We've been complaining about the shitty weather but in fact we should not be worrying too much because there is an indoor facility nearby that has a BMX track complete with professional starting gate that you can operate yourself, some new trails in the back corner, a giant foampit, some little ramps for kids to play around on and also some very decent ramps which includes a wide quarterpipe on one side, a jump box/spine in the middle and an unusual quarterpipe construction on the other side. Well, that's a quick description of the hall but of course there is more to it. Zonto is the main force behind the project and his old school roots show in the multiple bikes that are on display on the counter. The entry fee for a session are held low and although we have not been there lots (yet), the times we were there it was rather packed. There's a fleet of Redline bikes available for rent and also full face helmets. Last Saturday a group of girls, which I'm guessing were 12-13, stopped by to ride the BMX track on the rented equipment. The dark and dusty halls (two of them connected to eachother) make for an okay playground and it's BMX only, no skateboarding. 
Well, it is done! The Miniramp at the Hidden Island warehouse is ready to rock. And rocking is our favorite thing, so we rock sessions every day. The biggest one, I remember, have been held as the ZWANZIG ZOLL Magazine from Berlin visited us to write an article about Hidden Island. But pictures tell more than thousand words, so enjoy the photos. 
Dale Reves saw all them updates of the Helm trails and Sugar Hills and decided to send in an update on the Backyard Digger trails over in Leende, or better: The Pony trails. Here comes Dale: We've been working on our spot for the past month or so. As u can see from the pic, we added a small line if triple rollers in the middle with a small jump at the end. It's a blast to ride. Also, the tables we made into step-ups. I just finished adding a French drain at the bottom of the start hill to hopefully keep the water from standing there for so long. The pump track is getting a lot of use by everyone, it's great for 
Last weekend was good. For once the sun came out and although it was cold (there was ice on the puddles) everyone got out to do stuff. It was perfect to shape the trails and both the Sugar Hills in Aarle-Rixtel as well as the Helm Trails in Helmond got a make-over. Not an extreme make-over but the trails are rideable again and have some new sections. We'll have to check what Piet Paulusma has to say about the weather for the coming days but you can count on some trails activity at both spots this weekend again. Join in and bring that shovel too. 
Nick Johnson, Manager of the Gasworx Skatepark in Bridlington East Yorkshire sent in the following information and photos of a huge park that allows BMX riding. The park looks awesome. Here's Nick: We are currently 8 weeks into construction of our £500,000+ skatepark which is to be complete by 21st March. The concrete park which is available to BMX, Inline skate and skateboarders has been designed the very well known Marc Churchill of Gravity Parks. I was hoping that you may be able to run a story of the development 
The park has been open for a while and was considered Europe's biggest skatepark by the local council. This always attracts more people and media to the opening of such a park and with a size of 50 meters by 60 meters it is in fact huge. It's got something for everyone, a cradle, bowl, stairs, rails, ledges, wall, hips and of various sizes so something for everyone. Location: Kapermolen, Hasselt, Belgium. 
I went up to Adrenaline Alley Skatepark in Corby, Northamptonshire (UK) on the first weekend off December to MC the grand opening of their new Vert & Resi ramp. Shaun Scarfe & his gang of merry men built the ramp over the course of the past few months & is set in a brand new building. Finished in perfect Finnish Birch ply, standing 14ft tall & 75ft wide (inc resi) & housed in a purpose built £150,000gbp (approx $300,000usd?) warehouse alongside the original excisting skatepark, this is the biggest & first of its kind in Europe. 
Less than a year ago Chris Harburn decided to open Giba Gorge which is a MTB park in South Africa. Wanting to cater for more bike disciplines he decided to throw in a bmx race track and some freestyle jumps. To get the ball rolling Chris gave local rider Colin Loudon free reign to build the jumps with a payloader. A trail rider himself for many years Colin was a good choice of builder and these jumps are really clean. I gave the race track a test run in the morning. I have never raced in my life but the track is a lot of fun and littered 
When going to a big contest you usually don't get to see more than the hotel(bar), the venue and the airport. But when the contest is held in a place called Dubai, you simply have to find the time to see more of the city. There was no hotel bar so that helped with getting up early to go snorkling, go shopping, indoor snowboarding, dune bashing or scope landscaping for street spots. We collected some shots here. 
Maciek Baginski is livin' in Bialystok, Poland and has been ridin' since 1997. Maciek and his friends started ridin' street, coz 10 years ago they had nothing to ride on besides street spots. Then they built their first dirt jumps. Maciek fills us in on the old and current days in Poland: In this time (1998) one of the local bike shops got a first bmx video in Poland, which was Schwinn "American Muscle". We were been shocked, coz THAT WAS THE first time we saw big jumps, ramps and huge tricks. We were ridin' hard, learning tricks and just having fun - awesome time. 
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.