The Abion Issue 12

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18 “Underdog” Stu-Art

76 Ressurecting the Devil Derek Adams and Little Devil

24 Colts Mike Curley

86 Back of the Bus Luc Legrand

32 Colts “Dan Bob”

96 Successful Mess Phil Demattia

38 Shayn Steels “Shanky”

110 Life Lesson 001: Gay Dave’s New Citroen Saxo

52 Nothing First Wintering in Africa

118 Strays Photo Section

58 Don’t Mess With Morgan Wade

128 Stunt Man Mercury Morgan

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the albion — Vol. II, Issue twelve

Editor-In-Chief Daniel Benson benson@thealbion.cc associate Editor George Marshall george@thealbion.cc associate Editor Steve Bancroft banners@thealbion.cc Publisher Tim March tim@thealbion.cc art Director Robert Loeber rob@thealbion.cc

Photographers: Daniel Benson George Marshall Steve Bancroft Vincent Perraud Chris Hallman Vincent Gedes adam Wallacavage Joe Cox Chris Marshall Devon Denim Jeans

Digital advertising manager Steve Bancroft

technical Lead George Marshall

Film archivist Imacon

addional Graphics: Ross Teperek

London office Catering Amy Silvester

technical Lead Steve Bancroft

Magazine production manager Tim March

London office Security Richie Guns

Finacial analyst Tim March

Subscriptions Executive George Marshall

Bournemouth office Catering Scania Price

Distribution Strategist Steve Bancroft

Copy editors Mark Noble Alex Allan

Camera Surgeon Steve Bancroft

Finacial analyst Tim March

Finacial analyst Tim March

Digital director Daniel Benson

Recruitment Consultant Nathan Beddows

Marketing and Events Director George Marshall

Digital Development Steve Bancroft

Central Planning Daniel Benson

Marketing and Events Manager Daniel Benson

ad operations Tim March

Website Manager We have a website?

Human Resourses Editor George Marshall

Digital Coordinator What does this even mean?

online Editors Daniel Benson Robert Loeber George Marshall Steve Bancroft Tim March

Content Distribution Manager Daniel Benson

Distribution Vauxhall Astra Van

Photo Editors Steve Bancroft Daniel Benson George Marshall Rob Loeber advertising Manager Steve Bancroft Group Publisher Tim March translator Vincent Perraud

Receptionist Depends on who is home.

Editor at Large Steve Bancroft

Content associate Steve Bancroft

Large Editor Tim March

angry Late night Phonecalls Tim March

Digital Editors: Daniel Benson George Marshall Steve Bancroft

Head of Marketing Daniel Benson

Cover artist Bertie Buck

UK Edition

Visual midwife Rob Loeber

Content distribution Manager Daniel Benson

Director of sales and marketing George Marshall

Credit Control Tim March (sort of...)

Content distribution associate Steve Bancroft

Production Manager George Marshall

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Executive assistant Daniel Benson

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Credit Control Tim March (sort of...)

Marketing admin Steve Bancroft

Senior Researcher Tim March

Management time Supervisor George Marshall

addional Graphics: Ross Teperek

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Management accountant Daniel Benson

thanks Amy Silvester Gaz Sanders Cameron Natalie Wade Jason Sleighton

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The Albion BMX Magazine is avalible at all good bikes shops in the UK & North America. See thealbion.cc for more details. Logo and icons designed by Ross Teperek. This issue is typeset using the Plantin font family, designed by Frank Hinman Pierpont in 1913. Albion Grotesk was designed exclusively for this publication by Robert Loeber. All rights reserved.

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Editorial

I’ve muttered quietly to myself, half daydreaming and on journeys unrelated to BMX, will I still look at handrails and spots in the same way as I do now when I’m old?

I’m not talking 40, apparently that’s not even old anymore, I’m talking real old age, with grandkids, comfortable brown slacks and a walking stick to keep me steady, will I still look at that peach of a seven stair rail and go ‘that’d be a fucking sweet icepick.’

With BMX being so young nobody has reached that age where we can say whether they will or not, although all the evidence says we will. In all honesty, I’m looking forward to being on some boring family holiday and nipping off round some dull historic town to see if there are any sweet ledges. You see, BMX really does take over our lives and becomes an incredibly difficult habit to shake. Yet even so, it means different things to different people and not only that; it means different things to the individual throughout

the course of their life. It’s a gift that keeps on giving, one that asks for nothing in return.

In issue 12, we’ve covered almost four decades of what BMX means to different people. Mercury Morgan, at 49 may be the oldest man we’ve interviewed and although his particular blend of gung-ho machismo aboard his Schwinn beach cruiser might seem far removed from what BMX means to others, it still retains that danger and fearlessness that we see in riders like Shayn Steels and Morgan Wade found elsewhere in the mag. We also introduce young riders like Mike Curly, whose infectious enthusiasm isn’t so different to that of Derek Adams working out what aspects of BMX mean the most to him after nearly 20 years in the industry.

As we step into the great unknown, some of us push the envelope, others write the letter and all of us receive something different from our BMX bikes.

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"underdog" the undisputed underground Stu-art Wayne Wright Jr’s underdog scene down in new orleans Hmmm… Where do I start? How about some broken ribs, countless busted tubes, a few pins and screws to hold my shoulder together, a couple of cracked frames, a broken glenoid cavity, and a JB Welded crank bolt to keep my sprocket on. Yes, it’s been tough pedalin’ fantastical freestyle for 13 years, but it’s been completely worth all the trouble. I am Stu-Art Wayne Wright Jr., and I ride for no one except myself. I have been called the Underdog for years, but I keep on riding the wave, enjoying the sheer exhilaration of riding my bike. I ride my BMX to work 14 miles a day, a used bike that was handed down to me by Mike Lausman five years ago, when people riding American BB and 45’s was already a lost art. I ride because I love it; it’s my passion; it’s a part of my life, my struggle, my masterpiece.

Photography by Joe Gall and Quentin Price Words by Stu-art WaYne WriGHt Jr

I

n the 13 years of pedalin’ and living in various places I have never felt a part of any scene, if there even was one. An outcast, a wallflower, an underdog. Yep, that’s me. I currently reside in the infamous New Orleans, a kingdom for misfits and outsiders. New Orleans has a pretty heavy history with its past, being that of the demise of Native Americans, a slave port, segregation, pirate outpost, and let’s not forget about Ms. Betsy and Ms. Katrina.

So it has higher vibrations and stronger frequencies.

I mean, people have been through so much with all these atrocities and still manage to stay so strong. You see, in NOLA, life is a celebration and a struggle, that’s why we live day by day, for the moment. I originally moved here for painting, art and music.

You see, although New Orleans has a serious history, it also has a deep-rooted culture in music and the arts. Although my intentions were to focus on these, I was captivated by the amount of spots there were to ride. I guess the vibrations inspired me to jump on my BMX and paint the city with my fantastical freestyle.

So, there I was, Han Solo looking for unique spots and people to ride with. I found Bobby, a punker dude and a kool kat. Tabe Rowe, my Scandinavian brother, and Mickey Marshall, a true Louisiana BMX legend. If more people had the outlook Mickey did the BMX world would be a better place. We share the same belief about ridin’. We ride because we love it and we ride to feel what it is to be a kid again. We work regular jobs that barely make it and ride our bikes when we can. It’s a constant struggle. We laugh about it all the time and say, “We’re 29 years old and still gettin’ broke off and ridin’ everyday like 12-year-olds.” While I’m writing this, actually, none of our bikes are working to go shred. Fuck it; it was fun while we were breaking ‘em.

New Orleans only has about a dozen riders in the city. There are two parks to ride, the Compound ramp park and a DIY skater built park, called the Peach Orchard aka The Hippie Spot, which is where I first met Mickey when he was showing the Cult Crew around. The Compound is a privately owned wood park across the river. The Hippie Spot was built by a group of local skaters that wanted a place to call their own, with the mastermind of Joey O’Mahoney, who believes that, “having DIY public parks are a way to knock out the capitalists.” At first this hippie spot was in between railroad tracks and a highway bridge and then one day without notice, it was bulldozed by the Railroad Company stating that it was too close to the tracks. A week later, Joey and his crew started rebuilding under the bridge. Just like New Orleans, just like an underdog, it takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’. It is a killer place to ride, with concrete waves to carve until the moon comes up.

I typically ride such things as abandoned amusement parks, satellite dishes, pools, upside down boats, art sculptures and anything that might not be there a week from now. According to other BMXers there is not much to ride in New Orleans, so New Orleans

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never gets credit or coverage in media that it truly deserves. Shit man, if you ask me, New Orleans is freestyle. In my opinion, there are treasures to ride around every corner, but there is also danger.

New Orleans may be called the murder capital of the United States, but don’t get your panties in a bunch, ‘cause we take a risk every time we ride our bikes down the street. If you ask me, NOLA should be called the Killer Kapitol of freestyle of the United States. For instance, one time while I was riding the hippie spot with a couple of skaters, some kids came sprinting past the park, being chased by two overweight detectives.

They made it over the railroad tracks, and then we heard shots fired. POP! POP! POP! Everyone else scattered… I stayed and continue to ride. I thought to myself, “I rode all the way here through three neighborhoods, and I gotta ride all the way back through them to get home. If getting shot while I am doing what I love – well, what a great way to go.” So I continued to shred, unharmed. New Orleans can be moody. Awesome koolical one minute and then do or die the next. It is truly a place for the underdog and some other dumb dicks too.

"let’s not let new orleans be a synonym for the underdog scene, it should be somewhere in the history books of creating your own dreams."

And as far as being an underdog in an underdog scene, it leaves you a lot of room for creating your own scene. I think I have been an underdog my whole life, because I am not “bar-flipping, fingerboard, scootblading” – I wish our scene was more united…

You know, a solid group of guys. Getting together to share our one thing in common – but it’s not.

Hell, maybe these few words will help bring our kind together rather than always competing against each other. That is why I am writing this, to make some noise and to show the world that New Orleans has some of the most unique spots I have ever ridden or will ride in my life. Amidst the beautiful decay, amongst the chaotic concrete swampland, there is a bright voodoo light shining in the darkness for the

“Underdog”

The Undisputed Underground

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underdog. With all the beauty and violence enough for one thousand cities, it will one day be a lost city of Atlantis. So, until the waves come crashing in and the second line parade carries me home, know that we are New Orleans and we are here BMX family. Don’t be afraid to come ride with the spirits or listen to the drumbeats from Congo Square; who knows you might not want to leave after that. Let’s not let New Orleans be a synonym for the underdog scene, it should be somewhere in the history books of creating your own dreams.

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"We share the same belief about ridin’. We ride because we love it and we ride to feel what it is to be a kid again."

“Underdog”

COLTS

Mike Curley Young, obsessively passionate and with a staggering array of technical street skills, Mike Curley is the face of a new generation of BMXers. Here at The Albion we’re all over 30, all accelerating down the backside of our BMX skills at a frightening pace, and up until now we’ve been primarily preoccupied with characters from BMX’s ‘Golden Age’. For us these slightly weathered but colourful characters held more intrigue and interest than the majority of the undeniably talented but significantly less noteworthy mid-school generation out there.

But with the rise of Mike’s new ultra-young and ultra-skilled generation a strange predicament is brewing that will throw up some interesting new content and have a profound impact on the shape of BMX in the very near future. What’s happening is this – as riding becomes more accepted and more mainstream, riders are getting better than the people they look up to at an everyounger age. And, without heroes to look up to for inspiration and guidance, their insatiable desire for progression leaves them with no option but to make stuff up themselves. So we have a host of new kids who can do things that no one else ever has – and that’s a very exciting prospect indeed.

Words and Photography by STEVE BANCROFT

[a] Down table.

The pages of this magazine aren’t the best medium to showcase Mike’s phenomenal skills on a bike, his long flowing and spinning front and back wheel manual lines are far better viewed via the moving images of webvideos and DVDs, but as a taster of what he gets up to, just yesterday I watched him effortlessly nail a 180 to backwards manual to five-cab to manual-three down a long three stair. And the day before, while riding a four-bench set-up he iced the first to manual to noz the next to manual to noz the third to manual bar the last…

To say Mike loves BMX would be a crude understatement. Having no job and not in education, riding every day without fail, the hours of devotion put in by this new generation is frightening. He spends so much time on his bike, he wears clean through a pair of grips in just three weeks.

Living rent free in a run-down town with not much else going on, BMX is Mike’s life and such is the intensity of his passion for bike riding, if he ever fails to pull a line exactly how he wants and is forced to leave something unfinished, he’s left utterly heartbroken, pained to his very soul.

Apart from friends and family, living in Blackburn surrounded by decay and dead drug dealers, he literally has nothing else to care about, he’s all in for riding bikes.

Here’s a transcription of a conversation we recorded while escaping a cold snap and living his dream in Spain.

"Most of the time I have no money so I go to Morrisons’ car park, I just started trying to do one space... after a good while I was up to 30 spaces" Mike: I never thought I’d have a chance to be in The Albion, just because it’s such a big magazine that everyone looks up to. I’m just a kid who rides bikes.

Albion: This magazine is full of kids who ride bikes Mike. I know what you mean though, normally our rag concentrates on more established riders, but like what I was talking about over dinner: you’re hot shit man.

Mike: Just even things like dinner tonight... Until I went on a BMX trip I’d never eaten in a restaurant before. We never had much money growing up, I’m from a small town up North, so when I first got meals paid for me on trips I didn’t know what to do, I’d look at a menu and not know what anything was. I just can’t believe that I’m in Spain right now eating all these big steaks and having a good time because of my bike, it’s like a dream.

Haha, you really are like a kid in a candy shop out here huh?

I’m psyched on the photos we shot. I took a photo on my phone of that downtable one didn’t I, even though you didn’t want me to, and I just keep looking at it thinking “Yes, I’m happy with that. Psyched.”

So we can get a gauge of just how young you are, what was the first video you ever watched?

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Colts

[b] Gap to Wall.

Mike Curley

27

28

Colts

It was United’s ‘Don’t Matter’, I got if off my local shop for free, we all did, and I just watched it and thought “Yes man, this is sick”... and I watched it... and watched it... and watched it. I scraped a bike off my mate for £80, it was a crappy GT, I just rode it every single day and watched the DVD every single day. Then Ride To Glory came out, the first one, and I watched that every day.

So you liked that video eh? It’s weird how everyone at The Albion played a part in that huh?

Yeah, I just thought it was amazing and watched it every day. I know every trick. The same with the Federal Paris web video, I can name every trick before it happens. Derrick Strickland’s hang tens and Davey Watson’s riding were the best thing I’d ever seen.

Well it’s pretty obvious that those two have had an influence on your riding. Did you just copy those guys at first?

Yeah, hang tens and fakie 540s, just the things that used to stick out and blow my mind, I’d just try to learn them.

You went on Ride To Glory yourself last year, how was that for you?

It was the best. It was the first trip I’d been on and I just couldn’t believe it was happening. I couldn’t believe that I was in a bus travelling around with people like Jason Phelan and going to pubs in every town, it was the best thing ever. I never though I’d be on a trip, or be sponsored, I still can’t believe it.

You live with your old man right, and he didn’t really take too kindly to you riding bikes all day?

Yeah, he’s quite a traditional guy, an ex semi-professional footballer. He believes in just go to college, get a job, work the rest of your life, retire, and that’s it. But I kind of worked out that that can’t just be it. That can’t be all there is to life. I want to have fun and do what I want to for a bit, I’ll get a job ’n all that, but right now I just want to ride bikes.

How did you get hooked up by Wethepeople?

I was riding in Blackpool skatepark, I love Dakota Roche and he had just started doing nose mannies at the time so I learnt them and I was doing hang tens like Derrick Strickland – and Jason Phelan just came over, started chatting and asked if we could make an edit sometime. I didn’t hear anything from him for a while but the next time I saw him at a Halloween all-nighter in Rampworxs he asked me if I’d be into riding for Wethepeople. I was psyched off my fucking head.

You ride a lot right. Like your grips man, you honestly wear clean through a pair of grips in three weeks. I’ve had my grips for three years man...

It’s just all the nozz’s and slinging barspins. Yeah, I ride as much as I can. I get up, go down the skatepark, ride there for a few hours, maybe go ride some spots for a bit and then go back to the park. In the evening, if I’ve got any money, then I’ll go to the

indoor park, and if not I’ll go to the underground car park and ride there. Just all day, every day.

I managed to sit through the Ride UK warehouse project DVD the other day and I saw you do the longest nose manual I’ve ever seen. After watching you ride for a week I know that was no fluke either... do you just find them easy or something?

