Name:
Todd Johnson, iTod, Tbag. asshole. I’ll answer to any of them.

Location:
Minneapolis, Minnesota. is my home at heart but now I live by the Mall of America in Bloomington Minnesota.

You work at Quality what do you do there?
this could be a long asnwer so I’ll keep it short.
My title is Category sales Manager for BMX and BMX customer service. I work with shops that show an interest in selling more BMX products. I travel to their stores and work things out to make BMX look good and make kids want to buy BMX. I also take care of technical questions both for our customers and internally from other CS agents. My job is not limited to a certain brand. I work with shops to sell all of our brands, it’s up to the shop to stock what they want so I am there to assist in that process. I also do things like handle warranties, update shops on new products or instock products. Promotional duties as well. if a shop is sponsoring or throwing a contest I will gather up prizes for them and send them out.

Photo: Ben Austin

What’s it like being in charge of a lot of BMX stuff?
I am not really in charge of anything, other than making sure BMX is being represented well in the shops I work closely with. and that is easy because most of the shops I work one on one with are rider owned or BMX specific shops. I do have input on the brands we carry and the colors or the actual product range from a certain company but the final decision to carry a product goes to Tim Gallant. he is the BMX product manager and BMX coordinator for QBP. we all work together to come up with a good mix of product and we work hard making sure our brands fit together well. the last thing we want is to piss off one or more of our brands by bringing in someone that doesn’t compliment the others. it’s a fine line to walk but it makes the job fun.

Any new brands coming to Quality you can tell us about?
this year we picked up a few different brands.
Volume and demolition
DUFFS
and a new shoe company that was started by Brian Osborne called Beloe Footwear (pronounced Below). the styles are cool and the team is pretty good so far. Nathan Williams, Jim Ceilencki, Jim bauer just to name a few.
we are also bringing in a new line of complete bikes and frame from a company that is yet to be named. I know it’s like dangling the carrot in front of the donkey and not giving it to him, but we aren’t ready to announce who that company is yet. It’ll be a good move though.

Photo: Tristan Thiel

How long have you been riding?
I have been riding a bike of some kind since I was 5 years old, I skateboarded for ten years when I was in my teens. started riding a BMX bike again seriously since I was 21. I am 32 years old now… you do the math.

What kind of stuff do you typically ride?
I’ll ride anything that doesn’t get me dirty. I don’t like getting dirty. mostly street now-a-days since it’s free and creative. skateparks in the winter or traveling to ride street. Skate parks are fun but that part of my riding has been neglected. I like a good minispine with sub boxes or bowl corners. the old Chenga bowl was so Fun. I miss that bowl. I don’t like big ramps. call me a pussy or what ever but little ramps like 5 feet tall are fun to me.

What are some of your favorite tricks to do?
Anything backwards. 180’s, backwards manuals. I like smith grinds. I just recently started getting into sliding rails and 360 hops…
I’ll never do a tailwhip or a back flip. I like to bunny hop over really tall things as well. to me that is the ultimate cool feeling. bunnyhopping over or onto something taller than your bike. I am not that great of a rider or anything like that so I like to keep my riding fun and simple.

What are some of the stuff you do outside of work and riding bike?
I have a family. A brady bunch of sorts. I have two kids of my own Nathan who is 10 likes to skateboard and ride his bike with me. Mya who is 9 likes to create anything, drawing, clay sculptures, painting, beadwork, jewelry all that. very creative that one.
I have a girlfriend Jill that has a daughter Zosia (zo-sha) that is 3. So when I am not working or riding I am a regular family guy. outside of all that when I get some free time I like to paint, draw, ride my fixed gear to the bar. hang out with good friends. I am a busy guy so family takes the front seat to any of that…

What are you of your more memorable things revolving around riding?
there is a lot.
Meeting Jay Miron for the first time. actually having him call me out of the blue to set up a meeting since he was going to be in Minneapolis.
helping set up the metro jam in 03 and getting to ride the set up during pro practice.
Going on the road trip with all those cool riders last January..
riding the T-1 ramp with Joe Rich, actually not riding but watching Joe ride that ramp.. ha ha
the first time I did a handrail. they were bugging me for the longest time and finally I did one and they’re actually nothing really. more of a mind fuck.
riding the Unit and Mirra’s place a couple of years ago. it’s all surreal.

Any big trips planned for 08?
maybe… we’ll see. I like to keep it on the DL until it drops.. just kidding. We plan on going on Mega tour next spring. I am not sure who I am bringing along for that one but it will be the same core dudes from QBP with an addition since one of the guys left QBP to go to school and a couple guys from our vendors teams.
This coming summer I plan on going to Europe. Not work related, just me my bike and a back pack full of cigarettes. I hear the cigs are shit over there. just kidding. No real plans but Amsterdam and Germany are in the agenda. I am using this trip as a sort of self discovery trip since I will be alone and in a foreign land where Americans aren’t liked too well. maybe me being an actual Native American might make them less abrasive towards me. who knows…

What do you plan on doing over the winter since, unless global warming is coming on fast, there should be snow?
Travel….. I am getting away from the snow more this year. Florida, Texas, California, and Arizona are on my trips wish list. when I am home I will be the all American dad you know. we also have a messenger race on super bowl weekend that I ride in every year last year it was -18 degrees outside with out the windchill and we still went for it. fun stuff but damn cold thank god for the liquor.

