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Day 9. The usual morning rituals but this one included getting gas at Arco. Gas is cheaper when you pay cash. Never heard of that one before. 0.89c per gallon in 1990. Now $4bucks. Still half the price of what we pay in Europe so just fill 'er up! We'd been walking in and out companies hoping for the best. Philip had spotted Gunther Werks Porsche in HB so we passed by there. The sign said, no visitors/tours so we drove on.

Then just around the corner we spotted an ASV van. The driver looked like Bob Morales. I asked Philip to see where ASV is and it was just a few minutes away. Bob had his hands in, or was the starter of, many early BMX Freestyle projects. He toured with Bob Haro, started MF (Morales-Fiola), Dyno, the American Freestyle Association (AFA), Kore products and later on Morales flatland bikes. We had never met in person. Bob is running ASV inventions, a big player in the motocross world. Bob made time for us which was cool as it happened unexpectedly. We had just met one of the pioneers of BMX Freestyle by accident.

After their GT days Bob Hadley and Billy Griggs had moved over to Razor where the both of them had been working on cool toys. Billy's latest project is the fun Stage2 e-dirt bike. We were lucky to catch Billy in the office as he had planned to have a test riding session with Barry Nobles that day.

Name: Adam Cox
Hometown: Glendora, CA. USA.
Started racing BMX in: 1974
How many bikes in collection: 9

As a former Factory JMC rider, is that where the BMX collection started for you?
Adam Cox: Collecting for me started in Jr. Highschool with balloon tire bikes, Beach cruisers and Whizzer Motorbikes. In about 2000 I started collecting BMX. At the end of 1980 my family moved to Sacramento, CA. My Dad and I had a shop out of our garage "Factory Connection". I had quite a bit of leftover inventory from that short venture to help me kick off my BMX collecting.

Do you only have "Made in the USA" bikes in your collection?
Adam Cox: Yes

Does "Made in the USA" mean a lot to you to this day?

Day 8. Past halfway. But going strong. As mentioned, the YT MTB session with Mapstone, Van Schie, Zeiss, Philip and Maddog was rained out unfortunately. Albert Hammond was so wrong when he wrote this song: 'It Never rains in Southern California'. But it was a nice day out today as we jumped aboard the Ford Escape. On this 'extra day' we had a few things on the agenda starting off with a surprise visit to Keith Mulligan's pet shop in Laguna. You should have seen his face...haha. Foreigners walking in the door on a Wednesday morning. On Keith's advice we stopped by the Troy Lee Designs store in Laguna Beach. Half museum, half shop. TLD is a staple in BMX/MX and everything that has an engine or people who want to stand out from the pack. Many TLD painted helmets, paintings, and race suits were on display. If you're ever in the area, give it a visit.

While at home we connected with some people to see if they would be around when we were in Cali. One of them was the Godfather of BMX Freestyle; Bob Haro. We sent a message in the morning, but sending a message isn't as simple as it used to be. A message on X? email? DM on Instagram? At what account? Through Facebook messenger? Text message? WhatsApp? It's easy to get lost. Simply put, Bob had not received the message and wasn't at the office in Cardiff by the Sea. We checked at his local Mexican lunch place but it looked like we had to make our own lunch plans.

Name: Tom Sustarich
Hometown: Macomb Twp., Michigan, USA.
Started riding BMX in: I started riding a BMX bike in 1979 on a Mongoose with Tuff Wheels. In 1982, I got a Hutch frameset for Christmas. From 1980 through about 1984, I raced BMX locally in southeast Michigan with my brother, my cousin, and several good friends. We lived in the country, so we were at the mercy of our parents work schedules to get to a BMX track. Although we did not race as much as I would have liked to, my parents were always supportive and encouraging and those were some of the best years of my childhood. We spent our days on our bikes. Jumping in ditches, riding dirt roads. We build a quarter-pipe. We practiced tricks. The weather did not matter. We rode year-round. Snow, rain, heat, etc. It was the first taste of freedom. In the summer of 1984, I sold my race bike and all the parts I