2004 news

What’s black and white and read all over? Newspapers, of course! Hardy-har-har. But what use are these shitrags when the journalists that write them are so wussified they won’t talk about what’s really going on? We’ve been trying to get somebody to write about the Gilbert Police abuses of kids riding their bikes in the Freestone Skatepark for months now, with no success. I already recounted our problems with the biggest newspapers, but check this out:

I notified the Gilbert Independent of our planned protest premiere at Freestone a few days before it went down, and asked if they would send a reporter out. I was told that I could write an article about how it went myself, and submit it, with photos, to the paper for the next issue. “Goody”, said I, “I’m all about it!”. I began to interview people that attended the premiere to get some quotes, and the more people I interviewed, the more I realized something: “If I’m writing a real article for a real newspaper,” thought I, “I need to interview the people that are on the diametric opposite side of this issue, too.” So that’s what I did. I put a lot of work into the article, finished it, and submitted it to the Independent along with Kimbro’s pic of Brandon Klar riding the Gilbert Bike Park.

Everything looked good until last Wednesday, when the Independent called me up to tell me they would run it, but they would be editing it down quite a bit. I was also informed that both Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman and the Gilbert Police Public Information Officer had called the Independent. They had claimed that I had lied that I was a reporter for the Independent, and they complained that I was “very rude” while interviewing them. Bull..Shit!!! I had specifically told the mayor and PIO that I was “writing an article for the Gilbert Independent,” and I was nothing but courteous during all my interviews.

I called the Independent just this past Monday to find out when my article would run, and was informed that the “higher ups” were not going to allow it to run at all. Ain’t that some shit! No wonder journalists are so low on the public trust meter. Sure, I’m not properly trained in journalism, but it’s not brain surgery. I wrote the truth in my article, and every last quote can be verified. This article probably wouldn’t have looked the same if a regular reporter wrote it, but that’s a given. Regular reporters don’t know this issue like I do. They write a story about one thing and then it’s on to something totally different. I, however, know the bikes in skateparks issue inside and out, upside and down. Read the article for yourself in the most recent Ryan Report, and you’ll see why Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman and the Gilbert Police Department don’t want this story to break.

The Arizona Republic article below came out last Tuesday. Although I spoke to the reporter extensively about how kids on bikes were getting chased, arrested, and tackled by police, and their bikes impounded, not one mention was made of it in the article. The topic must be too hot for the news. Brian Powell, the Tribune reporter for Gilbert, told us he was going to write a story depicting the bullshit that was going on at Freestone with Gilbert Police abuses of BMX riders, but he kept blowing us off until we realized it was never going to happen.

In stolen bike news, a kid just e-mailed me saying he and his friend just had their bikes stolen. They were a Kink Defender, all black with a blue stem and pedals, and a limited edition T1 Wessel frame, (8 of 50) with grey forks. Keep an eye out for these if you could, and if you see either of these bikes, e-mail danny_oliden@hotmail.com

I went to BMX online a few days ago and they were shitting themselves because Chad Kagy had just tailwhipped the Las Vegas YMCA Skatepark's infamous stair gap. They even had a video of it, which wouldn't play for me for some stupid reason. If you don't hate computers, you aren't using them.... Anyways, Chad Kagy is a badass and I have much respect, but I'm afeared he wasn't the first mo-fo to tailwhip said stair gap. On the Kronik Vegas trip this past February, Arizona's own Thomas Hancock done did that shit, and pulled it first try. He even had the benefits of a horny little Tyler Coleman humping his leg for about 30 minutes afterwards, too. Did Kagy have that? Huh? Don't think so!!! I was saving Thomas's tailwhip for the Impetus of Cletus, but I'm throwing this bone out there to set the record straight. The clip can be found in the VIDEO section, which can be accessed through the icon on the left side of the homepage.

This upcoming Saturday, November 27th, the T-Town loc's, in association with Monkeys and Footballs Productions, will be premiering their newest video, "City of Dust and Ashes" at BICAS in downtown Tucson. I'm not exactly sure when it starts, but I'm sure you'll be good if you get there by 6 pm. For those not in the know, BICAS is located at the corner of 6th St. and 7th Ave., and is a bicycle recycling outfit ran by bike hippies and their imaginary dogs. They also have a dog you can see without the aid of mind-altering drugs, but it's made out of used bike parts.

We will be doing a potluck dinner at the premiere. Throw down around $5 for a couple bags of chips, or hot dogs, or sodas or kasha and bring it to the park, so's we can get our grub on whilst we watch the vid. Thanks.

In other news, the Arizona Roller Derby Girls want to help us with our efforts at Kleinman Park. We are working it out at the park so's they can have a place to practice their rollerderbying, and they're going to be scratching our backs as well. I'll explain more in the next few weeks as things develop. Meanwhile, go see their bout with the Texas Roller Derby Girls tonight at Surfside in Tempe. Go to http://www.azrollerderby.com for details.

Let's see...what else? Oh, I know. The stencil contest is over. Nobody entered, and I can't figure out why, since a good few people were stoked on it and told me they would be entering. Same thing with the video contest. It seems like nobody wants to participate in any kind of creative newfangled thingy around here, but I'm going to keep inventing internet contests that no one enters just 'cause I'm stupid like that. I beat my head against the wall 'cause it feels so good when I stop.

On Sunday, November 14^th, from 5:30 pm to 8 pm, The Bike, Blade and Board Coalition will be locally premiering my Project Detention segment under the ramada by the basketball courts at Freestone Park in Gilbert. Now, don’t get me wrong. This is not a protest. We won’t be trying to ride the skatepark. We are doing this to celebrate the international release of the segment on FUEL on November 3^rd. We are inviting Gilbert’s Mayor and City Councilmembers, as well as members of the television and print press. We want to let everyone in Gilbert know that we are still here, and bike riders need a legal place to ride in Gilbert just as bad now as when the segment was filmed two years ago. Bring as many people as you can, including your parents, supporters, and other riders. I was very impressed with how many people showed their support at the Gilbert parks board meetings back awhile ago. Please show your support November 14^th at Freestone Park as well.

At long last I have found out when the Project Detention episode containing my Mesa/Gilbert protest segment will be airing. Look for it on the FUEL channel on Wednesday, November 3rd at 7 AM, 2:30 PM, and 5:30 PM Arizona time. It will also air on Saturday, November 6th at 2 PM.

I wasn't able to attend the Buckeye City Council meeting on the 19th, but Jerry Davis, our Buckeye 3BC Captain, said it went very well. Reportedly a number of riders and parents spoke to the council, and Jerry talked to the mayor personally after the meeting. Keep your fingers crossed. Hopefully Buckeye will do the right thing for their kids.

In other news, PV skatepark is closed for an indefinite amount of time. My source tells me it may even be closed all the way through Christmas because of some big fight that happened there. I wonder when these small-minded parks and rec officials are going to stop using park closings as their ONLY method of control over what happens in the parks. HEY, SLAPPY! LET'S PUNISH EVERYONE FOR THE ACTIONS OF A VERY FEW! BRILLIANT!!! If you're going to hop the fence to get some riding or skating in, be very careful. It's usually the park rangers, not the cops that break bike riders down at that park, but now the cops are arresting anyone that gets in the park while it's closed. It's pretty much a no-brainer, but just letting you know to be safe out there.

As you most likely already know, the 9th Annual Fort McDowell contest is coming up, November 19th, 20th, and 21st. Go to http://www.swbmx.com and click on THE FORT to check out the flyer.

The 3BC will be going to the Buckeye City Council Meeting on Tuesday, October 19th at 6:30 PM. The Council Chambers are located at 100 North Apache in
Buckeye. We need as many riders, skaters, rollerbladers, parents and supporters to come out as possible. As you know, the Buckeye Director of Parks and Rec and Library wants to put in a Skatewave modular ramp park instead of concrete as was originally planned. Skatewave's crap is a disgusting, overpriced excuse for a skatepark, and we need to inform the Buckeye City Council that we don't want it, we want something decent to ride that will last.....concrete. The Buckeye Director of Parks and Rec and Library also reneged on allowing bikes in the park, as was originally planned. If you live anywhere even remotely close to Buckeye, come out and show your support! You don't even have to speak, your presence will be noticed by the council.

Vince at Cal Daze skateshop by the Wedge wanted me to help get the word out that he's having a shoe sale starting today and going thru this Sunday, Oct. 3rd. NO PAIR OF SHOES OVER $49.99! He's got all the dope shoes, so hop in there and get a good deal if you got the cash. Vince is cool as shit, too, so you'll be supporting a good shop. Cal Daze is in the strip mall that Peter Piper Pizza is in off McDowell Rd. in Scottsdale right by the Wedge.

A group of BMXers has recently begun to take action against wrongful mistreatment, harassment, and arrest of riders, and have enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU. As a rider, you know how important it is to be treated fairly, legally, and with respect. One filmer wrote to us, "The cops seized my video camera off one of my team riders and kept it for two weeks because they didn't think he looked like he could have gotten the camera in a legitimate way." This kind of profiling is exactly the kind of thing that needs to be brought to light. If you or anyone you know has gone to court or jail, had to pay fines, or were mistreated in any way in jail or by an officer, please e-mail the info to heidi@spausa.org. Include the date of the incident or incidents, the city and state, and any details you feel pertain to your situation. Also, if any of your possessions, including bikes, cameras, backpacks, etc., were confiscated please include that information as well.

You can bet your sweet ass I'm going to be e-mailing Heidi with my info pretty quick here. I at least want to get back the $1,176 that cities robbed me of in fines for riding my bike in public skateparks, not to mention the appeals fees, lost wages from time off work, etc... I'm stoked Heidi Lemmon from SPAUSA is helping to facilitate this action. She has long been a supporter of bikes in public skateparks, and she don't play. I strongly encourage all riders who have experienced any of the above bullshit for riding their bikes in public skateparks (Read: esp. Gilbert kids) to hop on this. It sounds like a class-action lawsuit is going to be filed, and you can get back what was wrongfully taken from you. This will also send a message to cities that there are consequences for ignoring the need for bike riders to have legal places to ride, and they can't keep pushing us around.

Fabio Ben kicked down with more info and city diagrams on the Flagstaff Bike Park.

