Author: Aaron Gates

30 Dec

Posted at 01:02h in archive by

Hip Table

Joe Prisel – hip table

With the demise of the Igloo and the closing of Skatebarn in Washington, the Northwest has been left with a shortage of indoor parks for more than a year. Rainy street sessions and, maybe more commonly, snowboarding have been the norm. This situation is about to change. Over the past few months, Joe Prisel has been building a masterpiece in a highway-side warehouse in Northern Washington.

The older crowd may know Joe as an original Chenga local who rode in the BS contests around the turn of the century. Joe had a long riding career in both BMX and mountain bikes, but perhaps more impressive is his career as a park builder. Joe is the man behind the Lumberyard in Portland, the Flow Skatepark in Columbus, and many of the features at Ray’s Mountain Bike Park in Cleveland and Milwaukee.

Burlington Bike Park follows in the footsteps of Joe’s past work, but this version has an excellent twist. It’s an indoor dirt park, and it’s one of the first in the world. The park itself is what you would expect from an experienced builder with the resources to build whatever he wants. Although the park accommodates all skill levels, the main section of the park features landings stacked eight feet tall and seemingly endless transfer lines.

If all goes according to plan, the park will become a cornerstone of the Northwest scene. The Northwest has long been a region where riders have much in common, but are fragmented by borders and distance. With the quality of the current build, the project’s potential for growth and its central location (about 20 minutes South of Bellingham), the park has the potential to bring riders from across the region together for epic sessions for years to come.

READ THE INTERVIEW

04 Nov

Posted at 20:30h in archive by

james 3

Invert in Idaho
All photos by Tony Archibeque Jr.

There is one trick in BMX that will gain anyone instant respect. The tabletop. James Van de Kamp can snap them with the best. On his recent trip to Texas Toast with Tony Archibeque Jr., I tasked him with shooting the greatest tabletop of all time. Hyperbole aside, they came back with a bunch of great shots.
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30 Oct

Posted at 21:20h in archive by

Reedsport w Ridgeway

Mat Ridgeway – powerslide in the funnel

Airspeed Skateparks was one of the companies that helped bring us into the modern era of skatepark design. While Grindline and Dreamland were carefully constructing some of the most well known advances in this area, Airspeed was building obscure and outlandish parks in rural Oregon. Although the other two builders were doing exciting things and building parks that flowed well and worked for the majority of skateboarders, Airspeed focused on building obstacles that nobody had ever seen before, often on their own dime and sometimes without the city planners’ knowledge.

Although most of the guys on the trip didn’t know it, this trip through Oregon was mostly designed as a pilgrimmage to Geth Noble and Stephanie Mohler‘s three biggest masterpieces.

Airspeed was birthed out of the Golden Triangle – Medford, Ashland, and Talent, which represented a giant leap for Oregon skateparks. Oregon’s now established skatepark builders were once just a bunch of skaters with a passion for building parks, many volunteering to gain experience.

Airspeed’s parks have been both lauded and criticized, and both sides of the coin have merit. They built things that nobody had ever seen or imagined, but the parks were often centered around those features with less thought and effort spent on other areas. The “street” obstacles at most of these parks are pretty laughable, and the transitions outside of the main bowl at Reedsport are very strange. Faults aside, Airspeed makes my favorite parks.
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02 Oct

Posted at 12:19h in archive by

shot3_fixed

Photo: Judah Oakes

Growing up, I knew Mike McKinlay as the skater that all of my friends looked up to. Mike and his brother Sam ran a local skate shop and had sections in videos next to Ryan Smith. Outside of the things we knew him for, Mike also had a passion for nature and documentary filmmaking which eventually became his chosen occupation.

Travis Collier has long been one of Canada’s most respected flatlanders. Before the recent wave of flatland and street intermingling, Travis was, for a long tome, one of the few world class flatlanders riding a normal looking bike and mixing the two. He has a unique and fluid style, and is well rounded within and outside of bmx.

Mike and Travis collaborated on a three part series of short films a couple of years ago that was both thoughtful and visually impressive. It was a unique circumstance where Mike had just enough distance from bmx to bring a fresh perspective, but enough exposure and appreciation to engage the subject and do it justice. Travis was able to tell a relatable story with subtlety and insight, and his riding is always a treat to watch.

SPOTS, the second film in the series, has been chosen to air on the Knowledge Network as part of a series called Take Me Home. The series that touches on what “home” means to different musicians, artists, and other celebrities that live in BC and will air regularly in prime time.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE

01 Oct

Posted at 23:22h in archive by


Richard Gregory put this edit together a few years ago. 8mm footage from around the world is a great travel souvenir; it’s been one of my favorite edits ever since and I was reminded of it today.

30 Aug

Posted at 13:14h in archive by

iphoneography-caleb-crop

Caleb Ruecker is a Northwest legend and all around awesome guy. He was a fresh face on this year’s trip, and kept everyone laughing and smiling along the way. Caleb also had the “magic instagram” over that particular long weekend. Every time something cool would happen, Caleb would end up getting the perfect shot from his phone. For more of Caleb’s photos from the trip, check out the #kingoftheroadtour hashtag. Below are some of his favorites.

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