Josh Stricker on the cover. Photo by Jeff Zielinski.
Up front: Freimuth, busted backs, Toth, Dew tour in San Jose, Foster, ...
Quick look: Cincinnati, Ohio.
Pro Q&A: Scotty Cranmer.
Videos: Season, Props Road Fools 14, Random 2.
Spots: Olympic park mini, Montreal, Canada.
Then and now: Tim Fuzzy Hall.
2006 Free Agent catalog.
Setups: Dave Mirra's 24-karat gold Mirra pro.
Product test: S&M LAF frame and Animal ASM tire.
Josh Stricker interview.
RedBull Elevation, Whistler, BC.
Justin Simpson interview.
Primo ramps after dark.
2005 Vancouver Metro jam.
2005 Animal jam.
Corey Bohan and Dave Mirra poster.
Focus: Chris Hervan, Mike Tag, Jimmy Levan.
Bio: Aaron Smith.
End point: Diogo Canina fully extends a no-handed frontflip at the San Jose Dew Tour.
The Cover: The first flat cover in years. Terry Adams brings the new stuff with a crackpacker-to-leap of faith-to-backpacker.
Letters.
Up Front.
Pro Q&A: Kevin Porter.
Diversions: We’re changing shit up.
Spots: Sheep Hills. Yup, it’s still around.
Then & Now: Ian Morris. Then: 5’4”. Now: 5’4”.
Products: There’re spinner wheels on this page. It’s all downhill from here.
Setups: Jimmy Levan. This is the same bike he used to do that dead-man gap he did on the December ’05 issue’s poster.
Product Test: Cranks and a bag?
Regional News.
Bio: Mike Hoder.
Goonies, Swaths, and the Oregon Coast: FBM in the northwest.
Dennis McCoy: 20 Years as a Pro.
Sloppy Seconds: Adio Road Trip.
Nora Cup 2005: There were actually girls there this year! Hot ones, too.
Interbike 2005: More BMX than anyone can handle.
Focus: We’re sooo out of ways to describe this section.
End Point: This may be the first train we’ve ever had in End Point. Casey Jones would be proud.
Bart de Jong, www.fatbmx.com, december 2005: Here´s the february issue of RIDEBMX and yes, you saw that right, they´ve got a Flatland photo on the cover. It must have been years since that happened (anyone?). Terry Adams is a media machine. The Haro ad shows the first signing of The Unit, Nyquist´s private "Training Centre". Let´s simply list some things out of the table of contents. That will give you a good idea of what you can expect from Ride´s first 2006 issue. 18 Letters. 24 Up Front.. 48 Pro Q&A.. 52 Diversions.. 54 Then and Now with Ian Morris.. 56 Products.. 57 Product Test.. 58 SetUps with Jimmy Levan.. 110 Regional News.. 114 BIO with Mike Hoder.. 122 End Point.. Okay, that was a short cut. Let´s flip through the mag and see if we can find some interesting stuff for you. Okay, there are two Germans that get a full page ad. Max Gaertig gets the wethepeople ad and next page it´s Paddy Gross in the SNAFU ad. With Spaniard Ruben Alcantara in the FOX ad and Australian Ryan Guettler in the VANS ad, you know that BMX is international and the companies support that. The new Volume ads make me laugh. You may think they suck but I think they rule. Welcome to the Adio Shoes team of Sean Burnes, Rob Darden, Jerry Bagley, Brandon Pundai and Ben Hucke. That´s a double page spread ad for RIDEBMX. It was a shocker to read about Eric Gagne´s death. May he R.I.P.. There´s a photo report on Interbike, it´s Kevin Porter who answers your questions on page 48. Hey, we´ve got another Euro guy in an ad: Tobias Wicke;FUSE. The Nora Cup party pics have a photo of the De Jong bros in it too hiding the drinks. The winners each get an interview. Adio on tour. DMC interview with sweet historical pics. FBM takes it on the road and then we arrive at FOCUS. The mag will keep you busy for a while.
