Name: Jess Dyrenforth
Hometown: Santa Ana, Ca 92701
Occupation: Licensed Massage Therapist, HHP. Photographer and Owner and production manager of GOST Brand.
When was it that you picked up a BMX bike?
Jess: I rode my first BMX bike at 11 years old during a trip to San Francisco with my mom. Later that year I got a Raleigh Ultra
-Name? Terry Jenkins (I do remember this one, and now that I am pretending to be all grown up I go by Terence) -Age? This past July I made it to 38, and still counting (freekin hell I’m old, ha!) - Year and age turned pro? I turned Pro sometime in early 1984, yeah twenty-two years ago! But let’s use the word Pro? loosely here; I was just sixteen years old out of school and on the dole of course. The only pro freestyle riders back then I believe were Andy Preston and Mike Pardon. FBMX Magazine contacted me as they wanted to have a Professional Freestyle division so I said yes, wasn’t quite sure what I was saying yes to but it sounded great. The UK pro division now consisted of something like four riders, but hey it was a great start!
Name: Andy Shohara
Occupation: Construction Superintendent
Hometown: Mililani, HI.
First of all, how did a family from Hawaii end up living in England?
Andy Shohara: My dad got a new job at an Air Force base near Banbury and moved there with the rest of my family at the end of 84. I stayed back in Hawaii to finsh my senior year of high school. After I graduated there was a lot of drinking and smoking going on along with a lot of surfing, but a whole lot less of riding. By Christmas of 85 I new I needed a new environment. I flew to England for the holidays and they surprised me with a new half-pipe in the back yard. I officially moved to England on the day of Mon's 2nd jam.
How hard was it to get used to the British weather compared to the Hawaiian sunshine
Andy Shohara: It was brutal. I was used to riding all year long,
Name: Greg Guillotte
Hometown: Plano, TX
You have moved around quite a bit in your life, lived in Holland for a little while too, can you sum up the countries in short?
Greg: I lived in Holland from 10-14 and England from 14-18. Lived in the US before and after that.
Where was it that you started riding BMX?
Greg: I started racing when I lived in Holland and at one of the out of town events the hosting team had a quarter-pipe. I rode it all day and fell in love with the idea of vert. Then when I moved to England, I built a quarter in my backyard and helped build the ramps at Meanwhile 2.
This week on FATBMX we've got an online competition* going on. We received a killer package from Vans with some products that go with the HARO x Vans collaboration. We caught up with Michael de Wit - Sr. Art Director at Vans, who was one of the persons working on the project. Read this first, and then look for the online competition here on FATBMX.
When did you first hear about the Vans x Haro collaboration?
MdW: When it comes to collaborations at Vans, all departments involved (footwear, apparel & brand design) work closely together to make sure it's the right one. We were looking to do collaboration with a company that shared the same amount of originality, heritage and authenticity like Vans, so Haro seemed like a natural fit. Besides, Dennis (McCoy) has been a Vans rider forever and when he got back on Haro, it was a perfect match.