Happy New Year

Another year in the history books......wow it went by fast! Happy New Year everyone, stay healthy and stay riding. Best of luck in 2006!

The warehouse in Mass.

So Arnwine and I headed up to the warehouse tonight and it was a pretty sick session. Local rider Aaron Tauscher destroyed the place! He pulled a ridiculous Ruben wallride that cased the top of the wallride it was so high! He also proceeded to kill anything else in his way. To my suprise Weasel showed up to ride....I haven't seen him in ages! He was riding like his usual self throwing down dialed turndowns, boosted one footed x-ups, etc. All in all we had a good time and you can check out the photos at Tyrant's Flickr

Aaron Tauscher with a HUGE Ruben wallride.

Whip's Basement again...

So Steve A., Whip, and I rode the basement tonight and Todd, P. Krol, and John came by to hang out. Peter shot a little video with his new $4,600 video camera...WOW! Thanks Santa! Steve A. almost hit his head like 20 times, was riding a million miles an hour, and at one point hit the light bulb coming out of a ceiling socket (see below photo) with his shoulder on the way in from a wallslap. Check out the photos at Tyrant's Flickr

Steve A. with a wallslap in tight quarters

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to everyone out there! Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanza...or whatever you celebrate. Anyway have fun and be safe!

Cleared!

So its been a little over a week since my surgery and I got my stiches out. The doc said all looks well and as long as I wear the mouth guard I am cleared to ride again. So I'll be riding somewhere this week...I'm even willing to bare the bone chilling temperatures and ride some street just to get back on the bike.

Up and comers in the riding world!

I never got around to posting a few pics of Dave Blachura from a few weekends ago. He and I hit a few parks up on a 35 degree Sunday and he was killing it as usual. Mark my words, in the years to come kids like Dave and Brandon Begin ("Tiny Tyrant") are going to be killing it at the parks, trails....anywhere they can ride.

Blachura has one handed manuals dialed!!!
He took this one the whole length of the box, like 18 feet!

Jay's Ramp Session - 12/11

Bryan A. and I headed over to Jay's ramp tonight and met up with Schmidt, Stacey, and Jay. Since I'm fresh out of surgery I can't ride, so I played photographer and ran around getting some shots...check them out at Tyrant's Flickr

Tyrant DVD

I have been working on the "Tyrant movie" for the last few years. I am constantly filming, importing clips, and editing footage. I had this grand scheme to compile tons of footage and put out an amazing, long bmx movie...but the reality of it is that I really don't have the time or the ambition to do it. I've decided to take all the footage I have and create a 1/2 hour DVD packed with solid riding featuring a bunch of local talent. I'll keep you posted here on the site, but I am shooting for a Spring premire at Pedal Power in Middletown.

Out for a while...

So I am having surgery in a few hours and I'm not too excited. I'm having cadaver bone grafted into my tooth socket to fill a void in my skull.....yeah, its nasty! Anyway, I plan on shooting a lot of film in the coming week or so because I won't be able to ride. I'm told any little jolt or trauma could result in the bone graft failing......so I'm not taking any chances. Check back later, maybe if I'm up to it I'll post a gorry post surgery picture :)

1 hour post surgery....socket full of cadaver bone.......
6 stiches.......nasty!

Burgers Warehouse/Ramp Farm Session

So Bryan Arnwine and I headed up to Burger Warehouse/Ramp Farm to ride for a few hours. As usual the locals were going off and Burger was riding at full speed, boosting, and pulling everything. Bryan hadn't ridden a skatepark in 2 weeks, but as soon as we arrived he proceeded to go nuts. See the photos at Tyrant's Flickr. Bry went on a fufanu frenzy, pulling them on all obstacles in site. Stan "The Man" was there sporting his hessian wear and pulling some turndowns over the box. I landed a pretty decent fakie wallride and all in all we had a great 3 hour session. I'm sure we'll be back up real soon guys.....thanks!

Stan "The Man" turnsdown over the box

Tyrant on WoozyBMX.com

So to my suprise, I found out that Steve A. and I are both pictured in WoozyBMX.com's "Readers Photos" section thanks to everyone's favorite cameraman Matt Lolli. For those of you who don't know WoozyBMX is a rad online magazine based out of Germany. You may have seen ads for it in the Props movies or DIG Magazine. Anyway, Matt has been shooting a dozen rolls a week and apparently he submitted a couple photos to WoozyBMX and they were accepted. Check it out at WoozyBMX and click on the "Readers Photos" link in the middle after entering the site. I love how the Europeans call abubacas "blunts", like the skateboard term "blunt stall". Thanks Matt for shooting the photos and getting M-Town on the map. Congrats to you too for getting your photos in front of a world wide audience!