Jeff Zielinski, Jeff Z’s 10 favorite cover photos, bmx.transworld.net, april 2009: This was the first time flatland was featured on a Ride cover since issue No. 38, when Ruben Castillo had a split cover with Ruben Alcantara on the February/March 1999 issue. This was also the first cover I shot with my Hasselblad—once you shoot a cover with a $3,500 camera, you finally begin to feel like you’re making back your investment. Cover history and camera specs aside, I’m just really happy with this photo in general, the colors pop and the trick is totally nuts. Terry called this move Katrina, after the hurricane that ravaged New Orleans.
Desmond Rhodes aka Blackman feebles thirteen the hard way on the cover. Photo by Rob Dolecki.
Blackman, thecomeupbmx.blogspot.com, august 2006: I do it for me. Just to know I can do it. I do it because that's Black Man. I always wanted to do that ledge. That's my high school. I always used to get out of school and go look at the ledge. I just always wanted to do it. I ain't scared to do nothing like that.
Letters from the personal e-mail files of Ryan Fudger.
Up Front: Chad Kagy, Ryan Nyquist, Cielencki, Braun Flatground, Quick look (NYC), Inman, Homan, Caste footwear, Harrington, contest results, ...
Pro Q&A: Ryan Sher.
Diversions: Video games, Tom Haugen’s top ten, Stew Johnson, and video reviews.
Spots: Sheep Hills, the best and worst trails ever.
Then & Now: Jay Miron, The Beast vs. The Beast Lite.
Private Property: Seventies Distribution.
Setups: Josh Harrington, big kid on a small bike!
Product Test: San Diego rider tested and approved.
Bio: Anthony Canevari.
Steps: Smith Grinds.
Easy Days & Hard Nights.
The 2-Hip team heads from north to south in one cramped-ass RV.
Etnies Backyard Jam.
Conflict in Colorado: Police, business owners, and diner employees aren’t fond of the Mutiny guys.
End Point: Max Gaertig does a backwards 180 with one bicycle rotation.
Bart de Jong, www.fatbmx.com, february 2006: 124 pages of RIDEBMX bring you: Letters, News and short articles in Up Front (i.e. the Braun Flatground comp in Amsterdam) which are fun to read. Smokey and the Bandit (Ryan Sher) takes care of the Pro Q&A and Tom Haugen shows his music preference. The Spot Check is about SoCal's Sheep Hills and yes, I also wanted to check that place out (and did). Then and Now: Jay Miron. Private Property: The Seventies Ramps in Hastings, England fuckin' eh right! Products on page 54 include The House axles, Berringer bar taps, FBM hub guard, 1664 pedals, Kink integrated headset, Drive lite forks and a Mosh belt. Josh Harrington's bike gets inspected in Set-Ups. He almost lost it on his way to Estonia. Shadow seats and WTP cranks get tested and receive a 9.0 rating (for the seats) and an 8.456 for the wethepeople cranks. 2-Hip has been summer-touring forever. The article is called Easy Days and Hard Nights and fills 12 pages. The etnies Backyard Jam was a good one and RIDE BMX was there. Setting up for one photo sometimes takes time. RIDE's got a couple of stories behind some killer photos. Mutiny went on tour to film, have fun and score some coverage at the same time. Result: 8 pages. There are so many good riders out there that are on the come-up. RIDE interviewed three of them; Steve Woodward, Nigel Sylvester and Davey Watson. The Focus section is always enjoyable for the eye but this time they only squeezed in two full page pics. Readers love how-to's and page 110-111 shows you how to do a smith grind on a concrete ledge. Bio: Anthony Canevari. End Point finishes the mag with German Max Gaertig doing a 180 up to 180 tailwhip down a three stair in the Big Apple.
Mark Mulville, indian air seatgrab down south in Florida on the cover. Photo by Mark Losey.
Letters: Natural disasters, beggars, and more mountain bikers!
Up Front: Haro, Jamie Bestwick, Chad DeGroot, Redline, Mike Aitken, Harkin, Chips, quick look at Northwest Arkansas, Chenga's last comp, Bauer, Shadow, Second annual Long Beach flatland jam, Block jam 4, Winter, ...