When the above document says "detention facility", it doesn't mean underage offenders will be held against their will at the park. It's referring to a flood control basin. But it should only be totally flooded about once every 15 years, so no worries.

Above is the overview of the whole park. Fab says there's a place for dirt jumps in there, too. The city will dump loads of dirt for the riders to shape. If the jumps happen to get too tall, the city will cut them down to size.

This is a closeup of just the concrete bike park. From what Fabio says, there won't be a quarter under 5 feet, and the pools get deeper from right to left.

Construction begins in November and the bike park should open in June 2005. It will take that long due to winter delays and detention feature construction. This park is officially called a bike park, but skateboards will be allowed also.

I'm so stoked about this bike park. The thing looks like it'll be sick as hell. It's nice to have some "concrete" evidence (so to speak) that we'll be riding a rad legal bike park in just a few months.

Okay, this new news from Buckeye is really disgusting, but somehow I'm not surprised. Both Jerry Davis and Rex Golos have been dealing with Jeanine Guy, the Buckeye Director of Parks and Rec and Library. From everything they have told me, she seemed like a shady character to deal with. Now we know it as fact. She pulled the old switch-a-roo on us. Jeanine has been going to the Buckeye High School Skate Club meetings without letting the bike riders know and has been starting to get the skate club's input on the park's design without holding real community input meetings. Now Jeanine is saying the park will not be concrete and will not allow bikes. The park is going to consist of Skatewave ramps on a concrete slab. Skatewave ramps are complete shit, and if you don't believe me, read this article from Big Brother Skateboard Magazine at http://www.bigbrothermag.com/105/politics/politics.htm

Pat Blackburn has been chosen to be the only Chandler citizen to sit on a panel with Mickey Ohland and other city personnel who will decide who gets to design the Chandler Bike Park. All the panel members have the pitch documents from both California Skateparks and SDG, who turned out to be the only qualified design companies that wanted to do the job. A meeting will be held in a couple weeks in which the design companies get to give their sales pitch, and shortly afterwards the panel will make its decision.

Will Bissell from T-town sent me this flyer. This comp should be really good times. It will be held in Obregon, in the province of Sonora, Mexico on the weekend of October 16th and 17th. Obregon looks to be located about 250 miles south of the border. Go to www.mapquest.com to look it up like I did if you want to get a good read on exactly where this sumbitch is. Come October, I'm heading south of the border, cause I gots to get me some of this.

In Jose Yanez news, besides the fact that he'll be trekking to the Mexican contest with me, you can reach him via e-mail through his section on the site. He's gonna get his own site booted up here pretty soon, too, and of course I'll slap a link up here when he finally does.

As I hope you noticed from the home page, I did quite a few updates on the 3BC page recently, so run over there and check ‘em out. That having been said, here’s the part where Old School gets up on his soap box.

I have been disturbed by a couple things I’ve been hearing lately from riders concerning the bikes in skateparks effort. The first thing is the rumors that circulate around and around about how this park will be allowing bikes or that park won’t. Don’t believe everything you hear. Here at 3BC headquarters, we have made it our business to find out exactly where each city in Arizona stands as far as letting bikes into skateparks or building bike-friendly parks. We are in constant communication with parks and rec officials, councilmen, mayors, and members of the press. In short, we know much better what’s going on with the cities than your local bmx hero whose pants are so tight his balls have been sucked up into his stomach and are making tiny little moguls under the skin over the top of said pants. When false rumors circulate, it hurts the effort. The reason being that if riders think bikes will be allowed in a certain park when it opens, when in fact there are no plans to allow bikes in, the riders don’t see a need to write letters, attend meetings, come to protests, etc... to get bikes officially allowed in the park.

And now for the other issue. Some riders, even some prolific and influential ones, have made it known that since they don’t agree with how we are going about our effort, they will do nothing to help get free, public places for bikes to ride. Don’t be deceived. This is a just a huge cop-out. So what if we piss off a parks and rec director here or a mayor there? The apathy expressed by these riders isn’t getting places for us to ride, either. We’re trying every tactic humanly possible to achieve success, because we don’t have any precedent of how to get the leaders of these over-regulating municipal systems to correct this injustice. We have heard of small success stories here and there across the nation, and in many of those cases all it took was one organized trip to city council. Here in Arizona, we’ve been super-nice at city council meetings, we’ve been super-cool to parks and rec people, and so many times it hasn’t done shit for us because the powers that be think they can just blow us off, which is exactly what they do. Pat Blackburn was hardly Chandler’s favorite son all the way up until they finally decided to build us a bike park. In fact, he was a thorn in the side of Chandler Parks and Rec officials, the Mayor of Chandler, and every one of the Chandler City Council Members. Now he’s got officials thanking him for caring enough to get involved in his community.

If anyone has any questions about how we’re going about things and how we’re dealing with people in power, all you need to do is talk to me. I’ll explain the logic behind any of our moves. The thing is, none of these “conscientious objectors” will talk to me about it, because then they’ll be forced to admit we’re doing the right thing the best way we know how and, hey, it’s much easier to be a lazy bitch and not get involved in the effort. This whole, “I don’t agree with how you’re going about this, so I’m not going to help you.” is a thin disguise for plain old lethargy. We don’t get paid for this! In fact, we’ve sacrificed much of our own time and money to get where we are today. We aren’t getting anything out of this other than what anyone else would who helps us—public, legal places to ride our stinking little bicycles.

Oh, by the way, Parker's ramp was sold a couple weeks ago, so sorry to everyone else who couldn't pull the ciznash together in time.

If you haven't already seen the flyers and posters with ass shots of Tyler Coleman plastered all over them, the 1st Annual BMX-Kronik kontest will take place on Saturday, September 4th, at Phoenix Skate Park in Metrocenter Mall at I-17 and Dunlap in Phoenix. Sign-up starts at 2 PM, blah, blah, blah, blah. Go to www.kronikenergy.com for more details and to scope out the ginormous sponsor list. Now don't get your nips in a twist because I pointed out Tyler put pics of himself on every flyer for this contest. I'm just F'n with him. Big ups to Tyler for taking some initiative and getting something going to help the scene. This contest will be rad, so come.

16' wide, 6' tall mini spine with 4' sub box. Attached is an 8' wide, 8' tall extension that connects via flatbottom to a box jump. The ramp is approximately 60' long with the decks. The ramp is excellent for churches and large backyards, and could be pieced into smaller ramps. We are asking for a $300 tax-deductible donation. Relocation is the buyer's responsibility. Call 480-593-1042 or e-mail me through the website if interested.

Wow. We done broke 40 thousand hits. Although most of those are from me checking the dicsuccin' board to see what fools are saying, I feel like I should make a speech or something.

We've come a long way from when I first started this site. Actually, I didn't even start this site. MB Fabio got it underway around November of 2000. I started doing all the editing on it late in 2001. I had to fumble my way through shit, figuring it out as I went, but it's worked out alright. I'm thinking of having a fourth anniversary party sometime this November. They've got this drink at Streets of New York called the flying monkey. It's this really tasty creamy drink with chocolate and banana liqueur. It's sweet and froo-froo, just the way I like my drinks, and I think that's all I'll serve at the party. I'll drop little eggs with psychic readings in each serving, so everyone will be drinking genuine psychic flying monkeys.

TJ COOK RIP

Well T.J. is gone. It really sux, that was one of the
coolest kids I've ever met. I've never thought that at
age 16 you could have everything just taken away from
you in just a second. I don't know if you ever knew him
but if you did well then you should know how sad his death is. To all his family and friends I really feel
for them and I wish the best for them.

T.J. I can't believe you're gone just like that. When I
heard the news I didn't know what to do. Well, there
wasn't much I could do. I think that was the worst part
because you know that if you ever needed help you had
plenty friends and family to help you including me.
I am really sad for your loss and for my part you will
not be forgotten and always be missed. Now after your
service I remembered all the times we hung out like
the time me, Thomas, Justin, Adam and you went to
Tucson and we got all wasted and well you know what
happened. R.I.P T.J.

A lot of riders made comments on the message board about TJ, but C-Los made it a point to e-mail this to me to put in the news, fool! Thanks C-Los, you summed it up very well.

I got an e-mail from the only and one Windbag Willy Bissell. He also sent some pics of the under-construction Tucson Dirt Park

I'm happy to announce that the page Will referred to above will be hosted on my site. Myself and many others enjoyed Will's page on the bmx media site, but it's down now, so Will has decided to make his new home here. Welcome to the dysfunctional family, Will. I'll have a button up on the home page pretty quick heah.

The Gilbert/Chandler riders recently came out with their own DVD, and they asked me if I would review it on here. Now I’m known to be a little long in the tooth, so they should have been fully aware that I’d shit out a complete dissertation on it.

Second in the Rad Kids series, ‘dis cute little thang is named “Still Tarded.” The video runs for about 26 minutes, and the extras add up to 13 minutes. PJ Waxman and Josh Betley have the standout sections, but there’s plenty of good riding from kids with jeans that had to have been washed in hot water and dried on the “Hell Heat” setting. Seth needs to catch ‘holt of this DVD, because there are some valuable clues on locations where he can catch the Tight-Trousered Tailwhipper at work.

The music was very good, with Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and Bowie giving the sections some tasty flavor. The editors did a fine job of syncing some of the riding with the music, also, which always makes a video look better.

As far as the filming goes, it was cleanly done, but a little basic. The filmers set up some good frames, but a greater variety of camera moves and distances would have added that extra spice I like to see in vids. I thought the fisheye was a little over-used also, but that’s par in most bmx DVD’s nowadays. Although most of the filming was done in Arizona, a wide variety of locations kept the scenery from being too repetitive.

One section that really stood out was the compilation “Curbs” section, which consisted entirely of tricks performed on……………..curbs. I heard a rumor that the curbs section was filmed in Canada, because they have the best curbs in the western hemisphere. Seems a little extravagant to me, but there you go. Maybe it is just a rumor.

The credits section and the extras contained some pretty creative and funny stuff, and are good times to watch. Inside jokes abound, though, so you might feel like an outsider at some points. I would have liked to have seen more of the funny stuff put in the body of the main video, however, to give the sections more personality.

I have to commend these kids for making what has to be the most creative and highest quality local bmx video I’ve ever seen. You can buy “Still Tarded” at Global Bikes in Gilbert for $7, which is one hell of a value. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit Josh Betley’s green bike parts fetish. You can also buy “Still Tarded” at other Phoenix area bike shops, but you will most assuredly pay more.

