Banter: A BMX Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Art Thomason is out of Houston, Texas. He’s been a pro flatlander for 28 years and sponsored by Hoffman bikes for 27 of those years. He’s also a NASA engineer.  Specializing in space-walk Operations.  He’s competed in the X games five times which is impressive since they haven’t had Flatland since the early 2000s. He also placed top 3 year-end in the both the ABFL & AFA 4 time...

Send us Fan Mail Todd Carter was a part of the huge 80’s Ohio Flatland scene. He rode for Hutch in 1988 & 1989. He documented more old-school Flatland AFA events than anyone!  Over the years, he has been heavily involved in organizing and putting on Flatland events & contests.    Special Thanks to Shaun Jarvis for handling our socials.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail James McGraw hails from Troy Michigan, is a long time Pro Flatlander and organizer of the second iteration of the AFA (American Flatland Association). He is also passionate about restoring classic cars.    Special Thanks to Shaun Jarvis for handling our socials.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Russell Summeville hails from Suwanee, Georgia, by way of California. Currently residing in a Ford E150 van. He rides Park and street mostly and has been doing shows for over 17 years. Currently riding for “eastern” and a professional marine mechanic by trade. Woodward Footjam Front Flip https://youtu.be/VNBZwxa3qtk?si=I6sKCEsIkfwc_4xA  Special Thanks to Shaun Jarvis for handling...

Send us Fan Mail Shawn White is a San Diego local originally from West Virginia.  A designer, inventor, entrepreneur, actor, comedian and a lover of all things bikes. He’s the inventor of an early sealed freecoaster hub, Primo Jewels.   He founded an iconic flatland brand called Bizhouse which came out with a myriad of flatland parts notably a revolutionary stem design. Correction: During this pod...

Send us Fan Mail Usually, I give a bit of the introduction bio for our guest here, but when it comes to Kevin Martin, who has been involved in major parts of the BMX scene for most of his life, I am going to leave you with a couple of lines from the stories he told Jon and I.  The first is "They stuffed the engine with sausages".  The second is "We created a public access show calle...

Send us Fan Mail Keith Trainor is originally from North Bergen, New Jersey but made his mark in Southern California.  He rode for S&M bikes through most of the 90’s and had has own brand through S&M called Menstrual Cycles.  He was featured in iconic 90’s films such as “Dirty Deads” & several early S&M videos such as “44 something” and “Feel my leg muscles I’m a racer”. Special Tha...

Send us Fan Mail PLEASE NOTE: An Updated version was released at 7:30pm April 15, 2024 to fix an editing mistake.   Bill Nitschke hails from Indianapolis, Indiana.  He grew up riding with BMX Flatland legends Perry Mervar, Steve Mulder and Danny Meng.   Inventor of the Whopper AKA "Hop Whip" as well as a bunch of other tricks.   He rode for DK, TNT, Haro, Homeless Bikes, S&M, GT Bike...

Send us Fan Mail Robert & Reben Castillo are two very influential brothers, hailing from Austin Texas! Both gained recognition in the 80’s for there flatland abilities and they are still out there pushing the sport today!  Look for Robert Castillo's BMX Freestyle Trick Team Mexican Tour (March 9-10, 2024) Ruben's Taco Jam is scheduled to run October 5th, 2024 in Austin, Texas Special...

Send us Fan Mail Gary Pollak was part of the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania BMX scene and considered a quasi Plywood Hood.   Featured in early Dorkin’ In York videos & known as a great all-around rider competing in both AFA and 2 Hip Vert & street comps.   He is the inventor of  the Pinky Squeak. He rode for CW in the mid-80's and toured with likes of Ceppie Mays, Dizz Hicks and MacGoo...

Send us Fan Mail Brandon Fentonn is a flatland lifer. He has a huge bag of tricks and a myriad of difficult breakless maneuvers and multiple whiplash variations? He currently residing in Toronto and is a regular at the DunBat hockey rink.  Brandon has A PHD in Philosophy and currently works as a victim’s rights advocate at Aboriginal Legal Services and as a course director at Conestoga College.  S...

Send us Fan Mail Join Jon and I as we talk BMX Freestyle with 3 ledgends of the sport Ron Wilkerson, Brian Blyther and Dave Nourie. Hear the inside scope from these iconic Team Haro members. Please click this link if you want to learn more about the Back For More In '24 tour and help support the cause. Special thanks to Shaun Jarvis for his work on the socials.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Few people have done as much for Flatland BMX, as Effraim Catlow.  He was:  Competing as early as 1986 Amateur world champion in 1991. Pro World champion by 1994.  Competed X-games 7 times  And recently judging flatlands return to X-games in Japan, 2022 Effraim Catlow: 14 Years of Flatmattersonline! https://www.flatmattersonline.com/effraim-catlow-14-years-of-flatmattersonline?fbc...

