FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Brooklyn Jam (20-02-05) First ever flatland jam in a supermarket Written by Hoite Polkamp Brooklyn? Isn’t that on the other side of the pond? A hood in New York? Nope! The original name for Brooklyn is Breukelen, which is a little town in between Amsterdam and Utrecht. Breukelen evolved to Brooklyn, just like New Amsterdam evolved into New York.. But this all took place a pretty long time ago. Fast forward to 2005. In this little village, an abondoned supermarket was turned into the perfect flatland spot. This has been a flatland spot for about a year now, where locals Philip and Felix actually lived for a while. The

In 1985 I gave graffiti a try. We stayed up late and went to a school to make this masterpiece that we had drawn on a piece of paper. It was a huge pacman with the words "RAP '85" next to it. It was dark so we colored it in over and over again thinking the bricks were sucking up the paint. We couldn't see much. Next morning on the paper route I rode by the wall and there it was! The RAP '85 wild style piece. So stoked, I felt like I was in the movie Breakdance. When school was out, the police had already shown up. It was straight to the station for an explanation. There was no way out so a few minutes later it was back to the wall at the school with buckets full of thinner, water, brushes and whatever else to get that piece off the wall before they sent a professional cleaning crew and have us pay that bill. It took forever to get it off. We were regretting the multi layers of paint we used to fill in the stupid pacman.

Bas de Bever has taken on a job at the Dutch cycling federation (KNWU) to coach the Dutch BMX and MTB riders. Bas is simply the most experienced BMX/MTB rider that Holland has to offer so the match is a good one. We asked De Bever a few questions about his new position. What does your job description say with the KNWU? Trainer/Coach of the Dutch national BMX / 4X and DH team. Are you stoked to have a BMX related job? I really am stoked, looks like I’ve come full circle with this “jobâ€?

Chris Smith (UK) sent in a VHS tape with xeroxed cover. The ValleySideStyle video had a lot of local footage in it. It seemed like a project where he filmed friends and decided to make a video out of it. Some of his friends do crazy stuff like jumping scooters, flipping cars over and play with fireworks. All good shit. I really did not have a clue what Chris' intentions were on the business side of things as the norm nowadays seem to be DVD's with slick full color covers. I checked in with Chris:

Ron and Rachel Bonner and their crew put together some news on the brands they're distributing with Sparkys over in the sunshine State. Read more on UGP, The Shadow Conspiracy, Sputnic BMX, Soul, Twenty and the Roots Jam 2005.

For the first time in BMX history the Freestyle world championships will take place in Prague, Czech Republic. The date for the event is 1-5 June 2005. Maybe this means you have to skip school or ask your boss for an early summer vacation but make sure you get there. The [url=www.bmxworlds05.com]official World's website[/url] is still in the works but already has some info listed.

Etnies Team manager John Povah has many skills. He designed a new stem and let the Coalition crew use it. Instead of calling it the suggested "Olson Twins" stem, it will be on the shop shelves under the Povah-stem name. 150 of them are already made. The stem weighs under 11 Oz. and the logo is etched on each side. It comes with headset spacers, a gyro plate and instructions. If you want to know more about the Povah stem, get to www.coaltionbmx.com

ABA Phoenix National, 19/20 February 2005 Where some racers opted not to get on the track at all because of the wet conditions, Robert de Wilde (Sunday) and Donny Robinson (Saturday) both pulled off a win in AA Pro. Current ABA Number one pro Bubba Harris scored some good points with 2 second places. Donny Robinson crashed in the main on Sunday and apparently has broken his collarbone. Sunday Results AA Pro 1st- Robert de Wilde 2nd- Bubba Harris 3rd- Randy Stumpfhauser 4th- Jason Rodger 5th- John Purse 6th- Michael Hughes 7th- Mikael ProKop 8th- Donny Robinson

The Dutch MX season has started. After 18.000 liter of rain water were pumped off the track and the "Dirtwurx" crew of Mr. Van Vijfeijken himself spent numerous hours working on the track, the three-hour team race was a go. In zero degree (centigrade) weather and some snow/hale showers, the race wasn't for the wussies. A "Le Mans" style start saw Jarno Verhorevoort (Team Universal MX) holeshot the race with a sweet wheelie. Dennis Verbruggen (Team Van Gerwen) followed in hot pursuit and took over after a few laps. The Paul's Boutique team had a bad start with Jan-Willem Koppenens leaving the start grid in last place but soon caught a couple of riders before passing on the arm band to team mate Paul de Jong.

Our BMX boy Spike Jonze made it to Hollywood. When he married Sofia Ford Coppola (Daughter of Francis) we all thought he'd be "set for life". It was good to see a BMX photographer make it to the big time. Spike started off shooting for BMX Action, Freestylin' and Go and continued with work such as Homeboy mag and Dirt. When Spike picked up a video camera he seems to be talented in that field as well. Many skate and music videos followed and also some popular commercials. After that it was up to the movie screens as an actor and movie director, just like Sophia. After 5 years of marriage, the couple have separated. Spike, if you need to go back to your roots for a bit, we could use some pics here at FATBMX.