Nah, it took ages to learn them. Where I live it just rains and rains and rains, every day it seems, and most of the time I have no money so I go to Morrison’s car park, it’ll be dry there and has unlimited car park spaces. I just started trying to do one space, and when I got that dialled, I moved on to two spaces, then three, and it just went from there, just doing that every day, then after a good while I was up to 30 spaces. Most of the time I’d be by myself with my headphones on.

"I do watch old stuff though,I borrow oldschool DVDS like The Roundabout Tour Second Time Round"

I love how excited you are to be away from home riding your bike.

Well it just blows my mind, I’m not going to play it down. All I’ve ever wanted to do was travel, but I could just never see it happening, but I just couldn’t let it go and just get a job and get old. I had to borrow some money off my grandma to come away with this week, a hundred quid, she helped me out and because she helped me out I want to try my hardest. I get up early every day so I can film stuff that might take a while before everyone else is up, so that way I don’t waste anyone else’s time. I just try my best and push myself. I don’t want to let anyone down.

Does your granny watch your edits?

Yeah, she doesn’t really understand what’s going on, but she knows what it means to me.

I’m sure she’ll see the number of views and all the comments your next edit will get and she’ll see it was money well lent.

Yeah, I can’t believe it, I did a Power Hour and it got 40,000 views, and that was just me chilling at the skatepark.

[c] No Hander.

You’re a child of the internet aren’t you?

Yeah, I just watch everything. I do watch old stuff though, I borrow old-school DVDs like The Roundabout Tour Second Time Round and stuff like that from my local bike shop, Cell Block.

Wow, it’s crazy to hear a DVD like that referred to as being old-school, but there again, I guess I have been riding longer than you’ve been alive. There are no short cuts to getting as good at riding as you, it’s all just time on your bike isn’t it. But, it’s still not okay for a guy in his thirties to be real good at nose manuals is it?

Why not?

Mike Curley

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[d] Nose manual.

It’s just not right is it. Anyone in their thirties with enough time on their hands to get good at nose manuals more than likely has social problems?

Ha, I guess so. I’ve never thought about it like that.

Where are you going to take your riding?

I don’t know. I’m surprised that no one else really messes more with whiplash stuff and five-cab manual stuff. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and ride how I want to for as long as I can.

Have you ever had a job?

I used to work in JJB Sport, in the changing room, it were bad. Now I just ride all the time.

Why are you so stoked right now?

Because I’m not in the grim North of England, I’m riding my bike in a T-shirt with the sun shining and palm trees all around. How could I not be stoked.

I’m living my dream. I just can’t believe I’m going to be in The Albion.

That’s the best place for you to be in my opinion... on your bike.

Yeah, I was going to college, but I just went riding every day instead. I’d just wake up and if it were sunny or dry then I’d just go riding every day... my Dad thought I were going to college every day, but I was either down the skatepark or in the car park... in the end I just quit.

30

Colts

COLTS

Dan ’Dan BoB’ BoBakov “Sneaky fuCking ruSSian” Before I met Dan, in my mind, he was about as trustworthy as Boris the Blade.

I heard so much sketchy shit about this dude I really didn’t know what to expect. One day, I find myself going down to Philly with a mutual friend called Nicky B to meet up with the nefarious Dan Bob. We became friends and not only were most of the rumors untrue, a lot of them turned out to be inside jokes that had spread into creating a faux persona that Dan just laughs about whenever it’s brought up, that’s the type of person he is; the guy doesn’t give a fuck. Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t mean that in a shithead kinda way, his only concern is being genuine. Saying that though, as far as I’m concerned, he’ll always be a sneaky fucking Russian.

Words and Photography by ChriS MarShaLL

[a] Roof threader peg hop over Wilmington, Delaware

[b] Intersection Rail Hop Conshohocken, PA

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Colts

Albion: Aright so let’s start with the basics, what’s your name and all that shit.

Dan : Dan Bobakov. 23. I’ve been riding since I was 16 and my sponsors are Chocolate Truck and Stay Strong BMX. I work as an EMT for a private ambulance company… Well I just got laid off after a big accident so I won’t be working for a while. I just chill with my girl Valerie most of the time. Normal shit.

Albion: So you grown up by Philly your whole life?

Dan: I was born in Ukraine and came to Bensalem when I was five. It’s the suburb of Philly where a bunch of heavy hitters are from like Wiz, Big Daddy and Adam Aloise. I lived ten a minute pedal from the skate park and five from the BMX track, so I would end up cutting school to ride both of those. Most of the time by myself since I didn’t know anyone that rode at the time.

Matty Miller : I used to see you at the skate park and then you came out street riding and just killed it. So weird that you grew up in the town over and we didn’t even know about this dude we’d seen in videos and photos. Where did you start out?

Dan: [laughs] When I first started riding Bensalem BMX raceway I would always hop the fence, try to go as fast as I could and huck myself over the jumps. On of the first few times I went there I saw Big Daddy riding in some baggy jeans with pads sticking out doing the craziest shit I’d ever seen. He was jumping 25ft doubles and whipping to frame. My mind was blown and I pretty much made up my mind that I didn’t wanna do anything but that. It’s funny now that I think about it ‘cause the only way I still catch whips is to the frame.

I never really cared though about other shit after that.

Nobody’s opinion mattered to me. If my friends were down to do some stupid shit I was down to do some stupid shit. I never got to do that much growing up as a Christian kid. My mom would make me sit inside and play instruments like piano and trumpet. I would go to church four times a week and I went to a really strict Baptist Christian school for a big chunk of my life. I was a boring ass kid just not doing anything I wasn’t supposed to. I started riding my bike and that was the out. I would just tell my mom I was going out riding and she would just leave it at that.

Albion:What was your first bike?

Dan: A DK General Lee complete. I worked landscaping for my brother busting my ass to get that bike. I destroyed the whole thing in two weeks. I had no idea what to get after that. I got my mom to get me a Standard 250S. It was like 400 bucks. I thought, ‘no way this is gonna break’ because of how expensive it was. That one lasted for six months.

Matty: Weren’t you riding broken forks for a while?

Dan: Yeah. I could never really afford new parts so I just rode parts till they snapped.

Matty: Didn’t you nose manual the Peco Rail the 2nd time with broken forks and a cracked frame?

Dan: [laughs] Yeah, everything held somehow.

Dan Bob

Albion: So you never really bought new parts and were always breaking them, how did you keep rolling?

Dan: That’s what Facebook is amazing for. I would just get hand-me-down parts from random kids that would buy new shit every month so the stuff I was getting was pretty much new anyway.

Matty: Hand me downs all day… In fact, you got a hand me down cat called Shit Goose!

Dan: Goose. Best cat ever. He’s like a little puppy. I always take him outside, and he just follows me around 24/7. Never thought I’d have a cat, I was always more into dogs.

Joby Suender: Tell ‘em how you got it.

Dan: I was working. It was 4am and we were pulling up to a patient’s house in the hood in North Philly and this tiny kitten was just sitting there crying on the doorstep of the patient’s house that we were picking up. I grabbed the little dude, washed him and he chilled in the ambulance with my partner and I for like, 16 hours while we were at work.

Joby: Tell the people what your job was like?

Dan: At one point I was working five days a week for fourteen or more hours. I would have to wake up a 3am every day. It started to really wear me out because I wasn’t getting any sleep, then going riding right after work or going out. I did this for about three years. Even though the hours sucked I kinda got paid to drive and find spots around the city that I would’ve never found otherwise, so I can’t complain with that.

"i know all that shit i did was wrong and karma came back and bit me in the ass a bunch of times for it."

Albion: Just recently you got into a bad accident in the ambulance.What happened with that?

DBA: Um… So I was pretty much in the back of the ambulance with a really obese patient. Our truck got cut off and we ended up cutting a big ass telephone pole literally in a half with the front end of the truck.

It was nuts, like straight out of the movies ‘cause most of the pole was hanging by the wires and there was an electric shower over the top of the ambulance where I had to get out. I got knocked out and the patient got pretty messed up too.

Albion:You always seem to have bad rep for doing stuff whether you’re guilty or not. It seems to be that way with your bad rep in BMX too.

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"i was a boring ass kid just not doing anything i wasn’t supposed to. i started riding my bike and that was the out." [c] Anyone want to name this?

Havertown, PA

What’s with that?

Dan: I don’t know I guess that’s what happens when you’re shut in most of your childhood then get let out all of a sudden. I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I was just trying to have fun whether I was doing some stupid shit or not. My bad rep in BMX, It really all started after the Cult premier.

Larry Rhodes snuck Dave Krone and I fought Larry because of it. I was standing up for Dave. Dave came over to me and told me what happened so I had Larry come across the street because I didn’t want to fight him in front of the place. I don’t see why I was a scumbag for sticking up for my friend?

Kevin Vannauker: What about the camera you “Stole”?

Dan: I went to Boston to go on a trip with all the Bonedeth dudes down to Florida. Burns asked me about some shit that happened with some cameras in Philly that I allegedly stole. So Burns leads into telling me one of his friend’s roommates was some spoiled kid with some nice cameras and he has access to get in that house all the time and he needed a camera for the trip. So the cameras go missing and I start getting blamed for the whole thing. We go to Florida on the trip and I start getting texts

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asking me what I knew about these stolen cameras.

Burns hadn’t told any of his friends what he’d told me, so I felt like he’d thrown me under the bus so he wouldn’t have to face up to his part in it. So not only on top of this shit, it’s coming from a dude I really looked up too. Burns and the rest of the crew start blaming me for all their missing shit from the trip, lost IPods etc.. Then they write about all of it in the Bonedeth Gypsy Tour article, talking shit the whole time. They just tried to go above and beyond to make me look like a dick. So here’s my rebuttal - Believe it or don’t its up to you. I don’t give a shit as it doesn’t really effect any sponsors that I don’t have. Anyway, I sold them a VX1 a week later and that thing broke straight away. [laughs] Albion: So what made you change?

Dan: I didn’t really change; I just grew up and stopped doing stupid shit and found real friends.

People who didn’t care about the bullshit and love to ride. All my real friends know who I am and don’t judge me for the shit I did in the past. I know all that shit I did was wrong and karma came back and bit me in the ass a bunch of times for it.

My car got stolen in Philly with about 4k worth of camera shit in it, and the cops found it a week later completely stripped. Shit happens.

Shayn "Shanky" Steels Photography by JOE COX Words by DANIEL BENSON

S

hayn cuts a slight figure when you meet him, extenuated further by a pair of thin-soled shoes and tight jeans. Hands in pockets, beanie on, mooching about Sheffield looking up for spots instead of down. His riding seems at once something new and refreshing and on the other hand, something timeless and classic.

His outwardly calm and relaxed demeanour belies a genuine madman on a bike. On previous visits to Sheffield, before I’d had a chance to meet Shanky, I’d been told tales of his disposition for big moves. A brand new spot where Shayn had already ticked off the biggest possible trick, or the old spot, visited by countless talented local riders and professionals, only for Shanky to come along and add another notch to his bedpost of downright insane and scary tricks.

I’ve often thought it’s a lonely type of riding to be involved in. It’s only ever you, your bike and the spot. There are no sessions and no games of BIKE down the 13ft drop. It’s purely mind over matter and with that come big risks. I’ve seen guys of the calibre of Mike Hoder struggle with the demons of countless crashes, broken bones and rolled ankles, whilst people come to expect the bigger, faster, further mentality.

And if we don’t get that, people assume they’re off the boil. Shanky seems strangely at ease with it, even whilst questioning him about it, he seems rational and level-headed, stating that if you 360 on flat there’s no reason at all why you can’t 360 down a ten stair. He tells me about something Mike Taylor once said, stating something similar, that if you can grind a 10-stair rail, you can do a 15-stair rail too. It’s a rationality that ignores the added danger that extra distance gives.

Rational would be a good word to describe Shayn in everyday circumstances. He lives right in the centre of Sheffield with his girlfriend and rides the 15 or so minutes to the Don Valley, where he works as a machinist. It’s a job and an area whose history have been intertwined for centuries. Once, this valley produced the majority of the world’s steel, now after years of decline the area has only recently had some semblance of a comeback. Jobs like Shayn’s were once the norm; now as the industry becomes even more automated, CNC machines replace the craft. Shayn recognises this, but admits that there isn’t much he can do about it, wondering how much steam there is left in a manual job like his. He seems calm in almost all situations, never one to resort to anything too flashy or brash. He seems to notice that you don’t get anything without a bit of hard work. He’s everything I’d expect from a bloke from Yorkshire. If I had to describe the exact opposite of Shanky, it’d be the guy from Mumford and Sons drinking an Innocent smoothie, sat in the VIP section at Reading festival.

[a] Wallride, Sheffield.

I travel up to Sheffield to interview Shayn, leaving a wet and foggy London, expecting no different upon arrival. Instead, I’m greeted by clear blue skies and dry streets.

I walk up to Devonshire Green, where Sheffield’s city centre skatepark sits beside possibly the best pub in the city. I catch one glimpse of a rider land in a disaster on the quarter and I immediately know its Dan Cox. I walk down across the soggy green, cursing myself for not bringing my bike and know that when I get up on that quarter, it’ll be the first thing somebody brings up. It’s Friday evening and Tommy C, Nev and Dan are all getting a few hours in. Shanky is at the dentist getting his teeth looked at after getting smacked in the face on the same day as breaking his wrist a week or so earlier. I can’t imagine Shanky getting in the fight, but if his riding is anything to go by, I’m sure he’ll give as good as he gets. I ask Dan if there’s anything I should or shouldn’t ask him. “He’s a smart kid, Shanky. Sometimes I’ll be talking to him and I can tell he’s just trying to suss me out.” I’m not quite sure what Dan means by that, but it makes me nervous about actually having a sit down interview while getting cross-examined.

Shanky turns up, fresh from the dentist but still unable to ride due to his wrist. He takes a bike and drops in regardless and does a few laps of the concrete. I ask him his thoughts on the park, half knowing the answer already. “I can’t stand it sometimes.

Turn up at Dev, it takes about two hours to leave the place. Go to a rail, C falls off.

Then we go home,” he tells me. “There’s not much I can do there. I can’t do the small stuff anyway. I’ve got nowt on a flat bar or a flat ledge. I like to do what I like to see, people like Burns, Hoder, Tom White. I don’t think I’ve got the patience to stay at a flatbar all day. Doing runs, it’s never really interested me. Press the red button, give me ten seconds and I’ll see what I can do,” Shayn says, with a certain amount of deadpan Northern wit.

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Shayn Steels

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We take the short walk back to his, where his girlfriend is making us some dinner. I ask him about his wrist, which is still swollen to the point of it almost looking like a prosthetic arm.

He puts his arm out to show me just how little flexibility there is. “They tried to take this screw out here,” he tells me, pointing to the inside of his wrist, “but the head of the screw snapped off. That’s been in for two years and it’s hindering the sideways movement. There’s hardly any. Now they’re on about taking the plates out too, so that could be another couple of months off. I was worried for a bit with riding to be honest, it’s your wrist and with no flexibility in it at all, well that’s not good for riding is it?” I ask how long he’s been off his bike this time. “Not too long to be honest, I seem to ride through sprained ankles and stuff like that. A couple of months, which I don’t think is that bad. I’ve only broken a couple of things really. It’s not as bad as people might think.” I did have the impression that Shayn is one of those riders who seems to spend more time getting better than they do on their bike.

“Does it play on your mind, having a knackered wrist like that and taking risks with the bigger stuff?’ I ask.

“Well no, not really. I don’t think I’m going to fall off, you can’t really think like that can you? You just need to get over it. I mean you could break your leg rolling off a kerb if you’re unlucky and you’re not ready for it. I know you’re gonna take a crash every now and then, but you can’t dwell on that. Nine times out of ten you’re gonna roll away fine.” I notice that rationality again. He tells me later that whilst filming for his next section he did a ledge ride with a 40-foot drop on one side, right into a busy dual carriageway. He makes it all sound so simple, when in fact, it all sounds fucking terrifying.

[b] Gap out to smith, Chapeltown. [c] Tooth hanger drop, Sheffield.

