s Greatest Hits, poor yourself a midori based beverage, then listen to Judas Rising off your brand new album. Now, as you smash these new lyrics in your leather cap and chaps, you can sit and wonder what the fuck youre doing holding a midori, and why you missed out on an epic, glammed up man fest.
The masses; so frightening, Came out of nowhere Grinded sub-par mess, Bikes tattered and worn. Whores on the ledges: Richmond United! Sponsors so generous, But peters folorn. Flip-whips in the drains; Best thing i have ever seen, Long jumps and games, And kids that surprised me, PETER YOU,RE CRYING? J.P: wallride slayer, Alan Knievil, Taking no prisoners, Zip gets all the girls! Humanity trembles as goon is the winner, No-one gets no mercy, collarbones shant be saved, For personal gain, he ,ll get the shot you see, Having a good yell, But not realising: PETER IS CRYING! Fists of dirt for meals, As peter was spying, Morgan Wade,s rad steeze, No mouthgaurd no trying PETER ,S STILL CRYING! PETER STOP CRYING! ,‘ Authors note: nobody,s feelings were hurt during the writing of this piece.,
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Jam All GlAm
P H O TO S BY M I T C H M O R I S O N , M AT T H O L M E S , G O R M A N a n d P ET E C O N WAY W O R D S BY ALEX LIIV. I n t r o By x av e ko e n
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PHO T O S B Y M I T C H MOR I S ON , WOR D S B Y PAU L C H A M B E R L I N Tuesday night. Facebook is saying that Ammon Chesworth is in hospital. Seems bad. “Shooting with Mitch Morison”, “Gap to second stage ice gone wrong”, say the comments. Mitch Morison, no face to put to that name but it’s one I’ve read before a few times. It’s a sunny Sunday afternoon at Dulwich Hill skatepark, when a thin longhaired guy wearing an actual shirt with buttons rocks up. It’s Mitch. He’s here with a couple of guys to shoot photos. It’s hot, so I welcome the distraction. One guy ends up trying a barspin line a few times and then calls it a day. It works out for Mitch because he gets to ride. It’s not often that a photographer does. We’re having a pretty good session when my thoughts drift back to Facebook and I remember the news of Ammon’s recent crash. I put the Mitch in the Mitch Morison and get straight to it. “What was it like?” A weak question. Why have I asked that? I don’t really know what I expected as an answer. His face sinks and I regret asking him instantly. I feel like everything’s darkened around us and the world’s frowning upon me for prying. He’s visibly shaken. His gaze shifts into space, then to the left, and slightly downwards as he recalls an emotion. I don’t know what he’s feeling but man it’s bad. “It was horrible”, he says, after some silence and a false start. He quietly repeats the same words to himself, driving the message home and ending that conversation right where it started. Time passes. It’s now the Halloween jam and I’m looking at Ammon… He looks really skinny and he’s missing a few teeth. He looks terrible if I’m honest. “How are you going man? ” Another weak question, but it’s customary in this country. Ammon fires back in high spirits; “Alright, getting back into riding! Can’t ride for too long because after a while all the vibrations hurt my face where it’s fractured. He’s obviously stoked to be healing and unshaken by his injuries. “It’s probably not what you want to hear, but I’m not going to wear a helmet”, he continues. He’s right, it’s not my dream response, but I respect him a lot for being totally forthright and honest. I reluctantly ask him if he’ll come back as gnarly as before. “I’m gonna come back gnarlier”, he says instantly with so much passion and determination that I know he’s good for every definition of that word. He’s got a few beers in him and he hits the snake run. I can tell Mitch wishes he wasn’t riding. Mitch looks really tense. He doesn’t say anything when Ammon is riding. He just watches intently, like he’s holding his breath. Or something. I won’t see Ammon again until the jam at Emu Plains.