Kimbro Staken came out to Parker's house a few weeks ago, and he got busy snappin'. Check these out:

Max Rackey and I went for this double no-hander and we both pulled it. I think I held mine longer, though.

It's fun to put a "shm" in front of everything you say. Shmosh Shmetley, shmownside shmootplant.

Even though Max has tons of Agent Clothing stickers all over his bike, I still haven't seen one thread of Agent Clothing on him. Are they gonna make pants for little girls?

The piercing thing is really out of hand. Anal piercings...the logical conclusion? Jason Ryan with a pierce-free 360 table.

After one of Max's wrecks, he moaned something about hitting his bad hip. I felt like I was travelling in bizarro world, hearing a 14 year-old talking about his bad hip.

With all the scorpions in John's yard, it reminded PJ about the time he burned a scorpion using WD-40 like a torch. He said it let out some crazy-ass scream. Scorpion Scream. Good name for a band, eh? Or a song. Or a child. Jason Ryan, 360 lookback over about 75 scorpions.

There is precious little posted on the discussion board that bears repeating. Precious little. But Jewish Jimmy posted this today, and all of you need to read it:

im sure almost everybody has heard about tj's death. and its definetly a hard thing to cope with. but this is to invite any one and everyone that had a chance to ride with tj, to talk to him or even jus see him cut everyone off at the park. anyone who has had a chance to learn even the slightest thing about him should come. his memorial service is on thursday the 8th at the 3pm. if anyone wants to go and pay thier respects, its on 65th street and bell at Hansen Mortuaries, Desert Hills Chapel. if you cant make it to the memorial, please come down to the park for a jam in tj's honor. Phoenix Skatepark will hold the jam, and any and all donations will be given to the Cook Family for their loss. Hope everyone will come down and show thier love. Rest In Peace T.J.

TJ Cook died coming home from California this weekend when his truck went off the road and he was thrown from the vehicle. I called Phoenix Skatepark for some more info on the TJ Jam, and they said they are cutting the skate session short to start the TJ Jam at around 4:30. The park has contacted area bike shops to donate product for raffles, and there might be food there too. Big props to Phoenix Skatepark for caring enough to do this jam for TJ and his family. Big props.

If anyone has anything they'd like to put in the news, fool! remembering TJ, please e-mail it to me through the site and I'll get it on. Also, if anyone has any pictures of TJ, riding or not riding, e-mail them to me and I'll put them on as well.

This has been a bad week for Phoenix BMX. Ryan at Kore Bikes called me today to tell me that a Scottsdale rider, Ryan McCracken, broke his neck diving into a swimming pool this weekend. He is going to have to get some of his spine vertebrae fused together. Kore is doing a benefit for Ryan McCracken on Saturday, July 17 starting around 5:30 PM. Jose will be bringing the box jump and spine for all who sign up to be in Explorer Troop 900 to ride. Kore is asking for a $10 donation, which will go to help Ryan with his medical expenses. If you are not already a member of Explorer Troop 900, you will need to pay dues of around 4 or 5 dollars to join.

We have changed the name of The Kleinman Ramp Park Fund, the non-profit organization we founded to partner with Mesa to build a grindpark on Kleinman Tennis Courts, to Community Grindpark Partnership. Also, we had a meeting with Mesa Parks and Rec recently and got a clearer picture of what needs to happen to get some ramps on those courts. We are going to need full architechtural drawings, signed and sealed by an architect, for each ramp that is to be built on the courts. Fortunately, we found out that we can get these drawings made up and submitted one ramp at a time if needed. The drawings go through a review process by Mesa Building Safety and we should have a building permit 30-45 days from the time the architectural drawings were originally submitted. Now it's quite expensive to get an architect to draw these things up, so we're looking for donations of an architect's time while we are also planning fundraisers. If any of you have any relatives, family friends or whoever that are architects, e-mail me through the website. We are looking for an architect to draw up all the specs on the ramps we designed--for free or very cheaply. Their donation will be tax-deductible.

You know how I mentioned fundraising above? We are selling John Parker's mini-spine ramp that he donated to the Community Grindpark Partnership. We won't be able to use it in Kleinman, so we hope to get some cash out of it we can use to get new wood. It is a 16' wide, 6' tall mini spine with 4' sub box. Attached is an 8' wide, 8' tall extension that connects via flatbottom to a box jump. The ramp is approximately 60' long with the decks. The ramp is excellent for churches and large backyards, and could be pieced into smaller ramps. We are asking for a $500 tax-deductible donation. Relocation is the buyer's responsibility. Call 480-593-1042 or e-mail me through the website if interested.

Published: Jun 19, 2004 - 04:48:46 pm EDT

Recreation amenities on drawing board
By Matt Loeschman, Independent Newspapers

Crews will have their work cut out for them clearing brush and debris in the wash adjacent to Bicentennial Park pictured left. This area is privately owned but may be purchased and used for recreational amenities. Scenes such as the one at right could become common in Surprise in the next two years should a skate park be constructed within the city. More than 120 skateboarders competed for trophies last month at the Foothills Park Skate Court in Glendale. The park's first skate competition attracted more than 600 spectators. Independent Newspapers/Matt Loeschman

District 4 Councilman Danny Arismendez wants the city's first skate park constructed in the Original Town Site.

"For years, residents have been asking me if we can get this done," the councilman said. "I think it can get done - it's just a matter of time."

And also a matter of funding.

For the project to become a reality, the city hopes to secure grant money to fund a park similar to those in neighboring Valley cities.

"We're working on it right now," Councilman Arismendez said. "I almost feel like we would be a shoo-in for the money, being that we are in the Original Town Site. This is going to happen - it's one of my main priorities."

According to Community and Recreation Services Director Mark Coronado, his department is setting aside money for possible construction of a skate park. In the department's five-year capital improvement plan, there is $500,000 allocated for skate park construction.

But Mr. Coronado admitted the plan is not high on the city's priority list.

"Skate parks are a different animal," he explained. "In our master plan survey, which is admittedly three years old, this kind of park was not a high priority. But we know the city has grown tremendously since then and attitudes may have changed."

Heber Hurd, a Surprise resident and member of the coalition 3BC promoting BMX and skating sports, told City Council June 10 there is a need for such a facility in the city.

"With a city growing as fast as Surprise, you have a larger population base with different recreational needs. There are many residents here who are in favor of a combination-type park where people could bike, rollerblade and skate.

"I'm asking you to give serious consideration to building this kind of park," Mr. Hurd said. "It should be called a grind park, with emphasis on the fact that BMXers would be allowed. They are prohibited from most every other facility like this in the state.

"A lot of cities say the bicycles tear up the parks and it's just not true."

If the project were to materialize, another crucial decision would be location of the park.

Councilman Arismendez believes the OTS would be a good choice.

"It would be an ideal spot - we have the land," he said. "It wouldn't bother anyone and I believe this could unite the whole city. People could use this year-round and it would be extremely popular."

Five years ago, plans were under way for Surprise's first community arts park in the same area. But when funding for the project never arrived, the concept of Lizard Run Art Park faded away.

Originally, plans called for two washes inside the Original Town Site to be transformed into havens for artwork created by the community. But a lack of grant monies and opposition from Original Town Site residents stalled the effort.

The washes are located between Greasewood Road and Nash Street adjacent to Bicentennial Park and between Greasewood Road and El Mirage Road near the Fox Hill Run subdivision.

"It may be premature to assume that would be the best location for a skate park," Mr. Coronado said. "There are factors to be taken into account - costs, revenue versus expenditures, noise issues, whether we can cultivate partnerships - it can be done but it will take a plan to do it.

"The OTS might be the best place for it but we would have to complete a study before making that kind of decision," he added. "But it behooves us to make sure we are taking care of all parts of the city."

The original square mile's first community pool is scheduled to open within one month.

"The town site does not feel left out anymore," Councilman Arismendez said.

Mr. Coronado said he would meet with Mr. Hurd to discuss the skate park issue.

"I am also going to suggest he go before the parks and recreation advisory board," Mr. Coronado said. "This is the kind of thing they want to hear about."

Mr. Coronado admitted he was not familiar with a facility that allowed BMX bikers as well as bladers and skaters.

Skate park discussions are still in the preliminary stages. The amount of amenities will certainly depend on how much grant money can be secured.

Portable skate parks are also an option, although Mr. Coronado said his department would prefer to avoid them.

"It's not the best way to go," he said.

Meanwhile, improvements near Gaines Park are programmed into the 2005 fiscal year budget.

"We've allocated about $200,000 to build a family-type park in the OTS," Mr. Coronado explained. "Of course, this is contingent on the budget being approved but it will be a nice upgrade."

Councilman Arismendez is happy to see the improvements. He is hoping similar upgrades can be made at Lizard Run should grant money become available.

"This will be a nice place where families can go," he explained. "Have a picnic, play volleyball or some horseshoes. It will be right next to the current location of Gaines Park."

That project will be completed long before the city sees it first "grind park."

Mr. Coronado does not expect skate park construction to begin for at least two years.

"It's a ways off," he said.

For now, skaters and bikers must find another place to grind.

Post your comment on this issue

at newsblog.info/0303

News editor Matt Loeschman

can be reached at 972-6101

or mloeschman@newszap.com

In Mesa 3BC news, the ASA comp is not going to take place in Phoenix this November. They were considering it heavily, but finally decided to hold it in California instead. That means we won't get that street course for Kleinman, but John Parker's ramp donation has put us well on our way to getting phase one up anywho.

I just put the protest segment I've been babbling about for so long in the VIDEO section. It will take a while for you to download, especially if you're on any connection slower than cable, but do it anyways, aiight? The segment will be airing on Project Detention on the FUEL channnel on or around September 27th. I'll tell you one thing sure as shit: That Lana B. is one fine piece of ace, and she can introduce my segment to her show anytime...

In John Parker's ramp destruction news, the vert ramp is down on the ground. Now we're tearing into the mini-spine. If you can help, come out this Sunday, June 27th. We'll be tearing down all day.

I got some more info on Chad Randall's birthday party. The date is different than what he first told me. Here's the e-mail he sent:

Chad's got trails and some kind of ramp and a keg and a nice hard kick in the nuts waiting for all who come.