Tommy C comes over before we head out and tells us that he’s not drinking and complains about spending about the same money on pints of Coke as he would normally on beer. “I’m not even saving any money!” he exclaims. “Well just have a beer then C!” Is Shanky’s simple

Shayn Steels

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response. We make the short walk to a bar where we’re meeting everyone else. Shanky is one of the youngest in the group, but even at 25 he’s older than the average BMXer. I make some comment about how we’re all getting old, to which he replies “speak for yourself mate!” I speak to Joe Cox about houses, how he’s just bought a new one and recently read an article about someone who moved to a million pound house in five years by buying and selling houses, working up from the bottom. “It’s all I talk about at the minute, I think I’m obsessed with property,” he muses, inadvertently proving my point that we are getting old and Shanky’s also – he’s still got unfinished business with riding before he has to worry about things like buying houses. The crew fritters away until it’s just Dan Cox, Shanky and myself. We end up in a bar called West Street Live, which is as bad and as good as you can imagine with a name like that. Every inch of the walls behind the bar is taken up with A4 pieces of paper all fighting for your attention with their drinks promotions.

Shanky doesn’t drink lager – he washes shots down with pints of ale. Every beer is preceded, followed or both with shots that are remembered by their colour and not their taste. West Street Live is the end of the road, if this was America, we’d be calling it a dive bar. For all its drunken gaudiness, there’s an element of egalitarianism to it all.

Any semblance of class, age, creed or colour has well and truly been ousted in favour of the common ground of getting as drunk as possible for as little as possible. This is the democratic republic of South Yorkshire, after all. We find ourselves dancing, which is something that I don’t think suits any of us, then Shanky gets us thrown out for some minor incident that’s hardly worth noting, leaving as Blondie ironically sings for us to make tonight magnificent. We leave Dan and head back to Shanky’s. We peer down from his balcony onto the street below and watch girls in mini skirts followed by drunk guys, still trying to make their own nights magnificent and eventually pass out ourselves.

I’m woken up and passed a cup of tea to wash away the taste and memories of West Street Live. I suggest we go a cafe to record some of the interview and Shanky says he knows the place. I’m surprised when we turn up at a bar that looks posh. “Don’t worry,” Shanky assures me, “it’s pretty cheap.” I wait until Shanky picks and order the same – two egg and chips.

I start back in his hometown of Denaby, an old pit town located between Sheffield and Doncaster. At some point during the previous night, Shanky tells me about the local prostitutes working their way around

the homes of old people, offering their door to door services for three pounds a pop, only to pass on details of their belongings to robbers. He says how crack has become such a big problem and how he’ll occasionally hear of old school friends and riders who are in and out of prison. Shayn admits that the reason he didn’t get any shit when he was growing up was simply because he was one of the scally kids. “I’d put my bike down for goalposts, play footy then go riding later on. I never got any shit for riding when I was growing up. All the kids that would give me shit were my mates.” For all its roughness and problems with drugs, the towns of Denaby and neighbouring Conisbrough had a big trails scene, with Conisbrough having three sets of trails when Shayn was getting into riding. I ask why, given all these trails options, he never really rode any dirt.

"Press the red button, give me ten seconds and I’ll see what I can do."

“I was always much more interested in grinding the walls outside the local supermarket. I don’t know why, even with three sets of trails in a small town, I never really got into it. I started riding with a guy called Pulf who showed me the ways of the streets, then we got introduced to the lads from Mexborough and from there we all started coming through to Sheffield. That was around 2002, 2003.”

“So we’re talking when there was a lot of coverage coming from Sheffield, it was a big scene back then”, I reply.

“Yeah, real big. I’d say it’s just as big now though, but it just isn’t getting as much coverage. I’d say there are more people riding now actually.”

“Were you intimidated by the Sheff scene at all?”

“Well, to be honest, we used to get the train through early so we didn’t have to see riders at Dev Green, before the big boys turned up. It was very…” Shanky pauses, looking for the right word.

“Cliquey,” I reply.

“Yeah, if you weren’t in the loop… You could feel it when you were down at Dev and everyone was there. But then I moved here when I was 19 and we started filming that Slack video…”

[d] Backwards pegs to revert, Sheffield.

Shanky is referring to his section on the local scene video ‘Slack’, a video that ironically given the title, never got released.

The footage ended up being re-edited for his then sponsor, Federal. You really need to watch this section if you haven’t already.

There are tricks on there that wouldn’t look out of place on Dakota Roche’s latest Cult section and crashes that look uncannily like

Shayn Steels

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[e] Gap into tight bank, Sheffield.

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Shanky

Shayn “Shanky” Steels

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[f] Tight ledge manual, Sheffield.

Dave Young bouncing down a rail back in Nowhere Fast. In times when riders come up so quick, eager to get stuff out for all to see, Shanky sat on almost four years of footage and came out with possibly one of the best sections of 2009. Part of its charm was that somebody this good, this mental, had been doing this stuff around Yorkshire for a few years and other than some rumours floating around, it had gone almost completely unnoticed apart from those close to Shayn.

Nev, the Slack filmer, even tried to play it before the Tomorrow We Work Premiere, but in typically Slack fashion, he messed it up and the whole thing went straight to the internet. It’s funny to think a section that good almost didn’t see the light of day.

Shanky finishes about half of his food.

I’m not sure if it’s the hangover or the taste. I noticed the other day in the bar, he bought a pint he didn’t like and gave it to Dan Cox. I hint a spot of stubbornness in him, something of things being black and white, which maybe relates to that do or die mentality. I ask him when the next section is out, for the Slack/Melon split video, a video whose title is as bizarre as the stuff in it.

“Whenever Mainy pulls his finger out. I’m happy with what I’ve got for that, I don’t think I need to get anything else. I feel like it’s the best thing I’ve done.”

"Maybe it’s an outlet, to let loose on a bike. Surely everyone gets that buzz from jumping off stuff?"

I remember when rumour had it that Shayn had quit altogether, moving to York and leaving BMX behind, sometime around 2010. I ask what brought on the move and if there was any truth in it.

“I know, yeah. A few people said that. I probably rode more in and around York than I did in Sheffield, even if I was only riding to find spots. If anything, I just quit going to Dev Green. I fancied a change from Sheffield. I’d just lost my job and I fancied a new scene, but as it turned out there was absolutely no scene whatsoever in York. Absolutely nothing.

I wanted to search out some new spots too, but I didn’t find a thing. There was a little skatepark, but the kids there didn’t have a clue. They didn’t know any riders… Well, in fact their favourite rider was Dyno from Newcastle. I think they thought I was this weird out-of-towner. I’d turn up, grind the edges of the ramps for a bit then piss off.”

“So did you move back to Sheffield because of riding or work?” I ask.

“It was a few things really. Like Jen and me were kinda out of the loop. It’s pretty difficult when you don’t know anyone and

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it’s just the pair of you going out to smash town on the weekend. Riding was going nowhere either, so I think we realized that we should move back.”

“Speaking of going nowhere, how was Ride to Glory?” Shanky pulls a sour face, I’d heard he didn’t enjoy it. “Horrible. It was a joke. Rode no spots, drove too long and lots of bad weather. But that’s just me being sour because I was injured. Hanging out with Hoder was pretty interesting; he’s a pretty savage character. He would drop the biggest hammers like nothing then drop fools for fun. It was funny seeing him just stood there in our local, The Washington.

Mike Hoder in The Washington!” We both laugh at the thought of Hoder propping up the bar of the local pub. I continue, “Did it put you off team trips?”

“No, not at all. The crew is fucking sound.

The UK S&M team is pretty mint. I think everyone brings something original to the table. It’s good to be part of that. It was just everything else, like all the stupid challenges, like eat some apples or something shite like that. It’d be mint to go away with everyone again, just to a city and hang out with everyone for ten days. Just ride like we do without having someone else’s itinerary.”

“Did you feel any pressure getting on S&M?” “Not really, well maybe a bit. But good pressure, like being part of a good team. I was hooked up on a flow deal from Federal before and I didn’t do shit for them and it didn’t go anywhere. I kinda realised the next time round I’d need to actually do something as you don’t get anything for nothing.”

Before we wrap it up, I return to the mentality of doing these big moves all the time, like it’s a certain genre of riding, like having a thing for foot-high flatbars or fivefoot quarters. “It seems like you’re very level-headed and reasonable in every other part of your life, but with riding, it’s all balls out, scary shit.”

“Maybe it’s an outlet, to let loose on a bike. Surely everyone gets that buzz from jumping off stuff? Anyone can do it really.

If you can 360 on flat, you can 360 a tenstair.”

I don’t see the simplicity of it, which will probably explain why I can’t do the things Shayn does. “Do you reckon it is just as simple as that?”

“Why wouldn’t it be that simple? What’s the difference?”

“The speed, maybe?”

“Same with wallrides, if you can wallride on flat you can go down a ten stair. It’s all in your head, you’ve just got to get over it.”

“It seems like a very rational way to think about something that isn’t very rational.”

Shayn “Shanky” Steels

49

“But it’s simple stuff really, just balls.”

“I think the skill is in getting it sorted in your head, mind over matter. That’s the skill for me,” I remark, trying to get to the bottom of it. [g] X-up pegs, Rotherham.

“I like that feeling, a split second before you’re about to take off, when you know this is the one you’re gonna do. You can’t stop, you’re doing it. I like that feeling. Although the best feeling is riding away from it. I mean, I don’t really think about my riding too much, not like this. I’d rather just go out and do it.”

I think that’s it. I think Shayn genuinely enjoys scaring himself shitless before he goes for something. It’s his outlet. We’ve all got our vices, our little escapes from the everyday. For Shayn it’s that time on his bike, that instant before he takes off, when it’s do or die.

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"I like that feeling, a split second before you’re about to take off, when you know this is the one you’re gonna do. You can’t stop, you’re doing it."

to rr igh

BURN OUT ON BOTH SIDES

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NothiNg First WiNteriNg iN AFricA These kids from England I stayed with in North Africa, they work manual labour to finance their endless summer. They buy old Post Office vans and fit them out all straight and simple. They pile in and drive thousands of miles to somewhere new. They’re living off pennies, travelling on the money, going where the waves are. And even when the waves aren’t breaking, they keep on searching.

The majority of riders in this article don’t hold BMX as a primary objective. They don’t claim to ride everyday – hell, if the surf’s up they might not ride for a month straight – but when the waves aren’t breaking and their feet start to itch, they pick up their bikes and take a cruise.

BMX does not come first to these people, it simply occupies a place in their quest to live an exciting and fulfilling existence.

A bike is just a tool here; a utensil of sorts. A way to get to town. A way to get to the beach. A way to catch a buzz. To truly appreciate a place, BMX cannot come first. Nothing can come first. And only by having nothing as a primary objective can you truly experience a new place.

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Words and Photography by steVe BANcroFt Waking up to the sound of the sea. Skin dry from salt and sun.

Hair blonding and growing long. Making, creating, watching and moving. Life under the stars. Being alert. Friend or foe.

Bike grey from dust and dirt. Time slipping or sliding, running or walking. Hashish cheap and strong. Packing up and moving on. Swapping. Walking with bare bones. Accepting vulnerability. Shitting outside. Dark twisting alleyways, tall and damp and pungent with piss. Toughened soles. Freshly caught fish. Cloudless skies and clear air. Letting that which will be, just be. Talking with the flickery orange faces around the fire. Letting go. Fashioning, fixing, lending, borrowing.

Riding bikes. The lost art of travel. Living life. The good life.

These kids aren’t selling anything, they ride old bikes that do the job and are largely oblivious to the current trends in the sport. And that in itself is often a reason that prohibits their kind featuring in magazines. But what they do have is a pure appreciation of riding bikes, and that’s all you really need.

Nothing First

[left] [top left] Clearing a run up in Africa isn’t quite as simple as kicking a few McDonald’s wrappers out the way. Dead pigeons, human feces, hepatitis, and enough broken glass to double-glaze Buckingham Palace all had to be moved before the bank to wall was ridable. [top right] Finding fun stuff to ride is a slog out here, but it’s no worries, there’s no rush. Just sitting down and taking the place in is an experience in itself. [bottom left] The only sponsored rider in Morocco? Probably . . . who cares.

Phil Aller, wallride to turndown. [bottom right] Riding through town on BMX bikes in a place with no BMX bikes is a strange sensation. Like the Pied Pipers of bikes, at one point we had a whole band of kids following us up the highstreet cheering. [right] [top left] Sharp reefs and poisonous sea urchins make for some nasty looking soles. Feet need to be thoroughly prepped before any biking goes down. [bottom left] With just three activities to worry about for the whole four months of winter, footwear choice is paramount: barefoot for surfing, sandals for kickin’ it and trainers for bike riding. The good life. [top right] Waiting for the waves to start breaking, if they do it’s barefoot, if they don’t it’s trainers. [bottom right] This little guy ended up being friendly, but for the most part stray dogs in Morocco are to be avoided. Like the saying goes, ‘let sleeping dogs lie’. Sam, beachfront ledge grind.

Wintering In Africa

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[top left] When the surf went flat we built a dirt transition up against an old anchor factory.

Seawater mixed with dust wasn’t ideal, but it did the job. [top right] The run up for the transition turned out to be way too bumpy and way too uphill to get any kind of decent speed. So we rolled in off the van. [bottom left] Getting the water-to-dust consistency right was tough, too little and it wouldn’t hold together, too much and it would just slop down. After a bit of trial and error and two days baking in the sun, she was good to go. [bottom right] Alex Wells stayed out of his wetsuit long enough to kick out some sweet aerials.

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Nothing First

[top left] Morning van life. Brush teeth, check surf, chose footwear. [top right] One day we drove into a more built up city to find some spots that weren’t made from dust. Aaron Leah one-timed the only rideable rail in the city and we headed back to the beach. [bottom left] Chris kindly dismantled his bed and made it into a roll in. Phil waits for the howley surfers to get out the way. [bottom right] The locals in Tagazoute were keen to take us to their spot. None of them had BMXs but they still had a couple of sweet jumps for the various bikes they did have. We rode with them for a while and swapped bikes for a bit. Aaron, table.

Wintering In Africa

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[top left] Sat on the edge of the largest desert on earth, it’s hot in the day and cold at night in Morocco. Driftwood is plentiful thanks to the Atlantic Ocean and the perpetual sunshine makes sure it’s dry as a bone. Whether you want to cook, see better, warm-up or just have something to stare at, a good fire is tough to beat. [top right] This rickety old bridge was the smoothest surface for miles around, which made it a spot. [bottom left] Rory had all his stuff stolen out the van early on in the trip, it’s amazing how little it mattered to him though. Some borrowed shirts and a pair of shoes later and he’d forgotten all about it. Doing it for GB with a full speed gap to pedal grind (that’s Great Britain and Garrett Byrnes). [bottom right] In the day we’d ride or surf. At night we’d sit around the fire under the stars, cooking in tagines and talking about life. It’s not such a bad way to spend a winter.

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Nothing First

DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS MORGAN WADE Words and Photography by GEORGE MARSHALL

[a] Gap to tooth hanger Dallas,TX. 60

Don’t Mess With

Welcome Welcome ToTo Texas Texas “Cabin “Cabincrew crew– –prepare prepareforforlanding.” landing.”From Fromthetheback backofofthetheplane planeI watch I watchthethe passengers passengersofofflight flightUA481 UA481totoDallas DallasFort Fort Worth Worthawake awakein inunison. unison.Immaculate Immaculate Stetson Stetson hats hats protrude protrude like like volcanic volcanic islands islands above above thethe rest rest ofof thethe cattle cattle in in economy economy class. class.

The Themen menlook lookasasif iftotobebegunslingers gunslingersfrom fromananoldold Western Westernflick. flick.

‘Texas’…

‘Texas’…I I whisper whisper toto myself myself and and think think ofof thethe arsenal arsenal ofof firearms firearms Morgan Morgan Wade Wade showed showed meme onon hishis phone phone when when wewe first first briefly briefly met met three three months months before. before.

“Sure, “Sure, I’dI’d bebe happy happy toto dodo anan interview. interview.

We’ll We’ll ride ride bikes bikes and and shoot shoot guns. guns.

It’ll It’ll bebe fun.” fun.”

He’d He’d promised promised with with hishis smile smile ofof missing missing teeth teeth and and I hadn’t I hadn’t spoke spoke toto him him since. since.

AsAsthethegunslingers gunslingersturn turnoffofftheir theirhigh-tech high-techsmart smartphones phonesforforlanding, landing,I think I thinkofof Texas, Texas,thetheconservatively conservativelyminded mindedstronghold strongholdofofthetheSouthern SouthernUnited UnitedStates, States,mymy destination destination and and home home forfor thethe next next week. week.

