FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

ROOTS JAM ORLANDO FLORIDA 2004 “Going back to the ROOTSâ€? was decided a minute after last years Roots jam, this is gonna be in my schedule every April from now on. Florida is not the worst place to travel to in April, nice weather, good nightlife, friendly people and what more. Over 160 amateurs thought that too and with lots of flatlanders and Pro’s it made this one of the biggest comps in the USA.

THE QUEST OF THE FLAMINGO At a time where football is taking over our TV, Italy is without a doubt the place to go. The greasy long hair kind of superstars are running after the ball, and the loud supporters are leaving the streets. No cars means no traffic jam and no fear. I am telling you, go to Italy. And if you have the chance to know some of the guys at Wethepeople, it could be possible that you would spend a long week of insanity. Wethepeople goes Italy [article by Ben Bello from Soul Magazine, comments in brackets by Rob Harrison]

19 September 2004. Cologne, Germany. At 16:00hrs the IFMA Bike Challenge King Of Dirt Finals were on the program. The set up was the same as last year. A drop in ramp followed by 3 sets of fairly easy double jumps that were shared by BMX and mountain bike riders over the weekend. 13 riders made it to the finals. 12 actually qualified but somehow they forgot Andreas Kittel on the score sheets (he had tied with 2 other people in the qualifiers). Big surprise was the appearance of David Theissen in the finals. The 9 year old HARO/Ferdi Fuchs rider cleared all sets on his 16 inch bike! He might have got some kid-bonus points in the qualifying round to make it to the main event but it sure was cool to see him jump all sets on his little Mirra machine.

The 2004 Kzoo BMX Jam went down this weekend in Kalamazoo, Michigan and it was a blast! Saturday night was a hot and heavy session from 6-midnight with dudes (and even a couple girls!) flying all over the park, both inside and out. It was seriously nuts outside for awhile with the Van Orman brothers (Beeler and Ted), Jeff Degryse, Project Pat and everyone else getting it done. There was even an appearance by a dude simply known as "The Legend", who tore up the park in a curiously wild style.

- Jamie Bestwick is organizing the first round of the 04 GoodTimes contest on 29/30 May next. Venue: FLOW skatepark. $ 8G pro purse. More info on Bestrick.com. It's good to see the pros caring about the BMX future. - KGB part owner Martti Kuoppa had planned to stay in Signapore for three months as a personal trainer of a kid in the East. After some personal problems the Finnish flatland ace took a flight back to Helsinki where he's riding in a crappy cold garage again working on his solo video project and KGB bikes. He's on his 3rd prototype now and happy about it.

- Biz Jordan sent in some killer 909 FAT pin-up pics. Keep checking FATBMX's favorite section for the good stuff. - Danny Parks' Frigid Temps Tour is over. Another rider who escaped from the cold (NY) and made it work for himself. Aight. - Luke Parslow has signed a 2 year deal with HARO Australia.

- It's raining and you need something to do. You're behind the computer and don't know where to go. Here's Rob Harrison's link list for you to keep you busy for a while. http://www.20inchers.com/lifestyle/links_comp.html - The RedBull Circle Of Balance will take place on 24 April next. Top riders from all over the world will be flown in for the flatland-only invitation contest. Most riders are staying for the Braun Ninja Spin contest in Paris the week after COB. For info on both contests, check the FATBMX event schedule.

- The BMX track at the UCI training facility in Switzerland was being completely re-done. Before the dozers took the track down UCI's own BMX coordinator Johan Lindstrom got a chance the jump the pro doubles on his YZ motorcycle. At least he can say he jumped the doubles! No worries, a new track is being built and also some BMX trails will be added. - Ruben Alcantara's prototype Terrible One frame is out now. It features the Spanish bottom bracket and will be put to the test in a few days. Dave Mirra is riding a 2005 prototype Mirra Pro frame that looks a bit like a T-1. It will most likely come with a Spanish BB as well (mid-sized at least).

- Mike "King of Choq" De Wit is the new creative madman at Globe shoes. To celebrate he bought an 04 Audi Avant and put 19" rims on it. Better than a white Minerva with plastic rims....... - FATBMX reached maximum bandwidth again in May. It was because the provider had not switched us to "Plan Pro" yet. We've doubled the bandwidth from 15GB/Month to 30GB/Month so the problem should be solved.

- The European BMX Street championship series have come to an end. Paddy Gross and Markus Wilke both won the overall title. Barry Kohne finished 2nd for Holland and Mark Koenig and Sascha Claussen tied for third. Find pics of round one (Heerlen) and two (Oldenburg) on FATBMX's freestyle section this month. Final pics (Darmstadt) will be added in July.