Roll Call: Oz riders!

Shaun Jarvis has been keeping a close eye on the Oz Flat Scene of late. He just worded me up on what's been going down of late...

The Tasmanian crew love the rain and the cold...
Leigh “Twaff" Waddingham is riding in the paint and panel workshop
Matt "Woodo" Wootton is almost getting hang fives to half packers on lock
Chris “Lenny” Letchford said that when he is not platting his pubes and eating beef he’s been outriding.

The Brisbane lot are rollin it hard...
Brett Dighton wants a video camera pointed his way to show the progression
Roni Rampton is learning cross foot whip to cross foot hitch hikers and opposite karl kruzers.
John Walsh is keeping it and Roni said some other groms are getting involved

The Sydney siders are mixing it up...
Simon O’Brien is going hard and has recently been riding with Tomacz
Rhys Mason - ex Sydney rider now living in Alice Springs has been riding and keeping it up to date.

In West Oz Aaron Bandy has been riding so hard that he and his wife have made a baby and that he and Russ are riding as often as they can. Trent Karrow said he has been on 92.9fm radio and at channel 7 don’t know what for but I don’t think its bike related. Could be casting for a show??

Canadian Eric Effinger will be arriving in Perth in a few more days time. Looking forward to that.

Ben Moran throwing down...

Shane Badman featured in major Swedish newspaper!

Colony rider Shane Badman has been living the life in Sweden for a while now. While flatland is not huge in the country, the interest for it is definitely there. Recently Shane got asked to do an interview for one of the major Swedish newspapers, Sydsvenskan (South Sweden). Here's how it came about....

I was riding at my local spot in a small village called Staffanstorp in the far south of Sweden. Randomly a couple of people came up to talk, interested in what I was doing. One was a journalist, the other a photographer: they had seen me here practising regularly & were curious to know more about the sport & myself.

So we sat down & went through some details about myself, my riding history & flatland followed by a quick photo shoot. Their plan was to do a full page spread in the Sydsvenskan paper that would be released over the next few days.

A few days go by & I get a message to give the journalist a call. After a short conversion, the word is they would like to do a little more than just a paper interview - but do something for the web too. Great! We scheduled to meet the following the following Monday at their studios in Malmo.

10am Monday arrived quickly. I was welcomed & introduced to the "video guy" & "another photographer" saying they would be with me for the next few hours. The plan was to get a few clips riding & few photos on site.

Riding outdoors in Sweden can be tricky business. I love the country, the people & everything about it, but the weather can make life tough. Even in the middle of summer it can be sunny one moment & raining the next. And the wind.... whoa - if you own a wind farm I imagine you'd be doing pretty well. So we headed down to a place I'd been a few weeks earlier & though thankfully it wasn't raining, the wind was making up for it. We filmed a few things, talked a little bit & headed back to get the photos done.

So after a few short hours since walking through their door I was thanked for my time & advised the final product would be available in the next 24 hours.

And here it is:

You can read the translated article by clicking here.

The short web vid is found here.

And the article was also printed in the daily newspaper - full page no less!!

So a massive thank you to everyone who has made my stay in Sweden an amazing experience. Though I'm leaving in less than a week I'll always remember my time here & the close friends that I've made.

See you all soon!!!

Game of B.I.K.E... West OZ style!

As always, the guys over in Perth are keeping busy through the winter. Progression sessions seem to be going down on the daily - cross handed 5's the trick that's opening doors for them right now. Check out the Freestyle Now website here for the downlow....

Andrew McDermott vs. Shaun Jarvis

King of Ground: Round 2

Congrats to Colony flow rider, Shintaro Misawa who finished 9th at the KOG recently. Awesome contest, awesome riding... check the vid below for the highlights....

Product highlight: Colony T.L.D stem

Great stem, currently on the rides of many of the Australian flatland riders... take a look here for more info.

One sunny Winter session at Melbourne's Imax

A few of the Melbourne crew got together over the weekend to session the infamous Imax spot. Enjoying the winter sun, they snapped a few photos to share with us all. Good to hear & see the scene is holding together strong & sessions are still going during winter...

Riders: Jimmy, Karl Hughes & Grant Cruise

Simon O'brien bikecheck!

Dane Beardsley over at Same Thing Daily has just posted a sweet bike check with Simon O'brien on board his Colony DejaVu which is due out in only a few short months...

Head on over for a looksy!

Colony Down Underground: Final tally & points score

The series has come to a close & the points have been tallied. It's great to see such a depth in Australian flatland & an interest from international riders to visit.

All the feedback so far has been hugely positive & if there is something you would like to contribute take a look at this thread on the forum & have your say!