I think I think ofof thethe right right toto bare bare arms, arms, thethe Bible Bible belt, belt, black blackgold, gold, oil,oil, Davey DaveyCrockett, Crockett, mass massshootings, shootings, cowboys, cowboys, The The Alamo, Alamo, Long Long Horn Horncattle cattleranches, ranches,8.0 8.0litre litretrucks, trucks,American AmericanFootball, Football,George GeorgeBush Bushand andthethe assassination assassination ofof JFK. JFK. I consider I consider thethe week week ahead ahead with with some some concern. concern.

Put Put bluntly, bluntly, allall I know I know about about Morgan Morgan is is that that hehe is is thethe most most fearless fearless bike bike rider rider ofof thethe past past decade, decade, hehe has has a collection a collection ofof semi-automatic semi-automatic weapons weapons and and hehe is is deeply deeply religious. religious.

I wonder I wonder how howhehewill willrespond respondtotomeme– –a avegetarian vegetariannon-believer non-believerwho whocan’t can’tgrow growa abeard, beard, Green Green Party Party voter voter and and firearm firearm virgin virgin who who is is about about toto invade invade hishis life. life.

I wonder I wonder why why asasa aBMX BMXsuperstar superstarand andhousehold householdname namehehedoesn’t doesn’thave havea abike bikesponsor? sponsor?

Why Why in inrecent recentyears yearshas hasthetheBMX BMXindustry industryslowly slowlyceased ceasedtotosupport supporthim? him?Is Ishehejust just a aredneck redneckreligious religiousnut nutwith withananarsenal arsenalofofweapons weaponstotoback backupupsome someunpopular unpopular opinions? opinions?

Will Will wewe clash? clash?

Will Will hehe convert convert me? me?

Will Will hehe keep keep hishis word word toto letlet meme shoot shoot anan AK47 AK47 assault assault rifle? rifle?

I land I land at at midnight. midnight.

After After a 20-minute a 20-minute wait wait in in thethe uncharacteristically uncharacteristically cold cold and and damp damp Texas Texas night night air. air.

I get I get picked picked upup byby one one ofof Morgan’s Morgan’s friends friends and and wewe meet meet Morgan Morgan in in a nearby a nearby burger burger bar. bar.

HeHe strides strides in in with with thethe strong strong proud proud walk walk ofof John John Wayne Wayne and and boasting boasting a moustache a moustache that that could could rival rival Buffalo Buffalo Bill.

Bill.

HeHe shakes shakes mymy hand hand with with a firm a firm grip. grip.

“Battery “Battery died. died.

I had I had toto walk walk a mile a mile and and back back in in thethe dark dark toto Walmart Walmart toto buy buy aa new new one. one.

Good Good flight?” flight?”

HeHe asks. asks.

We We drive drive onon a dark a dark highway highway away away from from thethe city city into into rural rural Texas, Texas, bound bound forfor Morgan’s Morgan’s hometown hometownofof Tyler.

Tyler.Fighting Fightingtotostay stayawake, awake,I remind I remindhim himofofhishispromise. promise.

“Yeah “Yeah we’ll we’lldefinitely definitelybebeshooting shootingsome someguns. guns.

Good Goodthing thingyou’re you’rehere herenow nowbecause becausethethe situation situation with with guns guns is is changing changing fast. fast.

I think I think some some ofof thethe guns guns I have I have may may bebe illegal illegal soon. soon.

We We won’t won’t bebe able able toto shoot shoot that that much much asas I’m I’m low low onon bullets. bullets.

It’sIt’s really really hard hard toto buy buy ammunition ammunition at at thethe moment, moment, people people areare stock stock piling, piling, they’re they’re scared scared it it won’t won’t bebe available available soon.” soon.”

Since Since I first I first met met Morgan Morgan months months before, before, 2626 children children and and sixsix adults adults were were massacred massacred at at anan elementary elementary school school byby a lone a lone gunman gunman suffering suffering from from mental mental illness, illness, further further adding adding to to America’s America’s long long rollroll call call ofof gun gun massacres massacres – Columbine, – Columbine, Aurora, Aurora, Jonesboro, Jonesboro, Virginia Virginia Tech Tech and and more more recently recently at at a Batman a Batman movie movie premiere premiere in in Denver.

Denver.

“What “What happened happened at at that that school school was was a tragedy” a tragedy” Morgan Morgan says says with with sincerity sincerity over over thethe noise noise ofof thethe engine engine in in thethe dark dark cab cab ofof hishis truck. truck.

“But “But taking taking guns guns away away is is not not going going to to solve solve thethe problem. problem.

‘Someone ‘Someone shot shot someone someone with with a gun, a gun, soso thethe gun gun is is thethe bad bad guy, guy, not not thethe person.’ person.’

That That tends tends to to bebe thethe way way ofof thinking thinking and and I don’t I don’t agree agree with with that. that.

The The individual individual is is to to blame, blame, not not thethe weapon. weapon.

If If thethe government government goes goes to to every every house house and and tells tells people people to to hand hand over overtheir theirfirearms firearmsororgogoto tojail, jail, law-abiding law-abidingcitizens citizenswould wouldhand handover overtheir theirweapons, weapons, whereas whereas people people that that break break thethe law law will will lielie and and hide hide their their guns. guns.

Guess Guess what? what?

AllAll that that would would achieve achieve is disarming is disarming thethe law-abiding law-abiding citizens citizens and and leave leave just just thethe bad bad guys guys with with thethe firearms. firearms.

“The “The proposed proposed gun gun laws laws areare in in direct direct conflict conflict ofof thethe second second amendment, amendment, thethe right right to to bare bare arms. arms.

The The second second amendment amendment is is not not about about hunting, hunting, it’sit’s about about personal personal protection protection and and defence. defence.

Hundreds Hundreds ofof thousands thousands ofof crimes crimes a year a year areare stopped stopped byby citizens citizens with with firearms. firearms.

If If you you take take guns guns away away from from thethe citizens, citizens, thethe crime crime rate rate is is going going to to spike. spike.

“I’ve “I’ve grown grown upup around around firearms firearms mymy entire entire life. life.

When When I was I was little, little, mymy dad dad was was drilling drilling gun gun safety safety into into me. me.

HeHe has has always always carried carried a concealed a concealed weapon weapon with with a license. a license.

I was I was very very familiar familiar with with why why mymy dad dad carried carried that that weapon, weapon, forfor protection protection ofof him, him, someone someone else else oror hishis family. family.

That’s That’s something something I grew I grew upup with with and and naturally naturally understood. understood.

When When I moved I moved out out and and gotgot married, married, getting getting a concealed a concealed weapon weapon license license was was a no a no brainer brainer forfor me.” me.”

HeHe tells tells meme asas hehe lifts lifts a handgun a handgun from from thethe carcar floor, floor, in in a brown a brown leather leather holster holster engraved engraved ‘Morgan ‘Morgan Wade’.

Wade’.

“I“I carry carry mymy 9mm 9mm Glock Glock 1717 oror mymy snub snub nose nose Rossi Rossi 357 357 magnum magnum revolver. revolver.

I prefer I prefer thethe revolver revolver asas it’sit’s smaller smaller and and easier easier to to conceal. conceal.

I carry I carry a gun a gun in in church. church.

I have I have permission permission Morgan MorganWade Wade

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from the minister and he’s fine with it. I have a 12-gauge shotgun by my bed. Loaded of course.

My wife Natalie has a 20-gauge shotgun on her side of the bed. On my nightstand normally I have my Glock 9mm, on Natalie’s she has her little 357 [revolver]. The rest of the guns are kept in a safe place, but sometimes I’ll leave the AR [AR15, semi-automatic rifle: the civilian version of the M16] lying around where it’s easily accessible,” he laughs.

“I’m not some kooked out nut. It’s all about home protection. I also enjoy shooting guns – it’s fun. I shoot targets and clay pigeons.

You can protect yourself, your family, your friends and other people if there’s a situation.

Pulling out a gun is absolute last resort. I’ve never had to pull out my gun. When I was ten I shot a bird with a BB gun, a feather fell off and it flew away – I felt terrible. If someone tried to steal my car would I shoot them? Of course I wouldn’t. But if someone entered my house or endangered the lives of my family there would be repercussions.”

The Wade Ranch The next day I wake up with cats on top of me on a mattress in an empty room. It’s after noon and the house is silent. I look through the window to see three horses in a field.

I get up. “Sorry if it was cold last night. I need to repair the heating.” Morgan says as I admire his collection of signed photos of BMX legends. “My parents live next door and have invited us over for lunch. You’re veggie right?” I nod in reply. “All you photographers are the same. That’s ok. I love vegan food, and my mom’s a great cook, she was kind of a vegetarian just to save money, that was back in the 1970s while she lived in a hippy commune of artists in Italy.”

We leave his traditional looking house and walk across the field in the direction of a smaller and older looking wooden building.

“This is the land I grew up on. When I was a kid I had a tree house exactly where my house stands. My parents sold that part of the land. I bought the land back a few years ago, so it’s still my tree house, just bigger.

It’s nice being close to my parents and my brother lives in the cabin next door, we jokingly call it the Wade Ranch.”

We’re greeted at the door by Morgan’s mum and dad, and I enter the house Morgan grew up in. The house is a beautiful old traditional style cabin, the air is filled by the smell of burning logs. We sit down to dinner. Once seated the family joins hands and close their eyes. Without hesitation I do the same. Morgan’s dad thanks the lord for the food and prays that Morgan and I will be successful and get the photos we need. I didn’t find the experience awkward, nor did I feel disloyal through my lack of faith. I found the ritual warming and a fond reminder of my primary school days praying in assembly. More than anything, I was struck by the close bond of the Wade family. Over lunch Morgan’s parents tell me stories of their bike rides across Europe decades before, and attempt to embarrass Morgan. Both are obviously very proud of their son and his accomplishments in BMX. Rarely have I ever met two more warm-hearted people.

"I have a 12-gauge shotgun by my bed. My wife Natalie has a 20-gauge shotgun on her side of the bed."

A Home Schooler “I’m very close to my parents.”

Morgan tells me later that week during a long drive to Dallas for a BMX demo. “Instead of going to school my mother taught me at home with my brothers. There’s a lot of influences in schools my parents didn’t want us to go through and they wanted to spend more time with us. I think sex education is a job for the parents and evolution is a big one. That’s rammed down kids throats like it’s fact, and it’s not, it’s a theory that doesn’t make sense to me. I’m a Christian. I believe the bible is true and evolution contradicts that. Contrary to popular belief, the Creation account does line up with science, they back each other up, but that’s a really long conversation…”

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I agree with Morgan that it is a long conversation, and I prefer his option of not discussing it further, fearing firstly it may divide us, but also that he’d be better prepared than I. “I don’t know what you believe, but everyone is entitled to their opinions and people should be respectful of other’s beliefs. That’s free will.

Everyone has to make up their own minds, and everyone walks a different path.

I believe in Jesus, but I’m not going to stand on the street corner holding a bible and screaming hell fire and brimstone. I can’t stand that. I don’t like it when I see people ramming their ideas down other people’s throats. I feel like liberals tend to impose their views on people, and are less tolerant of other people’s beliefs.

Teaching evolution is an example of that.

“There are other influences at schools. I’ve never tried any drugs in my entire life. I’ve never smoked anything, not a cigarette. The closest I’ve come to a drug is drinking alcohol. Kids get exposed to all that stuff in school. My brother didn’t like home school because he wanted to be around other kids. He went to a private school and ended up on every drug you can name under the sun. And I don’t mean he smoked a bit of weed. I look at pot as the same as getting drunk, I don’t categorise it as a hardcore drug. My brother did gnarly drugs. He was suicidal at times. Seeing that put me off drugs. I had to clean up the mess. I’ve only seen the bad side of drugs. That experience solidified to me how dangerous drugs are. They’re dangerous because it feels good, I won’t go near the stuff because I know I’ll like it. That’s the problem, that’s the addiction.

Drugs trash lives.

“I think when kids look up to you, you have a certain responsibility. When I grew up the pro riders were, for the most part, clean-cut guys that were setting good examples like Dave Mirra and Ryan Nyquist. Even the street riders were clean cut, like Van [Homan]. That’s changed in the last decade. I think it’s very immature and irresponsible when I see brands or riders using drugs to promote themselves. I encourage kids to stay away from drugs so less kids end up down the route my brother went.”

The Showman We arrive at a huge church on the outskirts of Dallas. Morgan has three jump box shows to do that morning to a crowd of 300-400 worshippers. I stand in the crowd inside the huge entrance hall of the church and watch the first show.

Always the showman, Morgan ends the ten minute show with a no handed back flip over a flatlander. “I prayed for him”, an elderly man says afterwards to his wife as Morgan signs posters and smiles for photographs. In the second show I watch the identical routine. At the start of his third show, Morgan waves to the crowd as he’s announced by the MC into the hall. He picks up his bike to find he has a puncture. “Can I borrow your bike,” he shouts to me over the loud rock music.” I nod. He picks up my bike and again he does the identical routine, ending on the no handed flip.

“I love doing shows.” He tells me as we make the return journey back to Tyler.

“I wouldn’t be riding if it wasn’t for shows. The first time I saw BMX was at the Texas State Fair in the early 90s, I was seven or eight and it blew me away. It was a Sprocket Jockey’s show – Mat Hoffman, Dave Mirra, DMC [Dennis McCoy] and Steve Swope. I watched all three shows that day. That was my introduction to BMX. At that time BMX was dead. They did those shows hoping to get kids into riding and it worked on me all right.

“I didn’t start freestyle riding properly till ‘97. My first bike was a Schwinn Jay Miron singature Powermatic in chrome. I built a 7ft quarter pipe in the yard. It had a foot of vert. The first day I aired a foot and a half, it came very natural to me. I learnt a lot on that ramp. By 15 I was doing 540s and could get 7ft airs. It was around that time Road Fools Five came to Tyler.”

One afternoon, as the rain poured outside we sat in and watched that old Props video. Between clips of Homan and Hoffman, a very young Morgan Wade does an alley-oop 540 transfer wearing a full-face helmet and a Jay Miron inspired chest protector. “I went to the park and saw the giant bus. That was my first time meeting professional riders like Nate Wessell, Van Homan, Robbie Morales, Troy McMurray and Mat Hoffman. They were cool and they spoke to me. I realised they were just normal humans.

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[b] Downside Handplant Noble E. Young park,TX.

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“A few years later I was at a skate park in Dallas, randomly Rob Nolli shows up and invites me to ride a best trick contest on a huge jump box. I did a suicide double truck, Koji Kraft won with a double flip. Mutiny Bikes owner Steve Inge, saw me ride and he ended up hooking me up with a bike. That was my first sponsor. I wanted to be a pro rider, but I was realistic, I rode because it was fun. I never actively pursued being a pro rider.

[c] Ceiling ride, Tyler Warehouse. [d] One handed whip, Commerce.

“I started college a year early, as I was ahead from home schooling. I had aspirations of being a graphic artist and started working towards a degree in design. I was a good student, I was on the Deans list. I always sat at the front of the class and did my work but that didn’t mean I liked it. In my second year of college I started entering more contests. At 17 I entered my first pro contest, it was the T1 FBM jam, riding alongside Taj Mihelich, Mike Aitken, Brian Wizmerski and Brian Terada. I got 4th place, right behind Taj of all people. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised.

“That really gave me a boost of confidence that I could actually make a living from BMX. I started entering other pro contests and began getting coverage in magazines. In 2003 I got 2nd at a CFB which qualified me a spot in the X-Games and I had a cheque for $8,000. X-Games clashed with my first week of classes of my forth semester. I had to make a choice between school or riding. It was one or the other and I decided to see how far BMX would take me, college will always be there. I went for it and ten years later here we are.” He says laughing whilst entertaining his cats with a laser pen, sat on a sofa next to a wall of trophies.

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Drop The Hammer “My first video part was a Mutiny video called Time Well Spent, that Walter [Pieringer] made.

Six months after that video Glen Milligan asked me if I wanted to be in a new Ride BMX video where riders just did bangers. I was a last minute addition. I filmed my part with Walter over three months. I got that big giant cup for it” he says pointing to one of three Nora Cups on the shelf. “It should have Walter’s name on it too.”

Morgan’s section in Drop The Hammer is nothing short of a landmark event in BMX history, sealed by the first full loop round the legendary Mount Baldy full pipe, to the shame of every skateboarder in California.

That part highlighted Morgan’s fearless mindset, reminiscent of his childhood idol, Mat Hoffman. Life was about to change for the kid in the Jay Miron chest protector.

“The night I won Best Video Part and Ramp Rider Of The Year at Nora Cup, four bike companies came up to me and offered me

deals. The next day I had two more. I turned them all down because of Steve Inge and the kindness he showed me when I was younger.