As most of you already know, Free Ride closed without warning on June 6th. All I can say is it's a real bummer. Kelly and Ava put everything they had into making it work, but it just couldn't stay afloat. I don't know if you kids realize it, but skateparks are unbelievably hard to make work. Landlords don't want them in their buildings because of the perceived danger and the young element, insurance rates are ungodly, and ramps cost shitloads to build and maintain, especially with the increased price of wood now due to the war. The most shameful thing that went on during Free Ride's short run was all the riders talking shit about the place. Here we get the world's first bikes-only park, we aren't relegated to bmx sessions at the shittiest hours possible, we can ride any time they're open, and so many fools are out there bagging on Free Ride. I definitely can't say that if no one talked shit about it, it would have survived, but no matter what, we need to appreciate what we've got when we have it. Now everyone will realize that they don't know what they got 'til it's gone, just like in the butt-rockin' Cinderella song.

I want to laud thanks upon Kelly and Ava for the valiant effort they put forth for the riding community, and wish them the best in whatever they're going to do next. Many riders besides myself do appreciate what you have done.

Below are some pics Kimbro Staken took at the last Free Ride contest. You can see the rest of them on his site at http://www.freezinglife.com. Kimbro was feeling sick that day, so he wasn't on his A-game, but he still shot pretty good.

If someone tells me this guy's name, I'll put it on here. for now I'm calling him Air Buddy. Check the mullet in the bottom left corner. YAAAAAH!

Josh Bierman really helped out in trying to get bikes in the soon-to-be-built Tempe Skatepark a couple years ago. Recently I haven't been able to get him to even show up to a council meeting. Maybe now that Free Ride is closed he'll get back up in 'dis. Curved wallride on a wall that was formerly a wacky street spine.

Where you at, Josh? It's been one whole 360 turndown since I've heard from your stanky ass! Get with the program!

Okay, Josh. It's been two whole pictures since I've heard from you. I'm...I'm sorry I called your ass stanky, even though we all know it is. Just look at it in this tailwhip picture. Come back to me, Josh. I'll let you stroke my mullet...

Maxflip: A backflip performed by Max Rackey, learned at his top-secret foam pit training camp, guarded by Ninjas.

Okay, I don't know this kids' name either. Shoot me. Who's that sexy hunk underneath this hip xup with the big..................camera?

Chad Randall does some seriously extended can-cans with his lanky grasshopper legs. This isn't one of them. If you had been at the contest, you would have seen one, though. Sucks to be you!

I put this one on Hot or Not.com, too. Didn't score as well. Got about a 5.3 or so. I suspect the belt buckle doubles as a babe deflector. Damn that faggot belt-buckle salesman who swore it would attract poonanny to me like flies to shit!!!

I got some more info on the Amateur Gravity Games Contest on Monday, the 21st. Registration for the comp starts at 4 pm, and the comp begins at 5:30. There is only one class, amateur, and it is free to enter. First place gets a free trip to compete in the Amateur Gravity Games Finals back east, and prizes go out to 2nd and 3rd also. A few minutes ago, I had some stuff on here about a mistake I thought Seth made in telling me when the contest would take place. He didn't make a mistake after all. Sorry Seth. You're still this site's bitch, though.

Real quick, I'm going to do some big updates here in the next few days. I would have had them up earlier but I've been super busy. Free Ride is closed, sadly, and I'll have some memorial pics up from the last contest. Also, I'll get the dicsuccin' board up shortly, as well as some pics from Parker's house and the protest video segment I did for Project Detention on Fuel.

If you live in or near Surprise, Heber Hurd will be speaking to the Surprise City Council on Thursday, June 10th at 7 PM. Go to the meeting and show your suppoht. He will be asking the council to build a grindpark, since they have nothing in Surprise for bmx riders, skateboarders and inline skaters to ride.

John Parker will be moving to State College, PA, pretty quick here to become a part-time resident pro at Woodward Camp. He has very graciously donated all of his ramps to the Kleinman Ramp Park Fund, probably about $15,000-$16,000 worth of wood and Skatelite. The 3BC wants to thank John for keeping us in mind in his transition, and for helping so much to create a public, free place to ride in Mesa. Of course, this means we've got to get all his ramps torn down and moved out of his backyard. We will be having a ramp destruction get-together at John's this Saturday, June 12th. We're going to need some help, and we're really going to need some big trailers like 8X20's and 8X10's and trucks to tow them with. If you can help at all, please e-mail me through the site.

Will Bissell just mentioned something on the dicsuccin' board about a contest at the Douglas Skatepark on Saturday, June 19th. This is one of the very few concrete parks in Arizona that allow bikes, so make it out if you can, and show some suppoht. I can't make it, but someone take some pics and tell me how it goes, aiight? Later.

Yup, I've started editing my second video, "The Impetus of Cletus". This time, we're delving even deeper into the hillbilly lifestyle via identification, by becoming full blown white trash ourselves for a bit. I have confirmed full sections from Tuba Mike, Danny Williams, Will Bissell, Rat Boy, Brett Crowther, Ryan Lecher, and myself. I'm also going to have a few mini-sections, but those riders are yet to be named. Of course, I'll have a couple compilation sections, too, and hijinks and shenanigans a'plenty. I'm aiming to make this video clock in at just over an hour long, less than half as long as "The Carnie and Trailer Trash Show". I'll do a PG version and an R version again, and this vid will feature almost all Arizona music. We's keepin' it real.....real dumb.

Hey, if anyone knows where I can get an old Honda CRX for cheap, e-mail me through the site. Mine finally got towed a few months ago, and I didn't have the cash to get it out and keep it around. I had big plans for that sum'bitch in relation to this video, so's I gotsta get me another CRX.....

First is Tyler Coleman's (gangster name T-Bone) BBQ at his house/compound. That's this Saturday, June 5th. Go to htttp://www.teamloco.com for details and a map. Before you get into the Team Loco news, though, move your mouse up around the collage just right and discover a special treat. Oh yeah, when you look at the map to Tyler's house, note that North is down. If you don't watch out, you'll find yourself lost down in South Chandler/North Casa Grande knee deep in cowshit.

Next is the Amateur Gravity Games Contest at Phoenix Skatepark, to be held on Monday, June 21st. They are supposedly going to have the re-design done on the park by that time. I saw the plans, and the only thing they're changing is the far wall configuration and the center obstacle configuration in the bigger street course. Most of the changes look pretty rad, like a big ass vert wall, a 6' box jump, and a lot of taller quarters. There's some wacky shit though, like a 10' quarter with a sub box on top! From what I hear, the designer claims all his changes are perfect. Someone needs to catch hold of that fool before he wastes a lot of good space and wood.

Finally, Chad Randall's birthday party will be held on Tuesday, June 29th at his house. If I recall aright, he's got some little trails and some kind of ramp rig. He's going to hold a little contest on his setup, and he wanted me to tell you first place gets a kick square in the nuts by Chad himself. God, I love this dude. You should have seen him at the Free Ride contest. He rocked red warpaint on his face taken straight from a fresh riding-induced wound on his knee.

So there you have it. I called Hut to congratulate him on his win, and to let him know Ray Putnam and I did a phone tree to help mobilize voters to vote for him on Tuesday. Hut asked me to tell all the riders, parents, and bmx supporters thank you very much for supporting him, and he also wanted me to let you know that he never forgets his friends.

Also, take note from the above article that Lowell Huggins won in Chandler. He supports the 3BC's efforts in Chandler, and his son used to ride bmx. Congratulations goes out to Lowell for his big win!

I wanted to ask all the riders who attended the May 6th Tempe City Council meeting, all the Tempe riders, and all the riders who live in nearby communities to e-mail and call the Tempe City Councilmembers. Especially you dudes that said you would come to the meeting but didn't. This is very important to let them know that we will not leave this issue alone and there are a lot of us that want bikes allowed in the Tempe skatepark. You can use this sample letter below or compose a similar one on your own. With the phone calls, you'll most likely get their voicemail, so leave a quick message saying the same things as your e-mail. Also, with the e-mails, e-mail the same letter to all the councilmembers, but one at a time, not in a group. The word is that councilmembers don't read e-mails that are sent to a group, but they will read one that is personally addressed only to them.

I wish to thank you for allowing bmx bike riders, their parents and supporters to speak on the agenda at the May 6^th Tempe City Council meeting on behalf of bmx bike riders asking for skatepark access. This is a quality of life issue, and now is an excellent opportunity for the city of Tempe to lead Arizona in finding an equitable solution to the plight of bmx bike riders. Please don’t ban us from your new public skatepark

Sorry I've taken so long to update. I was sitting down to do a big ass update on Friday, when I discovered my internet service was down. It's up now, so here it is. This is a really big update, but read it all, aiight?

As you should know, Pat Blackburn has been leading the Chandler wing of the 3BC. Well he went to a city council meeting the other night and he's happy to report that the council unanimously passed a measure to appropriate $75,000 to cover design costs for a concrete grindpark! Community input meetings will be held soon, in which riders will tell parks and rec what they want in the park. I'll let you know when those meetings will go down. Now listen skaters and inliners: The council wants to make this a bikes-only park. That's not because of the 3BC and the riders that have been working with us. From the beginning, we have advocated that the park should be mixed use, just like we advocate that the existing concrete parks should be mixed use. It looks like that with a lot of cities, they just can't seem to figure out that bikes, skateboards and inline skates can use the same park. Well, what can ya do? Maybe they'll realize it when they're arresting skaters in the bike park, and in the same breath, arresting bike riders in the skatepark. At this point, we're finally getting some bike-friendly concrete, so I can't complain. Thanks to all the riders, parents and supporters that went to city meetings to make this happen, and special thanks goes to Pat Blackburn, Leslie Saturday, Dave Taylor, Tyler Coleman, Matt Rich, and Shawn Spence.

When I was at the Free Ride contest a week ago, someone asked me how this Tempe City Council meeting went. I don't want anyone to ask me how this or that city council meeting went ever again, unless the night it went down, you were on death's door with sickness or your mom just croaked. You shouldn't have to ask me how it went, you should have been there.

