Birthplace: Paso Robles, California, USA.
John: I'm from Paso Robles. It's kind of nowhere, you know? Check it out, LA and SF, and I'm in the middle.
John Parker on his very first quarter pipe. Photo from BMX Plus july 1999.
John:At my first contest ever I got second in amateur. I was pretty overwhelmed. I even got a photo in BMX Plus! Luckily I made it to a contest a couple of months after and I won that one.
NorCal's John Parker has landed a freestyle sponsorship from Wilkerson Airlines.
John, Ride BMX UK august 1994: When it first happened I was totally stoked. Got a free frame and fork it was good for then.
Touring with Ron Wilkerson and Rob Seward.
John, Ride BMX UK august 1994: I went and did some shows at a fair, for like a couple of days, and that as pretty fun, I was stoked, those were like my first shows ever. Then once more we did the video thing, that was all the riding I really did for him, as far as shows and stuff like that.
Draino.
John Parker, www.expn.com, may 2010: I started trying the body varial back in 1992 at my parent's house. I can't remember when I first started flirting with the idea, but I remember trying it with a wheel barrel while hauling wood around. That was a lot easier! I took it straight to the vert ramp. Just at coping height, then I tried it on jumps later on. I started calling it the Draino after the liquid drain cleaner commercials showing water spinning down a sink. Had I known anything about skateboarding, I probably would have called it a body varial.
Mike Daily, BMX Plus! may 1993: Wilkerson Airlines' John Parker fandazzied the crowd with pro-caliber riding in the Stunt Boy (amateur) division. Matt razzed him all weekend with teasers like, "Yeah, you should wait a few more years before turnin' pro, John." Even though Parker was hitting back-to-back manoovs like high 540s to high tailwhips -not to mention coming inches away from pulling his incredible Drano (body varial air over coping) -this was only his third contest and he doesn't want to sailor dive into the pro ranks, just yet. First place, and well deserved.
1st place stuntboys vert @ BS 1993 round 2, april 17-18, 1993, Shimerville, Pennsylvania.
John Parker is now the Flavour Of The Month. Big airs, more lip tricks than in the past, a body varial attempt, and several handplant attempts took John to first place.
John is riding for GT.
John: After GT talked to me though, I could get totally full bike parts and stuff, so I decided to go with that.
Interview in BMX Plus! june 1993. Parting shot: John Parker and his drano.
July, John is doing shows in China with Bart de Jong, Stephan Prantl, Day Smith, Rob Nolli, Chris Young, Todd Seligman and Pat Miller.
1993 BS round 3, september 24-25, 1993, Hoffman Bike Park, Oklahoma City.
John Parker pulled perfect flairs.
4th place stuntmen vert @ 1993 BS finals, november 19-21, 1993, SCRAP Chicago, IL.
James Shepherd, Ride BMX UK april 1994: New pro John Parker didn't pull a couple of key tricks, which kept him to 4th place, but only by 0.3 points. He pulled a flair in practice.
2nd place stuntmen vert @ 1994 BS round 1, february 26-27, 1994, Moreno Valley, California.
James Shepherd, Ride BMX UK june 1994: New pro John Parker seems to be holding his own like the rest of the veterans [ie. he flings himself blindly into the air, lands on his head, and gets up for more]. In my mind, his roll in straight into a seven foot no-hander was his best trick. He couldn't quite hit a flair and more of his other big tricks left him on the flat bottom. The one big trick that could have put him in the top spot was his 540 tailwhip. He didn't pull it, so second place was the best he would get today.
John: My first Pro win was in England at the Backyard Jam.
No-hander on the cover and GT Freestyle team interview in Props #2 may 1994. Photo by Brad McDonald.
4th place stuntmen vert @ 1994 BS round 2, may 14-15, 1994, Overland Park, Ft.Riley, Kansas.
Mike Jory, Ride BMX UK august 1994: John Parker landed a crash-ridden fourth. He didn't really get his runs together but did pull some big variations including a can can lookback, no hander, truck driver, high 540's, a perfect flair and was SO close to a 900.
John Parker at the 1994 Backyard Jam on the cover and interview in Ride BMX UK #12 august 1994.
GT Code 4130 video.
Ride UK #11 june 1994: Parker is a fruitbat. Flip twists on vert, extreme variations on the same, and a flip over the funbox with a camera on his helmet.
