The BMX In Our Blood

The 3rd annual Women's Weekend In The Woods was a huge success! This is the 2nd that I have been at and recorded for longer than I ever have. Each woman and young lady had such interesting stories outside of BMX that I found myself doing 20-30 mini-podcasts! It would not be an exaggeration at all to say that the event was filled with riders from all over the United States and Canada came for the t...

I can't put all of the fun I had this weekend into words. Mike Gentilcore of TRA BMX put the world on notice. You can build and do anything you can dream of into reality. His event (Double Cross Dirt Comp) was amazing on every level! My original plan of interviewing racers in-between races didn't exactly stick because when you go to events like this or a trails jam you experience a reunion. New fr...

The real Adam 22 met up with me a couple weeks ago up at Catty Woods before we headed over to the Posh High Air contest (Episode #80). I've had a gut feeling about Adem for some time since meeting him at the Wheel Mill during the 2nd stop of the Uncovered BMX indoor park series in Pittsburgh, PA a little over a year ago. I'm a huge proponent of using those first years of being an adult to figure o...

Spontaneous podcast recording can be difficult when trying to cover a lot of mini-interviews. With that said, the Posh 25 year anniversary with a high air contest was amazing and worked out! I say do it no matter how uncomfortable you may feel getting into the conversation groove, it always works out! This one has lots of rider/spectator interviews as well as interviews with the couple of the guys...

Ian Dowling, 9 year old son of Brett Dowling, is absolutely the most inspirational kid I've had the opportunity to meet. He isn't just a cancer survivor but one of the bravest people I know. I took a quick ferry trip to Port Jefferson, NY this past Friday night to deliver a special gift to Ian and ended up with more than I ever would have imagined in return. The Dowling family is a tight group led...

I loved this interview for so many reasons. Lori Armistead of Road2Recovery is as passionate about helping others as I am. I'm certainly the watered down version of Lori (quote stolen from Garrett Byrnes) and love to hear how and what other individuals and non-profits are doing on a larger scale. So for this unique podcast, that coincided with our #road2recoverjam on July 21st, I broke the #thebmx...

5th Annual fundraising jam preview with Nick Caporuscio as we drove to the Road2Recovery event site, Powder Ridge Park in Middlefield, CT. I apologize for the podcast being a bit loud with the sounds of the road, it doesn't last...or you get used to it. If you can't make it there please consider donating to the jam through www.thebmxinourblood.com and the donation will be forwarded to Road2Recover...

Bryan Close is a departure from the norm for The BMX In Our Blood podcast. Bryan is as passionate about so much in life that takes him out of what most would consider their comfort zone. From the challenges of being a street vendor to finding his way around a foreign country, Bryan takes on what most of us wouldn't normally do. So in between all of this, Bryan loves BMX. Racing, trails, street, pa...

I 1st met Aaron Simone when he was 16 and really coming up. I was struck by his politeness and respect. He also has a kind soul that, as you will hear, recognizes the potential of kids that are just getting into BMX and encourages them the best he can. What I most like about Aaron is his determination to travel and experience everything he can by living in a minimalistic way. So chances are pretty...

The Wheel Mill has been around for what seems like years and years with the amount of work that you see in every room of this Pittsburgh indoor bike park mecca. I've conducted so many interviews in various spots within the building with the most amazing people as they rolled through town. Gary Young, Brian Kachinsky, Mike and Mark Potoczny, Tom Dugan, Mike Cottle, Nina Buitrago, Sean Methven, Trey...

If there is one BMX rider that is living his life the way he wants to it's Mason Ritter. This guy rides like an absolute animal and has a heart of gold. It's no wonder Hoffman Bikes chose him to be on the team a few years ago. What a great choice and one that seems to fit right in with the rest of the team. This podcast is a little different than any others I have recorded because during the cours...

Episode #72 found me in Pittsburgh interviewing during an after work dig session at the Monroeville Trails where you can find everyone in this podcast at one time or another. The interviewees, Zoo (Eric Miller) and Murphy Moschetta, as well as Tim Lyons and Chris Doyle. Chris helped me out big time by sitting in and guiding the questions a bit while I was floundering more than usual! Be sure to gi...

One of my favorite events of the year, the Next Generation Jam. This was the 6th annual NGJ and it was awesome. Not only did the Halahans, the Wheel Mill crew and the Potocznys put on another great event and the sponsors were awesome. I have to imagine that each 16 and under rider went home with something. On the sponsor level, Subrosa and Shadow were represented by the man himself, Ronnie Bonner!...

