We've asked Mel Stoutsenberger to pick his favourite photos from back in the day and give us the Who, Where, When, What, and Why. Mel documented BMX first hand. Here's photo number Five.
IMAGE FIVE:
Who: Bruce Bufkin from Canoga Park, California. Bruce and I became friends in 1968 because of our shared interest in motocross. We didn't have motorcycles yet but we had our Schwinn Stingrays which we rode as much as we could in the empty fields and trails around our neighborhood. His older Brother used to help us work on our bikes, gave us tips, customizing and making them better suited for riding in the dirt.
Where: Indian Dunes Motorcycle Park, mini-bike track, Valencia, California.
When: August 1972.
We've asked Mel Stoutsenberger to pick his favourite photos from back in the day and give us the Who, Where, When, What, and Why. Mel documented BMX first hand. His photos tell stories.
Who: My long time friend and fellow bike mechanic, John George. Little did I know when I shot this photo that John would land the NBA National #1 position later in the year. John worked as a mechanic for Canoga Cycle Center and raced for their team exclusively. He raced NBA sanctioned events almost every weekend of the year as well as many week nights. He was fast, hard to beat and had piles of style. Whether he was on a long gnarly downhill course like Malibu Country Club or a Friday night flat track bash at the Van Nuys Teen Center, John always held his own.
We've asked Mel Stoutsenberger to pick his favourite photos from back in the day and give us the Who, Where, When, What, and Why. Mel documented BMX first hand. His photos tell stories.
Who: (L-R) Bill Ford, Mike Aldred, Butch Baum and John George. We had just received our new Canoga Cycle Center BMX Team shirts that Russ Okawa had made. Completely stoked, we decided to head over to our closest hot spot wearing our new shirts for some photos. I shot a roll of 36 exposure black and white film and got a lot of killer pics but this one was the money shot. Tight formation, everyone has decent air, the light was good and none of the guys hit me after landing.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.