One of the offers was for a substantial amount of money, I’m probably pretty stupid for turning that down. At that time I never got paid to ride for Mutiny Bikes. When Gaz and Joe took over, after Steve left to be a Minister, they started paying me a little. I felt like I owed it to Steve to be loyal. I didn’t want to be one of those riders who just chases a golden nugget waved in front of them.

[e] Double rail over pegs, Dallas, TX

In an era he refers to as his “good ole days,” Morgan was one of the highest profile riders in the world.

He was a regular face in magazines, videos and on podiums. “I started making good money riding bikes. I started getting a lot of coverage. Every year Transworld worked out statistics on how much coverage all the riders get across all the mags. For a while I was tied for the most coverage with Dave Mirra. I started picking up paying sponsors such as Levi’s and Etnies. I was also going to all the big contests and making prize money. I felt like I’d made it. It was a dream come true.”

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"Some "Somepeople peoplethink thinkthat thatall all Christians Christianshate hategay gaypeople people and andthat’s that’snot nottrue trueat atall. all.It’s It’s quite quitethe theopposite, opposite,I Ihave haveno no reason reasonto tohate hateanybody." anybody."

The The Elephant Elephant Always keen to ride anything whether it was dirt, street or ramp, Morgan found calling Always keen to ride anything whether it was dirt, street or ramp, Morgan found hishis calling on on a new a new much much larger larger discipline. discipline.

“I’ll“I’ll never never forget forget mymy firstfirst rollroll in on in on a Mega a Mega Ramp.

Ramp.

That That ramp ramp is nothing is nothing butbut adrenaline adrenaline andand fun, fun, because because it isit so is so easy easy to go to go really really high. high.

There There is is nothing compares to riding Mega Ramp.

Even if there were cameras, contests, nothing thatthat compares to riding Mega Ramp.

Even if there were no no cameras, no no contests, nothing.

I would it. Hoffman feels same way.

I once session Bob nothing.

I would stillstill rideride it. Hoffman feels thethe same way.

I once gotgot to to session Bob Burnquist’s Burnquist’s private private Mega Mega Ramp Ramp with with Mat. Mat. It was It was oneone of of best best sessions sessions of of mymy life.life. love riding it but I’ve never podium’d Mega Ramp.

Flipwhips and 20ft “I “I love riding it but I’ve never podium’d in in Mega Ramp.

Flipwhips and 20ft flairs flairs areare hard hard to to beat. beat.

People People hate hate onon them them because because Chad Chad [Kagy] [Kagy] and and Kevin Kevin [Robinson] [Robinson] have have done done thethe same same thing thing every every year year butbut they’re they’re stillstill badass. badass.

I don’t I don’t care care who who you you are, are, if you if you sit sit down down and and think think about about doing doing a 20ft a 20ft flairwhip flairwhip and and landing perfectly under coping, that is impressive. landing perfectly under coping, that is impressive.

“But I will this, nothing ever done a Mega Ramp ever come close “But I will saysay this, nothing ever done onon a Mega Ramp willwill ever come close to to what what Mat Mat [Hoffman] [Hoffman] did. did.

HeHe went went 26ft 26ft outout of of a 24ft a 24ft ramp. ramp.

That That was was over over double double what what anyone anyone else else had had ever ever done, done, and and he he diddid it by it by getting getting towed towed by by a motorcycle a motorcycle holding holding onon to to a rope a rope to to a sketchy a sketchy ramp. ramp.

Mat Mat was was in in unchartered unchartered territory territory – he – he blazed blazed thethe trial. trial.

That’s That’s why why he he deserves deserves all all thethe respect respect he he gets. gets.

The Recession The Recession “One things I haven’t enjoyed about Mega Ramp is that people think “One of of thethe things I haven’t enjoyed about Mega Ramp is that people think that’s I ride. average I get about runs that ramp entire year. that’s all all I ride.

OnOn average I get about 2020 runs onon that ramp in in an an entire year.

Mega Mega Ramp Ramp is such is such a tiny a tiny part part of of mymy riding. riding.

I still I still love love riding riding dirt, dirt, street street and and ramps. ramps.

Over Over thethe years years mymy riding riding hasn’t hasn’t changed. changed.

I still I still enjoy enjoy doing doing bigbig stuff, stuff, butbut I think I think thethe perception perception is Iisride I ride lessless because because I get I get lessless coverage. coverage.

I may I may groan groan a a bitbit more more when when I pick I pick myself myself upup from from thethe ground, ground, butbut mymy mindset mindset and and love love forfor BMX BMX hasn’t hasn’t changed.” changed.”

“When and why you think you stopped getting much coverage?”

I ask “When and why dodo you think you stopped getting so so much coverage?”

I ask Morgan, Morgan, aware aware that that it may it may be be a sensitive a sensitive topic. topic.

“I “I cancan pinpoint pinpoint it exactly.” it exactly.”

HeHe replies replies decisively. decisively.

“I “I started started getting getting lessless coverage coverage when when thethe Internet Internet became became thethe dominant source media BMX. Magazines quit covering contests because dominant source of of media forfor BMX. Magazines quit covering contests because they they didn’t didn’t want want to to print print a photo a photo that that was was twotwo months months old, old, as as thethe contest contest edit edit would would be be online online thethe next next morning morning after after thethe comp. comp.

Also Also thethe core core competitions competitions such such as as Backyard Backyard and and Metro Metro died died out, out, and and I’mI’m lessless suited suited to to thethe bigger bigger comps, comps, especially especially against against thethe new new younger younger riders. riders.

There’s There’s been been a changing a changing of of thethe guard. guard.

Most Most of of mymy content content was was from from competitions, competitions, so so much much of of mymy coverage coverage plummeted plummeted pretty fast.” says without seeming care much. pretty fast.”

HeHe says without seeming to to care tootoo much.

Possibly Possibly due due to to an an inability inability to to react react to to thethe rapid rapid change change in in BMX BMX media media and and a close a close association association with with Mega Mega Ramp, Ramp, Morgan Morgan is no is no longer longer thethe flavour flavour of of thethe month once was. it seems shocking, that a rider calibre doesn’t have month he he once was.

YetYet it seems shocking, that a rider of of hishis calibre doesn’t have a bike a bike sponsor. sponsor.

Apologising Apologising first first forfor thethe nature nature of of thethe question, question, I ask I ask Morgan Morgan

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[f] Barspin loop Wade Ranch, TX

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why he thinks that is. “The fall in coverage didn’t effect my sponsors, I blame that on the economy. When the economy went downhill, the big sponsors dropped their teams to save money. That’s why Etnies and Levi’s ended, because of the recession.

The bigger companies were affected by the economic decline more so than the smaller brands. Due to the nature of my sponsors being bigger companies, I think the decline in the economy hit me harder. I think the core bike brands see my older sponsors and think I’d be too expensive, but I just want to belong to something again.

“I parted ways with Mutiny four years ago as they were going in more of a street direction and I didn’t fit that, I was the X-Games super TV dude. There were no hard feelings. I ride a United, but I’m not on the team. Losing my sponsors was a big shock financially. I’ve had times where I’ve had lots of extra income and I’ve always been sensible with money. I invested most of it into my house. I’ve learnt to rein in my spending habits. God has provided for us time and time again. We have a roof our heads and we have more than we need. I couldn’t ask for more. Times are tough right now, but I’m scraping by.”

“Do you ever worry people think of you as a redneck, and that your strong stance on religion and guns may put sponsors off from supporting you?” I ask. “I don’t think sponsors ignore me because of my beliefs, but there have been quite a few rumours floating around the Internet about me. The worst I’ve heard is that I hate gay people.

That is 100% not true. I have never said anything of the sort. Some people think that all Christians hate gay people and that’s not true at all. It’s quite the opposite, I have no reason to hate anybody. We’re all on this earth together in the same situation.”

Hearing that I felt bad for my early preconceptions of Morgan as possibly being a right wing redneck, and I realise my prejudices were born only by a lack of understanding of his way of life. During my time with Morgan I found him very easy to get along with and a friendly person to be around. He’s funny, intelligent and he likes to piss outside. He kept his promise to me and taught me how to safely fire a weapon. Passing on the simple lessons his dad had taught him as a child. Always to check the barrel of a weapon was unloaded before you pick it up, never place your finger on the trigger until you’re about to fire. His lessons didn’t stop there. One evening he took me to an Israeli Counter Terrorism Self Defence school where he is a part time instructor. Here I found myself punching thin air in synchronisation besides off duty cops.

After eight days at Morgan’s side I returned to England with a newfound insight and respect for conservative values and religion. I’d gained an appetite to fire semiautomatic weapons, with the scabbed up hands of a bare-knuckle fighter. I think about Morgan still riding at his best without much support from the industry and I think he could be a man misunderstood. To me Morgan is one of a dying breed of riders that cares nothing for trends, but instead holds the value of going big above all. Morgan is a disciple and devoted follower of our saviour Mat Hoffman. Did Morgan convert me?

Yes he did. But I don’t believe in God – I believe in Morgan Wade.

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Resurrecting The Devil

DErEk ADAmS AND lIttlE DEvIl In 1995 Derek Adams started what was to become one of the most legendary and revered companies in BMX. What started as a small T-shirt company swelled into a multi-million dollar business, one whose team videos raised the bar to a level that some would argue is still yet to be matched today. In turn, Little Devil launched the careers of some of BMX’s greatest madmen. It was a company that for many years seemed unstoppable – Jackass’s Ryan Dunn was regularly spotted on MTV wearing an iconic horns T-shirt and was the man behind the wheel when the Little Devil car drove into the two rails a young Van Homan ground on the start of Criminal Mischief, with Van’s own section becoming a rite of passage for any young BMXer, even to this day. No other BMX company has managed to poke their head out of the small walls of BMX and look out into the mainstream like Little Devil did. The Devil became a monster, and with that extra pressure came extra stress. After peaking in 2005, Derek decided to fold the company in 2008 and focus solely on his new venture – Orchid Shoes. Now that the dust has settled, rumour has it that Derek has plans to resurrect the Devil. The Albion met with Derek to talk frankly about the rise, fall and possible resurrection of one of BMX’s most loved brands.

Introduction by DAN BENSON Interview by ErIc cApONE photos from ADAm WAllAcAvAgE, chrIS hAllmAN and vINcENt guEDES

Where did the name Little Devil come from?

It was the smallest of small companies so the word ‘little’ appealed to me, and the ‘devil’ part conjured up a lot of ideas I could run with. So Little Devil just seemed to fit. It was supposed to mean something like a thorn in your side, Little Devil.

How did the first Little Devil shop come about in Bryn Mawr, PA? Little Devil started out of my grandfather’s house in his tiny little basement until I ran out of room.

At that point it was starting to pick up a little steam, right around Seek & Destroy. I wasn’t sure whether to get a warehouse with ramps in it or a storefront with some extra space and do a BMX/Skate Shop. We did the shop first, but ended up out growing that, so that’s when we got the warehouse, where Nate Wessel built the ramps, around 2000-2001. I think Criminal Mischief came out in May 2001; we filmed the majority of the intro in the warehouse.

How did the video Seek & Destroy come about? I was always a little confused about the first Little Devil video since it was done

by Darryl Nau. No, it was actually made by both of us. I was trying to make a video and Darryl was also trying to make a video. We were both trying to film the same people like, Van and Garrett [Byrnes]…

Van suggested maybe we should work together.

At first I was going to give him the little bit of footage I had, sponsor the video and let him make it. Darryl wanted to be a filmmaker at the time, that’s what he was trying to do. It basically ended up with both of us filming and then having to get some other guy to edit it for us. It was a friend of a friend who edited it, on an Avid system whilst we directed him.

[a] Mug shots from Criminal Mischief.

So you said at the time you were going to sponsor the video?

Yeah, it was basically a scene video that we both wanted to film. It wasn’t a Little Devil team video; it was never intended to be that. It was some guys that were friends with Darryl and guys that were friends with me and we just pulled our resources together and made a video. We each did basically 50% of the work and that’s how we split it. For marketing purposes it was his name on the video as the guy who made it and my name as the company who presented it – Little Devil. I feel like the input I had in the video got brushed under the rug because everyone thinks Darryl did everything.

What was going on with Little Devil around the time that Seek & Destroy was made?

It was a T-shirt company. It was little and it didn’t start out to be some crazy BMX thing at first. The BMX part came in because I rode BMX. Not many people were doing things when I started it in ‘95, in fact BMX almost died! In the early nineties it went from being huge to not being able to find decent tyres. So come the mid-nineties

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I decided I wanted to do something with BMX because I loved it and it didn’t seem like much else was going on. By this point all my friends that I grew up riding with had quit. I started riding more trails and Drexelbrook became pretty much the centre of Little Devil. That was the centre of my world at that time, going to the trails every day. That’s kind of how I met everyone I know in BMX, through Drexelbrook.

When I came into riding, Criminal Mischief had come out and it was the must-own video. Did you guys go into that thinking you were going to make one of the best videos?

No, but we did go into it with some momentum coming off of Seek & Destroy. By the time Seek & Destroy came out, Van was already over all the stuff he had done in it and he really wanted to push his boundaries.

Were you there a lot during the making of the video? Were you one of the main filmers?

Yeah I bought a VX1000 right after Seek & Destroy and decided to start filming all digital.

Seek & Destroy was made in High 8 with big analog tapes.

It seemed that Little Devil really turned into the top BMX brand off the back of the videos, with you guys going on trips to France, Vancouver etc. What was it like at the time?

Those were really just trips to ride and meet distributors where we happened to bring cameras.

Van was always determined to ride hard and he would push everybody else to ride harder, and because they knew they were going to end up in a video with him, they did. He was the motivating factor.

Do you think you could’ve ever done it without Van? No, not really. I mean I could have, but it would’ve ended up something totally different, and not as cool.

When did the image of Little Devil start to change? Were you always the one designing?

You’re probably thinking around 2006. There were times I let people take the reigns a little bit more, like Josh Clancy. He came out for a whole summer and worked for me and lived with Van. He was young, talented, and motivated. I let him take the reigns. He is an awesome designer, but his style is different than when I was doing it earlier.

Back then, when I was doing it, it was a lot more simplistic and goofy.

Is there a favorite shirt of yours that stands out the most?

Personally for me it would be the Dr. Dre one. It still makes me laugh.

You always were pretty open to letting the public ride your ramps and had a lot of jams at that time. Was that important to you?

Yeah, just because we had the spot. It was brand new and I just wanted to do something cool for

Resurrecting the Devil

Derek Adams and Little Devil

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Resurrecting the Devil

the scene. I’ve built a lot of spots over the years and that’s something I’ve always wanted to share.

It’s not cool having a spot to yourself and you only ride it by yourself.

When did you start Orchid?

Well, Little Devil started with screen-printing on T-shirts then evolved into other articles of clothing. It got to the point where Little Devil made about every piece of clothing you could possibly wear except for shoes. It seemed like the most difficult product to make, but also one of the most important, so it was always kind of a dream to make shoes. We started working on Orchid at the end of 2002.

What was the first step in development?

The first step was actually seeing a shoe manufacturer at a trade show. It was like, “Holy shit. Here’s people that make shoes right in front of me and they had all the information.” That really got my wheels turning, thinking that it could actually be possible.

"After a while the only option that was going to make me happy was to not have to deal with that stuff, I really didn’t have time to do anything but work. that’s why we built all the indoor ramps, because we never left" Have you always stuck with the same shoe manufacturer?

There was one time we tried a different manufacturer where it didn’t really pan out. They had a lot of problems that I’d never had before. It was kind of like opening a can of worms…

When you came out with Orchid you did Step On It, which showcased an amazing crew of riders on the road. Was that a staple in establishing Orchid?

Around this time I had the most money from Little Devil and put a lot of it into Orchid at the beginning. Step On It ended up costing like thirty to forty grand; it was an insane amount. Where as Footwork, our last video, only cost six grand to make. That’s a huge difference. We went big on Step On It. We hired three vans, flew all the team in, two weeks with original team, and an extra week with the Canadian team. It ended up being the most awesome roadtrip I’ve ever been on.

Basically everything went perfectly, where every trip before that for Little Devil was the biggest disaster. On the Seek & Destroy trip to Canada our trailer fell off the hitch and crashed into a car.

On the same trip Dave King’s car broke down in the middle of nowhere and some crazy redneck was trying to get one of us into his truck with him. That’s a good example of how our trips went before that.

[b] Garrett Byrnes, Cover shot for Seek and Destory.