Pro Q&A: Rick Thorne.
Diversions: KC Badger's artwork, Video iPods, bad hip-hop, and a couple of wild BMX vids.
Spots: Hubba Hideout, San Francisco.
Setups: Bruce Crisman's Hoffman Disrupter. This bike spends more time rolling backwards than forwards.
Product Test: Shadow Conspiracy Penumbra, Sunday forks and Wethepeople Frenzy frame.
Workbench: T-shirt Printing. You too can make a BMX clothing company.
Steps: Fufanu-to-Icepick. Gary Young is pretty. He does sub-box tricks on banks-to-walls.
Bio: Sean Saxton. Sean finds out hes sponsored through his bio. Thats pretty awesome.
Chase Hawk Interview
Square One Trip: Fireworks, sub-zero temps, and indoor parks. Oh yeah, Greenville, too.
Florida Scene Report: If you cant say anything nice, dont say anything at all.
Focus.
End Point: Ian Schwartz fakie hop down 10 stairs.
Gary Young downside footplants a Photoshop-free Ride billboard on the cover.
Up Front: Nate Wessel, The Flow skatepark, Rick Thorne, Skate City contest, on the road with Rooftop, Fit, the basic bmxer's home darkroom with Keith Terra, Allan Cooke helicopter stunt, behind the cover.
Pro Q&A: Morgan Wade.
Diversions: Adam Banton's music and Mike Ardelean's gripes about hip-hop.
Then and now: Vic Murphy.
Spots: Santa Ana Banks.
Setups: Ian Schwartz Pegless, brakeless, and freecoaster equipped.
Diamondback Sherman bike test.
Steps: Fakie Hitchhiker Whip (?)
Bio: Craig Billingsly
Private Property: Nyquist's Unit, it's big, odd shaped, and covered in Skatelite.
A Year in the Life of Jeff Zielinski.
Focus: This is the photo issue, so welcome to the 32-page edition of Focus.
End Point: Scotty Cranmer with multiple tailwhips, a tailtap, an icepick and coming in backwards.
Bart de Jong, www.fatbmx.com, march 2006: Man I appreciate it when people go out of their way to get a good cover. Welcome to RIDEBMX May 2006. That title you see in the cover photo is an actual billboard and Gary Young is footplanting it. You can tell by the table that San Diego's Gary comes from the school of Vic Murphy. Sweet. The May issue happens to be the Photo issue. I thought every issue of RIDE was a photo issue already. It's a quick read but at least I can say I read the issue, something that's harder to claim on some of the fellow BMX mags. RIDE is on top of things though and the (photo) quality is high.
Jeff Zielinski, Jeff Z’s 10 favorite cover photos, bmx.transworld.net, april 2009: I had seen this tiny billboard in L.A. for a while and I always thought it would be cool to paint a logo on it and shoot a cover. The billboard was in an inconspicuous spot, didn’t appear to really be in use, and not too high off the ground. Opportunity knocked when we were planning the first official Ride photo issue. We really wanted a unique photo-driven cover, so I planned to give the billboard idea a go. The spot was a few blocks from Jim Bauer’s house and we had talked about the idea together on numerous occasions, so he was in charge of actually making the logo. We decided that it would be best not to actually paint the billboard itself, and attach something to it instead. Jim painted our low-impact cover logo on to three panels of wood and then screwed them onto the billboard with a drill gun. Then we recruited Gary Young for the stunts and we had a winning combination. Jim and Gary manicured the lip a little, Gary did a few downside footplants, and then we unscrewed the logo and left the lip intact so people would see it and wonder, “Why in the world is this here?”
TJ Lavin takes a few minutes from his MTV hosting to get the cover. One-handed no-footed cancan. Photo by Keith Mulligan.
Up front: Danny Hickerson joins T1, Ian Munro, Biz Jordan, Lee Musselwhites' impossible trick, Nina Buitrago, Clint Millar, Vice magazine, Joe Riley, Rochester Minnesota, Aaron Ross and Chase Hawk, Corey Martinez.
