FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Repco Sport, Haro New Zealand distributors, stepped up again as the key BMX sponsor of the annual Vodafone X-Air comp held in Hamilton, New Zealand on the 6th and 7th of Feb. A sick field of international and local riders all ripping on street, vert and dirt. The Haro sponsored comp is the biggest action sports event in the country and the riding didn’t disappoint.

It takes a lot to organize a good contest. After last weekend we don't have to explain that to Michiel Verberg of Soulcycle. The Braun Flatground comp was very well organized but to give you an idea of what is needed to make it work I'll give you a list with a few things that need to be taken care of:

Kuoppa and Gomez Bikes did a release party in Amsterdam last weekend, Marti living in Finland and Viki living in Madrid it was a wise decision to do the release in the middle of that so with Amsterdam filled with Flatground riders it was busy at "the Bitterzoet" bar. Marti and Viki decided over a year ago to start their own company cause they wanted to be Real Business men! No, they wanted to show the world that they know everything about Flatland and that they "will change that flatlandworld forever", first part is true, Viki and Marti are amongst the best 10 flatlanders in this world but it takes more to change the world than riding bikes and design a frame.

BMX has brought me to the strangest places. When the opportunity came up to go to Estonia for a freestyle contest I grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Estonia, isn’t that over there near Russia? That’s right. By vehicle it would have been a 1900km drive through Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia to get there. By plane it was less than three hours and a lot safer. But how shady is this place?

by Anita Hodgin Dear Fat, I haven't written in a while...I thought other girls were keeping you boys involved in our little run at the bmx freestyle world. but just to let you all know...we are still around and having fun riding our bikes.

Some things you cannot explain, you should have been there to understand what was going on. If you're boring and go to sleep early with a cracker and a bottle of water, don't expect to understand all the stories from the wild ones in the morning. Sure, stupid things are done but it's the moment that leads to it. Everyone having a good time, that's what it's all about. No one needs to be beat up to have a good time, no bar stool needs to be thrown through the window to have a story in the morning, no hook ups are required for a good night out.

Carry dropped Paul and I off at Eindhoven airport at 6am to go to the Snickers Soul Bowl contest. We were both hired to judge the comp. Once in the plane we had to sit there for 90 minutes because the air traffic control computer had crashed and needed to be rebooted. On arrival we saw a Snickers sign with our names on it. Thanks for waiting for us Wendy. From Heathrow airport all athletes, organizers, judges and riders were directed to the Ibis hotel to chill for a bit. The big Coach (Paul's Coach travels) was leaving for the Donnington Park at 15:30pm. It was a 3 hour drive from London but with everyone (a.o. Koji Kraft, Kevin Robinson, Jimmy Walker, Jamie Bestwick, Steve Swope, Page Hussey, Big Island, Jay Eggleston, Achim Kujawski, Stefan Geisler, Tom Stober and a bunch of skateboarders) in one vehicle it was bearable.

The philosophy behind the euroBMXstreet championship series: There have never been a BMX -Freestyle- European Championship and we would like to establish one. The increase in performance between the National Championships and the Oversee-dominated BMX-worlds is amazing. Also the financial and organizing expenditure of a World Championship is very huge and it is very demanding for the riders and promoters. BMX Freestyle deserves its own European Champions. The thing should be for fun and it should work, because of that we would like to start with the street-discipline in 2004. So we can keep the expenditure easy to grasp and we can gather some experiences, too. In 2005 there will be some more disciplines, if the idea is successful in this year.

The euroBMXstreet (european mastership BMX freestyle street) is taking place in 2004 for the first time. The first round was held in Heerlen, The Netherlands at the Promise park on the first weekend of May. The EuroBMXstreet championhips are hold as a series in three rounds at three different places. Every round consists of qualifications (takes place on Saturdays) and the final-round (takes place on Sundays). For the total result only the two best rounds will count. For every round there is a result base 1000 points (and then counting down), that means #1 = 1000 points, #2 = 999 points, #3 = 998 ...

CANADIAN CONQUEORS CARDIFF AT THE RED BULL THREE DEGREES Around 6,000 people flocked to Cardiff Oval Basin today, one of the hottest days this year, to witness legendary rider Jay ‘The Beast’ Miron from Canada take first place at the Red Bull Three Degrees BMX event.