COLONY DOWN UNDERGROUND - ROUND 4 THE FINALS

sponsored by

COLONY - FREESTYLE NOW - DIVERSIONTV - REBELYELL - CROSSLEY CYCLES

ADVANCED

1st - SIMON O'BRIEN

2nd - SHINTARO MISAWA

3rd - ERIC EFFINGER

4th - TOMASZC

5th - BEN MORAN

6th - RONI RAMPTON

7th - ANDREW MCDERMITT

8th - CLINT MILLER

9th - BRETT DIGHTON

MIDDIES

1st - LEIGH WADDINGHAM

2nd -SHAUN JARVIS

3rd - MATT WOOTTON

4th - ANDREW LIGHTBODY

5th - MIKE BRANDT

6th - JOHN WALSH

7th - BLAKE PEACOCK

8TH -LEE JAEMIN

OFFICIAL YEAR END POINTS TALLY

ADVANCED

1ST - PAUL CHAMBERLIN - 10000 points

2ND - MICHEAL HUSSER - 7500 points

3RD - ERIC EFFINGER - 6250 points

4TH - SIMON O'BRIEN - 5000 points

5TH - VINNIE PUGH - 4600 points

6TH - BRETT DIGHTON - 4300 points

7TH - RHYS MASON - 3950 points

8TH - SHINTARO MISAWA - 3750 points

9TH - BEN MORAN - 3350 points

10TH - TOMASZC - 2900 points

11TH - KOICHI - 2500 points

12TH - RONI RAMPTON - 1750 points

13TH - BRETT "stumpy" MASON - 850 points

14TH - GRANT CRUSE - 500 points

14TH - ANDREW MCDERMITT - 500 points

16TH - CLINT MILLER - 400 points

17TH - TONY NEWTON - 100 points

MIDDIES

1ST - ANDREW MCDERMITT - 13750 points

2ND - SHAUN JARVIS - 7900 points

3RD - JASON PARKER - 7500 points

4TH - LEIGH WADDINGHAM - 6250 points

5TH - AARON BANDY - 5000 points

6TH - ANDERW LIGHTBODY - 3750 points

7TH - CHRIS "lenny" LETCHFORD - 3350 points

8TH - MATT WOOTTON - 2700 points

9TH - MIKE BRANDT - 1550 points

10TH - AUNDRA - 1250 points

11TH - CHRIS POLLACK - 850 points

11TH - MITCH BROWN - 850 points

13TH - BLAKE PEACOCK - 700 points

14TH - MIKE BIELECKI - 600 points

14TH - JOHN WALSH - 600 points

14TH - KIT McKENNA - 600 points

17TH - JOEL KENNEDY - 500 points

17TH - MIK DWYER - 500 points

17TH - TODD HALFORD - 500 points

20TH - CAMPBELL LEE - 400 points

20TH - MATT HOLMES - 400 points

20TH - LEE JAEMIN - 400 points

23RD - MATT BIELECKI - 300 points

23RD - JAMES "jimmy" COUWENBERG - 300 points

25TH - JR - 100 points

25TH - KARL HUGHES - 100 points

25TH - JASON CHO - 100 points

25TH - TROY - 100 points

Congrats to the guys that finished at the top & massive props to everyone that attended one or all of the contests along the way!

See you all at the next series....!

Beyond the Black Stump - The Lee McCormick interview

I've been lucky enough to know Lee for quite a few years now. I can still remember the first time we met at some random jam in the Salisbury Suburb of Adelaide. He was busting out on a blue KHE Premium Lager & I was stoked to see another rider close by! Lee is a busy man - he is married with a family & has a full-time job as an arborealist (aka tree surgeon), but still finds the time to get out for a session on a regular basis.

I caught up with Lee recently to see what he's been up too... read on for more.

1. Full name & years involved with flatland:
Lee McCormick, I'm 29 yrs and have been riding flat for around 14 yrs.

2. How did you become involved in flatland?
Well, some mates of mine had just bought a new Dyno Slammer and a Torker Kickback and after riding one and being the odd one out, I pestered the parents to help buy me a freestyle bike for Christmas. So, went down to the local bike shop and grabbed myself a hot new Torker flipside. After buying the vid Ride On and watching the likes of Agroman and the Dorkin vids, it wasn't long before I was hitting car parks late at night trying cyclones, forkstands and fire hydrants.

3. I understand that you've moved around Australia a bit. Tell us about the places you've lived & travelled & has the bike always gone with you?
The bike has always been there for me, through the good and the bad. Grew up in the land of the Mania (Tasmania) and was lucky to have great mentors like Damon Fox and Leaping Lenny Letchford. Moved up the coast to Queensland and lived in Boyne Island for a while not far from Gladstone before residing further up north to Airlie Beach for 5 yrs. Rode quite a lot up there and being almost the only flatlander apart from the occasional ride with a mate, It was a very newish thing for people passing by. I was doing various demos for schools and events organised by a retail sport shop. Was great weather all the time so it made riding very easy and being not a very populated place at the time there was ample places for riding. Then to the flattest state in 03/04 to Nth Adelaide where I currently call home.