The Tempe City Council meeting went very well, and I think we had the best presentation at a council meeting we've ever done. Pat Blackburn, Leslie Saturday, Ryan Cowling from Kore Bike Industries, Ray Putnam and myself all spoke on the agenda very articulately. When the time came for unagendized speakers to present, about 8 or 9 riders and supporters came forward to tell the council their viewpoint. We made a great impact, and it will pay off when Hugh Hallman takes office as the new mayor, which will be tomorrow as a matter of fact.

Tomorrow will also be the runoff election for a Tempe City Councilman seat. Again, the Bike, Blade and Board Coalition supports Hut Hutson in this election. Hut has two kids that used to race bmx, and he is down for our cause. He spoke at our political rally at Kore Bike Industries, and you can see that video by clicking here.

I found out who that guy I was asking about in the last update was. Actually, he was at the Free Ride contest the day after I updated, so I was able to ask his name personally. He is Steve Serda, and he helped organize the Mesa Protest along with Lucas Porzio. I finished up the segment for Project Detention and sent it in, so hopefully we'll be seeing that on FUEL here pretty soon. Within the next couple weeks, I will put the segment on here, so you can stream it.

I did indeed travel with the Flag kids to the CFB at Woodward West a couple weeks ago. We went in a U-Haul with 3 heads up front and four dudes in the back with two couches, all the bikes, and all the shit. We were originally supposed to get a 17 footer, but we ended up with an 11 footer. It was shady as a mug, but it was fun. Everybody tripped out when we rolled up in the WW parking lot, opened the cargo door, and here came a bunch of fools falling out the back. Here's some fun facts from the trip:

Hey, I need your guys' help. I'm putting the finishing touches on the protest segment I'm sending to Project Detention on FUEL, Fox's 24 hour extreme sports channel. I'm putting the names of some of the riders being interviewed in titles on the video, and I don't know what this guy's name is.

I know he helped organize the Mesa protest, he's from the Mesa area and he was down with Team Loco, but that's about it. If you know his full name, please e-mail me through the site or post it on the dicsuccin board. As far as the protest segment goes, I will be sending it in to FUEL in the next few days. In addition, I will be sending it to free speech TV, all the Valley news stations, and a cable access show that has agreed to air it. I will also be streaming it from this site.

I've got a couple corrections to some of the information given in this article. The ratio of bike riders to skaters IS NOT 1 for every 10. It's about 1 bike rider to every 4 or 5 skaters. You can find the statistics that back this up by paging down to my April 10th update. Also, the construction costs for fully building out Kleinman Ramp Park, including labor and materials, will be NOWHERE NEAR $250,000. Now if we were planning on buying pre-fab shit ramps, it's possible, but we aren't. We will be using a liscensed contractor with a lot of ramp building experience, and that will save us a lot of cash. My estimate of $50,000 might have been a little low, but I highly doubt we'll need to spend over $80,000.

Nick Ligman recently completed the CAD work for Kleinman Ramp Park, and I've got a diagram for you.

Members of the Bike, Blade and Board Coalition will be on the Tempe City Council’s agenda on May 6^th at 7:00 PM to speak on behalf of bikes being allowed in the soon-to-be-built Tempe Skatepark. The meeting will be held in the Tempe City Council Chambers, located at 31 E. 5th Street in Tempe . You may know the building better as the upside down pyramid. We need as many riders, parents and supporters as possible to show up at the meeting to support the effort. Tempe Parks and Recreation Department has said in the newspapers that they have $50,000 with which to build a bikepark. We wish to encourage Tempe City Council to add that $50,000 to the $750,000 that is being used to build the skatepark, and open the park up for bike use also. If you want the same, come to the meeting and let the council know. Precious little can be built nowadays for $50,000.

Fabio Ben let me know what's going down in Flagstaff with bikes and public skateparks. All you parks and rec folk out there that visit this site regularly--read closely:

The City of Flagstaff should begin construction next fall on their third skatepark. The park is being designed by California Skateparks (an excellent design/build company that certifies all their parks for BMX) who should have a final design by the end of the month. BMX is the main concern in design and construction for what will be a multi-use, unsupervised facility. BIKES WILL BE ALLOWED FOR SURE... skaters were not even invited to the most recent design meetings. This will mark the first bike-friendly concrete skatepark in a sizeable Arizona city. Okay P&R folks, you don't have to worry now. You won't be the first ones to "test the waters". Another city's parks and rec department had more foresight than you, and they'll lead the way into the future.

All the riders were invited to draw what they wanted to ride. Ryan Lecher recommended they build a 15ft spine and Tuba Mike said everything should be eight feet or taller with nothing less than vert. Fabio drew a sheep. The design will be out in a couple of weeks, and I'll let you know how it comes out.

Bicas in Tucson will be screening the movie "RAD" on their wall this Saturday, April 24th at 7pm. Bicas is located at the corner of 6th St. and 7th Ave., and is a bicycle recycling outfit ran by bike hippies and their imaginary dogs. Bean is ever-so-stoked on this little shindig, and Will's telling me things are gonna get l o o o o se.

HOFFMAN'S CRAZY FREAKIN' BIKERS X GAMES QUALIFIER

WHERE
The 2004 Mat Hoffman's CFB X Games Qualifier Presented by Target will be held at Woodward West in Stallion Springs , CA . The event is also sponsored by Right Guard.

WHEN
Registration and practice: Friday, April 30; Competition days: Saturday, May 1, and Sunday, May 2. Detailed daily schedule to be announced.

WHAT
Amateur and professional athlete competitions will be held in Park and Vert only.

ENTRY FEES & REGISTRATION
Amateur $40 for pre registration; $50 on-site per discipline. Pro is $90 for pre registration, $100 on-site per discipline.

PURSE
Total purse: $25,400 - $12, 700 for each discipline.

PRE-REGISTRATION IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER TO BE GUARANTEED A SPOT.
After the classes fill up, registration will be closed, we cannot guarantee spots will be available for on-site registration. Only registered competitors will be able to ride Woodward's facilities. All classes are open to all riders from any country. Please note that there will be no refunds of registration fees - no exceptions.

X GAMES QUALIFICATION
The CFB will offer a spot or spots to qualify for the Summer X Games X; however, the number of spots is to be announced.

For more information or to obtain registration forms, visit www.hsacentral.com or contact April Mays at april@mathoffman.com or 405-528-2453 x102. Fax registration forms to (405) 524-4797.

If any of you fools are rolling out to the CFB and have a space for me, let me know. I really want to go to do some filming and riding, but I want to go with someone to help save on expenses.

So's I'm sitting here, watching Wheels of Fire, one of the best skateboarding videos ever made, and I'm like, "Shit, dude, I gotta update the site." And heeeeeere we go....

I thought this was interesting. I came across these statistics from the SGMA, the world's biggest sports product association:

The survey is based on the

population over the age of six and outlines the most popular extreme sports in the

based on number of participants in 2002 who took part in the activity at least once.

So if there's one bmx rider for every 3.25 skaters, by my calculamations we should have at least three bike parks or grind parks in the Valley now, seeing as how there are eleven skateparks.

Oh, yeah, instead of building legal places for kids on bmx bikes to ride, Mesa is now seeking house arrest time for kids who ride their bikes in Reed Skatepark. Jason Pratt was recently caught riding Reed Skatepark, and that's what the prosecutor was going for--thirty days of house arrest. Luckily his dad had a lawyer friend and he was able to get out of house arrest, but that's some serious, serious bullshit right theyaa.

As you may or may not know, the race for a Tempe City Council seat was too close to call in this last election, so there will be a run-off election on May 18th between Hut Hutson and Augustus Shaw. The Bike, Blade, and Board Coalition still endorses Hut Hutson as our candidate for Tempe City Council. Hut spoke at our bmx political rally at Kore Bike Industries, he has two sons that raced bmx growing up, and he supports our effort to get bikes allowed in the soon-to-be-built Tempe Skatepark. The 3BC would like to thank Hut Hutson for his support.

Pat Blackburn (Chandler Captain of the 3BC) wrote this editorial, which will soon appear in the East Valley Tribune:

Bikes in the Skatepark! Close your eyes, what do you see? Most people don’t know what a skatepark looks like. The vision that they have is of an indoor skating rink, wood floors, disco ball, dim lights, soft music--definitely NO BIKES! SKATERS YES.

Bikes in a grind park or multi-use facility? Don’t know what that looks like, but it sounds OK doesn’t it?

The biggest problem bikes have in getting into the skate park is that the parks are called skateparks. This is a misleading name because rollerskates are not allowed either.

Parks for bikes and parks for skateboards are built the same, but the people who run these local skateparks insist on shutting their eyes and don’t see this--they insist on keeping their eyes shut to any input that might show them that they are wrong. They plug their ears and won’t listen to reason. They are in charge--they have been lied to by park builders, still, their decision making is senseless.

Most of the skatepark decision makers have never visited a facility but they have a policy of making criminals out of kids by criminally charging them for riding their bikes in a public park--all because of the mistaken name, SKATEPARK.

The “Know It All’s” have a solution though: Build new parks, label them “bikes only”, arrest skaters. OPEN YOUR EYES AND EARS--quit making criminals out of kids who want to use the public parks for recreation! KEEP THE POLICE ON THE STREET AND OUT OF THE PARKS! Keep the kids in the parks, off the couch in front of the TV, away from drugs, alcohol, sex, and in a designated place, not forcing them to ride in dangerous places like downtown in front of businesses. They know that bikes do not belong, along with skateboards and rollerblades on public sidewalks. There are signs everywhere, but park planners only want to solve part of the problem. Segregating the parks is a waste of tax dollars. Criminalization of bike riding is a waste of police resource. I feel the police are needed more in the fight of serious crime and not concentrating on kids on bikes in the park.

There is a group locally called the BIKE, BLADE, AND BOARD COALITION, (The 3BC} who have shown the park decision makers the truth regarding park naming, construction and multi-use, but the decision makers won’t open their eyes, ears, minds, and mouths to admit that they are wrong to segregate these parks. The 3BC sends at least one representative yearly to the annual skatepark builders trade show. The cities’ parks departments send no one, yet they still continue to make incorrect decisions about use and criminalization of the skate parks.