First December Street Session

Matt Lolli and I met up with mountain bikers David Blachura and Mike Stock for a late night Middletown street session. We rode for a few hours and hit a lot of new things up. Dave proved to us that he is willing to pedal 25 mph at anything and can manual from here to China. Matt is starting to get comfortable riding street on his BMX, as you can see in past photos he's obviosuly totally comfortable on it riding flatland. He busts out 15 mph mega spins. It looks like the weekend ahead is going to be a good time, hopefully I'll be headed to Skaters Edge in Taunton, MA with the mountain bike crew. Let's hope the snow steers clear of us! Tyrant's Flickr for some more photos.

200 yards of pedaling all out to get up a 50 foot
wet grass bank to land this abubaca.

Whip's Basement

Matt Lolli and I rode with Whip in his basement Tuesday night. It was a fun time, I posted some pics of myself and Lolli.
Tyrant's Flickr
Matt also has some really great pics up courtesy of his new fish eye lense
Matt Lolli's Blog

Wallride off a plastic P.O.S. Walmart kick ramp

Artsy fartsy session

So Matt and I rode a little street tonight and I shot a good amount of artsy fartsy photos. There really wasn't any trickery going down tonight, we just rode to get out and get some air. Matt was pulling some rad mega spins and i was using my ghost powers again. It was nice to get out and pull some trickery with the camera instead of on the bike for once. I posted some pics on Tyrant's Flickr, but most of its artsy fartsy.

Matt in the midst of a late night harbor ledge session

Another Weekend, Another Begin Ramp Session

So another cold weather weekend has passed us by and still the Begins ramp is in great riding condition. Even though we got a few inches of snow this week, the backyard mini was bone dry (thanks to some huge tarps.) We built a sub box and had it at various heights throughout the day which made for a fun session. Brandon was going off as usual, and Steve was riding well, pulling some nice stalls on the sub. A good time was had by all, especially with the temperatures a little on the rise. Thanks again guys!

Steve with a tire tap on the sub


Brandon with some serious extension on his footplant

Random News

So I feel the need to post a message about how angry I am that it snowed when I have 4 days off from work. So much for riding everyday!!! On the bright side, BMX ripper Don Pavelka (as seen on my blog and Tyrant's Flickr.) has his own blog now, check it out. Don's Blog. Don and his roommate Craig ride a ton so expect to see so rad photos from their local Rhode Island scene.

Little ripper

So Steve, "Tiny Tyrant's" dad, sent me a few pics of the little ripper. I was told that after we left Wethersfield last Sunday Brandon was carving the bowl super high and super fast in the deep end, these pics are proof. Dont forget this bowl is 8 feet in the deep end and tuck slightly over-vert. In addition, Brandon is 11 years old, like 4 feet tall, and rides a 16 inch bike.

Stylish carve near the coping


Any higher and he'll be airing it out

Photos

From here on out I will be only photographing close friends I ride with. You see, some coward decided to send me an anonymous comment on Flickr complaining that I am photographing people who don't want to be photographed and/or posted on the net. I always look at the photos I shoot as a great was to support the local scene and promote the sport and riders in our area. Apparently "on numerous occasions" I've posted pictures of people who didn't want to be on the net. The usual crew that is at the local parks are really cool about photos and I know most everybody. I guess this one weenie has no social skills and cannot approach me and ask me not to photograph him. Speak up, be a man!

You couldn't ask for a nicer day in November!

Today was gorgeous and I made it a point to get out the door early and over to Wethersfield. The park was as dead as I've seen it since it opened. When I showed up at 10:45 there were 13 people there and it was actually possbile to ride a good line without getting snaked. The Begins shows up and Brandon had everyone talking. I know I've said it time after time, but that 11 year old rides better that half the kids at the park. He pulled a nice 3 foot gap to feeble grind and was pumping the bowl higer than I was. There was a whole crew there riding today and its was a super fun session. I rode all day so I only took 20 mins. out to shoot a little film.....I posted it on Tyrant's Flickr.


Nolan Parent airing out of the bowl in my face

Wethersfield at night

Brayn A. and I decided to head out riding again early in the night and Wethersfield for a quick dark session. Just like earlier in the day, Bry was riding fast as hell and going big. Check out the few photos I took.
JUST A HEADS UP TO EVERYONE, WETHERSFIELD IS NOW SUPERVISED FROM 9-5 ON THE WEEKENDS and 2-5 WEEKDAYS BY THE PARKS & REC. AND HELMETS ARE MANDATORY!
I know a lot of you guys don't wear them, but if you don't have one they're not letting you in.