4. Out of all the places that you've been where have you most enjoyed the riding scene?
Definately Tassy. Great riding scene there, great people and riders whether it be a flatty or a street/ramp rider or a skater, we would always ride together! Just crappy weather would have to be the only fault. Whilst in Thailand not so long ago was spewing I had no bike as that is a flatlanders dream there!

5. Now that you call Adelaide home, how do you find that for living & flatland? Adelaide is a great place to be, live and ride. An abundance of flat spots, great people and a laid back atmosphere. Unfortunately there are next to no flat riders. Was never a really big scene here I've been told though. But was definitely a highlight when The Badman and Dave Sayer used to meet up with me for shenanigans and a good ol' roll.

6. Flatland is not the only thing in your life - what else keeps you busy?
Well my occupation is an Arboriculturist (tree monkey/surgeon) for the last 7 yrs so I work hard and long hours. I'm currently schooling every second weekend for my level 4 in Arb. Married to my beautiful wife, have a 14month old disciple and a 19yr old step son. Play basketball socially and regularly go to music concerts/festivals.

7. Describe a typical day for Lee:
Wake up, climb to top of tree, work, have lunch in tree, work, climb down, come home, exercise, walk dogs, see family, but finally get to ride on weekends

8. Describe a dream day for Lee:
My mind boggles too much to answer this question...

9. As you've been involved with riding for sometime, what advice would you give new riders?
Always do what makes you feel good and don't worry bout the parts you have or how good the bike is. Just ride and have fun

10. Final words & thanks...
Big thanks to my parents for letting me buy a bike when they thought i would just ride it once then leave it in the rain. Big thanks to all the Flatheads and friends that i have rode and had fun with on the way.

Just go ride or go home!

Do not try & race this man to the riding spot... he'll beat you every time!

BMX Worlds 2009 - Haro Old School demo

The guys over at Woozybmx put together this edit featuring the Haro Old School demo from the past weekend at the BMX Worlds 2009 in Cologne, Germany. Featuring Ron Wilkerson, Bryan Blyther, Dave Nourie, Mat Hoffman, Bob Haro & Kevin Martin for many this was the highlight of the weekend.

For those of you (like myself) that grew up with or were introduced to BMX freestyle by the movie Rad, watching this edit gave me goosebumps. BMX rules.

BMX WORLDS 2009 VIDEO from woozybmx.com on Vimeo.

Colony Down Underground finals: writeup & photos!

Ross D Lav just put together this short writeup over the recently ended first series of the Colony Down Underground. A great day was had by all as most have no doubt seen from the video - read on for the low-down!

On Saturday 4th July, 2009, riders from Australia, Japan and Canada emerged to the site of the famous Milton Bowls bowling alley/tennis centre for the final round of the Colony Down Underground contest series in Brisbane, Australia.

Japan's Shintaro Misawa and I prepared early, ate a decent breakfast at my girlfriends place a block away from the contestand headed down for early registration and warm up.

Arriving I was stoked to see Andrew McDermott, Mike Brandt, Leigh Waddingham, Matt Wootton and a few others setting up the venue & getting the riding surface up to top-notch quality. The vibe was relaxed but everyone was pumped and excited to get things rolling and there was a definite energy about the place.

Things got under way around 11am with the Middies class. Riders worth noting include Mike Brandt, Blake Peacock and a few new fresh faces to the scene that is always great to see. Andrew Lightbody made the trip up from Sydney with his trusty S&M Sabbath and with some smooth and con

sistent runs landed himself 4th place. 3rd went to Matt Wootton from Tasmania - this guy was fluid and a definite rider worth watching out for in the future. Shaun Jarvis, one of the creators & organisers behind the Colony Down Underground series nailed some tight combos to land 2nd place but it was Leigh Waddingham from Tasmania took out 1st for scoring high on all three judging criteria – Creativity, Difficulty and Consistency. I have to say that one of the highlights for the day was watching Leigh and Matt ride - Tasmania has proved it is a force to be reckoned with! Hopefully we'll be seeing Damon Fox back at the events soon?

After a short break it was the Advanced class up next. Event sponsor and Colony BMX owner, Clint Millar has recently returned to flatland after a lengthy absence to pull out some of his oldies but goodies – pedal dumps, no handed hitchhikers etc... it was great to see him back on it. Ben Moran from Victoria was his usual diverse and creative self earning much respect from his peers. For the Advanced finals we saw the top four battle for 1st place. Tomasz Hantke from Sydney landed 4th while the ever smiling Canadian traveller Eric Effinger worked hard with a bunch of clean and consistent combos to land 3rd - nice work mate! Shintaro qualified first with almost flawless runs and some original Shintaro switches which led to the show down between him and Simon O'Brien. This was a difficult one to judge with Simon winning by only one point! Check out Simon and Shintaros contest run for the low-down!