Local police are over-zealously bullying these kids on bikes by citing them or arresting them in the skate parks. Kids as young as 13 are experiencing excessive force by the police, namely; being thrown to the ground to be handcuffed behind their backs, getting maced or pepper sprayed, being detained for hours, having their bikes confiscated for weeks, being coerced into wearing a wire to bust police known crack houses, and even having guns pulled on them. This is absurd behavior on behalf of law enforcement! It is fully unconstitutional, and any taxpayer should be up in arms at the waste of tax revenue used to continue this ongoing bullying of children for the crime of riding their bikes.

THE SKATE PARKS MUST BE RENAMED to MULTI-USE PARKS and DESEGREGATED – NOW!

Speaking of Pat Blackburn, he led Chandler bmx riders to attend a city council meeting on March 25th. Pat, Mellissa Buhl, and Ryan Cowling spoke to the council about the need for a concrete grindpark, and quite a few riders attended to show their support. This was part of an effort to keep the issue at the forefront of the councilmembers' minds as they finish the city budget in April. Chandler has the money to build a whole new grindpark, but they don't have money appropriated for operations and maintenace of one, which would be about $40,000 a year. We are sincerely hoping they will realize this issue is important enough to find the O&M money during the budget discussions.

Also, ALL OUR CANDIDATES IN THE CHANDLER ELECTION WON! This is extremely good for us, seeing as how the updated council will be voting on final approval of the budget!

Etnies opened their doors to bikes on Sunday, March 21, and BMXers turned out in force to show their support at the new park in Lake Forest , California .

Over 175 riders came through the park during the course of the day, all of whom were decked out in the mandatory helmets and full pads that etnies requires all visitors to sport. The bike hours are 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

Orange County , California 's, very own beacon of truth, the Orange County Register was on hand to learn the ways of BMX and tell the world what they had discovered. In their coverage of Sunday's event was this interesting and entertaining glossary of BMX terms:

BMX-speak
Rad: Short for "radical," a way to describe a top-notch maneuver, obstacle or other item.
360 invert: A move in which the airborne rider and the bike spin 360 degrees before landing.
Piece: A bike. "My piece is pretty rad."

So there you have it. Be sure from now on to go around saying, "My piece is pretty rad." All of your buddies will think you're pretty rad, especially the next time you pull a 360, because they'll think it was a 360 invert.

Members of the Bike, Blade and Board Coalition from Tempe will be speaking during the citizen comment section at the end of the Tempe City Council meeting which starts at 7:30 PM this Thursday night, April 1st. The meeting will be held in the Tempe City Council Chambers, located at 31 E. 5th Street in Tempe. You may know the building better as the upside down pyramid. Hugh Hallman is the mayor elect, but he won't take office until May. What we are trying to accomplish on Thursday is to make the city council and the newspapers aware of our issue. This will make it easier for Hugh to get bikes allowed in the park when he takes office. The city council is voting that night to award the construction contract to a builder. Now that's not SDG, SDG is the designer, and they've already done their work and gotten paid. We figure this is a perfect time to bring up the issue of bikes in the skatepark and to call City Councilwoman Barb Carter to task for helping her son, Colby Carter, who works for SDG, get the skatepark design contract. A designer who cannot design a skatepark for all reasonable users should never have been hired in the first place. I'm sorry for the short notice, but we need as many riders, parents and supporters as possible to come and show that you want bikes allowed in this new skatepark, and you won't take no for an answer!

Well I've had a helluva week. I busted my ass helping hold the 2nd Annual Butler Invitational Dirt Jumping Contest, got fired from my job in the process, and found out what a pain in the ass it is to switch website hosts (that's why the site was down for a few days). Check out www.swbmx.com for Ben's story on the contest. He got some really snazzy pics. Zany. I'm glad he did a story because I didn't want to do a story on a comp I helped organize. One thing I will say, though. The jump setup kinda sucked, but it would have been a lot better if we had had more help, even though the dirt was really hard to work with. I mean, I actually had a couple riders say they wouldn't help dig unless they were getting paid to help dig, and just covering their entry fees wasn't enough. Here's the wakeup call: The bmx market is on the decline. We couldn't get TV coverage for this event, like the 1st Shawn Butler Invitational had. There was only one CFB last summer due to lack of sponsor interest. Do you know where money to sponsor contests and pay jump builders comes from? The mainstream. And sometimes they're into us and sometimes they aren't. That's the way it always will be. Us riders need to realize that, and not be dependent on the mainstream to make our contests and events go well. We need to make it happen ourselves. And it takes more than a handful of diggers to build a quality competitive dirt-jumping course in a few days. I learned that really quick.

Thanks to the guys that did bust their asses: Seth Mason, C-Los, Jackson Riggs, Rudy Riggs, Derek Riggs, Midget Cory and his crew, Shawn Butler's sister Telly (I knew I'd seen it all when I saw a woman packing a lip), K.C. Badger and Buddy. I also want to thank the following sponsors of the contest:

Dan's Competition, East Coast Destruction, Profile Racing, Dirt Bros. Industries, ODI, Valhalla Bikes, Helldonkey, Assault Clothing, Gentry Bikes, A-1 Bike Shop (in Orange, CA), KHE, Mofkin, Orchid Footwear, Butler Products, Rage Cycles, and Team Loco. Lastly but absolutely not leastly, I want to thank Jerry Sieve and Team NOVA for inviting us to hold this jumping contest in conjunction with the Nova Desert Classic.

Moving right along, peep dis, homie: There's going to be a big ass production with bands and skate and bmx demos called Asphalt Arena this upcoming Friday, April 2nd and Saturday, April 3rd. They're bringing in Adam Banton and Bruce Crisman for the bmx, along with the Gordy's bmx team, and Danny Way, Jesse Fritsch, Ray Barbee, Frank Hirata, and Mike V for the skate, along with the Industrial Skate Team. Pretty much all the skaters are performing with their respective bands, and Crisman is performing with his band. For more info, visit www.tempemusicfestival.com. Here's a tip: Go to any AZ Circle K store and get your $5.00 voucher redeemable at the gate.

BMX in etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest --it's a Go!
02-25-04

Lake Forest, CA. (18 February, 2004) - Lake Forest, CA (February 18, 2004)--In a decisive meeting, the Lake Forest City Council unanimously voted in favor of amending the city's current Parks and Recreation Skatepark Municipal Code to allow BMX riders into the recently opened Etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest!

The proposed amendment, which was brought before the city council for consideration earlier this month, was passed with no objections and will go into effect in thirty days. The landmark Lake Forest decision is a major milestone for the BMX community and has set a historical precedent for other communities to follow.

Welcoming BMX into the Etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest shows the City of Lake Forest's unwavering dedication to not only the youth within the Lake Forest community, but throughout the world, as well. Etnies would like to commend the City of Lake Forest for their incredible support and countless contributions to the skatepark.

To celebrate, Etnies is currently planning a Grand Opening BMX session at the skatepark scheduled for Sunday, March 21. The all-day barbeque will bring out some of BMX's finest, and will be a great way for BMX riders to finally "break-in" in the concrete monster they've been anxiously waiting to ride.

Etnies: Established in 1986, Etnies started out by designing the best skate shoes on the planet. From the creation of the very first pro model skateboarding shoe ever, the Natas, to expanding that innovation to include other action sports like snowboarding, surfing, moto-x and BMX, Etnies has always been there, crafting the quality, style and functionality that has changed the face of the action sports footwear industry forever.

I got this from the bmxonline site. This is big, big news for Southern California, and for the nation. If this city council found a way to allow bikes in their skatepark that formerly allowed only skateboards and rollerblades, ANY city council can and should find that same way to provide equal access for bmx riders to their city's skatepark. This park is HUGE and is really, really sick.

In other news, Free Ride will be holding another contest on Saturday, May 8th. I'm sure they'll have more info about it on their site, www.freeridebmx soon. Yeaaaah. I'm planning some shit out for this comp, as I'm sure others are. There are a buncha new lines with the new ramps as got built there recently. Free Ride is also doing a frequent rider program now, as in when you get 5 sessions, you get the 6th session free. Lick it up!

Okay, we're almost done here. Some unidentified rider left their green helmet and a bunch of TSA and November clothes in blue plastic shopping bag at the Butler Invitational Contest. E-mail me through the site and you can come pick them up from me. Too bad you don't wear a large.....

Pat Blackburn, the Chandler Captain for the 3BC, just sent me this press release to get out to you:

ATTENTION
Anyone interested in helping with getting the Chandler skate park open to
bikes?
How? Attend Chandler city council meeting.

When? March 25,2004, 7:00 PM

Where? Chandler public library

What can I do to help? Show up to show your support. We need as many
concerned citizens as possible to show that there is serious interest in this project.

Tell your friends,
family, parents, cousins, girlfriends, babysitters, doctors, ministers, priests, teachers, bosses, or anyone you know who might have an interest in keeping you from being fined,cuffed,hauled in or otherwise punished for riding your bike in the municipal skate park

THE DOORS HAVE BEEN OPENED FOR YOU. IT’S TIME TO STEP
UP AND HELP BY BEING THERE TO BE COUNTED, BRING SOMEONE TO BE COUNTED!

DON’T BE LATE!

HUGH HALLMAN IS THE NEW MAYOR OF TEMPE!!! He will take office sometime in May, I believe. I am stoked, and you should be, too. As it stands now, bmx bikes won't be allowed in the new Tempe Skatepark, but with the new mayor...Hugh Hallman on our side, this will soon change. Keep in mind, though, that we aren't totally out of the woods yet. We'll probably need to go to city council once or twice to present the issue, so be ready to go there when the time comes. Also, Hut Hutson, a candidate for city council who supports our cause, will be in a run-off election soon, because it was too close. All you Tempe residents make sure to vote for him in that run-off, and I'll let you know for sure when that will occur.

In MB news, Bret Smith will be having another pool party/BBQ on Saturday, April 3rd, starting at 3 PM. His last one, or should I say first one, was bomb-ass, so come out. I and my bottle of A-1 sauce will be on hand to make anyone's hamburger into a steakburger. Old School................OUT!

We will be building the dirt jumps for the 2nd Annual Butler Invitational Dirt Jumping Contest starting this Saturday at 8 AM. We can use all the help we can get because Barspinner Ryan and the Sheep Hills locals won't be here to help build until later the next week. We won't be able to pay anyone to build, but we will make sure we hook everyone up who helps us in some way to show our appreciation of their efforts. You can check out the map by clicking on the Butler Contest button on the homepage. We'll be building all day Sunday, too.

