I found this photo I shot recently of Jeff Bedard on his bike, doing anything but riding, feeling rough a morning after. Vancouver here we come.

Crazy F-ing Steve

This kid is hard to miss. You’ll see him eventually. Shredding hard and doing his own thing. Nothing but original at all times. One of Ottawa’s true shredders. Here is C-F-S at the new Picton park on an impossible to ride diamond casket.

This photo of Jeff Bedard was shot by Rich Redmond, and I have been sitting on it for a while because I also used it as a two page spread in Yo Sick Issue 6. The photo was too good to only be seen there, so here it is in its full colour, digital format. This was shot during the Toronto BMX Jam weekend, after a long day of pedaling around everywhere, when we finally made it to the Harbourfront and Jeff became enamoured with doing different skid variations with this pile of sand. Too much fun with what most people wouldn’t even call a spot. Jeff never disappoints.

Last night saw the celebration of over half a decade of DIY BMX. After years of leading the hardcore BMX scene in Montreal, Ugly Assed Bikes is closing their doors. Liam Mulrooney, the park’s owner/operator and general all around badass explained that UAB was not closing because he had tired of working 24/7 and sinking thousands of his own dollars into the park; instead the park is closing because the building has changed hands and the new landlords have upped the rent to an impossible figure.

With the recent addition of  ’Le Taz’ to Montreal’s indoor skatepark scene, UAB has come up against some stiff competition. Montreal already saw the demise of Orkus, one of the other local indoor parks last year and now with UAB going out of business Taz stands to be the only game in town. Liam didn’t seem too phased by the loss, in fact he planted several cryptic seeds about future projects and even slight glimmers of hope that the building may remain rentable, at least for the short term. Although Taz is a larger park with many more ramps and obstacles to offer it will never compare to Liam’s underground BMX paradise, a place where there are few (if any) rules, beers are welcome and encouraged, and once in a while you might find yourself shredding in front of a live band.

The funeral Jam was on all day, but we didn’t show up until after dark. We rode street all day in Montreal and for once actually rode spots instead of riding around like chickens with our heads cut off. Our first stop was the wallride school where Prashant was so psyched to ride that he took a cheese grater crash right out of the car.

Later on, we visited the red brick trannies downtown, made famous by Greg Flag in his last video edit. We expected a fun spot to session and instead found one of the gnarliest/most challenging spots ever. Greg is a machine. We had some fun and oogled some french girls before heading out once more to a sponge pyramid.

After riding street, we made it to UAB in time for the best trick contest. We had the pleasure of watching Louis Pepin do enormous 360 to fakies on the lip of the box jump, ridiculous 180s over the spine, and an ultra precise footjam on the top of the new quarter to wall.
It is a very sad thing that a place as awesome as UAB won’t be there next time its raining and we want to ride, the next time we’re stuck inside in december with our hands down our pants, the next time we want to have a session that goes until 3am… heck I have no idea what to do for new years 2010. But regardless of all this, I’m glad we had UAB and offer my thanks to Liam for the enormous amount of effort and commitment he has shown over all the years. UAB, much like Narnia will live on forever in our hearts and minds.

Canon Rebel T2i

Sweetness….

They were sold out   Bummed.

I really wanted to shoot a little video while I was in Seattle (apparently there are sasquatch around…)  so I did what I always do…get creative. Here is what I came up with.

Start with:

Play"Homer Says"

Mix the colors:

Pink goes in the middle.

Mix some more:

Mix some more.

Shape:

Might be too much pink.

Add:

Result:

FilmKit 2010

I know the quality isn’t good but there is something to be said for traveling light. This actually worked pretty awesome for a little self filming and I will definitely use it again.

Now I just have to learn how to edit clips.

Cheers,
Roland

Some people would characterize Brandon Lalonde’s riding with a number of tailwhips, and spins. Not the case here, as he’s been floating some solid tables lately. Here he snaps one in the bowl at CP, while some goomba creeps in to the background shot.

Rich Redmond might have grown ass man responsibilities, but he still knows how to get down. Curved wallride in the heart of Toronto’s financial district, with Leland Nightingale (*edit: photographer name changed) behind the lens.

Emil with a flair.

You might remember this spot from this photo of Jesse Cameron, or this web video of Ben Kauffman, but Chris Bryan sent through this recent photo he shot of Jorden throwing the bars over the rail. Looks like a camera was on hand, so expect footage to show up eventually…