Forwards rope-a-roni at speed to G-turn into regular shin splint without brakes or foot squeek,
Shin splint to chicken hook,
Gliding backwards trollie (later called forwards Death Truck),
Hang-15 (one handed hang-nothing, right hand on crossbar).
After I thrashed a perfectly good pair of Peregrine bars learning Hitchikers when they came out in 1989, I developed something I've seen some newschoolers using even today. I threw some Profile Sealed BB Bearings onto some Jive Handle bar-ends and problem was solved. Nowadays I've got the alloy ends like everyone else. Good way to learn how to do the trick, or save your bars from the occasional stop-and-grind. Got the idea from Bill Neuman, but he used smaller wheel sealed bearings that you couldn't put much weight on or else they'd pop out.
In 1989, all the 'old pros' left the scene... except DMC. As far as I'm concerned, he was so cool it more than made up for that. After I won Idaho and Minnesota Masters he started sending me free 'On Edge Apparel' garb. Stickers, Hats, tanks and T's that I still have today with his letters thanking ME for helping HIM! I was honoured, to say the least. He was really a laugh-riot, too. He was unsponsored in '89 and really mingled well with everybody, including all the 'new' pros like Danny Meng, Bill Neuman, and Perry Mervar. He never held 'who he was' over anybody, if he ever even realized he could have at all. I remember after the California comp, a lot of guys were asking him to buy booze (not me, of course) so they could celebrate/drink away sorrows, and he proceeded to refuse and lecture them on the perils of alcohol. I thought that was classy.
I used to do the occasional rolaid, but I couldn't stop from it becoming a bunnyhop rolaid where my rear wheel caught about 3 inches of air. People thought it was some new innovation. I kinda stopped doing them when I forgot my routine once and decided to throw one in for the hell of it, without really polishing up on it--the result was ugly. Luckily it was just a local comp.
The gliding caboose pic was taken at a King of the Flatland comp in late '89. The truth of the matter is that Kevin Jones stayed over my place in early '90 and picked that up from me. It, along with two other good tricks (backwards megaspin into a backwards decade) that ended up in the next Dorkin' vid (#4?). I also showed him an editing technique that got honorable mention in FREESTYLIN'. I'm not complaining, as a LOT of the tricks I was doing were his brainchildren. I was flattered, actually.
I was a bit miffed he made off with my Flight 401 wrenches and that porno tape, though. Honestly. lol.
1st place 17x experts @ AFA Masters Final in Fountain Valley, CA November '89
I won 17x. It was one of the highlights of my "career" (Day Smith got second). It was bittersweet because they failed to put my entire class in the results, and I felt proud about being an East-coaster from snowy Connecticut and winning the finals in LA. That night about 12 of us packed into Perry's mini-van; Bill Nitscke, Neuman, McCoy, Meng, Steve Mulder, Me and God knows who else. We went to this fancy LA eatery and Dennis introduced me to Fajitas and Soapapillas (sp?). We collectively decided to do a dine-n-dash, and got busted by the cops a few miles down the road...it was awkward to say the least...everyone looking at eachother and pulling crumpled dollar bills out of their socks and trying not to laugh while counting loose change in the console until we coughed up enough for the bill.
King of Flatland 1989.
Invert magazine march 1990.
Photo: Kieran Chapman.
1989 AFA Masters finals backpacker.