The 3BC Rally for Tempe Mayoral Candidate Hugh Hallman and Tempe City Council Candidate Hut Hutson did indeed go down this past Saturday, February 28^th. My favorite quote from Hugh was, “…the only reason nobody wants to give your cause a little hearing is somebody someplace has decided to exclude you, and that shouldn’t happen.” Hut got on the mike next with something in his hand wrapped in a white garbage bag. He promptly unwrapped it, and, lo and behold, it was your basic bmx trophy, complete with the classic turnbar deadsailor on top! Check out their speeches for yourself by clicking on Hugh’s picture.

If you live in Tempe, vote for these guys, and tell your friends to vote for them as well. They’re on our side. I want to give special thanks to Hugh Hallman and Hut Hutson for speaking and supporting bmx, Ryan Cowling from Kore Bike Industries for providing a place to hold the rally, Jose Yanez for the ramps, and Ray Putnam and Pat Blackburn for all their hard work in making this happen.

Also, I have an update to the Tempe voting guide as far as the other candidates for Tempe City Council. Barb Carter is very unfavorable towards us. Her son, Colby Carter, works for SDG, which is designing the Tempe skatepark (big surprise there, huh?). Barb feels the same way Colby and SDG do, which is that bikes should be banned from being in the Tempe Skatepark. So don't vote for her. Mark Mitchell never answered my e-mail asking him his opinion on the topic of bikes in the soon-to-be-built Tempe Skatepark, so don't vote for him either. I hear Augustus "Gus" Shaw is favorable towards our cause, though I have not talked to him directly, another 3BC member has. I have talked to David Strang through e-mail, and he does support a park for bikes in Tempe, but not necessarily bikes being in the new skatepark. He wants to get a chance to look deeper into the issue before he offers his opinion.

Our Mesa 3BC Captain Dale Terrell has just informed me of a candidate for Mesa City Council that is friendly to our cause. His name is Charlie Powell, and you can find out more about him by going to http://www.voteforpowell.com. The Bike, Blade and Board Coalition is happy to endorse

so all you Mesa riders, parents and supporters make sure you vote for him on March 9th.

As far as Mesa's Kleinman Ramp Park goes, Nick Ligman has been doing an outstanding job of doing all the CAD work on the ramps as required by the city engineers. As soon as he's done, we'll be turning them in to the city and we'll be that much closer to starting construction. Also, John Parker has informed us that one of the big ASA contests will be going down here in the valley in November, and he said it should be no problem for him to convince the ASA to donate the street course to go in Kleinman Park. Rad.

The AZ Xtreme Team has just confirmed a gig for the Make-a-Wish Foundation on Saturday March 20th at the Village Shopping Center on the corner of 19th Ave. and Dunlap in Phoenix. There will be 2 or 3 demos involved. I will be setting up his box jump and spine at noon and there will be a jam session until 3:30. The ramps will be shut down until 4:30 when the first demo will go until 5:00 or so. Then the street bike part of The AZ Xtreme Team, The AZ Bad Boys will take the stage on their stunt street bikes until 5:30 or so. Then another jam session until 7:00, demo at 7:30 then possibly another jam session and demo at 9:00. If you want to participate in the jam sessions, you have to make sure that you are signed up as part of our Boy Scout Explorer Troop 900. Usually we can sign you up at the event, but this time you have to make sure you are signed up prior to the event. Make arrangements with me, Jose, at 602.367.8374 at least by the 18th. Refer to the article below for the details. The reason you need to be signed up is so that you are included in our insurance policy. In addition to our stuff, there will also be a car show with hot rods and classics, a Harley bike show, lots of booths selling stuff and a band or bands. There is no cover charge but donations will be accepted as it is a fundraiser for the MAWF. When I can confirm the names of the band, I'll post them, so keep posted. REMEMBER, anyone not signed up will not be allowed to take part in the jam sessions, so hit the digits and get your jam on!
Spread the word and feel free to call me anytime for more info

Peep dis. On Saturday, February 28th, the Bike, Blade and Board Coalition will hold a rally for Hugh Hallman's mayoral campaign at Kore Bike Industries, located on the northwest corner of Scottsdale Road and Curry Road in Tempe. As I've said on here before, he is fully supportive of bmx in skateparks and he has said that if he is elected mayor of Tempe, he will make sure bmx bikes are allowed in the new $725,000 skatepark Tempe will soon be building. The AZ Xtreme Team will do a show on their ramps at 1 PM, and Hugh Hallman will speak at 2 PM.

If you (ages 14 and up only) sign up to be in our Boy Scout Explorer Troop 900 and pay your dues that day, you will be allowed to ride the ramps also. The dues are $9.00 per person, and that will cover you for a year (meaning you will be covered to ride our ramps anytime we have an event like this the whole year). I know a lot of you joined the troop the last time we did this in December, but those dues (the $2.00) only covered you until the end of the year. We will need to get $9.00 from those that signed up last time, too. Membership dues are paid at the beginning of each year and then pro-rated for new members joining later in the year. I know it's kind of complicated, so if you don't understand, contact me and I'll draw you a diagram.

Be sure to come out and support the rally. The last time we did this was at Kore's grand opening and everyone had a killer good time. Except for Shaunaggus. He ate some serious shit right onto his elbow on the burly-ass asphalt. But I think his underage girlfriend kissed it and made it much better. Wait a minute, I jrecently heard the age of consent just went down to 16 in Arizona a few days ago! BMX'ers rejoice! You KNOW all the Wedge Rats are STOKIN'.

The article below appeared on the front page of Saturday's East Valley Tribune. THE front page, not the front page of some buried section. As in, you're walking into Circle K on Saturday morning, looking for chocolate covered doo-doo balls or some shit, and you see it, BAM! FULL COLOR IN YO' FACE, BIAATCH! Peep 'dis:

I love how the Gilbert mayor says bmx riders aren't a high priority right now because there's a shortage of public safety personnel in Gilbert. How is it, then, if Gilbert is so short on police, that the police personnel they DO have can spend so much time HARRASSING CHILDREN ON BIKES IN THE GODDAMN SKATEPARK!!! If the cops have so much spare time on their hands now, when more are added the only thing they'll have to do is lean on their on shovels in line at Winchell's.

This article appeared in the North Phoenix section of the AZ Republic yesterday:

So you wanna know how the 3BC's appearance in front of the Phoenix City Council went yesterday? Well I'm glad you asked. As we expected, nobody was able to make it out but Rex, Matt Pinegar (the 3BC Captain for Phoenix), one other rider and myself. That's okay, though, because we brought 51 letters to the mayor from Phoenix citizens who are bmx riders, skateboarders, inline skaters, and supporters of our cause. All the letters expressed how something needed to be done for bike riders in Phoenix, whether it be to allow us into the existing skateparks or build new bikeparks or grindparks. After Rex and I spoke, Mayor Gordon told us that Councilman Stanton volunteered to follow up on the issue himself. It sounds like he will call some kind of meeting, so I'll keep you updated on that.

Shawn Butler was just in town to check out the site of his 2nd Butler Invitational and to plan some shit out with Randy and myself. Check out his ghetto flyer on http://barspinner.com. Also peep his new look on there. It's not Ice Blue.....it's Lumber Black. I'm making a new flyer for the contest with a map on it that we'll be getting out next week.

Finally....the real important stuff. Felix was down from Flag a few weeks ago, and he rode Free Ride with Rigo and myself. He was tripping on how big my kneepads were after the sesh, and he decided (foolishly) to take a closer look at them as they were drying in the bed of my pickup. When he got his sniffer within about 3 feet of them bad boys, he started to retch uncontrollably. Pads get to a certain age when, no matter how long or often you soak and wash them, they still stank like a mug. This will mark the first time any pads of mine have made anyone toss their cookies. I'm so proud.

The Bike, Blade and Board Coalition is proud to endorse the following candidates in the upcoming Tempe Mayoral and City Council Election on March 9th:

These candidates have both expressed support for bmx bikes to be allowed in the new Tempe skatepark. They understand that bmx bike riders need a place to ride, just like the skateboarders and inliners. Barbara Carter, Mark Mitchell, and David Strang are also running for city council. We know that Barbara Carter is dead set against bikes being allowed in the new Tempe skatepark. Her son is Colby Carter, who works for Site Design Group (SDG). That should tell you exactly why she is so against bikes being allowed in the skatepark. Mark Mitchell and David Strang have not answered my question of "would they support bikes being allowed in the Tempe skatepark?" as of yet. Dennis Cahill is running against Hugh Hallman for mayor, and Dennis has not answered my question yet, either. Be sure to register to vote by this Monday, February 9th, and vote in the election on March 9th. Your vote WILL make a difference!

The Bike, Blade and Board Coalition is proud to endorse the following candidates in the upcoming Chandler Mayoral and City Council Election on March 9th:

These candidates have all expressed their support for a public facility for bmx bikes. They understand that bmx bike riders need a place to ride, just like the skateboarders and inliners. Be sure to register to vote by February 9th and vote in this election on March 9th. Your vote does make a difference!

In less political news, Josh Betley and Matt Rich want everyone to know they will be releasing their first video, "The Search for, Discovery of, and Subsequent Anal Rape of the Tight Trousered Tailwhipper" in about a month. Just kidding..................................................they'll be releasing it in a month and 4 days. But seriously, folks, they don't have a name for the vid yet, but it is expected to focus on the Gilbert scene and riders.

Joe Wichert, the Extreme Sports Director for Las Vegas Parks and Rec, just contacted me to let me know they are doing the Am Jam Series at the public skateparks again this year. There will be 10 contests, and details and schedule info can be found on their new site at http://www.vegasamjam.com

CORRECTION! I JUST FOUND OUT THAT THE PHOENIX CITY COUNCIL MEETING THAT ALLOWS FOR CITIZEN COMMENT IS NOT IN FACT ON TUESDAYS AT 2 PM! IT IS ON WEDNESDAYS AT 3 PM! I AM SORRY FOR NOT VERIFYING WHICH MEETING WAS THE RIGHT ONE FOR US TO SPEAK AT (PHOENIX CITY COUNCIL HAS 3 DIFFERENT MEETINGS A WEEK). I GOT THE ORIGINAL INFO FROM A VERY RELIABLE SOURCE, BUT EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES, I GUESS. MEMBERS OF THE BIKE, BLADE AND BOARD COALITION WILL BE SPEAKING IN THE CITIZEN COMMENT SECTION OF THE PHOENIX CITY COUNCIL MEETING THIS UPCOMING WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, AT 3 PM. ONCE AGAIN, WE STILL NEED AS MANY RIDERS, PARENTS, AND SUPPORTERS AS POSSIBLE TO COME OUT AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT TO MAKE A BIG IMPACT ON THE COUNCIL. IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK, MAKE SURE TO ARRIVE A LITTLE EARLIER THAN 3 PM TO FILL OUT A REQUEST TO SPEAK CARD. THE MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 200 W. JEFFERSON STREET IN PHOENIX.