Pro Q&A: Edwin Delarosa.
Spots: Santa Ana civic center.
Then and now: Brian Castillo.
Setups: Aaron Ross.
The life, stories and times as told by Mat Hoffman.
Six views: Chris Doyle, Josh Betley, Sergio Layos, Jay Miron, Justin Inman and Mike Escamilla.
Danny Hickerson interview.
Focus: Aaron Ross, Mike Hoder, Jim Cielencki, Darrin Treanor, Franck Macchio, Kurtis Elwell, Larry Alvarado, Edwin Delarosa, Steve Woodward whip to tailtap to whip.
Bio: Nick Harry.
Ten to end: Garrett Byrnes.
Mike Parenti one handed one footed invert in Athens Georgia on the cover. Photo by Jeff Allen.
Up front: Taj Mijelich, Ryan Nyquist, Chase Hawk, Colin MacKay, Ian Morris, Ryan Guettler, Robbie Miranda, Homage to Section 8, Favorite personal photos in Ride, essay about Dave Vanderspek, Quinn Semling.
Pro Q&A: Jamie Bestwick.
Diversions: Mike Escamilla.
Video reviews: Mutiny road trip, Square One Holiday tour 2005 and Stolen clothing Missing in Action.
Fashion, art and some bmx: defgrip.com
Bike test: Mongoose Steve McCann.
Setups: Ryan Barrett's Hoffman Rhythm.
Private Property: The Warehouse in Rochester, New York.
An accidental roadtrip: Morgan Wade, Gary Young, Mike Parenti, Aaron Ross, Brian Kachinsky and Ryan Corrigan.
No pegs, no brakes: Bruce Crisman, Mike Hoder, Ian Schwartz and Eddie Cleveland.
A guide to road trips.
Focus: Eugene Collins, Dakota Roche, Brandon Turner, Ryan Jordan, Mike Ardelean, Shawn Walters.
Bio: Dave Belcher and Kurt Rasmusson.
Button making with Ryan Corrigan.
Half-cabs with Bruce Crisman.
Ten to end: Mark Gonzales.
Bart de Jong, www.fatbmx.com, may 2006: RIDEBMX is a monthly magazine. That means that pretty much every 4 weeks you can pick up this mag and get informed about the latest in BMX land. Their myspace site is already lacking. For the last couple of issues I was able to pull down their contents list but the latest issue they've got listed is the May issue. This means I've got to come up with shit myself for another review of another issue. The July issue can be displayed by retailers until June 13th. That's another 6 weeks that you have to find this issue on the shelves at the newsstands. Hmm, what's in it? The Up Front section has all the news from a couple of weeks ago. You probably already read it on FATBMX. Chase Hawk is on Lotek while JPR is still working on getting the Caste prototypes into production. A couple of riders pick their favorite photo from previous RIDE BMX issues. Jamie Bestwick answers all your questions. Rooftop talks about his i-pod just before he enters the Gumball ralley as Tony Hawk's co-driver. We've heard Elvis (SkinDaddy) was given a Porsche too to race the yuppie race. If that's the case, we'll probably be able to give you a few backstage stories when the world race is over. There's a pull-out poster of Allan Cooke to put o your wall. Posters usually cost a lot more than the issue itself ($ 3.99) but you gotta live with the folds. A bunch of products get reviewed, the Steve McCann bike gets an 8.0 in the bike test section, Ryan Barrett talks about his bike set-up, Private Property is about the Warehouse in NY. Road trip: 10 pages. No brakes, no pegs, no fun? talk about it with Crisman, Hoder, Schwartz and Cleveland, they'll tell you different. A guide to Road Trips possibly has some good tips for you. We say, just go and learn from experience. Focus has some razor sharp digi pics that probably don't come from your 2.1 megapixel Dimage X21. DC helps decorating your wall with a poster of Mirra on one side and Bohan on the other. Dave Belcher gets a BIO so does Kurt Rasmusson. Both riders have shown up in recently released DVD's. Need buttons? Contact Corrigan. Learn half-cabs for $ 3.99 (study the sequence). There's some weirdo on page 132 and that's the end for the July issue. Now go find it.
