Second:

"if i could ride a spine like that for a fucking day..." -eric kuster

some might say listing this masterpiece second could be considered blowing my load too early. hell, i would probably think the same if i read this on the internet. what could follow this guys part on such a list? besides the fact it was released on VHS and could have been filmed last week, this is the kind of video part where a NORA "masters" category would probably still do no justice to the impact it had and still has on the BMX world. creativity hasn't met power like it did with this guy. i won't pick it apart, but in honesty his last clip is so fucking fast that i want to know his gear ratio. it doesn't seem possible to pedal that fast. seriously.

many things have changed in the scene of riding since this video part was made. having a generation of riders that may not know who taj is simply doesn't work for me. almost every trick in this part wouldn't have been done if it wasn't for taj's take on the world, ramps, street, and bicycles in general. in my and many peoples eyes, taj fucking mihelich was the best BMX rider of all time. after watching this part, then seeing it was released in 2002, there probably aren't many that would argue that point.

i wish this part was 20 minutes long.

taj mihelich etnies forward

First

So the video is done and the premier was completely amazing. More to come on this.

The fact I had to make a speech the night of the premier left me anxiety ridden and ultimately just making fun of myself on a stage in front of a hundred or so hecklers. I ended up completely forgetting half of the important shit I wanted to say. One of the things I look back on and remorsefully didn't talk about was the state of bmx. To keep this short and sweet, I used to be very very fucking salty over this topic because what I thought was cool wasn't going on anymore. The videos and video magazines are replaced by Instagram edits, print is dead, old true style is replaced by its methodical counterpart.

Opinion or observation, either way my focus was off. There is always something to be stoked on, and I was missing the point. Bmx is about being yourself, and I'm glad I ended up riding long enough to learn that and outgrow the sweats phase of bmx. Youth. Admiration through emulation. We've all been there. For our generation, it was stauffer taj moliterno robbie joe and the likes of the style gods. Then there was aitken and a whole slew of other dudes the generation after us. The point is, I'm seeing it from an older set of eyes and realize the coolest shit is thinking like sinisi, not trying to be like him. Or looking at a line like chase hawk might, the outside of the box thought process that makes people stand out. Individuality through self expression. Tunney. Friemuth. Ruben. The list goes on.

Dig saved bmx history by doing the twelve days of Aitken for Christmas this passed year. Earlier that year I was staying out at my friend Aaron's house in California and there was a dude on a filming trip who was staying there for a few weeks. He didn't know who Garrett Byrnes was. The internet exists in a way that it didn't back when we were kids, and there is so much information available for people. This series of posts will hopefully provide someone with some cool shit they forgot about or maybe didn't know in the first place. I hope it inspires the old farts to keep going, maybe get stoked again, and maybe a younger kid with some ideas of how to think outside the box more. It's not their fault they were two years old when Ruben busted out the wallride to tailwhip in Road Fools Europe. I wish I knew how rad Eddie Fiola was when I was three. Here's to the internet opening up some eyes to how things used to be.

This is my all-time list of video parts.  In no particular order.....


ONE:

"it kinda looks like he's upset. Like really fuckin upset."-Sean Dillon

I remember sweating this video being released because of Vic Ayala's part, and not even having a fucking clue what was in store the first five minutes of this video. aptly named "please kill me," S&M's instant classic seemingly was named after the common reaction  to our first contestants efforts in making everything look easy, but nearly exploding in the process. Most of my friends and I had no fucking clue this guy was even riding street.. I wasn't ready to have my jaw unhinged like it was when the aftermath of the crash section of his was over. Full throttle, psychotic, relentless, chaotic, madman, do or fucking die BMX. Speed wheelies, pedaling like he was possessed, almost every single thing in the part being nearly impossible. Tightwire tactics of barely escaping demise, yet applying just enough skills to fool someone into thinking something was no big deal. The fact that I can still watch his part and look at it after all these years and still say "what the fuck" to myself a few times is why he's the first on this list. That and the Astoria gap.

 For those who don't know who that Vic guy is, just follow this for a few more days. Until then, watch and learn from a lesser known legend, josh stricker.

And make sure to hold onto your ass while you do.

click to watch josh stricker in please kill me