Bike Biz magazine

Hiya all,

here is the full Bike Biz interview i did recently. Have a look.

and by the way have a very merry action sports xmas

Worlds most amazing slams

Ever heard of Parkour? Think skate and bmx slams are pretty heavy? mmmm check this slam..Reckon i would have a little lie down!!




Roller blader versus car!! Guess who wins?

Huge surf in Mullaghmore

Check these pics out of North East ripper and Donegal coast lover Gabe Davies ripping at Mullaghmore in Co-Sligo Ireland. The forecast was for huge waves and the experts said dont go out!! In true surf style Richie Fitzgerald and Gabe plus some other mad men took their boards jet skis and huge family jewels out into the waves.
Mullaghmore only comes to life at 6ft plus and only gets going after 10ft+. These waves where reckoned to be the biggest ever surfed in the Emerald Isle.Somewhere in the region of 40ft faces. Check the pics and have a think about how long you would have to hold your breath if one of these monsters fell on you!!!??

I can feel it coming in the air tonight

Ive been testing out the new Genesis altitude 20 mountain bike. It was kindly supplied by my co-sponsors Madison/ultimate pursuits. (thanks Matt)




Being from the bmx side of cycling I am a little naive on high tech mountain bikes. I've never really used Disc brakes and proper suspension. As a bmxer you dont use suspension and tend to use your body as the shock absorber. This bike comes as standard with Rock shox "revelation" forks giving you 100mm of travel,there's damping and variable settings to have a go at. The Disc brakes are Shimano Deore LX and seemed fantasically responsive.



The weathers been terrible lately but i couldnt wait any longer and ventured in the Wilds of Rivington to sample some of the very muddy trails.

First thing that struck me was how light and nimble this bike felt. I guess because its a hard tail, it gave me a lot of feedback on the bumpy off road stuff. Within 10 minutes i was manualing and bunnyhopping like I was on my bmx. I played with the damping on the forks while climbing to firm it up, it worked a treat.

The gears all popped in very sweetly with the XT rear derailleur complimenting the Deore rapid fire stuff excellently.



I did some tough climbs then gave the bike hell on some of the bumpy fast downhill runs. It took everything I threw at it and left me wondering what a great package you get for under a £1000.


Check out the Genesis range at your local dealer or contact Genesis at http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk or http://www.ultimatepursuits.co.uk for more info.

More NEC pics

Birmingham NEC motorcycle show

some pictures of shiny very fast things from the National motorcycle show

The King is Dead, long live the king

Evil Knievel has passed away. Okay it was yesterday but maybe like me he was one of your boyhood heroes? I had his toy jump cycle like a thousand other kids and he inspired me like a thousand other kids to build ramps and launch skyward on two wheels long before bmx bikes.
The original action sports hero.
I salute you Evil as you go to the great ramp in the sky...

All quiet on the western front

Mike riding on Morecambe seafront 1984
Mike doing a big old backside air Southsea skatepark 1988

well thanks for sticking with me on my site. I havent been updating much lately as ive been doing a terrible thing,,, a four letter thing, WORK!!. I was due to be on a BCF training camp this weekend but it was cancelled as sadly head coach Jez Hayes has had a loss in the family.

Myself and Jacob Roberts did get a chance to blow out the cobwebs yesterday in Preston. We had nice session. Shanaze Reade was there Lee, Flem, Tim. Andy Clucas ripping some nice lines on the third straight.

Theres going to be a Blackpool bmx session on Tuesday 4th (www.rampcitywsa.co.uk)
It opens at 1630pm on weekdays and closes at 9pm. £5 entry fee.The park is really good for bikes and boards with big open areas and some nice lines and a fine jump box. Hopefully see some of you lot there.

BIKE BIZ interview

Here's a copy of a recently published short piece BIKE BIZ did with me on the future of bmx racing in this country.

Boom time ahead for BMX

MIKE PARDON is deeply embedded in the UK BMX scene. From alansbmx.com, the BMX store to Action Sports Coaching, a BMX coaching business, the former British BMX freestyle champion is one of the key shapers of BMX racing.

Pardon said:

"BMX is just so accessible, bikes are cheap, really durable, look great and most kids want to learn how to skid, jump and wheelie. The video game market and whole action sports industry has helped. The amount of exposure is increasing daily."

Pardon believes that BMX will never cease breeding generations of cycle hungry kids but there needs to be more joined-up thinking to keep the scene vibrant.

"Manufacturers, clubs and British Cycling now have a responsibility to become more active and hook up with cycle retailers to offer introductory sessions. Everyone who buys a bike, be it a race bike or street bike, should be given information on local facilities, tracks, skate parks and getting coaching. There are more tracks being built almost very week."
"Not every child these days wants to play traditional sports and not every kid gravitates towards team ideals. Most young people know Dave Mirra and Tony Hawk and it's only right that schools are now actively looking towards putting BMX and skateboarding as part of their curriculum. BMX riding is an ideal release of energy and can be done as a team or individual activity."

will get a big boost next year when BMX racing is introduced at the Olympics.

"There's going to be a real growth in the sport and retailers have to be ready," said Pardon.

For Pardon himself, the Olympics could be a chance to boost his own profile in the sport.