If you didn't make it to the Free Ride contest a week ago, it must really suck to be you. It had to have been the best contest I've ever been to in Arizona. Before that the best one was either the very first Fort dirt jumping comp or the Burning Bike. I don't have time to put together a whole report, as I'm editing up a video segment that documents all the protests we've had in the Valley and Flagstaff. I've got so much footage...it's taking forever. But anyways, I had to talk about it a little in the news.

The crowd was SO into the whole comp, everyone was just stoked. From the minute the beginner class started, the crowd was fully suppohtin', even for the turnbar. The only explanation I can give for that is the incredibly good vibe in the place. Kelly has created an atmosphere in the park that is cool as hell by establishing an excellent repoire with everyone that enters his doors. He's totally down for the riders, and that has translated into a dope riding situ-muation. Highlights included a beginner trying and finally pulling a backflip, little Max Rackey doing tailwhips on his 18' bike in amateur, some other am pulling a double footplant on the big wall, Chris Toth trying a barspin in the long jump contest, landing in a Miami Hopper, and still getting further in that jump than anyone else, Prescott Brian bunnyhopping over Jose without even touching one of Jose's orange hairs, and more sick shit than I have space for was pulled out of all the pro's arses. MB Fabio was in the house, so don't not go to http://www.swbmx.com to see his pics and captions. I want to congratulate Kelly, his wife Eva, Brokeleg KC, and everyone who helped pull the comp off on a job well done. When it comes down to it, a good contest isn't judged by the prizes, the organization, or even the riding. It's judged by how much of a good time everyone has. There wasn't one bad vibe at this contest, and I couldn't find one person that wasn't having the time of their lives.

On February 7th, a thing called Desert Rampage will happen at Tempe Town Lake. There will be a vert show with John Parker's Stuntmasters team, a bike show on a street course, an amateur skate contest, a graffiti battle, motocross jumping, and a bunch of bands. Visit http://www.desertrampage.com for info on tickets and whatnot.

I don't know if you've noticed all the signs around town saying "Jobber Bobber for City Council" or "Super Fruity Looper for Mayor", but I have. Most of the Valley's cities have Mayor and City Council elections coming up, and we need to make our voices heard in those elections. As important as it was to initially e-mail your respective council members about how you wanted a place for bikes, it's doubly important now. The politicians' jobs are on the line, and we, the voters, get to decide if they keep those jobs or not. All you fools 18 and up need to get registered to vote, and then vote in the election. I will be getting voter's guides up for each city on the 3BC page, so make sure to visit your city's page to see who of your council members support a place for bikes and who doesn't. I know it's crazy that we have to go to these lengths to get cities to listen to us on such a no-brainer issue, but we do. The reasons cities aren't allowing bikes in skateparks run much deeper than we originally thought they did, and that's why it's taking so long to get them to do something. Believe me, when the people in charge see that we're so serious we might cost them their jobs, they'll listen.

The 3BC will be going to Phoenix City Council on Tuesday, February 10th, 2004 to speak during the time allotted for citizen comment. The meeting will start at 2 PM at the
City Council Chambers, located at 200 W. Jefferson St. in Phoenix. Once again, we need as many riders, parents, and supporters to come out and show your support to make a big impact on the council. If you wish to speak, show up at 1:45 PM to sign up to speak. Now I am well aware that most of you have school or work at 2 PM in the afternoon. I do too. But I'm taking the afternoon off to attend, as are others. If at all possible, take the afternoon off to make it to this meeting. This will mark the first time we have gone to Phoenix City Council, and have interacted with any Phoenix city officials ranking higher than park superintendent. If you can't make it to the meeting, please at least e-mail the mayor and council members telling them you want access to the parks or a new grindpark. Mayor Phil Gordon and the rest of the city council's e-mail addresses can be found on this page: http://phoenix.gov/CITYGOV/electidx.html Also, please cc me with your e-mails to the council and I will print them out and present them during the meeting.

In other news, MB Fabio has started his own website, http://www.swbmx.com It's a good little site with some excellent photography, so go to it.

VERY IMPORTANT!!! IF YOU HAVE BEEN TICKETED, ARRESTED, HAD A GUN PUT TO YOUR BACK, BEEN MACED, CHASED, TACKLED, HAD YOUR BIKE IMPOUNDED, OR BEEN JAILED BY THE GILBERT POLICE FOR RIDING YOUR BIKE IN FREESTONE SKATEPARK, I NEED YOU TO E-MAIL ME AS SOON AS IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE THROUGH THE E-MAIL LINK ON THE HOME PAGE! ALSO, IF YOU KNOW ANYONE ELSE THAT HAS HAD AN ENCOUNTER OF THIS SORT WITH THE GILBERT POLICE FOR RIDING THEIR BIKE IN FREESTONE SKATEPARK, HAVE THEM E-MAIL ME, TOO. SOME BIG THINGS ARE GOING TO BE HAPPENING VERY SOON, AND I NEED TO GET YOUR STORIES!!!

Free Ride has just instituted $7.00 sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That's right, kiddies, you can ride your favorite Valley bikepark for just $7.00 a session (for both members and non-members) on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a limited time only. Git on up theyah, boway! In other Free Ride news, it looks like they'll be having a best trick contest, a bunnyhop height contest, and a longest jump contest in addition to the regular contest next Saturday on January 24th. Entry fee for the bunnyhop and long jump will be $5.00 each and the money will go directly to the ramps. For more info on the comp, go to http://www.freeridebmx.com/events.htm

After 2 months, I finally got the '03 Fort McDowell Story up on the site. Check it out in the Veritable Cornucopia section.

About 30 Chandler riders attended the Chandler Parks and Rec Board meeting on January 6th. It was just what they call an "information session" for Parks and Rec to report what they were working on for a solution to the "bikes in skatepark problem" to the board. It was important that riders showed up to this though, to continue to put pressure on Chandler to solve their problem. Thanks to all the riders who came out. It may not seem like it, but every bit helps. I want to thank Kelly Lang for doing an article about the meeting in The Ocotillo News, a local paper for the residents of the Snedigar Skatepark area. Her help is much appreciated.

Seth Mason recently got in a car crash when some drunk bitch riding shotgun thought she could drive better than the driver could. The car ended up making friends with a very big tree. Seth was in the backseat, and sustained a pretty bad head injury. He has to wear an eyepatch for a while, switching from eye to eye so things will line back up right or something. He can't ride for about 2 months, because any kind of hit to the head could REALLY mess his shit up. I'd like to wish Seth a speedy recovery, and extend my deepest sympathies that The Case of the Tight-Trousered Tailwhipper must be placed on the back burner as a result. It's just too hard to search for clues with half your eyes. He was getting so close.....

For another entry in the injury logbook, MB Fabio just broke his two front teeth on a nosedive to toothplant at the sick sick sick Henderson, Nevada park. Ben, don't you dare get that shit fixed until you send me pics of your modified grill!

Free Ride is holding it's first contest on Saturday, January 24th. For more details, promptly visit www.freeridebmx.com Do it now!

I just started a new e-mail account I can be contacted at. I won't be putting it all over the site like I did with the beardedlady one, because that's how all the spammers got ahold of it. They send me so much shit that I can't receive mail from my peeps anymore. To e-mail me, hit the "E-Mail the Bearded Lady" button on the left side of the screen on the home page, and my new address will come up.

Sport	Participants
1. Inline skating 2. Skateboarding 3. Paintball 4. Snowboarding 5. Artificial Wall Climbing 6. Mountain Biking 7. Trail Running 8. BMX Bicycling 9. Wakeboarding 10. Roller Hockey 11. Mountain/Rock Climbing 12. Boardsailing/Windsurfing	21,572,000 12,997,000 8,679,000 7,691,000 7,185,000 6,719,000 5,625,000 3,885,000 3,142,000 2,875,000 2,089,000 496,000

Riders, Parents, Shops:

The clock is ticking…

Time is of the essence…

URGENT! We have only until Feb 1st to raise the first $10,000 for our BMXskatepark at Kleinman Park which will be matched by the city of Mesa.

Support our first BMXskatepark with your donation. Advertising opportunities available for your company banner:

Gold Sponsor = $500 donation (2 large banners)

Silver Sponsor = $250 donation (1 large banner)

We’ve worked very hard for three years to secure this location only to have the City Engineer tell us we couldn’t use the wood we collected or the CAD design that took several months to create. Then the $110,000 grant for ramps which seemed like a sure thing, wasn’t.

Please send your checks to:

Mesa Parks & Recreation Foundation

c/o The Community Grindpark Partnership

2702 E. Kelton LN Phx, AZ 85032

Jason Ryan 480-593-1042 www.BMXskatepark.org

TJ COOK RIP

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Archives

Riders, Parents, Shops:

The clock is ticking…

Time is of the essence…

URGENT! We have only until Feb 1st to raise the first $10,000 for our BMXskatepark at Kleinman Park which will be matched by the city of Mesa.

Support our first BMXskatepark with your donation. Advertising opportunities available for your company banner:

Gold Sponsor = $500 donation (2 large banners)

Silver Sponsor = $250 donation (1 large banner)

We’ve worked very hard for three years to secure this location only to have the City Engineer tell us we couldn’t use the wood we collected or the CAD design that took several months to create. Then the $110,000 grant for ramps which seemed like a sure thing, wasn’t.

Please send your checks to:

Mesa Parks & Recreation Foundation

c/o The Community Grindpark Partnership

2702 E. Kelton LN Phx, AZ 85032

Jason Ryan 480-593-1042 www.BMXskatepark.org

TJ COOK RIP

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