Jerry Badders of Vans! Having not seen Jerry in over 20 years, I didn't know what to expect. Lets just say that Jerry was very confident. Jerry was a successful BMX racer (a World Champ in BMX racing) that rode for Vans as a sponsored athlete and transitioned into a leader of Vans marketing for North America. That takes confidence channeled in the right direction and he has done it! Jerry has also...

The Fids. I think that some of us get to the point in life that we start live the way we want to, not the way we are told to by our peers and society. That point in life for Fids came early on. At the age of 11 he was already going where he wanted to with BMX and skating. Through elaborate schemes and lack of technology in the Mama Fids household, Fids found a way. As I took the trip down the Fids...

Here you go, the Jimmy Levan documentary interview! The podcast was recorded the morning after the Go Fast Pull Up premier at Swamp Fest. Not my best work with the questions but still amazing to hear the behind the scenes talk about this piece of BMX history. The documentary was awesome. Do yourself a favor and order a copy from propsbmx.com or digbmx.com The documentary is so well done. The bonus...

John Lee, the nicest guy in BMX becomes one of the most dry guys in BMX as we finish part 2 while the rest of the guys got the trails running. It will be of no surprise to any of you that listened to part 1 that part 2 was just as heartfelt. We spent some time on topics ranging from John's Long Island days, Oak Park Trails, his smoothie diet, the Dwarf Invasion radio show and interviewing with Chr...

FBM's John Lee IS the nicest guy in BMX! Part one of this interview is loaded with emotion as well stories of overcoming trauma through his caring friends and family. There was so much important content to this part 1 podcast that we decided to quit at midnight and finish it up in a few weeks. The questions from you listeners are ready to go! John Lee is arguably the most inspiring BMXer I have ha...

Totally mixed emotions while working up the Colby Benoit podcast. Psyched that I can shine some light on Colby and his #rideeverything mindset. Colby has ridden BMX plenty over his 25 years and does all disciplines really well. I'll never forget him landing a 180 rollback on the last set during the jumping contest my annual fundraising Find Your Fight jam at Powder Ridge in CT. He later blew my mi...

Vic Behm, wow. If there is one personality that I have interviewed that is ridicuosly skilled on the bike, brash to the BMX establishment and extremely confident, it's Vic Behm. He has definitely made his mark on BMX, like it or not. I say this because he isn't trying to be part of the BMX establishment. He is showing us how non-conforming you can be and still be part of competition. Anyone that h...

Hector Restrepo is not just one of the raddest guys from Connecticut by way of Colombia 20 years ago, he has also accomplished his a dream of his of riding his motorcycle (nicknamed Gargoyle)from Connecticut to the most Southern point of South America (Cape Horn). Anyone that yearns to be a traveler and conquer what seems impossible, please listen to this podcast. Hector came from a dangerous part...

I've always been intrigued by Brant Moore because he is such a hard worker in the quest to bring the of best of BMX to the public in multiple media formats, YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram and Facebook. It was inevitable that Brant and I would talk shop and about our experiences in bringing BMX to the public while highlighting riders that help give BMX the diversity that we are all so lucky to have. The...

Episode #61, Scotty Yoquelet. What a nice guy with a great laugh! I was able to catch up with Scott at the annual Old Fools Jam at @raysmtb Hopefully a part 2 someday, I feel like we just scratched the surface as we were creeping close to a 2-1/2 hour conversation. This interview holds some surprises when a "guest griller" enters the hotel room and takes over with his hard hitting questions. Scott...

Happy New Years! I decided to put together a selection of some of my favorite podcast interactions. Danny Bailey, Garret Byrnes, Isaac "Ground Chuck" Mccrea and Robbie Morales. It is one of the longer ones but as I went through the 8-1/2 hours of editing I realized how hard it is to decide what to cut. All of these four podcasts were so awesome in full length. If you would like to hear any of thes...

Here it is, the final installment of the Massachusetts Trails Scene Report with the Pinewoods and Oakwoods Trails! The 3 part series covers six sets of trails spread out over The Bay State. The series was interesting to say the least because no two trails are alike. One thing was consistent though, every set of trails has diggers that are welcoming and determined. So much respect for these guys th...