The Beacon Bmx

Well, it’s really Chaparral, New Mexico’s best kept secret but who gives a damn considering it’s only 10 minutes from EP’s North East.  Ever since 2002, the El Paso area has had a hell of a time sustaining a legitimate set of trails but thanks to Isaac, Charlie, and Steve that’s recently changed.  Meet the Raptor trails.  I’m not sure if they named them after the disemboweling dinosaur to deter kids from smashing their manicured jumps to bits, but I guess it really doesn’t matter.  They could be called the Tampon Trails for all I care.  The point is that I’ll have something other than ditches to ride the next time I visit the motherland.

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This news may be a little old, but I came across it when I read about a similar story in Florida where a hacker changed a road sign to read “No Latinos, No Tacos”. Talk about keeping Austin weird.

There is an entertaining interview/pictorial about the man, the myth, the legend on ESPN’s site. Taj has been MIA for the last several months since his back surgery, but this article explains what he has been up to lately. You gotta hand it to Taj. Even when he’s not riding he is contributing somthing positive to BMX. I wish him the best.

This will be a great one.  I couldn’t find the source, but I could have sworn I read somewhere that this will be the last contest at Ramp Ranch. Apparently they are moving to a different location.  And for all you pro-hoes, there should also be a good pro turn out since thishappens to land on the same weekend.  So if you find yourself in the Austin area and need something to do, you should try hard to make it.  I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Update:  It turns out I read about Ramp Ranch moving locations on Facebook.  Here’s a link to the invite.  There will even be a girls class!  It’s always fun to watch girls shred harder than many of the dudes.

Accelerate- The Bmx Movie is in the works and it looks to me like it has the potential to be the best bike flick since RAD.  There are many talented videographers in bmx, but since RAD there really hasn’t been a full length bmx drama that’s made it to Hollywood.  Eric Bugbee is the Producer/Director and has started a website to create buzz around this film.  His goal is to create enough interest to score a movie deal and get it into theatres.  Some big bmx names are featured in Accelerate.  Joel Moody, Chris Doyle and Bill Allen (aka Cru Jones) are in the main cast, but you’ll also see cameos from Scotty Cranmer, Van Homan, Garrett Reynolds and Garrett Byrnes to name a few.  The plot sounds surprisingly good too.  It definitely looks like a movie anyone could get into, so be a bro and visit the website.  It would be nice to see this make it to theatres.

I’m a little late with this, but I’ll post anyway considering this video is still hot. Last Friday T1 hosted the premier for the Surfin’ for the Ugly Broads dvd. The Metal Bikes website said the video would kick off “around nine, or a little after dark” but it ended up starting fairly late since it looked like they were having projector issues. Despite the late start, the place was packed. It was too dark to get a good photo of but the T1 ramp resembled somewhat of a football stadium during a home game. People were seated anywhere you could think of. I even noticed a group of 8 dudes perched along the top of the coping/coping spine as if they were pigeons on a power line. They looked very comfortable. At one point it got so crowded people couldn’t slide down the ramps without plowing into someone. Just as I noticed this some dude seemingly fell from the sky, flew over people’s heads and did the old tuck and roll to get off the 8 foot deck. I thought “what an idiot” as someone told me it was Tom Dugan. I guess that guy is nuts. (continue reading…)

For months now there have been rumors of Steven having a drug problem that turned him into somewhat of an enigma.  He went from the Peter Parker type to a cryptic blogger that made strange web edits.  If you grew up watching this Steven, it was confusing to see him become this one.

Anyhow, there was a post on Bmxonline today that referenced this entry from Steven’s blog.  Apparently he is looking to come clean. 

This is what he had to say:

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When I started riding way back in 95 OJ Simpson was found innocent at his murder trial, the Galileo spacecraft first reached Jupiter, and I watched my first Props video ever. I remember it like it was yesterday. I went over to my friend Ryan’s house since he subscribed to the Props video magazine. I can’t recall what issue it was, but it had UGP commercial with a dread locked Taj and featured a Hoffman contest edited to the Misfit’s 138. It was epic. We must have replayed it six times. That one issue burned an image into my head about what a bike video should include… Innovative riders, good content, clean editing and great music.
15 years later, props has maintained these standards and evolved into the 21st century. They have gone from VHS tapes to DVDs to high quality web videos. They recently redesigned their website and the best part is they archive their back issues which could all be seen free!
Check it out here. I did notice that not all their videos are archived. They go as far back as Roadfools one.
Above is their latest release. Garrett Reynolds is an amimal!

Espn put up a good gallery on Ray’s. I’ve heard great things about this place and everyone I know that’s visited has had the time of their lives. I remember going to Chenga one summer and thought the wooden rhythm was out of this world. I could only image what Ray’s is like. I really need to make it up there.