How many video parts start off with stone masonry, snow biking, then street riding? Not many that’s for sure. Get with the riddim of this part by Byron Lo from this summer’s ICC DVD release Five To Ten.
We headed to Toronto this year for our Business trip, and figured rolling around with some disposable cameras in our pockets would be a great way to capture the essence of what BMX trips are to us. So each of us stocked up on disposables so we could snap pictures throughout the day (and night) as quick as possible when something worth shooting came up. The results were awesome and pretty funny. This is just a small amount of the shots we snapped but are some of the best.
Even though these pictures are from different days over the course of the trip, I wanted them to be laid out in such a way that it shows a pretty average day on our bikes while on a trip. Here’s what we came up with, Enjoy!
This coming Saturday, June 14th at Dufferin Grove Park in Toronto, Chris Silva will be premiering the 5th in the series of Inner City Circle videos. Come out when the lights in the park go off around 11:00 and Chris will have his pirate premiere set up and airing his video in the open for everyone. Copies will be available, along with limited ICC merchandise. This is a public park, so please no bozo behaviour if you want events and places like this to continue to happen.
With a new video coming out, and an ICC archive website launched, I thought I’d ask Chris a little bit about this project, ICC history, and more. Read what he had to say below, and we’ll see you at the park on Saturday.
When Silva approves a TO street edit, it gets posted up. Nariman shredding the streets of North Toronto while others are training their street tricks at the skatepark.
In the middle of the city of Toronto, known for its street riding, lays Dufferin Grove Park, or Duff Grove as it is commonly known. Full with a community garden, bone fire pits, and a Thursday evening farmer’s market, it also contains a make shift wooden park that bike riders and skateboarders make the best of. Certain times of the season it may be in total disrepair, and other times it may seem like it is running smoothly. Made of mostly donated ramps (one of which is from us) and rails, the community pitches in where they can to keep this place going.
It’s not a glamorous spot by any means, but it is where you will often find riders looking for a mellow session without having to pedal far, hanging out with their friends without much concern. From locals to riders visiting from out of town that day, it’s our warm up spot, meet up spot, or just where we unwind after a work day. It’s probably the one spot I ride the most all summer long, and some evenings I would pull out my camera from my pocket and try to film a bit of what an average night there is like. Check out this short video of assorted stuff I filmed this past summer with Chijioke Okafo, Trent Barker, Chris Cadot, Greg Henry, Lee Dennis, Brandon Webster, and Chris Silva.
Filmed and edited by Prashant Gopal
Music: Ponderosa Twins Plus One – Bound
If you can get over the voice over on the intro and the length, this edit from Toronto’s Micheal Baker is really good. At only 18 he rides a pretty wide selection of spots throughout the video. Also, when you have the co-sign of Chris Silva you know that you’re probably doing something right.
A few weeks ago I was at what is arguably one of the worst, but my favourite, skate parks in Toronto and it seemed like everyone that is local to there was out riding. Then Brandon Webster and Mike Gray showed up with Justin Browne and the camera came out. Justin Browne put together this solid short edit with Webster, Chijioke Okafo, Chris Silva, and Chris Cadot. You can also check out the video with Chijo we did at the same park here, and look for something we are working on based on Duff Grove later this summer. If you are near the park (Dufferin Street, just south of Bloor) look for a new ramp we will be donating there next week.
I am by no means a talented filmer or editor, but I do pull out my point and shoot camera (or in most cases my phone) from time to time to record. I collected a bunch of random stuff I had filmed between January 2012 and January 2013 and put together this short video.
In the last year I visited both ends of the country to stay with friends and made plenty of new ones, as well as had numerous friends come and stay with me in Toronto. At times I may jokingly call myself an old man and complain about my aches and pains, but when I look at my life and the people I surround myself with I cannot help but feel young and invigorated. This video is full of those people and places, as well as a few cute animals.
In order of appearance:
Patrick Krzyzanowski
Chris Silva
Jeff Bedard
Leland Nightingale
Rich Redmond
Phil Bartlett
Chris Langoid
Prashant Gopal
Greg Flag
Craig Robinson
Buck 65
Dillon Lloyd
Trent Barker’s fist
Music:
Old Canes – Black Hill Chapel
Spencer Bryant-Longo put together a collection of leftover clips of himself and some friends in and around Toronto from the summer. Some of the footage might be a little shaky, but it’s a good watch all the way through.
“I don’t want to be in this video. I feel fat right now.”