Flirting with death! Helmetless high speed air out in the bowl


Bry's look backs are getting better!

Session at "Tiny Tyrant's" backyard ramp

Bryan Arnwine and I got invited to go ride "Tiny Tyrant" Brandon Begin's backyard mini for a little session today. We had a good time and lot of serious trickery went down. What we've been using as a wallride for that past few weeks appeared to be a huge sub-box to Bryan. He proceeded to pull all kinds of tricks out and fuf'ed the box on the second try. I thought I was doing pretty good pedal stalling it and double pegging it, but he upped the stakes. Brandon B. was ripping as usual doing some awesome transfers, airing out well, and even a few great tire grabs. Fun was had by all. Check out the sick pics at Tyrant's Flickr

Bryan fufanuing Brandon's wallride


Brandon with a tire grab fly-out

Frosty sessions begin

So its that time of year when Old Man Winter starts to chill us out and night begins at like 4:45....which is beat for skatepark riding!!! Matt, Steve A. and I decided to brave the 36 degree temps. and ride a little street. It ended up being a fun session full of cool tricks and new spots we've never thought of riding....and I've been riding Middletown for 5 years! Be sure to check out Matt Lolli's Blog in a few days after he gets his film developed and posted, he shot a lot of pics with his new fisheye lense. I posted some shots on Tyrant's Flickr. Just a heads up, the whole crew will be out riding all weekend. Sunday is going to be in the 50's and we'll be at Wethersfield all day. Stop by and support Tyrant BMX, I have a ton of product with me including the new hoodies!

Steve A. fakie tree ride

Wethersfield on a Sunday....again

So I rode all day today, from 10 am to 8 pm. I started off at Wethersfield, met the Begins and D Whip at Newington for a few hours, then went back for a session under the lights at Wethersfield. I'm getting more comfortable on the bike now that I'm 2 days in, but most of all I'm just happy I'm riding at all. Check out the pics from today on Tyrant photos published on Flickr.

Brandon Wyz.... airing out the 1/4 under the lights

Back on the bike

So I got the docs ok to ride again and I am psyched. I bought a mouth guard for extra safety and I was off to the park bright and early today. I rode Wethersfield for an hour or so, but it was so mobbed I had to leave. I headed over to the Begin's for the second weekend in a row and I actually got to ride this time. Let me tell you, Brandon gets better by the day. The kid is 11 and his wall slaps were higher than mine today (look at the wall slaps he did today and look back at last weekends photos. He gained like 2 feet in height in a week!) I was happy to land a fakie wall slap and a smith wall stall. It was so nice to ride again and spend the day with a good rider and good friend.

"Tiny Tyrant" with a darkside one footer


Wall slapping 2 feet higher than last weekend


Airing out on a sweet transfer from the 5 to 6 footer


Fakie Wall Slap - Photo by Brandon Begin

More Wethersfield photos

If you are interested in checking out some more photos from the Wethersfield session on Sunday Matt Lolli has been posting some on his blog bit by bit. Patience is a virtue, he shoots real film and it takes time to develop! Matt Lolli's Blog.

Wethersfield on a Sunday

Since I haven't been "cleared to ride yet" (which I think is B.S.!) I have been the ultimate paparazzi at the skatepark. I headed up to Wethersfield late on Sunday afternoon with D. Whip, Steve A. and Matt Lolli to shoot some film while they rode . It turned out that the park was totally infested with riders and skaters, but a lot of huge tricks were still thrown down. I got a bunch of great shots, go check them out Tyrant photos published on Flickr.

The park opened a week ago and its been a mob scene ever since

So I had this idea to go riding this weekend, but my doctor, friends, family, and Jess shot it down really quick. I was told to stay off the bike for 4 weeks and its only been 3, so the waiting game goes on. With this ridiculous weather I knew Wethersfield would be packed so I headed over and shot some film of Schmidt. Tomorrrow, Sunday the 6th, a lot of people are headed over to ride so come on down...I'll be snapping photos. After the park we went and visited "Tiny Tyrant" Brandon Begin and the family and watched him shred his backyard ramp. This kid isn't even a teenager yet and he is a total ripper!

Scmidt with a gap to manual


Schmidt airing out the 6 foot tranny


Brandon with a footplant on his wallride


"Tiny Tyrant" with a wallslap.....I just learned those a few years ago!


