York Jam - 30 Years of Dorkin' - A Flatland BMX Documentary by Steady Focus Media
Over the past 30 years, people have traveled from around the work to attend York Flatland BMX Jam. Throughout the years, many attendees have filmed and documented the jam in many aspects. This project was an impromptu venture that turned into a thank you to those people who have documented these jams.
FAT 'zine issue #24,1992. How this cover got me in the BMX industry. By BdJ
If there is one issue that stands out to me it's issue number 24. It basically got me a job in the BMX industry, or at least the first steps were made. I showed this very issue to GT Bicycles president Richard Long at a trade show in Germany and asked if he (GT Bicycles) wanted to advertise. When he saw the cover of his team rider Dave Voelker flipping off the camera and not wearing a helmet he was not amuzed.
When Richard Long turned over the page he started reading the contents page. He noted the following: "He hates GT, but still rides 4 'em" and turned to the Jon Peacy interview on page 65.
The discussion was long but he got to hear what was wrong with the GT brand at the time. I felt strong about it because I had spent some serious time with the GT riders over in California.
When I left the meeting GT was advertising in FAT, they provided stickers for the free sticker page, I was offered a new Dyno Slammer and it was okay for me to get a temporay job at GT's headquarters in the USA. I seriously wasn't expecting all that.
Anyway, back to the content of issue #24: -Jesse Puente interview
-Jay Miron interview
-Jon Peacy interview
Haro BMX - The 40th Anniversary Haro Freestyler launch with Bob Haro & John Büültjens
Celebrating 40 Years of Freestyle Radness is the Bob Haro Lineage Master Freestyler. Only 400 to be made! Bob's first bike that revolutionized the sport of Freestyle BMX - The Haro Master has become one of the most iconic bikes in BMX history today.
Issue #23 of FAT-´zine, back when we made magazines with a typewriter. 1992. By BdJ
The new typewriter is doing its job making it possible to read the text in issue 23 which has Geoff Martin on the cover while doing some flatland riding in front of Hamel's in Mission Beach.
This issue has a lot of USA stuff in it. We visited the first Bicycle Stunt contest in Texas with the GT team, we also made it to the next round in Glendale, Arizona. Sheep Hills looked different in 1991 and we also checked out a Todd Anderson/Eddie Fiola trick show.
Jimbob reports about the East coast of the USA in two stories and we also covered several European events like the King Of Concrete, the Tourcoing France contest from March 1992, and we had a pictorial of the 1991 World's in Denmark.
We were pretty international back then with a Barrow in Furness jam report (UK), Axel Reichertz' roadtrip to Spain, European team championships in Abbeville, France, an international contest in Eindhoven (NL), and a skatehouse report from Essen, Germany.
I wonder how we did it all but somehow it worked out. Mario Schepers, Alan Peterson, Barker Barrett and Effraim Catlow got the interviews. Flip through the pages and check if you got a photo in this issue.
BdJ
The Military, the FAT 'zine and BMX. 1991. Going back in time with BdJ. Issue 22.
1991 was the year I had to join the army. Everyone had to back in the day and it was my turn. Had my personal UZI 'n shit and made it to the Corporal rank in just one year, whatever that's worth. The best part of the 12 months in the army was that I managed to pass for my truck drivers licence. I rented a room so I did not have to live on the military base and could ride a bit after "work" and still manage to do the FAT-'zines.
The pace had slown down to only a couple of issues per year but they were stacked with stuff.
Just like issue #22: -Did a commercial in Gran Canaria for ProSpecs shoes in 1991
-Reported from the Trier contest
-Rode the Vogelsang dirt spot in Cologne
-Went to Abbeville in France for a contest
-Was there a contest in the Jugendpark every 4 months or something?
-Mini-FAT-JAM Aarle-Rixtel
-Christmas Jam report from Denmark
-Muenster Monster Mastership
-Skate comp in Erp
-ECC report
Greg Guilliotte was one of the riders pushing the limits in mid to late 80’s, part of the legendary meanwhile quarter pipe crew in west London. Greg scored a Radness unlimited page in BMX action bike magazine as his first pic and that was the start of many print pages to come.
First trip to the USA. All in issue 21 of FAT-'zine (104 pages). By BdJ
We've arrived in 1991 with the FAT-issues. #21 has 104 pages and includes all stories from my first trip to the USA. It was the best. For years I'd been reading the American magazines and now I was there, in San fucking Diego!
Before I had put my bike together Vic Murphy called to see if I wanted to go ride some street. Hell yeah! 20 minutes later Knock knock, who's there? Vic Murphy, Pete Augustin and Kaarlo Wik.
Damn, is this for real? I hurried getting the re-welded HARO Master together to hit the streets. Wow, this was good! Places visited were Mission Trails (daily session?), Ron Wilkerson's spine vert ramp, the San Diego Home Ave ditch, Imperial Ditch, backyard pools, rode some flatland at Mission Beach, went to the Nude bowl, the 2-HIp meet the street in Palm Springs, Balboa Park, a ditch in LA, the DirtBros mini, and much more. It was a great time and you can read about it in this issue.
But there's more. Interviews with Alexis Desolneux and Eng San Kho, reports on the FAT-JAM, a trip to Longjumeau France, UK KOV report, KOC report, the Lageja '91 comp and of course free stickers and stuff.
Go back in time, when riding real street was just being developed by the DirtBros.
BdJ
Let's start this review by a quote from Vic Murphy who was a regular contributor to the FAT-'zines back in the day. "I ride to get better. Not to get money. Not to impress anyone. Not to improve the environment. But just to see how good I can get riding from one place to another. Some people don't understand me. Well, I don't understand them. Ride to death." Vic Murphy. D.B.I. Issue 20 of FAT-'zine came out in the fall of 1990 right after we had finished another FAT-JAM (report in #21). We traveled around in the summer and visited the World Championships in Trier, a few VANS shows in Germany, went to the ECC in Slagharen, and we had a few lakejump sessions when it got really hot.
Interviewed people this time were Jason Jessee, Joop "Sloop" Smulders, Raymond Tabak, Frank Schnuetgen, and Dan Hubbard. We also had reports from the UK King Of Vert, a street jam in Aalborg, Denmark, the 2-Hip comps in the USA, and a full report from the contest in Cologne, Germany.
It's the first issue on the new typewriter so you can actually read the 'zine.
Enjoy.
BdJ
Check it out: FAT-'zine issue 20 (1990)
Zach has done more in BMX than we could ever fit in to multiple 3 hour conversations.
Here's a little project that helped me through lockdown. Building and riding an old 86 Diamond Back Strike Zone. It was a great opportunity to re-visit some old tricks as well as learn a few new oldies.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.