ON THE EARLY DAYS OF FIXED GEAR FREESTYLE
“I have skills in multiple facets, so when I got into the whole alleycat genre, back then you could race the alleycat and do the trick comp on the same bike, because that was pre-fat tires. We were still out on 23c, 26c, 650 front wheels, doing bar spins and flat ground tricks. In the early 2000’s, it was really fun because you could show up, comp in both events and be competitive in both events. Right now, you have to have two separate bikes. It’s gone so much in the BMX direction. With pegs, negative drop bottom brackets, fat tires, bigger stair sets and bigger rails. In that you can’t ride a Keirin, track or race bike to do the tricks.”
ON RIDING A TRACK BIKE IN CITY TRAFFIC
“Nothing surpasses the feeling of riding a brakeless track bike in traffic—it’s a natural high.”
ON WHAT BIKE TO RIDE ON A GIVEN DAY
“I have a Broakland, I have a Low, I have a Raleigh cross bike, I have a couple of different BMX Bikes. It depends on how I feel that day. I jump on my Broakland, I jump on my Low. It’s usually whatever bike that doesn’t have a bald tire in the back to tell you the truth.”
ON WHEELIES
“My dad can wheelie, my whole family rides motorcycles, my dad can shift through the gears on his sport bike on the freeway. And there is this uncanny ability in my family, my cousin can wheelie like a madman and I don’t know, it’s kind of like, hate to say it, but don’t give a fuck attitude. Just go out there, wheelieing 35 mph down a hill and you know you can do it. It’s one of the best feelings in the world to ride fast on one wheel.”
ON CITY RIDING
“The bikes are our paint brushes and the streets are our canvas.”