With Orchid blowing up the way it did, was it hard to juggle a shoe company and Little Devil?

Yeah, at the time we were doing Square One as well. I was half owner during the Wide Awake Nightmare years, while Kris Bennett was living in Philly. Then he decided he wanted to move back to Pittsburgh and run Square One out there. Little Devil started out as really nothing, but over time it kept getting bigger. At first I tried to make it look like a bigger company than it really was because I wanted people to take it seriously. I wanted them to think it was something as real as possible and then maybe it would become real. People thought it was a huge company before it really was.

2005 was our biggest year; it grew year by year up until that point. I think my first year of sales were $30,000 and I thought I was on top of the world. After that it would double or triple every year for like ten years. In 2005 we did almost two million dollars in sales, which includes Orchid too.

But I knew it wouldn’t last forever because what goes up must come down. The whole time it was happening I enjoyed it, but I knew it would end at some point. So it was kinda bittersweet.

Was that when you decided to ‘bury’ the Devil?

That came about around 2008. Little Devil started back in 1995 and it had gone for 13 years. After 13 years of doing anything where you’re forced to keep things fresh, it wears on you. I kind of got burnt out, it got to be less fun the bigger it was.

I had real responsibilities, I had employees with kids and I was still trying to be a kid. It got too heavy after a while. It also got to the point where the overheads to keep it running were so huge.

After a while the only option that was going to make me happy was to not have to deal with that stuff, I really didn’t have time to do anything but work. That’s why we built all the indoor ramps, because we never left.

Once it was gone, was Orchid your main focus?

Yeah, after we moved out of that warehouse my expenses were the lowest they’ve ever been in

Derek Adams and Little Devil

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years and I kinda liked it. I liked not having all the overheads to worry about. I just wanted to live a normal life. It definitely wasn’t normal for a few of those years when everything went crazy. It was awesome, but it was very taxing too.

Where is Orchid at now? Is that something you want to continue or has it gotten to be too much?

Orchid is cool, but the part that is a bit too much for me right now is trying to deal with the ‘team’ rider side of BMX. I’m not really about team sports and BMX has seemed to turn into a team sport somehow.

Nick Bott: Did it change from being you and your friends to where you had to pick people that you could market?

It turned more into a marketing strategy than something organic. Maybe it was always that, but I didn’t realize it, because at the heart of it I’m a fan of BMX and I love BMX. Sponsoring good people back then to me was to show my appreciation to the guys for being kick-ass riders. Then once it got big and having to pay people, I felt like it got to be where I couldn’t do anything in BMX without having to pay for it. It felt weird to me.

Dan Conway: Do you think guys on a team being friends and coming from the same area is important? You were into it for the scene, to keep a scene going, and new kids coming into the scene would have someone to look up to.

Yeah, but I don’t know if I’m the one to be presenting that anymore. I don’t want to be the guy who brings up young pros and tries to give them a career; it doesn’t seem like something that’s realistic. I feel like I’m leading them on and it’s a dead end street. I don’t want to lead them down that road. This summer changed a lot for me, letting all the neighborhood kids ride the jumps out back, just providing a place to ride is as much of a thrill to me as sponsoring people. It seems real, it’s all about the physical reality of BMX and not necessarily about a video, an ad, or something that is only part reality.

Dan: It’s ultimately up to you – do you want to end it?

If you were just psyched on Orchid and want to keep it going, you can just have guys who rep it and not make it about money.

No, I don’t want to end it. I think with the shoe business I am competing in a world of big money sponsors. Kids coming up, are they going to want to ride for Nike or are they going to want to ride for Orchid? BMX shoes are a niche market and there isn’t as much of a demand for it in the long run. I had to make it smaller and part of my dilemma with it now is the shoe line is going to be so small that I can’t say to someone, “You’re only allowed to wear these two or three shoes.” It feels weird telling people what to do. It seems like there are certain expectations and unwritten rules about sponsorship and I don’t know if something like not paying a team guy would fly with them these days.

Dan: If you want to ride for Orchid [just] for a paycheck then fuck them, you’re in it for the wrong reasons.

The shoe sponsorship is tougher, with Little Devil it’s easier to support. It’s more of an idea than a product line, where shoes are a product. So if you’re not wearing my product does that mean you don’t support me? It’s harder to support because there’s a mall in every town and they have Nikes, Vans and it’s convenient. If I were a kid I

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would go to the mall and buy Vans, Nikes, Etnies… I mean I did when I was a kid, I had Vans. Orchid shoes are only available in certain bike shops, certain mail-orders, it’s a way harder thing to support even if you wanted to. With Little Devil it’s just a T-shirt. It’s generally cheaper stuff and if you wear an XL T-shirt, if you’re buying online you know how it’s going to fit. With shoes it’s harder unless you’ve worn that brand before.

Sometimes you have to re-evaluate what you have going on…

Yeah, I kinda think I’m having a little midlife crisis because I always said to myself that I’d be out of BMX at 40… I don’t know why I said that. There never used to be old dudes in BMX and if there were you thought they were the world’s biggest kooks and I never wanted to be that, but I guess I’m

"Just providing a place to ride is as much of a thrill to me as sponsoring people.

It seems real, it’s all about the physical reality of BmX and not necessarily about a video, an ad, or something that is only part reality"

in it for different reasons now. I think about BMX differently than I used to, I’m just trying to ride it out as long as I can, getting that good feeling you get from riding. For me that’s trails and concrete parks. I’m not doing tricks. I don’t relate to what’s going on with most of riding now. I appreciate it, but it has nothing to do with what I am doing.

Is that because you’re from that era of BMX? I was around when street was big too!

Plus you helped make street big with Criminal Mischief.

I might have created a monster [laughs]. I was riding street when Van was, but I wasn’t nearly as good at it. Riding handrails never felt good to me, it was scary. It never felt as good as trails or riding concrete parks. After a while, street riding to me became filming Van.

Resurrecting the Devil

[C] Jason Enns, 2002.

Derek Adams and Little Devil

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Derek Adams and Little Devil

[d] Selected Ad Archive, 1995-08.

It seems like you’re getting back to the basics of what made you happy with riding.

I’m wondering what’s up with bringing back Little Devil on Instagram, is that you just getting back to your roots?

I never sold Little Devil, but I’ve had some big money guys approach me looking to buy the brand. They said they were looking to spend two million dollars and I started to think of it, but I never followed it up.

Did you think you could’ve sold out?

No, I would totally hate to see a bastardized version of Little Devil out there. I think of all the guys who got Little Devil tattoos, because it meant something to people. And to destroy that would be a dick move. It would be like having a Hot Topic logo on your arm, I didn’t want to destroy that. I saw it happen with UGP. UGP was one of the coolest brands in BMX and then they sold it, it became a wack version of what it once was. I’m sure Ronnie [Bonner] wasn’t psyched, in fact I know he wasn’t. After that happened I never considered selling. I thought it would be better to kill it off then to keep it going and have it turn wack or lose its spirit.

Are you actually bringing it back?

On Instagram there was a buzz with the #bringlittledevilback hashtag so I ran with it. I got

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the @littledevilbrand name since it was available.

Right now it’s just an Instagram. I plan on making a video, but it might not be the kind of video people are hoping for. You can’t one-up Criminal Mischief. Does Navaz’s new video trump it?

I think it’s different eras of riding. Whereas kids today are going to start riding because of the Cult video, for me it was Criminal Mischief.

Exactly! It has something to do with being a kid because when you’re a kid everything is so memorable and awesome. I think part of it is that.

Nick: If Van put out his Criminal Mischief part now it would still hold its ground today as an amazing part.

It’s still sick because it’s so gnarly. Gnarliness is never going to go out of style. It seems like riders have slowed down in general, it’s more tech now.

Anything else you want to say about Little Devil?

There’s an Instagram and there is going to be a video. And if there’s going to be any products, there will at least be T-shirts. How big or small it will be, I don’t know. I will never let it get as big as it was. I will never let it get out of control again.

Time will tell I guess.

Resurrecting the Devil

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Luc Legrand Back at the end of September, I had the opportunity to spend a week with Luc in the Basque country, experimenting with his way of life, enjoying the weather, the spots and the tapas.

Living out the back of the van with the little guy from Brittany.

Words and Photography by Vincent Perraud

[a] Lifeguard tower air, Zarautz.

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Back of the Van

L

uc grew up in Southern Brittany, in a small village where his parents had rebuilt an old farm. It’s a part of France known for two things – drinking and rain, which given its proximity to England is no surprise. He’s always ridden with people much older than him, which I think has helped give his riding a unique edge. It also helped him handle his booze, the guy likes a drink. In fact, I remember a few years ago he really got into drinking Champagne, not really your typical drink for a BMXer, but then again, Luc isn’t your typical BMX rider. He’s the sort of rider that feels that a good atmosphere and the right vibe are as important as the trick or the spot. It helps him look at things in a different way, it’s so hard to really describe what type of riding Luc’s actually is, not that we need to put him into any categories.

That would never suit him.

The first time I met Luc was during the filming of a Video called ‘Douce France’. The idea of the video was to include all of the best street riders in France at that time, almost ten years after the infamous ‘Imprudence’ showcased the talent of Calliard, Lofti and John Petite.

The line up for the video was as follows – Anthony Lille, Alex Valentino, Kevin Guerdner, Jerome Gauthier and Luc, some of the best French riders out there. The project was split up into trips and on one particular occasion, I found myself en route to Belgium and the Netherlands with Kevin, Luc and Ben Bello. This was the last trip Kevin would be going on before he got married, so you can understand that the guy was looking for a good time, and with Amsterdam as the last stop on the trip, what could possibly go wrong?

Oh my God, this might be my worst BMX experience... We get into a routine of ‘one trick, one joint’ in the day and then in the evenings we were going out in every town and city we stopped at. One morning (I forget even what country we were in), Luc decided he wants to do this huge feeble grind. He was still so drunk, but it didn’t faze him at all.

This was a spot, a ledge, that some big pros had looked at in the past and walked away from. Luc did it no problems, still drunk and with the sun just rising. We worked our way north through Europe; I ended up drink driving, which is such a stupid thing to be doing, and eventually found ourselves at our final destination – Amsterdam.

I’m sure most people reading this know of Amsterdam, I’m sure many of you have been yourselves, but it is still a strange, strange city. This is a vice city, it seems like all the things that are illegal in other countries are legal and at your disposal and encouraged in The ‘Dam. We parked randomly and I left all my camera gear in the car and headed to the coffee shop. Luc and the rest of the guys decided they wanted to take mushrooms and like the good little sheep I am, I tried them too. I felt so bad, then Luc explained to me – after I’ve taken them – that Amsterdam might not be the best place to start experimenting with psychedelic drugs, “we should be out in nature, all calm and chill, all the opposite…” Too late for me… So there were four French guys, all drunk, all high, lost in the red light district of Amsterdam, as Kevin cried “we’ll all going to die, we’ll all going to die!” We found the car and I drink-drive us out of the city for some calm and some sleep, laid out on the side of the road by the car, as Ben puked his guts up.

A few weeks later we planned another trip, this time to Limoges, which for those who know their history will recognize the name from the BMX Worlds of 1993. The plan for this was supposed to be easy, I had to pick up Luc in Paris, driving from where I was living only an hour north. The morning began badly when one of the other guys messaged me saying, “hold on, we’ve lost Luc.” I had already set off and with some other guys to pick up, I had to bypass Paris. We got hold of him in another city – apparently he’d been to some party by the Eiffel Tower and hidden his bike in a bush, then forgotten where he’d put it. And as usual with Luc, just when something like this happens, his phone ran out of battery.

Luc Legrand

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[b] Hop in from the silde, Vitoria.

On a similar note and on yet another trip, we were heading south with a full crew of BMXers, stopping at a video premiere along the way. With all the guys in one bar, things got messy and people were thrown out, including Luc. Luc was outside, just chilling on the kerb, when he noticed a party over the street. Noticing an open window, he decided to climb the guttering and climb in through the open window. Luc thought this was a great idea, but usually when a stranger comes through your window the last thing they want to do is have a party. The police were called and Luc was taken away but luckily his name, which translates to ‘tall’ quelled the situation, given that Luc’s a pretty small guy. I think they soon realized he was just a drunk guy who wanted to party, not a guy looking to steal from the flat…

Which brings us up to the present – when Luc and I decided to undertake a roadtrip to shoot some photos for this article, I was curious when he told me he wanted to head down into Spain, picking me up in Biarritz and driving south over the border.

The last time I had taken a route like this I was in a huge RV, again with Luc. It was so big it made it impossible to park anywhere, but that didn’t stop it turning into a private disco wherever it went. Luc was driving and on one occasion he was driving drunk. The rig was so big and loud it was an easy target for the police. That incident ended up with Luc spending two nights in jail, and as far as I was aware, he was told not to come back to Spain.

Nonetheless, he still had some spots in mind south of the border and some beaches he wanted to surf.

"He tells me that it’s a great feeling, not worrying about what the future holds, just taking it all a day at a time, enjoying every minute of it."

Luc had some spots figured out in Balboa and Vitoria, so we took the road that hugged the coast, with the sea always to our right, stopping every now and then to surf, eat or ride. At sunset, we arrived at Zarautz, where Luc wanted to ride in off a strange, concrete lifeguard tower. It’s an amazing spot, but not so easy to ride. The transition is tight, the bank is big, and to air it at any decent height you have to hop up onto a platform on the bottom. Luc gave the structure a little carve, feeling out the transition, as the lifeguards watched on and the sun went down.

He says that he wouldn’t mind coming back later, tomorrow maybe, to ride into it. I feel that Luc has chilled out a lot since I first met him. I know that after our week together shooting photos, he has to head back across France to meet his girlfriend in Sisteron so they can make “cueillette de spommes”.

He never wanted to get a real job, for as long as I’ve known him. I think that’s why, three years ago, he bought the van. He likes the freedom of being able

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Back of the Van

to move around working here and there, sometimes with his girl and sometimes on his own.

That evening in Zarautz was quiet, so we walked around and followed some girls dressed as leopards into a bar. I was half expecting a crazy night, but Luc wanted to keep it chilled so we could get up early to ride the lifeguard tower again. One of the best benefits of the van is that you can park right up next to a spot and be there first thing in the morning. As cliché as it sounds, it was such a great feeling to wake up right beside the sea, with the waves crashing just outside the van. It was a quiet morning, with not too many people around, but as we’re setting up the lifeguards arrived. Luckily, they didn’t seem to mind Luc at the top of the tower, so they gave us ten minutes before they have to set up for work. Luc, as ever, took the strange angles and tight set-up in his stride… and rolled in without a problem.

We decided after getting a shot so early that the best, in fact the ONLY thing to do after this, was to go surfing. So we drove a few miles down the road, further into Spain, and pulled up at a spot Luc knew about. The waves seemed big, much bigger than I’ve seen in France. I’d had some experience with surfing a few weeks before in France, so Luc and I took to the water. It felt fucking good being in the ocean, I spoke to Luc about how he lives his life each day at a time, even as he gets older. He tells me that it’s a great feeling, not worrying about what the future holds, just taking it all a day at a time, enjoying every minute of it.

Later that day we tried another surf spot, but the weather had changed and a lot of cloud had rolled in. The cliffs provided a perfect, albeit dangerous, place to climb and Luc told me he fancied trying it out. As we stood there at the top, a man came by who had just finished his ascent up the cliff. Luc immediately started talking to him about routes, checking his tracks on a map. Luckily he decided against descending down the face without any safety gear. That night we cooked food in Luc’s Van and then, with the weather turning, headed south to Mundaka.

We found on arrival that the weather wasn’t much better here, but the village was nice and we took the opportunity to ride the metal mini ramp here, located on top of a cliff, right by an old church; it’s a spot you may remember from an old T1 video. We found a few spots in the local village, but a street festival put an end to those plans. Next time…

The rain seemed to be following us around, but it didn’t seem to be much of a big deal for Luc. He’s from Brittany, after all. With the rain, it’d be easy to turn to drinking to pass the time spent waiting for spots to dry, but Luc seemed chilled, never more than a couple of beers. Maybe those crazy days are behind him? His riding has changed a lot recently too, most noticeably he took his pegs off after a bad crash and has been more into bowl riding of late. Maybe it has something to do with his surfing?

Luc Legrand

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[c] Bridge ride to 360, Bilabo.

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The Back of the Van

Luc Legrand

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[d + e] Table and 360, Vitoria.