4th place stuntmen vert @ 1994 Bicycle Stunts round 4 and finals, november 18-19, 1994, SCRAP Chicago, Illinois.
One hand one foot x-up r at Eurobike trade show, Germany on the cover of FAT zine #32.
5th place vert @ 1995 X-Games, Fort Adams in Newport Rhode Island.
Fourth place went to John Parker who was taking off his hands, his feet, swinging them all around... He even did a 900 and pulled it!
John Parker no foot cancan at the 1995 BS finals on the cover of Freedom magazine march 1996.
Performing at 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
3rd place stuntmen vert @ 1997 BS round 1, march 26-28, 1997, Providence, RIInside.
John Parker ripped as usual. Super high airs, but no 900...slacker.
6th place stuntmen vert @ 1997 BS round 2, may 1997, Disney sports complex, Orlando, Florida.
John Parker's bike in BMX Plus! june 1997.
6th place stuntmen street @ 1997 BS round 3, July 1997, New York.
Sixth place went to John Parker. John doesn't enter street too much, but when he does, he goes off. Bike problems seemed to hold him back, though, so sixth was all he could get.
John: I quit GT because they were fuck, working the fucking shit out of me. I was like on the road all year. Non stop. No fun anymore. So that is why I quit that. Then I got the call from K2.
It didn't take John Parker long to find a new bike sponsor. Parker signed a deal with ski-manufacturer K2 in march. He will be helping K2 design a freestyle bike and will also be going at every vert contest there is.
John: They looked at David Mirra first, they were like we get Mirra and a couple other guys. So they call Mirra up but he has another year with Haro and they couldn't sign him up, then he gave them my name and Dennis, call these two guys. Cause I had just quit GT a month and a half earlier. I got to design my own bike, go to all the contest I want, or skip if I don't feel like it. Get to do my own thing.
6th place vert @ 1998 X-Games, Mission Beach, San Diego, California.
Pippa Tabron, Ride BMX UK october 1998: K2's John Parker qualified in ninth place and looked super smooth, not crashing at all. He booted it with an 8ft no-handed 540, 8ft tailwhip, X-up tailwhip, a bunch of lip tricks and some great variations. John rode GOOD.
6th place stuntmen vert @ BS/B3 1998 round 3, august 27-30, 1998, Woodward, PA.
6th place stuntmen vert @ X-Trials, BS 1999 round1, april 22-25, 1999, Louisville, KY.
Profile and poster in BMX Plus! july 1999.
1999 Worlds, Majadahonda, Spain, july 8-11, 1999.
John Parker tried at least 10 body varials and crashed all of them and couldn't walk after the session. Still had a smile on his face.
Brian Tunney: John Parker, who pulled a double tailwhip in qualifying and even came super close to a body varial in the finals. John has a die-hard attitude that kept him getting up and trying tricks that he didn't pull. And he chalked up his first pro vert win because of it.
6th place stuntmen vert @ 2000 BS/B3 round 1, spring break, march 23-26, 2000, Lake Havasu, Arizona.
John Parker roule pour Hot Wheels et rentre double tailwhip.
9th place stuntmen vert @ B3 2000 round 2, april 14-16, 2000, Louisville, KY.
9th place stuntmen vert @ 2000 B3 round 3, X-Trials, May 19-21, 2000, St Petersburg, Florida.
No foot one hand invert at the 2000 CFB round 1 on the cover of BMX Plus! june 2000.
4th place pro vert @ 2000 Worlds, Cologne Jugendpark, Germany, june 28 to july 2, 2000.
John Parker, huge airs with variations such as no-footed cancans, one-hander one-footer X-ups, cancan lookbacks, 540's, tailwhips and a double whip.
4th place vert @ 2000 X-Games, August 17-22, 2000, San Francisco, California.
John Parker showed up in jeans and a Hotwheels shirt. No-hander, alley-oop X-up, cancan, superman, switch-handed one-footer, tailwhip, 540 to alley oop 540 and a double tailwhip attempt. A killer second run with a semi-pulled double tailwhip and a nice no-handed 540, had him move up to 4th place.
John Parker is no longer on K2 bikes.
Interview on www.fatbmx.com november 2000.