Corey Nastazio gets extra nasty with a size 909 superman tailwhip on the cover. Photo by Keith Mulligan.
Up Front: United bike company, Bruce Crisman, Mike Ardelean, Mike Parenti, Kurt Yaeger, Ryan Jordan, Morgan Wade's top five worst injuries, San Jose California, Nike 6.0, Staff picks, Mustache-equipped BMX crowd, ...
Pro Q&A with Cory Nastazio. Double front flips and brain dammage ?
Diversions: Lino Gonzales' top threes, Sentenced to life, Shitluck Against all odds, Fly Uno, Justin Holt's Sent zine and carolinabmx.com.
Then and now: Brian Foster.
Setups: Mike Aitken's Fit s3 with pics from Ryan Barrett's bike.
Product Test: KHE Premium Foldable tires and Etnies dress shoes.
Volume Road Trip: Brian Castillo, John Heaton, Ryan Jordan, Jason Enns, ....
11 Interviews: Sean Burns, Morgan Wade, Ryan Guettler, Scotty Cranmer, Aaron Ross, Justin Miller, Rob Wise, Mike Hucker Clark, Brandon Hoerres, Eli Platt and Corey Bohan.
Focus: Rob Wise, Justin Henninger, Free Agent poster.
Work Bench: upgrading your complete.
Steps: Dirt No-Footed Can-Can with Mark Mulville.
Bio: Casey Strong.
Ten To End: Dave Osato.
Holy Gonz on the cover. Shopping-cart mower while wearing Z's jacket. Photo by Jeff Zielinski.
Up Front: Jamie Bestwick neck surgery, Dave Dillewaard on Adio, Love and Napolitan on Hoffman, Ben Hucke's summer of pain, Chad Kagy mega ramp, Terry Adams robbed, cantstopthekicks.com, Gumball 3000 with Rooftop, quick look at Toronto Canada, Ken Hale and the DC long jump, ...
Pro Q&A: Ryan Nyquist.
Etnies ad with Ruben Alcantara.
Diversions: Stowaway Patterns, Props Megatour 5, Lotek Mixtape, RDG BMX Till we have faces and Profile racing Outlet videos reviews.
Jamie Bestwick Bell poster.
Product test: Animal Steven Hamilton pedals, Odyssey Mike Aitken seat and 2-Hip Plaiboi complete bike.
Setups: Tyrone Williams' Redline, NYC pride at its finest.
Work Bench: Hanging Posters
Steps: 540 tailtaps with Adam Banton, fufanus with Brian Castillo.
Bio: Mark Pappas and Jeff Klugiewicz.
Stephen Murrays Bicycles and Dirt Jam. The craziest dirt session of all time?
Welcome To The Industry.
Tribulations of a Videographer: Chad Shackleford (Shook) and Ryan Navazio (Standpoint).
Fox Poster: Brian Foster and Ruben Alcantara fill a small portion of your wall.
Focus: Tony Neyer, Eben Fischer, Ben Hucke, Luke Probst, Tyler Witte and Neil Harrington.
Ten To End: Corey Martinez.
Colin Mackay, www.vitalbmx.com, september 2006: The photo of a photo was Ryan's Idea for his “20 Questions” in Ride. We first took a head shot of him yawning (that's what he wanted), took it to the printers, got a print of the picture, went back to the studio and shot another pic of him holding the printed out pic. The hardest part was getting the two to line up as the scale of the print was different. I didn't get any photo credit in the mag for the pic. Bummer!
Mike Hoder big-time 180 in Hollywood on the cover. Photo by Jeff Zielinski.
Up Front: Flagstaff Arizona, Voodoo jam 2006, Osato on Vans, Van Homan's Two by Four, Stephen Murray's broken leg, Crazy Freakin' Artists, James Whitten, Josh Stricker, ...
Pro Q&A with Joe Rich.
Diversions, one question, five filmers: Who's your favorite rider to film with ?
