Introducing James "Jimmy" Couwenberg

James "Jimmy" Couwenberg

37 - married with 3 kids

Melbourne rider - mostly Sundays at Imax.

My favourite all time Australian riders would have to be - Brett (Stumpy) Mason, Grant Cruise, Chris Carver, Lindsay Brown, Nick Watts, Matt Hodgeson, Raiford Stott, new skool Paul Chamberlain, Michael (Frenchy) Husser, Karl Hughes, Koichi (Japanese rider) and all the guys at Imax for staying true too the sport.

I started flatland in 1988 until 1993, then on and off till 2008. The guys who got me started were Grant Cruise, Matt Hodgeson & Raiford Stott. They introduced me to the city square scene and I met a lot of guys: Chris (Tristan) Carver, Brett (Stumpy) Mason and many more. We rode there every Saturday from 11am to late then on Sundays we would go to Nunawading skate ranch where we would get a 2 hour session on a roller skating ring. That was pretty mad times: I met a lot of people there especially Matt Holmes (founder of 2020 magazine), Nick (the legend) Watts who was only 11 years old at the time and his riding at the time was at an American pro level. We would head off to knox bowl after the ranch session, many would tag along including Trevor (the king) King, Dave Scott, Scott Hodgeson, Lindsay Brown and an insane dude called Jason for which for the love of him I can't remember his last name.

My 1st flatland bike was a 88 Haro sport black /chrome, nice bike but I never liked the rear dropouts as they would restrict you from doing certain tricks.

My 2nd was a 88 Haro Master the green /chrome with hp 48's and knee saver bars. I learnt hang 10's on this bike.

My 3rd was a prototype General designed by RL Osborn and made for the Australian freestyle team, it was actually a frame given to Matt Hodgeson (the co founder of Little Black Bike) from Dennis Caddy. I've got some pics so i'll upload them when I hook my scanner to my PC,

My 4th was my babe: an 89 GT Pro Freestyle Tour full chrome. I ended up trading this bike with Nick Watts for a Skyway Street Beat (yes huge mistake).

My 5th was a 93 Haro Master I bought in Adelaide when i visited Kim Fielke (an ex - Adelaide flatlander I met at the skate ranch during a comp).

My 6th was a GT/Dyno from Grant Cruise in 1998. The 1st day I rode this babe I broke my wrist at the Swanston street skate park rofl...

So that was my old skool/mid skool bikes...

I started to ride again in 2008 and started on a Hoffman Rhythm EL2. Was great to just ride again but way too heavy. I then bought a Dragonfly Alex Bender frame and that was a good weight but the TT was too long. I then bought the Sick Child from Mik and it was nice but I wanted back brakes so I ended up buying the Colony Cube from Michael (Frenchy) Husser: the one he won at the D.U.G 2 in Melbourne. That has been an amazing frame to ride & I have bought many Colony products and have come to rely on their quality. I have now bought a Mankind Alive from Troza for which i'm now getting powder coated white and should have that babe up and running soon.

ps: just a brief word to my fellow rider Grant Cruise, without you brudda, my flatland passion wouldn't have as much flavour: props to you bro.

My current set up consists of

Frame - Colony Cube

Forks - Odyssey 08 zero offset

Cranks - Colony 160mm

Sprocket - 25t Snafu

Pedals - Primo plastics

Seat - Colony

Seat post - Thomson 330

Headset - Colony internal

Bottom bracket - Colony

Headstem - Quamen Macross 26mm

Handlebars - Suelo v2 170

Grips - Eclat with Odyssey barends

Rims - front Gsport rim with latest Fly hub

Rear: Gsport with giesha light 9t

Tyres - Odyssey plyte foldables 1.75

Pegs - front Fly

Rear - Colony one ways

June Dungca over from New Zealand!

June Dungca has been in Melbourne, Australia the past week riding & hanging out. He's a constantly busy man, also responsible for the New Zealand's flatland website, NZFlatland. While here a couple of the Melbourne guys caught up with him & James (Jimmy) Couwenberg put this little piece together from their day....

We (Rob and I) met up with June on Wednesday, 19th August 2009 at Imax at 10am. We knew the day was going to be great: the weather was on our side, a sparkling 19 degrees - just perfect except for a little wind. We rode at the famous Imax spot in Melbourne for about 2 hrs then headed off to the Bali memorial. This spot has a marble like surface that is so smooth you wish you had the memorial in your own backyard... :). The atmosphere is excellent and great for photos as you can see in the pics of June - I recomend some jams here especially if you're an interstate/international rider looking to get some great photos for back home or a BMX magazine (2020?). Maybe Matty Holmes will decide to do an Australian flatland scene cover and have all of Australia's riders in it?

June - Backwards Half-Hiker

Back to June, when asked about his reason for being in Melbourne and how long will he be here? he replied: "i'm in Melbourne for 1 week visiting my parents and to get some riding in with the Melbourne crew". When asked what he thought about Australia and its flatland scene, he responded with a huge smile and said he loves it and was thinking about moving to Melbourne :). He also said he wanted to meet up with long-time friend, Karl Hughes (aka Paradoxium) but was a little sad to say he has going back to NZ too soon, and will catch up with Karl next time he's in town.

Jimmy - Hang 5

We spoke about the the riders and he talked a lot about Ben Moran and the level of skill he is showing. He said Ben is on a level all his own, and also replied on my riding saying that he has to watch out for little old me! (Jimmy) hmmm as i'm competition to him...hahaha I laughed! He also spoke about Paris (the NZ rider, not the city!), saying that he is riding a lot & progressing - maybe we'll see him at the 2010 BMX games??

June - Hang Nothing

On that note June did say he will be competing in the next BMX Games in 2010 and also the Melbourne Downunder Ground. June is a superb guy with such openness to any fellow rider. He was great to ride with and have a chat and more than I expected. Keep an eye out for June in future updates, this rider takes no prisoners and has a lot to show the Australian scene. I won't say anything about what tricks june is doing but rest assured he will be a getting a lot of YEAHS when he comes to the BMX Games in 2010.

Rob, Jimmy & June

Photos: James (Jimmy) Couwenberg