Send us Fan Mail Paula Marie is a Canadian, flatlander that hails from Southern Ontario. She spent a few years living and riding in British Columbia, She's a member of the Women of Freestyle. Has an impressive bag of tricks, Has traveled to numerous events and competed all around North America, Currently living in Georgian Bay Ontario and a mother of two little girls.  https://www.flatqueens....

Send us Fan Mail Jody Temple is a flatland rider who's been a long time resident of Athens GA. He is one of the early. members of the Athens Family BMX crew. He's been featured in many videos over the years, but notably has some killer parts in the "Same thing dailey" video series by Dane Beardsley. He also has some stand out entries for the "Master of creativity" con...

Send us Fan Mail Bill Batchelor was an avid BMX rider during the early 80s, participating in racing and followed by freestyle. He was also interested in photography from a young age with black & white images being his preferred style.   Talented behind the camera and a world-class skate park in his hometown he documented 80s BMX with some amazing images.  After sitting in a box for decades man...

Send us Fan Mail Maurice Meyer started riding BMX in the mid-70s.  In the 80s he was a part of the epic Golden Gate Park freestyle scene and a rider on the infamous Curb Dogs BMX/Skate team founded by the late Dave Vanderspek.    He rode for Kuwahara in 82/83 and started riding for Skyway in 1984.  As a factory Skyway rider, he participated in both the US and European tours along with Vanderspek a...

Send us Fan Mail Kip Williamson is a Flatlander originally out of Angola Indiana, an AFA competitor in the 80s, and a Fat House member.  He was known in the 90s as the “Video Guy”.  He created “Juvenile Trickery”, “Alternative Forms of Transportation” and UGP videos such as “Face Value” & “Mission of Nonsense”. As well as the GT Bicycles flick “Direction”.   A GT team tour announcer and held m...

Send us Fan Mail This episode was sparked by the recent passing of Andrew Wickham.  Andrew was a talented flatlander and a friend of Jon’s.  If you take away one thing from this episode, please reach out to a friend or family member you haven’t heard from in a while.   Here is a living list of whom we have tragically lost from the BMX world.  Please feel free to contact Jon Dowker or Anthony Berar...

Send us Fan Mail Dave Nourie hails from California, has been riding and even competing in flatland for nearly 40 years!  He rode and toured with the iconic 80's Haro team including Brian Blyther, Ron Wilkerson, Dennis McCoy, and Matt Hoffman.  He participated in the Haro reunion show in Cologne Germany in 2009, was featured in the classic Eddie Roman film "Ride like a man".   He has...

Send us Fan Mail Scott Powell is a pro flatland rider from North Olmsted, Ohio,  He is one of the original “Chenga” crew of riders known for their extensive bag of tricks and super long parking lots.  An X-games contender from 1997 to 2001 until flatland was eliminated.  He is one of the co-founders of the legendary Chenga skatepark in North Ridgeville, Ohio, and the current owner of the latest Ch...

Send us Fan Mail Jason Holmes hails from Oshawa Ontario and was arguably one of the most advanced riders to come out of Ontario in the early ’90s. He performed demos for promoter Rick Davis and was a regular on the Welches Grape Stunt Team.  He was instrumental in getting freestyle BMX back into the Toronto Bicycle show after the 1990 hiatus. These days Jason lives in Barrie, works for Honda as a...

Send us Fan Mail Perth Australia's Shaun Jarvis has been riding for 40 years!  Shaun has 6 children, is an animal rights activist, and has owned and operated the longest-running BMX demo team on earth. (Freestyle Now) established in 1986.  That's 35 years of BMX radness.! Support the show

Send us Fan Mail RIck Allison was a staple in BMX in the 80s.   He rode with the Curb Dogs in Goldengate Park including Vanderspeck, Maurice “Drob” Meyers, and Hugo Gonzales.  He ended up factory-sponsored with GT, Mongoose, Hutch, and later on, co-sponsored by Haro.   He was featured on the cover of the January 1988 issue of BMX Plus!  He has done 1000s of shows for Perfection on Wheels, solo sho...

Send us Fan Mail This month's guest is Josh Evans!  He Hails from Westland Michigan.  He grew up riding with the legendary Billy Newman, was a regular at the Montrose Church sessions and contests held by Greg Flowers. Later he came to mentor Bobby Carter’s crew in Ann Arbor Mi. In 2000 he got flow from Schwinn and by 2001 was officially on the team performing demos.  Support the show