Then And Now: Matt Beringer.
Product test: Fly Three amigos frame and Schwalbe Mow Joe tire.
Setups: Allan Cooke's Specialized.
Consistency In Milwaukee.
Road Fools 15
Completed thoughts, five flatlanders play finish the sentence: Travis Collier, Hiroya Morizaki, Terry Adams, Scott O'Brien and York Uno.
Baco Road Trip.
Steps: Nothings with Mike Saavedra.
Bio: Albert Mercado.
Ten To End: Josh Harrington.
www.sundaybikes.com, august 2006: You can check out team rider Mike Hoder on the cover of the new RideBMX US. This is a 16 stair 180 at the famous Hollywood High School! Apparently, he tried this a few times and completely blew up his front wheel. He came back another day and this is what you get. The trick is amazing and so is Jeff Zielinski's photo! Congradulations to Mike for his first ever cover!
Jeff Zielinski, Jeff Z’s 10 favorite cover photos, bmx.transworld.net, april 2009: There are some things that I’ve shot that really stressed me out—worrying about the rider’s safety, worrying about getting in trouble, and hoping I don’t f-ck up the photo! Mike Hoder’s 180 over the Hollywood High fence wasn’t much of a bust, but I was worried about him getting hurt and stressing the importance of not blowing the shot (show me a photographer who never messes up and I’ll show you a liar). I remember thinking maybe Mike was getting in a little over his head, even though he tried it the day before (without a photographer) and blew up his wheel. I just kept thinking with such a big drop so much could go wrong. Mike proved all of my worries wrong, though, when he pulled it perfect on his first try—imagine how bummed he would’ve been if he put his foot down turning out of that 180. A high profile spot, huge drop, and good tucked 180—this will always be one of my favorite cover photos.
Tom White huge dumpster grind in the rain in downtown Philadelphia on the cover. Photo by Jeff Zielinski.
Up front: Rockstar energy team, Rob Wise, Portland, Kurtis Elwell, Buckaro bmx fest, Montgomery Alabama, ridebmx.com, Matt Wilhelm and Terry Adams master of champions.
Pro Q&A with Mike Aitken.
Video reviews: 2-Hip Under the radar, Roll call Issue one, Vult Aloha, Premium products Ucts.
Behind the video part: Josh Harrington.
Spots: Pala Round.
Then and now: Jesse Puente.
Setups: Jim Bauer.
Tapping Toronto: a Ten pack, MacNeil and Baco trip.
2006 RedBull elevation.
Five days of rain in Philly.
Manuel Cantero, Tony Neyer and Brian Hunt interviews.
Steps: Barspin disasters with Morgan Wade.
Focus: Kris Bennett, Sandy Carson, Heath Pinter, Brian Foster, Dakota Roche.
Bio: John Greenage aka Dirty Sanchez.
Ten to end: Van Homan.
Davey Watson hangover toothpick in Washington on the cover. Photo by Tal Roberts.
Up Front: S&M and Nasty, Ryan Nyquist torn ACL, Nigel Sylvester, Jim Bauer, Dave Mirra's liver, FBM team changes, Inside the Animal van, ...
Pro Q&A: Chad Kagy.
Diversions: touring with Taj Mihelich.
Then & Now: Leigh Ramsdell.
Product test: Primo Mix cassette Balance wheel and Stolen team cranks.
Setups: York Uno's Ares.
Work Bench: Wheel Lacing
Steps: One-Footed Berm Slider with Justin Inman.
Redbull video: Mean Streets 2 "Gambling with your life" story and free DVD.
One Messy Trip; A trails jam, FBM bowl contest, and Kink demolition derby all packed into one story.
Matt Sparks tailwhip to tailwhip back sequence.
Bio: Pat Doherty.
Poster: Odyssey's Chase Hawk and Aaron Ross get the big page this month.
X Games 12; The stuff you didn't see on TV.
Sidekicks: Darin Reed and Davy Watson, Matt Beringer and Mike Aitken, and Jim Bauer and Mike Ardelean.
Ten To End: Brian Wizmerski.