Of course we all love riding BMX bike any and every chance we get. As we get older and our bodies start to feel it, many of us also ride many forms of “bigger” bikes as well. For the first time in NE history, we’re looking at the other bikes and who better than to start this off than one of AB’s finest, Cary Lorenz.
Adam Perez – Vancouver Metro Jam 2003
Adam was a young rider from Oregon that was picked up by MacNeil. Like a few others, he was blasting this hip all weekend, and to me, this shot sums up the whole vibe of that contest.
“From early 1999 until late 2003, Chase BMX Magazine was a quarterly publication focusing primarily on the Canadian scene. I was fortunate to be the editor for its four year run, and along the way I started taking photos. We had mediocre photo equipment, and possessed little of the skills cut out for it, but what I did have was a lot of talented subjects to shoot with. Chase was published by World Bicycle Sports Incorporated, who also founded Up North BMX Supply, Ten Pack Distribution, MacNeil Bikes, Metro Jam, and the Pivotal seat. At the time, the magazine served as an advertising medium promoting the brands that Ten Pack distributed, while at the same time trying to grow the sport in Canada and abroad. While we printed about 10,000 copies for Canada, 5,000 copies made their way to the US and 1,000 more to the UK. It was a great ride while it lasted. In the late summer of 2003, we decided to fold the magazine and focus our attention more on the other ventures at World Bicycle Sports. I was going to include all of my favourite shots from over the years, both during Chase and post-Chase, but we don’t have enough bandwidth for that. Instead, these shots were all taken from 2000 until early 2004. These were all shot on film, and some of them I cringe when I see the imperfections, whether it’s composition or technical. In the end, it’s a snapshot of a time that I look back upon quite fondly. We were really just a bunch of guys having the time of our lives growing and creating, whether it was history or friendships.” -Ken Paul
Headlining our NE Recruits project, Connor Campbell hails out of Calgary and has been killing it for as long as we’ve been seeing footage of him. Constantly putting in work, Connor was stoked to take on a Recruits section for us with pal and legendary Calgary filmer, Austin Odegnal. We chatted with Connor about a bunch of things including his summer, filming for this video, and currently being in Barcelona. Photos by Austin Odegnal and Matthew Macleod.
Hamilton, Ontario (Photo Credit: Eisa Bakos)
I remember a while back I got a message from Eles that he wanted to get a video pieced together for one of his sponsors. Of course, I quickly agreed because working with Ryan is always a blast. We figured out a day that worked for both of us, and it was set. On a beautiful Saturday morning a couple of weeks later, Ryan shows up at my house bright and early, having just driven 3 hours from Sudbury to Barrie. He hops out of his rental car and we immediately start going through spot options. Without much of a warm-up, we start driving around to a variety of spots. Everything that we pulled up to, he had an idea for. I’d get the camera out and within 20 minutes he was rolling away from some crazy trick that should have taken hours. This process continued throughout the day until it was too dark for my crummy VX1 to record with reasonable quality.
I think he walked away with 6 or 7 amazing clips that Saturday. I was blown away. I remember being super impressed by his work ethic and his determination to make a video happen despite living so far away. I mean the guy literally paid to rent a car, drove 3 hours, filmed all day, and then drove 3 hours home. That kind of persistence and commitment is exactly why Ryan has become one of the best riders in Canada.
-Joel Fortin
Not all heroes wear capes, but Ian Fleming should. Ian is amongst an elite and very short list of Canadian BMX filmers/editors who are constantly out stacking, travelling, and just fucking living. Ian’s filming is always on point and his editing style is absolutely incredible. Every full-length he puts out represents the crew he’s out with; it has a very organic and fun feel to it, the way it should be and for all the right reasons. We caught up with the maritimer and asked him some questions on his most recent masterpiece, ‘Eyecontact.’ Ian was also kind enough to hook us up with an exclusive NYC trip section from the filming of Eyecontact. We are extremely hyped to present that to you below.
Personally, in my mind the high point of Northern Embassy was the Barcelona trip. I fully see the irony of a Canadian based BMX website highlighting a trip to Europe but keep in mind this trip happened in December which any Canadian BMXer will tell you is the time of year they want to escape to warmer weather/ ride outside daily. Let alone get 11 Canadians to the street mecca that is Barcelona.
The earliest beginnings of this trip started thanks to The Hunt video contest. Early summer 2011, my wife Kristina was heading back to Montreal from Vancouver for the summer, once her spring semester had ended which meant I had room for visitors. The Hunt contest was launched, NE got an invitation and the timing was perfect. Dillon was super into filming for it, so came out and spent the summer. Dill would often come chill at Ten Pack for the day while I worked, browsing Chase, Ride and Dig mags from the crazy Ten Pack magazine library then after work/ on weekends it was on.
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Filmed over the past 2 years, Brandon Sawchyn has been laying down hammers and tech lines repping OGC. Filmed and Edited by Brenten Wylie. Additional filming: Joquan, Seck-c, and Dylweed.
The Stweet crew crank up the heat once again out of Saguenay, QC. We caught up with Evans Murray to get some info on the vid, the crew and Saguenay in general to coinicide with yet another banger video from the squad.
They were different times, in the little devil era we rode fast, listened to metal/punk, enjoyed winter park season as much as outdoor season and everyone truly did their own thing. This Alberta video is a piece of Canadian BMX history with so many legends in it: John Fredlund, Chris Toth, Ken Dowdle, Jason Lange, Travis Fontaine, Trucker Dan, Richard Gallant and many more.