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Back of the Van

More flow, perhaps? Still, I think it’s just a phase, I know he loves riding with pegs. I ask Luc about his sponsorship situation, after recently getting hooked up with BSD, when Stranger’s French distro went under. Luc has spent so many years being one of the best riders in France, but making so little money from it, however I know he likes keeping BMX as a pleasure and a passion. He does what feels right, whatever looks original. The curved wallride down the stairs on the cover of Soul springs to mind. We carried on along the coast with no real goal, the sea still to our right, and eventually found ourselves stopping in Algorta.

Algorta is famous for its bowl right by the beach, but instead Luc took to the sea to surf one last time. I noticed afterwards how much sand there was on the floor of the van and realized that this has become more of a surf trip than a BMX trip. We head inland slightly to the city of Bilbao. Luc had a loose plan of what he wanted to do here, but loose still being very much the best word to describe the whole trip. We looked around the Guggenheim Museum and a huge sculpture by Michael Sera. All we could think of was how much fun it would be to ride all those crazy, rusted curved panels. Luc told me that he has a spot in mind, “but I found it after a party, so I can’t really remember where it is.” We found it eventually; it’s the curved wallride to 360. After a couple of attempts he got around it and pulled a perfect 360 out. After, we decided it was time for an apéro and took a couple seats out the front of a bar. Later, as the night continued, we found ourselves escaping from a drug dealer wanting to take us to a weird party – midweek too.

The following day we headed to Vitoria and parked the van in a quiet street. I love how once parked this becomes Luc’s home for the day. As with everywhere in Spain, there are cafés everywhere, so after a quick breakfast we headed out into town. Luc had already visited the town some years ago, on a WTP trip for Props. At first, with all the towers and estates, I thought the place was a little ghetto, but the more we ride around I found that I was mistaken. We were looking for one spot in particular, but come across a strange slide and flatbank setup. We ended up spending a few hours here, trying to make the most of the spot. It’s one of those places where you know

"apparently he’d been to some party by the eiffel tower and hidden his bike in a bush, then forgotten where he’d put it"

Luc Legrand

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[f] Transfer, Mundaka.

something good can be done, it’s just working it out and doing it. Luc decided he wanted to ride up the slide and hop out, into the bank. It’s slippery and the angles don’t all make sense. At one point I’m feeling that Luc is feeling pretty desperate. “I don’t usually spend so much time trying the same trick”, he tells me, whilst eyeing up the spot. He’s much more of an instinctive rider, the sort of guy who’ll just do something without telling anybody beforehand. Eventually, Luc gets his head around it and takes the jump from the slide into the bank.

We found another interesting spot, the one that Luc was looking for. It’s a handicap access over a rail and into a grass bank. After spending so much time at the other spot, Luc let me know he was feeling pretty beat. We took a seat and opened a can. Almost as soon as the can was open he was back on his bike, riding some small little tech stuff. He makes everything look so easy. After an hour or so, he went back to the access hop and started eyeing it up – “yeah, I’ll give it a try.” By now, it was almost night-time. He cleaned the dog shit from the landing then cleared the big gap with ease, throwing in a little table for measure. He cast me a mischievous look and tells me, “maybe I want to 360 it…” By this point, it was so dark, it was almost impossible to get a good photo, but Luc wanted to do it anyway. Again, he pulled it with ease, rode back with a smile on his face and exclaimed, “maybe I wasn’t so tired after all.”

We managed to get to the supermarket just in time before they closed. We stocked up on food and beer for what was to be our last night of our great escape. We agreed that it would be great to go back to a small surf creek we passed earlier. I get the feeling, that given the choice between the streets or the surf, the surf would always win. But this is the way Luc is, never one to succumb to rules or trends, always one to follow his heart, on or off his bike.

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Back of the Van

Photo: www.aaronnardi.com

21”

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Phil DeMattia

Successful Mess

Words and photography by Steve Bancroft

P

hil Demattia is a successful mess. It’s long been said that there’s a fine line between genius and insanity, and after spending a week riding, shooting photos and hanging out with Phil I can confirm the truth of that statement.

[a] Duck under drop, Alicante, Spain

Half the time I was in awe of how tight this creative young rider’s head appeared to be screwed on and the rest I spent wondering whether he were fit to be out in public.

Whether it be inventing new crank flip tricks, telling countless painful jokes or agreeing to marry a girl in America that he’s never met, Phil definitely looks at the world through different eyes to the rest of us.

Growing up in a small rural town in North wales, Phil’s hands-on childhood taught him not to shy away from dirty hands and grazed knees.

An apprenticeship in sheet metal fabrication instilled both a rigorous work ethic and a clinical eye for detail and a brief stint as a Thai Boxer showed him how to channel aggression but also shone light on a direction he doesn’t want his life to take.

As well as being strong in presence – loud mouthed and charmingly obnoxious – Phil is also large in the physical sense. Broad shouldered and muscular though both heritage and hard work, his physique combined with his character makes for a dominating presence on a bike.

"i have 20 spliffs passed across my face everyday but it just doesn’t do it for me"

His persona has all the ingredients to be a scary one and it would be just that if it weren’t for a sense of humour that can only be described as “borderline” (think Monty Python meets One Pound Fish meets The Most Annoying Sound In The World).

As it turned out, as offensive as Phil’s jokes can be, it was thanks to his ‘teetering’ opinion of what constitutes humour that our week shooting photos was so entertaining. Alicante in the Winter is on shutdown, apart from the plane full of Northern Frank Drebins and purple rinses the place is like a Ghost Town. . . unfortunately though, it’s a Ghost Town with a shit run up.

We may not have stumbled upon the calibre of spots we were hoping for but, being the practical, pragmatic man he is, Phil manned-up and muscled through in true Welsh rugby player style. Whether it be drunk Friday night punch-ups with Jason Phelan, sparing in a Thai Boxing ring or seeing a trick through to the end, Phil is a fighter, and an damn interesting one at that.

Up until now I always thought that to a certain degree, people were products of their

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environments, that is to say, the “environment” you were brought up in influences the decisions you make now. Essentially, your environment makes you who you are. For example a kid who grows up in Cornwall will learn to speak English with a Cornish accent because that’s the way folk speak down there. And - although admittedly to a lesser extent - the same process of socialization can be seen within BMX too. All around the country there are pockets of certain types of riders. Down South in Portsmouth, thanks to Southsea Skatepark and Mark Webb, there are lots of young ramp riders with Gyros and lowslung frames. Up in Sheffield, it being a big city built on hills with plenty of decent spots, most young people ride in the no brake street bracket.

And it’s with this point in mind that Phil’s black sheepness is revealed.

Phil moved to Liverpool when he was 18 and plays a big part in Dub BMX and has done since its inception. The Dub crew are, without exception, the most in-flavour group of riders in the UK right now and probably the most streetest too. Based around dark Dub music and smoking copious amounts of high grade marijuana this band of four peg brakeless street riders are proving to be a highly influential force to be reckoned with, not just in the UK but all across the globe.

And here’s the point: Phil Demattia grew up with Dub’s founder Jack Donnelly and long term Dub associate Scott Ditchburn and has spent the last six years riding with the most unflinchingly devoted crew of street heads in modern memory, yet he has a brake, only two pegs and could count the number of barspins he’s done in his life on both feet. Sticking out from the modern street steez of the Dub crew like a sore thumb, with his crankflips and brake based tech, sociology dictates that Phil should have four pegs no brakes and be shooting the fucking B’s. He’s like a social anomaly, a true welsh black sheep.

I raise the point with Phil in a conversation recorded while bagging up our bikes before our flight home, “I have no idea how I’ve ended up riding like I do” he begins. “I’m just awkward as shit. I have no interest in doing something I’ve already seen. Some people look at a spot and go ‘right, you could barspin over that, or you could do a 540 on that. . .’ I just don’t like that. I don’t like having a box to put things in. I think about what could be done on it, dismiss that, and think what else could be done on it instead . . . there’s always different stuff to be done.

“I have done stock tricks, I used to do downwhip taps and trendy tricks like that, but what makes you progress, what makes you go through all the stress and pain to learn a new trick, that’s the creative side of it for me. I would never put myself through pain to learn a trick that I knew someone could already do a hell of a lot better, it wouldn’t be worth it.”

Phil DeMattia

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[b] Backwards rail to hop over, Alicante, Spain

I agree with his points and move on to the evercontroversial topic of smoking weed and how that fits in with Dub and his place on the team.

“I don’t smoke weed or nothing, my relationship with Jack is as a friend and I’ve helped him out and stuff, but yeah, I’m not influenced by any of it. When I’m having a session with those boys I have 20 spliffs passed across my face everyday but it just doesn’t do it for me. Those guys love to progress and that’s what I love to do, so for all our differences there are some big similarities too. We’re filming for the Dub HomeGrown DVD, that’s been a fun project. . . I wouldn’t say it’s been the most motivated project, it’s definitely been “chills not skills” but it’s getting there and it’s gonna have a lot of character in it.

Their influence on me is to just get on my bike and do the shit I want to do.

“I don’t do barspins because Paul Ryan can already truckdriver down something I wouldn’t even jump. I just don’t want to be playing catch up, that holds no interest for me. Some tricks are too much fun, which I guess is why so many people do them, but I like thinking about what I could do, not what I know I could do. Growing up my friends all wanted to learn barspins and tailwhips but I was never bothered, I just wanted to learn hurricanes or downside footplants.”

Picking up on that reference to his early days, I ask him about his beginnings on a bike. “Back then I never had the Internet and never really watched

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many videos, the only one I really had was The Best Of Props 2002. I rode at the little park in my town until I was 16, then I started going to The Boneyard indoor park in Chester. I remember being psyched on doing a front peg grind, with the back wheel still on the floor. Dave Randells, Ali Whitton, Owain Clegg, all the people you’d expect to see were there. It was amazing. It’s hard to top. . . you never get the same feeling as when you first see a big skatepark.”

Earlier in the day while sat outside having a coffee, we spoke about his early days of frequenting The Boneyard, he referred to the place as the Nurnberg Ring, the famous German motor racing circuit. For the record I ask him to talk a little about what he meant by that. “I guess, I’m a BMXer with a different eye” he starts off. “Back then there were a lot of people who used to enjoy just doing laps: they’d all just hit the quarter then the jump box then the other quarter then the table top and maybe the curved wallride if they were feeling adventurous. They didn’t take kindly to me as I used to use the box jump as a lip-trick training facility.

“The crew back then were cool, but the majority were sour toward other people who didn’t ride like them. Like they’d all just do turndowns over the box every session and clap and ‘yeah’ each other for it, even though they’d do the same thing every week. It kind of upset me, people didn’t have the love for BMX as I did and they

respected me less because of how I saw it. My love was for progression, the drug of it. BMX is a drug, you’re always chasing that next hit.”

It’s interesting to hear that, even before riding with the Dub boys, Phil was already cutting his own path. Throughout all walks of life, dancing to the beat of your own drum has always been a risky business, especially where selling product goes. For the most part the BMX industry makes money off wide-reaching fashions and trends, large swathes of individuals who all want the same thing, so from a business perspective, when you’re picking riders to represent your brand, you want someone exciting who attracts attention, but at the same time you don’t want someone too far out that he’s not gonna move your units.

And if Phil weren’t so damned dialled at life then this would prove to be a grave predicament for a rider with a non-conformist streak as strong as his.

In BMX, brands want the best rider in the most popular field (think Drew Bezanson, think Garrett Reynolds), not the best rider in a tiny self-created niche, however awesome it may be.

I ask him what he makes of the sponsorship side of it all “I know my riding doesn’t sell product, I’m well aware of that. I’d never change my riding to fit a certain style though . . . of course not.

I have a lot of feedback from a minority and people have told me I’m a godsend because of my stupidity and different style of riding. I guess

those people feel they have no one else to look up to. It’s quite nice, I feel appreciated. But that’s just a bonus, not why I do it, I’d never change my riding for anything.”

And this leads on to the point that proves Phil to be a genius and not actually insane as I occasionally thought him to be. For other quirky young riders looking to make it in BMX, they would be faced with an awkward dilemma where they wouldn’t want to compromise their gloriously goofy riding but still want to attract sponsors looking for something marketable.

But not Phil, he has it all sewn up, all under his control. He can be as goofy as he likes and throw fuck to the consequences. He explains, “you see, a few years ago, when everyone else was out in the sun riding their bikes and smoking joints, I was at college. I made sure I got a trade under my belt and set up a career for myself and then I picked up my bike. You have to sacrifice something for something else, and I made that sacrifice early. There are riders out there who travel a thousand times more than me but I’m in no way jealous of their lifestyle. I don’t stress about riding bikes, I’ve put my time in and I have a good job that makes me financially secure and if I want to travel at the drop of a hat then I can. I certainly wouldn’t sacrifice my own style of riding for more travel opportunities through BMX, I don’t want to be a bitch to BMX, I like to keep it on my terms.”

Phil DeMattia

[c] Hop up to dubs off a nothing bank Alicante, Spain

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[d] Uprail hardway 180 crank flip, Alicante, Spain

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Phil DeMattia

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Intrigued by where this is heading I ask Phil if it bothers him that his kind of riding isn’t rewarded like the more fashionable styles. I know he sees what his friends and team mates are making and the opportunities that are coming their way, so I ask him if he feels cheated . . . persecuted for being original even, “I have the financial side of my life covered, I have a trade to fall back on, so I’m not bothered. I just think it’s funny, if BMX doesn’t want it to be better then it won’t be. If people really wanted me to do better then they’d help me out. I don’t want to put any of my mates down in anyway, but I’m not worried about the future, I’m set, I’ve made sure of that.”

"i think about what could be done on it, dismiss that and think what else could be done on it instead"

[e] Toothpick jam on a steep and slippery pyramid Alicante, Spain

106

Over the previous seven days we’ve talked a lot about being a sponsored rider and all that entails and it turns out that recently Phil’s missed out on a few opportunities at the hands of older riders. I ask him to reiterate his rather contentious views about aging BMXers. “Some riders act like BMX owes them something, they think they should be supported or whatever even when they’re over the hill. But once a pro rider reaches the end of their shelf life then, unless they do something of some value, that’s it. Look at professional footballers for example, when a player gets old and slows down new talent pushes him out, and there’s nothing wrong with that. His value has gone down and it’s only right he be replaced, he’s not gonna get a game when he’s over the hill and he would never expect to. It should come as no surprise to get dropped from a pro team for new talent on over an older guy, it’s the nature of the game and anyone who chooses to pursue a career in BMX thinking anything different was just setting themselves up for a fall. If you’re not current then BMX doesn’t really owe you anything, I keep myself independent from bike riding, I don’t need owt off of bike riding, I do everything on my own. If I didn’t have a bike sponsor I’d still have a bike and I’d still travel.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the help I get but if it was taken away then I’d still be having fun on my bike. “ To avoid ruffling too many feathers the tact of the conversation is eased back around to Phil’s riding and specifically his signature trick, the crank flip. His riding is very calculated, although many of his tricks may look fun and goofy, there’s actually a lot of thought and tinkering that goes into their execution. We begin on this new tangent by talking about how he actually performs a crank flip, “It’s in the back foot for me. I know the general public seem to use their front foot and that’s how it’s been explained in How To’s and all that, but I think that’s why

Successful Mess

the trick hasn’t been taken as far as it could be.

Doing it with the front foot is more awkward and ugly, I kick them quick and I can catch the bike before it gets too far away from me so they look neat and smooth, otherwise with the front foot it can end up looking like someone attempting a superman with their knees trying to hit their chin. I flick it down and out with the back foot and slip my front foot off and out the way to the side, then I catch my pedal with my front foot and flick my back one back on.”

But even with Phil being the undisputed crank flip master, his riding is not based solely around small technical tricks, he’s equally at home sliding backwards down a steep handrail. I ask him if there’s anything in this contrasting, bipolar approach to street riding. “Sometimes you’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do.

Sometimes you need that hit. . . I can get on my bike and mess around and pop out a few 540 cranks flips and people love it, but occasionally you need that fix of madness. It’s nice, when you have an opportunity to shoot or film, to do something out of ordinary, to get a fix and help your sponsors.”

On how he goes about approaching savage backwards rails, he goes on to add, “You just have to get your head around it. If you say ‘no’ you’ll go home normal. If you say ‘yes’ then the chances are you’ll only get a couple of scratches and scrapes and a rolled ankle. I think if you get a rolled ankle and a shin dig but you pull a trick you’re proud of, I think it’s well worth it rather than having a few chilled sessions down the local.

Some people don’t like going home hurt, but for me, I think pain is pleasure. It’s just about self control, knowing that you can make yourself do shit that you buzz off.”