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Over the weeks following these two conversations I thought a lot about the situation. Mitch as the photographer. Ammon as the rider. That deep feeling that Mitch relived up on the deck at Dulwich Hill. What was it? Why the hell was Ammon even more determined to continue down the same path? I wanted to know everything about the crash and explore the relationship between the photographer and the rider. I really just wanted to know what Mitch was feeling at that time. The conversations with Mitch and Ammon drift in and out of my head many times randomly during work and whilst riding. I tell the editor that I’m going to write something along the lines of ‘the relationship and interplay between the photographer and the rider’. It all sounds very grand, but all I can think about is that mystery feeling that Mitch had the day I met him. Not knowing drives me crazy. I start thinking about Mitch and next about photos. How they’re nothing, but at the same time everything. How they may capture and portray a genuine feeling or capture a moment in the subject’s life as it passes forever. And how pictures may also be beautiful liars, replacing reality with the creative visions of a keen photographer. The first is journalism and the second is art. I start thinking about how many great BMX photos capture, but disguise what for the photographer and rider may have been a terribly tense time in their lives, that ended - to their relief - with a flash of light and the well-judged opening and closing of a shutter. I wonder if it’s stressful or fun snapping a big gap. I recall times in front of the camera both good and bad, all with great results on paper. I realise that you can never know what’s behind the paper and ink by looking alone. If there’s not obvious journalism people will only see art, and vice versa. How often does the riding take place just for the photo? How often would you get good photos if you only captured a moment in a truly enjoyable session without the rider knowing? If you look at most interviews in BMX magazines, it’s no secret that most photos in print are set up and the vast majority of those pictures capture events that probably would not have taken place if it were not for the presence of a camera. It’s a controversial statement, and one that many people may not like to read, but it’s true. And furthermore, it’s the nature of the game. A simple reflection upon the level that riding is at. Riders, like Ammon, are doing things that are so difficult and dangerous that they can’t be safely and predictably reproduced in the way that a footjam on a sub box can. He does lines that are so crazy, with that much extra motivation required to even enter the ‘send it’ mindset, for want of better of words. I start wondering what the dynamic is when Mitch is setting up and Ammon is about to lay it on the line. I feel tense even thinking about it…
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So now I’m sitting down with Mitch. Notepad in my left hand and pen in my right. Disguising the fact that I haven’t really done anything concrete until now. I instantly have the desire to ask him if he remembers that time at Dulwich Hill, but I stop short and ask about the rail instead. I don’t know why. I guess rails don’t have feelings. A double-kinked rail peaked out of the bush off on the side of the motorway as Ammon was heading out to Lithgow for a driving course. I guess he had a driving ban or something like that. A sketchy double-kinked rail that connects two sections of a hairpin turn halfway up a Blue Mountain. Ammon’s foot was fractured so he was probably hungrier than ever, having been unable to ride for a while. It looked pretty rough at first glance and it definitely wasn’t what you would call ‘a spot’. It was perfect for him though. Gnarly, and more importantly, a rail that nobody had even thought about hitting. He didn’t get out and check it out, but he made a mental note that made having to go out to Lithgow for the day at little more worthwhile.
Two days later Mitch is up in the mountains to shoot photos of Glewy. Ammon is tagging along. His foot’s feeling a bit better though so he has a roll at the skatepark to get a much missed riding fix. The trio are sitting in the car thinking about where to head next. There’re not too many ideas floating around so Ammon throws it out there. “I’ll gap to second stage ice that rail I told you about”. Mitch had come a long way and Ammon didn’t want to let him down. Even though Ammon’s foot was broken, Mitch didn’t want to be a naysayer and talk him out of it. “It was one of those moments when I was about to let something pass, just like I have in the past, so this time I didn’t let it”, recounted Mitch. Mitch fed off of Ammon’s enthusiasm and confidence. It was to be the perfect mix of art and journalism. A unique photo to conclude a day and finish a story that started on a drive out to Lithgow. It clearly wasn’t meant to be though. This story is interrupted as an image of Ammon’s toothless, bloodied and disorientated is full-screened. Mitch looks for a few seconds before turning away. I see that same look on his face but it’s obvious what it is now. It’s a mix of guilt and horror.
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