John Parker: I'm married, I live in Mesa, Arizona, right outside of Phoenix, got one halfpipe and a little mini ramp that the city is trying to make us tear down, that's another old story that I told many times, my backyard is just a pile of wood that used to be a rad miniramp and jumpbox set-up. I've got my wife Jolene and my two dogs; Charlotte and Jane, cute two little pups, you'll meet them eventually. I'm riding with Jason Davies, Joe Tecca and Jim Burgess pretty much every day. We're working on forming a skatepark but that's a pain in the ass and I've been busy for the last two months so.
Monthly column in BMX Plus! from december 2000 issue until june 2001.
Todd Seligman, www.lifelounge.com: My favorite guy to just watch do airs, John Parker, was up to his usual hi-jinx. If you consider huge airs, variation 540ºs, downside tailwhips, x-up tailwhips, opposite airs and a double tailwhip usual!
Sponsors: Hotwheels, GT Bicycles, Oneil Helmets, Smith Sunglasses and Primo Products.
6th place stuntmen vert @ 2001 Bicycle Stunt Series/B3 round 2, April 20-22, 2001, Louisville, KY.
John Parker did a tailwhip x-up, 540s and lots more.
13th place vert @ 2001 X-Games, august 17-23, 2001, First Union Center, Philadelphia, PA.
2nd place pro vert @ third and final stop of the Vans Triple Crown of BMX 2001, Oct. 3-7, Oceanside, CA.
John Parker pulled a double tailwhip in qualifiers but missed it in his final runs.
5th place pro vert @ first stop of the Vans Triple Crown of BMX Series, May 12, 2002, Charlotte, North Carolina.
3rd place pro vert @ third and final stop of the Vans Triple Crown of BMX Series, October 3-6, 2002, Oceanside, CA.
John Parker has left the Giant team for a spot with Hyper Bicycles.
Transworld BMX december 2002: John says he's working on designing a new frame for Hyper, and that there will also most likely be complete kids bikes available. He'll retain his other sponsors Hot Wheels and YooHoo!, as well as co-sponsors Smith Sport Optics and Rush brakes. John is also very involved in the Action Sports Association's Mobile Skatepark Series, events that combine skate, bike, and inline contests with live bands and a festival atmosphere.
Sixth was all John Parker who double-whipped, alley-oop whipped, and a lot more.
John Parker, www.sophride.com, 2005: For years I've wanted to do something to help ease action sports into the mainstream of society. Instead of just knowing how innovative, exciting and rewarding our sports can be I want to show the world. In the past we've had egos and attitudes to contend with; hardcore riders, fat cat companies and on and on. When I was growing up bikes and skateboards weren't cool and the motocross riding you see now was unheard of. Riders were considered rebels, outcasts and even losers, but those perceptions have changed. Its common to see action sports on television, almost expected. Riders are getting huge endorsements and companies are attracting sponsor dollars to put on high paying events. But lets not move too far in the other direction. Action sports are still about high energy-good- times and the down-to-earth people that ride. The Sophisticated Rider is built by riders so the entire world can catch up and catch on. This is for the riders that buy a bike or board and enjoy it for a month, a year or a lifetime; for the guys and girls that used to ride; that never did and yes, even for the guy behind the desk wanting to sell you all more tires, wheels or hair gel. Here you can find insight into riders and the sports that drive them. Here you can find discussion of current events and happenings that shape the world we ride in. Soon there will be an open forum where sophisticated riders and writers can share thoughts, ideas and opinions. The goal is to open dialogue with the integrity and prosperity of action sports at heart.
8th place vert @ 2005 Dew tour round 3, Rose Quarter, Portland, Oregon, August 18-21, 2005.
Jared Souney, www.expn.com, may 2010: We were shooting for an interview for Ride UK Magazine and it came up that was one thing he wanted to try and get out of the way, finally. Somewhere into the process of shooting John got hurt at a contest, and we never finished shooting. Before we got derailed, though, we did manage to shoot the first and only Draino ever landed on a vert ramp. The day we set out to shoot the Draino was pretty intense. You could see a look in John's eye that made it clear we were leaving with photos of the trick landed, or going to the hospital. I'd seen him do a couple perfect into the foam pit, so I knew it was possible, but it was a matter of not destroying his body first. The crashes were brutal. At least seven or eight of the hardest slams I've ever seen on a bicycle. And he got up from every one of them and kept going. John doesn't give off the aura of toughness when you meet him, but he is without question one of the toughest people I have ever met. We left Woodward Camp with the photos, some video John Saxton shot, and a lot more bruises on John than we started with, but it was done. 14 years in the making, the Draino had landed.