Smith wall stall to fakie

Back on the bike...well kinda

So I got my bike back from Jimmy at Black Magic Bikes and the custom sparkling military green paint job he did for me is awesome! I figured if I was going to be laid up for a while and off the bike, why not get it re-painted...it had like 7 layers of paint of it. I have seen Jimmy's work before, because he did some custom jobs for Pedal Power customers and they came out great. Check out his website and shoot him an e-mail for a quote, his work it top notch! Black Magic Bikes. So my evening was spent putting the bike back together and fine tuning it. I also upgraded a few parts and when all was said and done it came in at 28.13 lbs. Light and responsive, yet strong as hell! Check it out, it came out great!

Crazy autumn nights

So I shot straight out to the new Wethersfield Skatepark after work tonight to pick up Matt Lolli's new Deuce Deuce frame from Buckler. To my suprise the guys had halogen lights running off about 200 feet of extension cords from a nearby shed and we're still riding hard. I took a few picks of the action, this place looks really fun......I wish I was healed up and riding again! I also wish these guys had helmets on. One crash in that bowl and their going to be looking worse than me after my incident!

Brandon Wyz..... airing out of the oververt bowl


Bongi at the lip of the 8 foot oververt deep end


Buckler also flirting with death near the lip of the over-vert 8 foot end

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!
(My girlfriend carved the reaper, pretty sick!

Sly Fox's 21st Jam

Today there was a jam at the Newington Skatepark for Sly fox Jeff Sylvester's 21st Birthday. I am on the injured listed still and heavily medicated so my girlfriend was nice enough to take me to the jam for a 1/2 hour to shoot a little film and get out of the house. In that short while a lot went down, take a look on Tyrant photos published on Flickr.

Don Pavelka making a mockery of the spine

Hyde Park

So the morning of my accident I was up at my girls house in the Boston suburbs and I rode Hyde Park. I never should have come back to Connecticut that afternoon!!! Since I've been bed ridden and all doped up I totally forgot I took Jess took some photos at the park that morning. Check it out, the place is really fun. Take a look at the rest of the pics at Tyrant photos published on Flickr.

Hyde Park at 9:30 AM on Oct. 16th

The rebuilding process begins

So the whole process of rebuilding my mouth starts tommorow at 12:30, I have my first oral surgery appointment. I'm told this is going to be the first of 3-5 appointments depending on how things go. Take a look at the photos, I'm a little crusty! Anyway, I'm finally returning home this weekend so give me a ring, Jess is down taking care of me.

The cop found this 8 feet from my body when he arrived

I got T.K.O.ed

Just a heads up to all my friends and Tyrant supporters. I won't be posting any blogs this week, I'll be staying at my parents place for most of the week. I ate it really bad at Newington Skatepark today and am in rough shape. I was knocked unconscious and taken to Hartford Hosptial by ambulance. I chipped one front big tooth tooth and totally lost the other one. Two of my bottom teeth got pushed in, but the doctors were able to fix those. I have 10 stitches in my lower lip and I fractured my face just above my top set of teeth. On top off all that I suffered a concusion and my chin, upper lip, and nose have road rash bad. I look like I'm straight out of a horror movie and feel like a freight train hit me. I wanted to post a picture that I had my mom take of me, but it is way too graphic! See you back at the park soon...I'll be riding in no time!!!

I have to have oral surgery done at the end of the week. I got my hands on my cat scan photos...pretty scary!

Whip's Basement 2005-06

So its been raining like hell for a week now and we can't ride outside. We're all fed up with Mother Nature so we decided to prep Whip's Basement for the 2005-06 Winter season. Steve A., Whip, and myself moved all the ramps around creating a fresh new set up and some rad new lines for this year. Take a look at the pics at Tyrant photos published on Flickr.

Seeking refuge from the rain!

So the Pedal Power Crew met up in the parking garage in Middletown last night (it's 1 AM now so technically its a new day!) to ride some "street", if you could call it that. Basically, we have all had enough of the rain and we wanted to get outside and ride and there is no better place that the good old P.G. Steve A. was doing some high speed carves up the jersey barriers, Mike Stock was trying all sorts of trickey on his 26" bike, Matt Lolli was throwing down the flatland moves, and I crashed a lot trying to icepick a 3.5 foot wall...and I have a bloody left "swellbow" to show for it. We had a good old time and the whole crew came back to my place to chill and watch Road Fools 14 afterwards.

