previous night, and was still stoked to see us and shared the excited feeling that we all had for the weekend to come. After driving to Sebastian and George Odesolneux (Photographer and Sebastian's flat mate) Flat in the heart of Vienna we set out in the hunt of food and a covered spot due to a lil bit of rain. Less than 2 hours into the trip and we were faced with a possible end to the trip with the elevator in the shop mall getting stuck. 
After several minutes of taking in the comical circumstances and attempts of contact with the outside world via the telecom, I prized open the doors with my well weathered bmx hands, food was got and riding ready to be had. After a few photo shoots and riding, before we knew it was something like 12 or 1am, and once again food was on the agenda. When we got back to the flat it became obvious who where the experts in the situation, the give away was the literally thousands of pizza boxes around the place. Frank, Sebastian and co disappear into the night with drinking on the cards. Day 1 over....
Day 2 start with apologies from Sebastian to Albi along the lines of "Sorry I stepped and fell on you last night, I didn't see you lying there on the hall way floor, I was drunk you see". We all jumped in the Carhartt van, drove to the out side out skirts of Vienna to a sort of business and events center. It was pretty windy so the tall buildings helped but still made riding that bit more challenging. watching other other guys ride even when trying to get something on camera is a real pleasure to see out side of a comp environment. Another days worth of light slips by us again and we head flat ways again. Frank is a mountain of muscle and food knowledge since his body building, lol.. According to Frank... "When you cut a orange, you should use a different knife each slice you cut" something to do with the Poisson in the skin, well Frank, that's why i peel my oranges, lol.
Day 3 starts with Michael Sommer meeting us for the 1st time on the trip due to him having work commitments the previous 2 days. For me its always a pleasure to see him and his riding, so the days started good for me. Car parks are hardly the most picturesque setting for filming but on a sunny day its a good answer to home several eager riders gagging to ride. I think that day alot of filming went down and we even had 1 of the locals bring a Rolls Royce car that was being used in a film set for use to play in... pimp... We had a quick ride about the city at night doing some sight seeing and more photo's. Michael courtesy of Carhartt treated us all to a meal which was amazing.
Day 4 sadly the last day, but despite a few of us having flights later that afternoon we still got to ride Michael's Favorite spot in the heart of the city. Sebastian and Alexis both managed to get some sick lines on camera, and soon after me and Alexis went into town to get 1 last meal, vegan Japanese sushi, I am now addicted to Tofu and its all Alexis fault!..
We all fly are separate ways but I get the impression that everyone was left wanting to hang out more and I heard several promises of plans for another trip soon, which is good because I had a real good to time hanging out with the other guys riding, eating and chilling. Vienna: Visit my Town stop, signing out..
Peace
James Smith
Official Crew: Sebastian Grubinger, Frank Lukas, Alexis Desoulneux, James Smith, Michael Sommer, Irina Sadovnik.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.