FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Name: Michael Steingraeber, a.k.a.: Mike S.
Age: 37
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Sponsors: Vans, Eastpak, Dragonfly, People's Store

Top 5's:
Best 5 places visited:
1) Sydney, Australia
2) Long Beach, USA
3) Barcelona, Spain
4) Tokyo, Japan
 5) Koblenz, Germany

5 Best contest results:
1) Silver Medal, 2000 X-Games San Francisco
2) Silver Medal, 2002 X-Games Philadelphia
3) 2nd place 2002 World Championship Cologne 

Getting organized is tough to do, but BMX flatland has their own organization. We checked in with Flatland guru Yasuyuki Takeo who is involved with the BFWC.

There is some structure in flatland in the way of the BMX Flatland world circuit. Can you explain what the BFWC does?
Yasu: BFWC was established to represent Flatland more professional and worldwide.

How many contests have been organized under the BFWC umbrella?
Yasu: Currently BFWC is consist of 3 contests, Voodoo Jam (USA), Suzuki BMX Masters( Germany ) and King of Ground (Japan)

Do riders have to become a member of the BFWC to compete in the BFWC?
Yasu: We don't have membership so far, so anyone can join a

Name: Mike Spinner
Age: 20
Hometown: Miami Fl
Sponsors: Mirraco BIkes, Monster energy, Ballpark Franks, Nike 6.0, Maxxis Tires, Bell helmets, Albe's Mailorder

Do you ride flatland much?
Mike Spinner: When I'm in front of my house, or I'm in a parking lot with a bunch of my friends. 

The Red Bull Circle Of Balance events have been the highlight for many flatland riders. We caught up with Andy Zeiss who has been strongly involved with the events as Red Bull's BMX man.

The Red Bull Circle Of Balance events have been THE events for flatland riders to look out for. How many have taken place and where were they held?
Andy Zeiss: In total we had three COB´s in the past. 2002 and 2004

Name: Alain Massabova
Age: 36
Hometown: Paris, France
Occupation: Cream magazine publisher, ABadThing team manager

You have been involved with flatland riding for many years. What keeps you motivated to ride your bike after all those years? 

Viki Gomez has been on top of the flatland scene for a long time. Getting to the top is hard, but staying there is even harder. Viki's riding style is unique; fast, original and tech. Contests don't bother him too much any more but when he shows up, he could just win it like he did at the Circle of Balance in Japan last year. With "Bike 'n Mic" he is also doing shows in countries where most of us have never traveled to.The Spaniard is co-owner of KGB and will always be involved in the flatland scene.  Enjoy these great photos of  Viki.

Name: Rob Alton
Age: 37 in August
Hometown: NOW. Vesegyház, Hungary.
Occupation: Professional Show Flatlander

Can you tell us a little history on your contest days in the UK?
Rob Alton: During the late 80's I was always in the top 3 or winning my age group in Flatland contests. I was just about at every contest all over the country. My last contest was in 1990. 1989 I won the 17+ class Worlds which was in Paris.

Weren't you sponsored by HARO and Vision or something?
Rob Alton: Shortly after the Paris Worlds in 1989 I was riding for Vision and Haro for about 3 years. I still have some shirts too! They gave us so much gear it was great, bike parts and clothing.

Which international contests did you do? 

Name: Scott OBrien
Age: 35
Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana USA

How did the latest Voodoo jam go?
Scott O'Brien: It went very well. The top three where all from a different country so that was great for us. Voodoo Jam is always great when the riders are happy. For me thats a big success. The spectators had a great time connecting with these riders. Its like they wanted more. People that know nothing of Flatland want to be fans of it and follow these guys. With Voodoo Jam we prove the potential and that was great as well.

Why do you think there is not a lot of flatland activity in the USA going on?
Scott O'Brien: Honestly. A lot of people do not want to do the work to build the community up. There are a lot of Jams. York Jam, 

Name: Martti Kuoppa
Age: 29
Hometown: Helsinki
Company: Kuoppa Gomez Bikes

You have been in business with KGB for some years now. Has the brand established and are things running smoothly now?
KGB: Few years back me and Viki Gomez started the company without any experience from other work or studies. Only the attitude "go for it" in our pockets and little bit of money. Then we faced a lot of difficulties with chinese people taking care of things for us on the other side of the world. We made a lot of mistakes, lot of hard times and closed the production for 1.5 years due to the reason of changing the agency in Taiwan. We basically started the company over again, smarter, more experience and all those things. So, this is the first year in the existence of KGB that we have things under the control the way we wanted to have since the beginning. 

Name: Terry Adams
Age: 24
Hometown: Hammond Louisiana
Sponsors: Red Bull, Odyssey, Abadthing, Lotek, and Raising Canes

You seem to go where people have not gone before. Do you like to visit new places and face new challenges?
Terry Adams: I guess the answer to that would be yes. I always tend to pick places that I have never been to before. Its awesome to put a different stamp in my passport from time to time. I love facing new challenges.

Does that translate back into your riding too?