Steve A. carves fast and hard up the barrier


Me double pegging a whole 6 inches on an un-waxed barrier

Middletown Skatepark

The first official fundraiser for the Middletown Skatepark is this coming Sunday, October 16th, next to the Police Station in Middletown. Main Street is going to be closed for a classic car show and Court Street is going to be closed and full of inflatable rides and food, with all proceeds going to the skatepark fund. Stop by at 1 and grab some food and tool around on the rides. Rumor has it that there may be a few ramps set up too, but you didn't hear that from me. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT RIDING OR SKATING ON MAIN STREET THAT DAY!!! THE COPS ARE ENFORCING THE LAW BECAUSE ALL THE CLASSIC CAR WEENIES ARE AFRAID OF THEIR RIDES GETTING SCRATCHED!!!

Jay's Ramp Session

So the "old crew" rode at Jay's ramp tonight, and we were actually able to hold a conversation with one another....it was nice for a change! Anyway, we had a good old time at Jay's, despite the fact that he got rid of the vert wall and a quarter. On the upside Jay added 2 wacky quarters on the deck of the mini ramp which made for some insane trickery. Schmidt was doing some nice downside pedal chinks, Jay was doing his crazy brakeless nosewheelies to manuals, I did a pretty rad transfer to smith wall stall, and Ashley pulled out a rad brakeless nosepick on the wall. Tonight begun the fall/winter sessions at Jay's and I'm sure dozens more are to follow. There are a few photos below and the rest are on Tyrant photos published on Flickr

Schmidt rides the "blue monster"


Ashley with a wallslap in the rafters


Me transfering out of the mini into a smith wall stall
Photo: Ryan Schmidt


Jay boosting his ramp into the rafters

Wethersfield Skatepark

So I stopped by the Wethersfield Skatepark today because the rumor was that is was to open tomorrow, October 8th. There is no way the park is opening tomorrow, the weather has been too rainy for them to complete the place. The flatbottom of the street section still hasn't been poured, the top and sides are all dirt still, and there is still machinery all around. I'd say at least another week or two depending on the weather. Check out the pics.



So much for a Columbus Day Weekend grand opening!

That's what friends are for

So a crew got together to go out for an early evening street session. What was suppost to be a 3 man crew quickly turned into 7, with Matt Lolli and his camera gear being one of the add ons. Sessions are always a goodtime when Matt is shooting, it kinda pushes people to step up or at least try things out of the ordinary. We started at the North End Banks tooling around on the mini-sub box and hip. We then discovered a wicked slant wall made out of various bricks and stones in front of a brick & tile store. This wall is actually an advertisement with the companies name and product samples on it, but it made one hell of a wall ride. After a short session a local resident decided he had enough and informed us from his porch that he was calling the cops....you know what happened next...we split! The session then headed across town to the Baptist Church (as seen on Matt Lolli's Blog). That ended up being a bust because the church lot was full. Steve A. decided to bump jump the curb and wall ride a chainlink fence topped with barbed wire. He went super high on it, but the spring action of the fence ended up launching him off his bike and into a crash. After that the crew split; the youngin's went home to do homework and the rest of us sessioned the M.P.G Wallride. Once again, Steve A., who rides once every 2 weeks, was throwing down some serious wallrides with a couple over head height. If you know this spot the kicker is grass and dirt and like a foot tall so over head height is pretty burly. Anyway, after a few days of being a bit out of it and kinda bumming I really needed a fun session with friends. Thanks for calling me guys!

Interbike in depth

So a lot of people have been e-mailing me looking for updates on Interbike and the Vegas trip. I've been a little under the weather so I apologize for not posting anything new. Anway, the trip started off with a bang when a totally drunk guy on our flight started crap with Digger Davis and Steve A. from Pedal Power. The guy was so out of it, he was spitting racial slurs at an oriental man, and yelling "Land this Pig" to the pilot. I thought for sure he was going to get arrested when we landed. Anyway, I decided we needed to mess with him when we got off the plane so as he staggered around the airport I stickered him up with a Tyrant sticker as a dozen other passangers watched and laughed. The Interbike show itself was really fun. Eastern has a sub 4 pound frame coming out, their Ti cranks are sick, we hung out at the Coalition and FBM booths every day for a while talking it up with Greg Walsh and Crandall, and saw the sights at the show. FBM has an insane new flatland frame coming out, Road Fools 14 and Red Bull Mean Streets are 2 great DVD's we saw, and the NORA Cup party was bonkers.....except for the $10 drinks. Next year we are bringing our bikes for sure, every night we saw Leif Valin, Seth Kimborough and a bunch of other riders out and about sessioning spots. Vegas was super fun, but I was exhausted when I got home and I am happy to be back.

Old dude's can't ride flatland in hotel rooms


Jay Miele backflip off the wall onto the bed


The 3 am Crew