All through the recording of this interview I have to sit and wait while Phil checks his phone.

He looks at his phone more than any person I’ve ever known. Throughout the week he’s shown me countless funny Instagram photos or Facebook updates, everything from a cow with its head stuck under a fence to a chip sellotaped to a windscreen with a note beside it saying “Call Autoglass”. But this time it’s not bloopers or knock knock jokes, the main reason he’s checking his phone tonight is that his American girlfriend has just woken up.

Some parts of Phil’s life are seeped in rationality: the practical mechanics skills, the career as a fabricator, the speed and accuracy involved in grinding backwards rails. But there’s another side to him that couldn’t be more spontaneous and irrational, as I’ll let him explain. “Instagram has turned out to be a bit of a godsend for me. I split up with my last girlfriend before Christmas and thought, “fuck it”, I’m going to party and travel a bit more and get out of the position I was in. I was mucking around on Instagram and this girl hit me up, she was from Rochester NY, where

Phil DeMattia

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[f] Makeshift vertical smith, Alicante, Spain

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Kink is from. I got talking to her on an instant message thing, I spoke to her for two days and I thought, “Holy shit, I’m in trouble here, I’ve gone from not wanting anything to do with girls to booking a flight to America.” I spoke to her for the two weeks before my flight, being as honest as possible. People were giving me shit saying how she could be some 6,6” meathead with long hair and a beard called John or whatever. I flew out and she was better than any girl I ever expected to meet, it all turned out even better than I thought. It was crazy, we plan to marry in the summer so I can move over and I can find work wherever and Kink is close by too.”

Successful Mess

See what I mean? I wish him luck in his newfound path and ask him if he ever imagined this is how his life would turn out, “I’ve always just gone for things.

Me and this girl will work because I just went for it.

I flew 5000 miles for 4 days just to check out she was who she said she was. I’d probably have married her without even meeting her, it’s like some real life fairy tale. I’ve never shed a tear over a girl before, but when I left America after going over to visit her, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

And who’s to argue with that? Phil Demattia, everybody - swinging freely between the poles of rationality, a completely successful mess

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Life Lessons 001: Pooping Myself in Gay Dave’s new Citroen Saxo (1-litre) Words and illustration by RhyS CoRen

On the morning of the Mount Hawke Skatepark Easter Jam in 2000, after a customary night out in Newquay, I woke up with a savage hangover in the passenger seat of Gay Dave’s brand new 1-litre Citroen Saxo that he’d parked in Newquay’s Tesco car park. I had just turned 17. My last memory up until that point was necking a blue WKD in some hellhole discotheque whilst I chatted up a chick that was wearing a peaked beanie, boot-cut corduroys and neon coloured Etnies. On opening my aching eyes, my first action was to peel my sleeping bag off my cheek, where it had been glued on by dried barf. But I soon realised that having things stuck to my face with puke was the least of my worries. You see, I wasn’t just covered in my own sick, no; I soon realised that I had woken up covered in my own sick, my own piss AND my own shit. It was a hat trick of shame, or at least that’s how Lard from RIDE Magazine put it in his write-up about the Jam. Thanks, Lard.

My first reaction was, ‘How can I hide this?’ It was about 7am and I had a few hours before Newquay’s Tesco opened. I figured I just had to ditch the sleeping bag, throw my pants away, wash in a puddle, get my clothes on and no one would know. Luckily, Gay Dave, a man who has more legendary stories than Roald Dahl, was still asleep in the driver’s seat. I opened the passenger door very slowly and quietly so not to wake him, lowering my two feet out of the car, still in my sleeping bag, and backed out, all the time keeping my eyes on Dave’s sleeping face. It was then I experienced two things at once that brought home the enormity of what had happened. You see, at that precise moment, on looking down and seeing the passenger seat of Dave’s Saxo all covered in a bright orange poo, coupled with the fact I felt a cold sea breeze on my bare, shitty ass, I realised that I hadn’t zipped up my sleeping bag when I had gone to sleep. The poo had not been contained. Oh no. It was, in fact, all over me, all over my sleeping bag and all over Gay Dave’s brand new Citroen Saxo.

I had no choice. I was going to have to wake Gay Dave and risk him going fucking mental. I just had to hope he’d have mercy and go against his normal instinct to push me out and drive off.

I shook Dave, his snoring stopped and he slowly opened his eyes. “What is that fucking smell?” He said. I explained what had happened and pleaded for his help, but Dave just stared out of the windscreen for a moment or two. Then, still in his

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sleeping bag, he started the engine and just drove off. We pulled up at a petrol station and Dave told me to wait in the car and that he’d sort everything. I sat there in silence and watched him hop across the forecourt in his sleeping bag and tight Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt that fitted snugly around his portly figure. When Dave hopped back, he passed me a chocolate Frijj milkshake. Like those who are unable to function in the morning without a coffee, Dave couldn’t do anything until he’d had his chocolate Frijj. I begged him to drive me home, pleading that this was the sort of thing only a mum could sort out. But he was desperate to ride in the BMX Jam, and calmly shook his head. “A campsite!” He shouted, “that’s where we’ll clean this mess!” This eureka moment inspired him to start up the Saxo once again, and we drove off in search of a campsite.

After driving for only a few minutes, we found one. Dave pulled into it via the exit so not to alert any campsite officials guarding the entrance and we cruised around searching for the shower blocks. After about 10 minutes, I spotted the showers about eight caravans away and pointed this out with some glee. “Look, Dave, the showers are just down there,” I said. But Dave didn’t want to know. Instead, he pulled up where we were and switched off the car engine. It was at that moment I realised the shock had left his system and he was going to make me pay for shitting in his brand new car by making me run, naked, cupping my balls and covered in orange poo past eight caravans full of holidaying families. I grabbed the bit of old floral curtain that Dave used to cover up valuables in the boot of the car and bolted for the showers. There, I had a 20 minute shower, cried, dried off on the curtain, put my clothes on, cleaned the passenger seat and set off to Mount Hawke for the Easter BMX Jam. On the way, like two teenage Mafiosos disposing of a body, we dragged my really expensive, shit covered sleeping bag and threw it into a farmer’s field. If I remember rightly, Dave rode pretty good that day, whilst I just sat, with my head in my hands, hoping no one else knew. But, they did. They all knew, and I was subsequently nicknamed ‘shitty pants’ for the day. Fair enough, I thought. * For the non-British readers, Newquay was once a surfer’s town that got overrun by big nightclubs and partying youths. It’s like Spring Break all year round.

Life Lesson 001

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MERCURY MORGAn

"The Greatest Bicycle Stunt Rider in the World" Interview by GEORGE MARSHALL Photography supplied by JOHn MORGAn

O

ver a decade before Mat Hoffman sketched out his first big air ramp, a bicycle stunt rider from Rochester New York was being towed by a motorcycle at ramps with a hunger for extra feet. Since before the very conception of Bicycle Moto X, that man was jumping over elephants and through walls of fire. He wore a leather jump suit with silver wings on the heels of the boots and sparkling fireworks firing from the frame. Roll up. Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, it’s time for the main event. It’s time to meet John ‘Mercury’ Morgan – the greatest bicycle stunt rider in the world!

Albion: Simple question to start, where did you grow up?

Mercury: I was born in 1964, in Lake Placid, New York. My parents divorced when I was seven and I moved to Rochester with my mom. I grew up without a father. I was a wild child. I got arrested over 50 times. I was selling drugs at school at the age of 11. I was a hellion kid.

What turned you into a stunt rider?

In the 1970s there was a man who captured the attention of the United States of America. He was a perfect role model for kids without fathers. He wore a white leather jump suit and rode a Harley Davidson at 100MPH and jumped over buses… I’m talking about Evel Knievel.

I wanted to be him, but my mother would never let me have a motorcycle. So I started jumping over garbage cans on my bicycle, a Schwinn Stingray with 20 inch wheels and a banana seat. All the kids in the neighbourhood starting jumping off ramps and started seeing how far they could jump. I was always prepared to jump further and was willing to go faster than the other kids. By good luck I got on TV just jumping trash cans. After that, I got a performing name, my mother came up with Mercury Morgan and I starting performing at county fairs in a yellow leather jump suit.

I met Evel Knievel’s bodyguard, a man called Gene Sullivan.

He later left the job as Evel’s bodyguard and started travelling with a motorcycle stunt show that he used as a platform to share the word of the Lord. It was called the Jump For Jesus Circus. At 15, Gene asked me to join the show. All of a sudden I was on the road doing shows. I wanted to do it not because I was interested in Jesus, but because I wanted to be Evel Knievel. I did wheelies before the motorcycle jumps. I was young and wanted to be greatest bicycle stunt rider of all time and I wanted to set the record for the longest ever jump done on a bicycle. I did that for two years and formed a close relationship with Gene. He was a Vietnam veteran and was a champion boxer when he was in the army. He was tough guy and straightened me out. After two years I left the Jump For Jesus Circus and started doing my on shows.

This was before BMX then?

There was no BMX at the time, at least not in Rochester. BMX was just starting out in Southern California by the guys like Mike Buff, RL Osborn and Bob Haro. But they weren’t known on the east coast. Later I ended up becoming good friends with those guys and the guys at BMX Action magazine. They started putting me in the magazine, because I was doing large distance jumps that no else was doing. I’d jump ten cars and they’d write ‘Mama Mia, that boy is crazy’ next to a photo.

Did you ever ride BMX? I used to ride freestyle BMX flatland. But I’d just do the jumps at the shows. Even though I don’t ride a BMX bike, what I do is close to the heart of BMX. For me, BMX is about being an individual, BMX is an art form, the very essence of BMX is doing something with heart and passion.

When did you first get towed by a motorcycle?

I’ve been getting towed by a motorcycle, a car, or a van since

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1982. The first time I got towed, I jumped over four cars and through a burning wall. I don’t think Hoffman was doing it until the 1990s. I got to meet Mat Hoffman in the late eighties.

I was jumping over elephants at show in Oklahoma City. Myself and some of the other bicycle stunt guys went to visit Mat and see his vert ramp. He’d just had to raise the roof to accommodate for the big airs he was doing. What Hoffman and I do is very different. He goes vertically and I go horizontally.

I’m a ramp to ramp distance jumper.

What made you adopt the tow technique?

It was a simply case of calculating the speeds I needed to go to travel the distance I wanted to. In 1984 I jumped over ten cars, through a burning wall, on a bike with no suspension. I needed to be going 55MPH to get that distance and getting towed is easy way to get to that speed.

What’s the furthest distance you’ve ever jumped?

My longest jump is 110 feet successful. 130 feet unsuccessful…

Unsuccessful?

I was doing a ten-car jump at a show. Our motorcycle broke down so we had to use a borrowed Canadian bike. Canada being metric, my crew thought the bike’s speedo was in Kilometres Per Hour, so they towed me faster than 55 on the speedo to accommodate for the change in units. They were wrong. I hit the ramp at 75MPH, not 75KPH, I took off like a rocket into the sky, went over the eight-foot high wall of fire, cleared the landing ramp and landed nose down on the asphalt. I crashed bad and tumbled with the bike. The firework got twisted and was firing sparks into my helmet. Nothing went right that night. Anyway I landed two car widths clear from the landing ramp, so that’s about 14 cars or 130ft.

"What Hoffman and I do is very different. He goes vertically and I go horizontally."

Have you had many injuries?

I’ve been blessed to have had very few crashes and no serious injuries other than a concussion from that day.

What was your setup after the Sting Ray? I rode a standard 26-inch bicycle with motorbike handlebars.

For the seat I still to this day use a seat taken from a stationary exercise bike. The seat is huge, you’d think the person who rode it has prostate problem. It doesn’t look right, but when I land off a jump at 60MPH from 30 feet in the air I have a much bigger area to land on.

“The Greatest Bicycle Stunt Rider In The World”

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Is there any technique involved?

You bunnyhop on the take off. Timing has to be perfect. If you pull up too hard you’ll loop out. There’s no vision at all.

You can’t see the landing because of the burning wall.

like it. It is frustrating when I look at the X-Games, which is supposed to be extreme. I feel what I do is hyper-extreme compared to the X-Games, but nobody knows about it. This is my first interview in ten years.

How did you start using fire and fireworks into the shows?

I was doing a lot of night shows, and fire adds some drama.

I would put a stick of magnesium on the bicycle and flick a switch firing sparks behind me for 20 feet. The burning wall is made of half-inch thick wall insulation, called Cellotex. It’s actually a fire preventive, but if you put ten gallons of gas on it, it’s going to go up. Most stunt guys just ride through burning walls on the ground, I’m the only one who jumps through it on the landing after jumping ten or more cars or elephants.

Not wanting to sound arrogant, but no else does anything

Really? Have you always done it full time as a professional?

It’s been off and on. For many years after Jump For Jesus Circus I couldn’t get work. But I was a cocky kid. Growing up without a father I had no respect for authority. I phoned up Kenneth Feld, he’s the king of modern entertainment shows.

He organises all these huge shows for Disney and stuff like the Super Bowl half-time show. I called him up and said, “you happen to have unquestionably greatest bicycle stunt rider in the world calling you right now.” I pestered him for years but nothing came up.

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“The Greatest Bicycle Stunt Rider In The World”

For a while in ‘86 I quit. I stopped performing. I got a job fixing and selling bikes. After a year of not performing I got a call. A guy said, “Mercury Morgan, do you want a job working on the greatest show on earth jumping over elephants?” That conversation changed my life. For the next few years I was headline entertainer at the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus. It was a big deal, I was a super star.

I even had my own comic.

Bush and other celebrities. I was in my 20s doing what I wanted to do, ever since seeing Evel Knievel on TV as a young child and I continue that dream even to this day.

For the show I had a narrow ski ramp that started up in the ceiling of the tent. I came down that like an alpine skier and jumped over elephants. The roll in was three feet wide and at a 45-degree angle. Dennis McCoy came to a show with Hoffman and he said he wouldn’t even ride down it. They built a whole bicycle act around my jump with other freestyle riders.

I was the grand finale. For several years I travelled all over the US and Canada, and I performed for likes of President George

What makes you want to keep doing dangerous jumps at your age?

Why send astronauts to the moon, why climb Mount Everest, why want do the longest bicycle jump ever done? Why? To show what the human spirit is capable of accomplishing. After I finished with the circus my grandmother became ill. I cared for her until the day she died. A year later my grandfather got ill and I cared for him until he took his last breath in my arms.

How old are you now? You’re no spring chicken right?

I’m 48. I’ve been jumping professionally for 33 years, and seven years before that as a knuckle head jumping shopping carts in the neighbourhood.

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Then my father, my violent homicidal father, died asking God for forgiveness. I started performing again for a short time until my mom got Alzheimer’s disease, for many years I cared for her and did a construction business. Three months ago she died, and I decided to start jumping again to give me something to focus my life on. I changed my leathers from yellow to black because I am in mourning.

The purpose of my recent jumps is to spread the word of the Lord. I recently graduated from school to be a minister.

When I was a kid getting in trouble I went to a maximum security prison on a Scared Straight Programme for juvenile delinquents. Now I go back as a volunteer bible chaplain.

My shows have symbolism. The launch ramp represents your launch into life, the elephants I jump over represent the hurdles of life and the burning wall represents eternity. When I burst through the wall, that represents Jesus Christ making a way for us into eternal life.

Does your faith give you confidence to do the jumps?

I always pray before a jump. But it’s also about experience and planning. People think my jumps are a suicide mission or a death wish. I’m in the best shape of my life right now.

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I’ve got a beautiful new set of ramps and a new suspension bicycle. Even though I’m getting old, I’ve been doing my best jumps in recent years. Last year I jumped a herd of bulls in a rodeo arena. When I set the burning wall on fire the bulls freaked out. Most recently I jumped over a helicopter and through a burning wall.

Are you planning a jump in the future?

I’m preparing for a 90MPH jump, over 150 feet. The jump will be taking what I’ve always done and doubling it.

That’s like 30 something Smart cars. I’ve been speaking to the physics department at RIT [Rochester Institute of Technology] who teach projectile motion, they can calculate how fast I need to go to clear 150 feet minus wind resistance.

They have designed the perfect ramp I need to make it at that speed – it will be a World Record attempt. I’ve been in talks with the Guinness Book of World Records and they told me they will send an official adjudicator. I plan to do that this year in Las Vegas. I’m just waiting for the phone to ring with some corporate sponsors to help to make it happen.

Thats sounds like a show. Best of luck.

Thanks. God bless you.

“The Greatest Bicycle Stunt Rider In The World”

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