Happy Holidays.

Yeah, man. The weather in NYC is still delightful, although the post-Christmas shoppers are wearing on my last nerve. LOOK UP WHEN YOU CROSS THE STREET, ASSHOLES. I'm definitely gonna be hitting somebody this week, I can feel it.

Haven't been riding much lately—was back home on Strong Island for Christmas, and I don;t have a bike at the folks house right now. I have every intention of building up an old Standard to leave there one of these days. Preferably a Trail Boss, although I don't actually have one yet. If you've got a 21", let me know.

I stopped by the old hometown bike shop while I was home, and man, it's scary what they still have laying around. Not only do they still have a bunch of BMX stuff from the '80s (I bought a set of GT folding forkstanders from roughly '86 still sealed in the package), but they have tens of thousands of dollars of '90s mountain bike parts (including a complete titanium Mongoose, of all things) all still listed at their original retail prices. I find it hard to believe they ever sell anything. And while I'm pretty sure I got the last pairs of Shimano DX pedals out of there years ago, but I still hesitate to mention the name of the shop lest it get cleaned out by some enterprising eBayer. Find it, you won't.

Other than that, I got to contribute a top five list to Defgrip, wrote up something on the Brooklyn Banks for the next FBM zine (good lookin' out, Steve), and I took the Odyssey Twisted PC pedals off my coaster bike (and added an Evo II front brake). Heading out now (with the camera), so hopefully I'll get some new flicks soon. Otherwise I'm gonna have to make something up. Like BMX resolutions for '07. Hm. That might be fun anyway.

Stay tuned.

Quit Your Day Job

Recently I wrote a story on Bob Scerbo for an upcoming issue of Ride UK (issue 100, if I remember correctly). While I was doing the research for it, I watched Don't Quit Your Day Job a bunch of times. It's not like I wasn't already familiar with it, but I wanted to make sure I remembered everything.

Those of you who know me, know that I have a little bit of a bike problem. OK, a lot of a bike problem. I probably have more BMX bikes and parts in my apartment than any shop in the city. So watching DQYDJ gave me an idea for my latest project. And when I found a 1" chrome Standard Lengthy frame and fork on eBay for $45 shipped, it all came together.

I call this one Project: Taubin, for obvious reasons. It still needs a Standard axle in the front, and a set of chrome Standard pegs, but other than that it's pretty much perfect. I never had a Lengthy back in the day (just an S&M Dirt Bike and then a long run of STAs), so it's about time I had one. And of course I had to ride it.

Took it to the Banks this weekend, set up with an Animal 45t sprocket (too new-school to keep on) and Standard two-piece Strips (the six-piece were more appropriate). It rode really well, except for the usual early '90s problems (the chain tensioners, front hub and headset all loosened up). There were a whole bunch of kids there, and they were all staring at the chrome. One kid, braces gleaming, rolled up on his Fit or whatever to ask a question: "Is that some sort of old race frame?"

Maybe some other people need to watch DQYDJ, too.

Blackman!

Whenever I run into Blackman, two things are guaranteed: 1) his bike is fucked up somehow, and 2) he wants me to shoot some photos. Usually it's just MySpace stuff—as was this—but this one was good enough to share. He's been talking about doing it for a while, last night was the night. Oh yeah, his chain was so tight that the cassette sounded like a chainsaw.

The Gonz—the original

Two days of posts in a row! Amazing.

Went to the Banks last week (on the 28th, to be exact) to ride a little, only to find an entire camera crew camped out in front of the main wallride pillar. Still and video. Turns out it was an adidas shoot, featuring one Mark Gonzales. That would be the Gonz, the OG Gonz, the one who essentially invented street skating back in the '80s. One of the illest skaters of all time. So, despite the fact that no one else could ride, it was actually OK. How often do you get to see an exclusive session with a legend?

So I sat in the back, pulled out my camera, and tried to time my shots with the professional flash. Did pretty well, too, probably got eight out of 10. These are the best of them.

Height

I don't mean to be getting all weekly on everyone. My bad, I promise to be a little more alive. I guess part of it's been that I haven't been shooting as much—and it's finally feeling a little like winter out there. Dipping into the 30s this week, sweet. Thanks to the weather changes, I'm also working on my first killer cold of the season.

Anyway.

Rumor has it that James Dickens is gonna pump up the volume this year and hit all the high-bunnyhop comps. And, if you know him, you know that a lot of people are gonna be in trouble. Late-night Banks hop over a construction barrel. Clean as a whistle.