Being in the heart of the (B)MX industry gives you plenty of opportunity to visit multiple places in one day. Monday morning we pointed the Ford Escape rental to 3-Brothers racing first, a dealership in Costa Mesa. Philip had managed to spend two weeks of his HGS internship in the USA to do market research and collect content for their social media. Visiting MX shops and the two AMA Monster Energy Supercross was part of the program. After checking the parts shop and complete bike section we were off to FOX Racing, just 10 minutes down the road, to see what's new there. When the employees start talking moto for 30 minutes, you know they're at the right place and not just selling whatever product. Fox had their speed suit on display also and we got the ins and outs on that project.
We checked our Google Maps flags and drove to CultCrew right before lunch. We were welcomed by the one and only Rob-O (on his B-day) and sat down for some chatting. The current state of the BMX industry, SX season, Palace, and old BMX trips were brought up. The energy always flows with this man.
In 'n Out lunch? Why not?! It might feel weird to a few, but not to us, as we're on good grounds
There's no need to explain how nice California is. This Sunday we took some time to enjoy it. Started the day by going for a run. It had been a while but thinking I could make it to HB and back from Newport Beach was a mistake. I had to turn around halfway. The run turned into a walk several times but hey, the beach was right there, the sun was out and there was no rush. Life is good. After the shower (and the coffee) we got in touch with the one and only Grotbags. For those not in the know, Paul Roberts is a legendary BMXer from the UK who has been there and done that. After his riding career Paul got into announcing events such as the X-Games, rebeljam, Dew Tour, Metro Jams, Vans US Open of Surfing and many more. At one point in time, he did it all. One of the reasons for these trips is to meet up with friends in person. We don't get to hang out enough, especially not when we're so far apart. In the time we got to connect with Paul we covered many grounds, ate a killer burger and Paul played us some songs on the piano. Cheers for the good talk.
Huntington Beach on Sunday is good for watching cars. They're everywhere. It's the day to show off the oldies in pristine conditions. It didn't disappoint. While at the beach you need to hang out at the beach. I felt the leg muscles already from the morning run. The next day wasn't going to be an easy one to get out of bed. We worked on some photos a bit, checked mails, posted some things on social media
The coffee machine in the room didn't produce the best coffee ever, but the convenience and price (unlimited free supply) won it on Saturday morning as we set sail to San Diego again. We parked in the streets near the hotel to avoid the $22 per day parking that Solarena offered. We only had to take note of sweeping days, something that kicked our ass back in 2023. The vehicles in America are something else. Maybe 90% or more are owned by the bank still, but damn, the cars are nice. On so many occasions I would say, that's perfect, or give it a simple, wow, making the 90 minute drive to SD a breeze. I remember from years ago that traffic on the weekends to San Diego was really bad, but that might have been because it was summer time and a hot day or something. No problems this time.
One of the reasons we do these Cali trips in early January is that we can fit in two Monster Energy Supercross races, the first one being held in San Diego. On Friday we drove down South on the 5. For those in the know, when the sign Leucadia comes up it's time to look for the place where the Enchanted ramp used to be. It's gone now, but Philip spotted a miniramp not far from the legendary place with the vert ramp. Even though the 2-HIP vert sessions are gone, the miniramp is a reminder in town for ramp action.
We arrived early for our appointment at 100% so we decided to pick up our media passes first and have a stroll through the pits already. We then used the trusty Apple CarPlay to direct us to the front door of
The Solarena hotel in Newport Beach was going to be our home base for the next 12 days. With a fridge, wifi, coffee machine, bed and shower, it had all we needed. After the long travel and LA shopping spree the light went out early the first day. As usual getting up the next day is easy as the time difference of 9 hours makes you wake up in the middle of the night a few times before you had enough of it and simply get out of bed. California doesn't always provide sunny days of 25 degrees but getting outside without a winter jacket in January still felt good. We had spotted a coffee shop around the corner of the hotel and decided to get breakfast there. It was right next door of the Deus shop. The capucino at Vacancy Coffee was amazing. Without giving my email address I received the receipt in my inbox a few seconds after paying with the Mastercard. That was a first for me. Mastercard apparently doesn't take privacy too seriously when they provide my email to coffee shops like that. Oh well.
10:30hr. That's the time we had set to meet Niek Kimmann over at Troy Lee Designs in Corona. Niek's mom had dropped off a camera for Niek at our place in The Netherlands and brought the camera for him as his old one had some focusing issues. We made good timing as the roads were rather empty (surprisingly) and stopped by Pro Circuit first to walk their shop with all the championship bikes on display. TLD was new to us at their current location.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.