After the contest, everyone went back to Ronnie Rampton's place for beers and pizza around a backyard bonfire. People got happy, drunk and had a great time talking and laughing into the wee hours of the night - good vibes.

As always, there's a big thank you list involved for organising an event & series like this: Shaun Jarvis who spent many hours organising and getting everyone motivated - he's done a brilliant job and it's possible none of this would have come together if it wasn't for him. Brett Dighton and Ron Rampton for being great hosts and looking after everyone during their stay in B-town and finding the contest site. The sponsors – Clint at Colony BMX for donating such generous prizes & support, Freestyle Now, Miklav and Richard Crossley and Crossley Cycles and Bobby Carter at DiversionTV. Also a massive thanks & shout out to all the riders that travelled from across Australia & the world to attend - much repect & we look forward to having you all again for the next series!

A special thanks also has to go new Australian resident, Paul Chamberlain. Even though you were out smoking Cubans somewhere in the America's, your drive to push Flatland in Australia the last couple of years has not gone unnoticed - we wish you could have been here!!

Stay tuned for more announcements on the next Colony Down Underground series coming soon....

Photos credits: Mike Brandt & Tweekend

World Bike Projects: Updates!

As most of you are no doubt aware, our very Karl Hughes (aka Paradoxium) has been overseeing the majority of the World Bike Projects. Karl just sent me a quick update of what's been going on around the globe recently with a bunch of riders getting their rides seriously pimped!

The Philippines Bike Project is currently underway with contributions coming globally. For a complete rundown of the project & where it's at, click here.

Here's a few "before" photos...

Rider: Chino




Video courtesy of DAVAO FLATLANDER


Rider: Jose






Here is the finished Trinidad Bike Project:



Plus one bonus bike...



And the completed Panama Bike Project for Gilberto Perez:
Before:


After:




Thanks again to everyone that has contributed in some way - stay tuned for more updates!

Simon O'brien vs. Shintaro Misawa - Colony Down Underground final

The Colony Down Underground finals happened this past weekend in Brisbane, Australia. The final was a well fought out dual between Colony team mates Simon O'brien & Shintaro Misawa from Japan.

The final placings saw Simon win by 1 point!

Down Underground Finals - Brisbane. from Colony BMX on Vimeo.

Thanks Shintaro - see you soon!

It's great to see that Shintaro had an awesome time while he was in Australia for the Colony Down Underground finals the past weekend. Check out his blog here to see what he has to say!

Ross D Lav & Shintaro Misawa

Shane Badman Winter 2008/9 edit

It was a long, cold winter in Sweden & I was lucky enough to have a short break to Australia mid way. Along the way I got a few things filmed that I wanted to share with everyone...

Shane Badman Winter 2008/9 from Shane Badman on Vimeo.

Focalpoint issue 17 out now!

The new issue of Focalpoint is out everywhere!! Click here for all the info & great to see that Focalpoint is getting behind flatland with some solid content in this issue - support those who support you!

Colony Down Underground: video & photos online!

The first video of the finals of the Colony Down Underground series has emerged along with a bunch of photos that you can see by clicking here.

Thanks to Anthony Shorten for putting this together.

Colony BMX from Anthony Shorten on Vimeo.

Colony Down Underground finals: results!

The Colony Down Underground finals happened today in Brisbane. A solid turnout with riders from all over Australia with internationals from Japan & Canada.

As one of the best contests in the series, Shintaro went into the final in the number 1 spot, but Simon worked hard, pulled the hard stuff when it counted & came out on top.

Big thanks to Colony for all the support, the riders that make it happen & everyone that works hard in the background. Big things to come for the new series - stay tuned!!

Here are the results:

Advanced:
1. Simon O'Brien (Australia)
2. Shintaro Misawa (Japan)
3. Eric Effinger (Canada)

Middies:
1. Leigh Waddingham
2. Shaun Jarvis
3. Matt Wootton

Massive thanks goes out to everyone that made the day happen... roll on the next series of Down Underground!

Full results, writeup & video from the day coming soon!!

Shintaro Misawa in Brisbane!

Shintaro Misawa from Japan is over for the Down Underground finals that are happening this weekend in Brisbane. While in town he's been doing some sight-seeing & also dropped by Colony headquarters to check out the range. Courtesy of the Colony site - Clint grabbed a few photos...



And the results of the Colony Down Underground finals will be available shortly - so stay tuned....

More brakeless decades from Andrew McDermott this weekend? Photo: Shaun Jarvis