"My goal would to be at the Olympics in either a media or coaching capacity. I’ve done a fair bit of TV and radio work during my career and did some co-commentary for Cycling.tv on the British BMX championships in August. The media opportunities are opening up all the time. I’ve been sending my CV around. The BBC has expressed an interest."

IBDs looking to increase their BMX offerings should start by stocking racing BMXes, not just street, said Pardon.

"Shops should try one or two race bikes. Put one in the window, you'll be surprised how much interest it gets. To this new generation racing a BMX bike is a brand new thing, they have no idea that's where it started."

Alansbmx is also the UK distributor for Supercross and Avent frames, Tangent number plates and Bombshell parts.

http://www.actionsportscoaching.com/ http://www.alansbmx.com/

The Greenland street experience

Okay readers get yourself ready for an unreal skate experience!

The drum and basin project at Greenland street Liverpool is simply awesome! I visited for the first time last sunday with Neil Danns, Jake Roberts and Dave Arnold. There's a family sized kidney shaped bowl and a 40ft fullpipe. Its all set in the modern art gallery. When you walk in you are greeeted by a nice clean cafe (something unusual in skateparks) Then sign the waiver and pick yourself up off the floor as you see the fullpipe and the bowl which is suspended on stilts!!! You can walk underneath as people are skating and appreciate how this thing was put together.

Its free of charge!!! Yes free of charge. The only thing they ask is you dont skate around on the floor between the bowl and fullpipe. Its for insurance purposes. Theres a nice cafe which does good cheap healthy tucker. This bowl and pipe is going to be there till April 2008. So get moving

The project Greenland Street is open Weds - Sunday 12-6pm. Late night Thursday until 8pm.

A Foundation67 Greenland Street Liverpool L1 OBY
Tel: 0151 706 0600

Skateboarding in this enviroment dosent get much better..See you there..

Lovely Liverpool

Check this bowl and fullpipe in a Liverpool art gallery!! Awesome report to follow....

Its very liberating

Here's some recent shots from a film shoot I did for a manchester based clothing company. Now i've done some stuff in my time but skating in a skirt beats them all..Especially skating on the vert ramp. I suffered for my art!!!! Dont think its going to catch on though??

25 years of skate surf and bmx

This a promo DVD made up from The Martin Scorcese of the skate/bmx world Matty Andrews (i am in your debt mate).

Its spread over 25 years with some of the stuff ive been doing. Okay forgive me for the haircuts and some dodgy tricks i was young i needed the money!!

ENJOY

Mike

Wild surf and swell lines

Here are some pics of a recent surf trip i did to the Emerald Isle, it dosent get much better!

The aerial movie shot is courtesy of the Irish SAR service (thanks for the flight Fergie)

The places shall not be named to protect the locals.

The daddy of my bmx career

I had to stick in this shot of Paul Butters (my uncle) on his new F4 MV it hasnt even got the tyres scrubbed in and he did a track day at Oulton Park best place to scrub them in.
Paul bought me my very first bmx bike back in the day, so i guess you could say he fathered ACTION SPORTS COACHING. My sincere thanks to you mate.

Preston's revamped Track brings them in for practice

Greg Holloway who is improving all the time, keeping it low and fast through Preston's new section







Here is Jacob Roberts 12 years old national number 1 and british champion ( Now co-sponsored by Vans ) at Preston's new PRO section having fun.

Hulme bmx park

Here are some pictures of the new Hulme bmx park!! I was driving over the overpass in Manchester and i almost crashed the car. Its the first council built jumps ive heard of. They are very much work in progress at the minute but the basic shape is really good. Theres a small concrete skatepark also but they have painted the bottom of the halfpipe so its not the best to skate and the bottom of the quarters are to lippy! Bad design a typical council oversight iam afraid. One of the quarters has the weirdest rail coming off the coping check the pics.

Check the bottom of the quarters, to lippy
Berms in the process of being built
Hows the coping on this beauty??

ssshhhhhh New Secret prototype bmx

Dont tell anyone here iam trying out the new prototype bmx frame from Supercross

Autumn nationals at Preston 23rd September

Mike (number 4) leading them out in the main Bradley riding like a red devil
Jack Clarke (Num 1) takes the inside line against tough competition

well myself Jack Clarke and Bradley Minns(Alans bmx team) all entered the first round of the BCF autumn national series today. Thankfully the weather held off bar a few showers. The track rode excellent with the new split 2nd straight working very well. Jack had some tough competition in the shape of Jake Power and they had some great battles in the motos with Jack ending up 3rd in the final.
Bradley Minns was clipped into today and riding on another planet. Jumping the pro section and powering his Avent frame to a massive lead, even doing a flattie during the main.Bradley won the final with ease and i think won cruiser the class also.
I raced again 6 weeks to the day after day breaking my shoulder in the Wales national. I was a bit rusty but came in a nice 2nd on the new supercross Easton frame after leaving a bit of a gap on the first berm. Were all looking forward to the next round at Chesterfield (7th october) and Peterborough (21st October)

A lesson in style

Check Marco Melandri from a couple of years back in Auz..Tell me this isnt pure class..

New Supercross frames inspire

Heres a couple of pics of the new supercross frames. The pro xxl 20" and the cruiser pro 24. I rode these today and they are unbelievably light. They handled unreal especially the cruiser which rides just its smaller brother..Check out Alans bmx.com for more details and to order one.