Any new stuff your working on (video parts/tricks/ anything really with riding)?
not too much. supposed to be filming for a friends video but our schedules haven’t meshed well. as far as tricks go? always working on something but it’s all personal I have nothing to prove to anyone. the main thing I am always working on though is my health. I want to keep riding for as long as I can not only that I want to live a long fat free life. I was a fat ass back in the day. made riding harder. now I am down about 40lbs since 2005 and my riding is better and I can ride for longer. so weird how much a little weight loss can affect your ability to handle a bike.

Quality did a bmx road trip this past year, do they plan on doing it again or was it a one time deal?
we’ll go on more. the funny thing about that is we got all that coverage. both the video and the magazine and the cost for everyone involved was very little. That is good when you are working with major companies that watch their bottom line and their spending like a hawk. since it was so inexpensive to do for the lot. more companies are psyched on it and want to go on the next one. QBP was happy with the outcome and the cost of it so they are more than willing to send us out on another one. I guess there is nothing really funny about that answer… ha ha

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What are some of the songs/artists your into right now?
my music taste is all over the board. It all depends on my mood. I can’t nail down a certain artist, song, or genre for that matter so I’ll do the first 10 random on my iPod.
1. Bad dreams interlude – Lyrics born
2. Sofaking – Danger Doom
3.all the same to me- Lucero
4. Touch and Go – the cars.
5. a boy’s best friend – The White stripes.
6. Kiss – Prince. (hey I’m from minnesota)
7.untitled track by Buck 65 from the vertex album.
8. Jailhouse- sublime.
9.Winning style – propellerheads
10. Shovel- Aesop Rock.

Favorite video/video part?
I watch a lot of web videos. but for hard copies… left/ right, roadfools 8, the shook series, can I eat, no where fast, and the wethepeople video from a few years ago for me that video was groundbreaking visually.
parts? Ian Schwarts/chad shack in the system vid. Dan/Joe Cox in any web video part. any part from any animal video, Jonah Lidberg in that one ride video where he filmed himself so good I love that dude. no homo.

Any shout outs?
man, there are a lot of people I can thank. Mike, Leigh, and Jon at eastern for helping me out with bike parts… Thomas at KHE for custom making a geisha hub for me in purple so my bike can match. Jill and my/our kids for supporting me and my riding/ working/ traveling, and scabby shins. Ralph at animal for good deals and for standing his ground, I respect that. Nuno/Jim at odyssey, Nuno was the first industry dude to give me a part for my bike. it was awesome. Jim at sunday. Brian at Beloe footwear, Ron at shadow/sparky’s, Crandall for being awesome. stew for putting up with our disarray during the trip. Both Dave’s at greasy comb. Tom at Empire for being a down ass dude. Chad at Mesh for opening my eyes to what a store should look like. Harrison at defgrip, Kerry at rise above, Chris at Blackout, John at Lastcall, Matt at Profile, everyone at Tenpack in Vancouver. Bill Dies from Ride BMX for keeping me drunk every year at the NORA cup, all the bike companies I have had contact with in the past I thank you for the job you are doing and the dedication you have to our sport and lifestyle. All my local friends and riders. Jonah Lidberg, Eric Holley, Nick Anderson, Ben Austin for making my riding look good on film. Tony Mortenson, Phalndus A for the greenery hook up from time to time, All the guys at Surly bikes. If I wasn’t in BMX I would be in Surly. They’re a cool bunch of fellas. There are so many I know that I’m forgetting some… anyone who has given me a bike part, pair of shoes, t-shirt, a couch to sleep on, or a hit off their blunt I thank you.

Last words?
Keep BMX fun for yourself! It’s not a contest all the time.
Some may notice I shout out a lot of industry dudes, some of which are our direct competitors. To me I look at BMX as one big organic mass that everyone involved has a critical part in. I am not about disliking someone because they work for so and so, or for this company, or this distributor.. Yeah business is business but no one company, distributor, or bike shop can rule it all. It takes all of us doing what we do to the best of our ability to make BMX successful. however without the competition there is nothing to strive for. Besides, outside of work, I would and sometimes do hang out with the guys we are competing against. We all do the same thing, Ride a little kids bike, Just have fun with it.

(I think this is Todd, I youtubed his name)

Video Credit: BJ from Underline

Name:

Kyle Carlson

Location:

Henderson, Nevada 50% of the time, Tempe, AZ 20% of the time, and everywhere else 30% of the time.

Job:

Contributing Editor for VitalBMX.com, US guy at Ride UK Magazine, random photo/video/whatever guy…. basically, I spend most of my days chillin’ or working too hard. There’s no in-between.

Being a filmer/editor/photographer what kind of cameras and editing programs do you use?

For videos, I shoot with a Panasonic DVX 100B and edit on Final Cut Pro. For photos, I shoot with a Canon 20d body and have a bunch of lenses, flashes, pocket wizards, and whatever else I can cram into my backpack.

You have a fair share of things on VitalBMX, are you employed there or freelance type?

Yeah, I am employed by Vital. VitalBMX is pretty much a contributor based site, the only people on staff are Mark Losey, Glenn PP Milligan, and myself. It’s pretty much an all-star line up, minus me.

What are some of the perks to being a filmer/Photographer?

I spend quite a bit of time traveling with my friends, I really couldn’t ask for anything more from a “job.” It’s definitely hard work from time to time and pretty difficult to get started up in the industry, but I’m really stoked on how everything is working out for me. I’m very lucky.

Where are some of the places you have traveled to film and such? which were your favorite?

A few come to mind… definitely Whistler, BC for Red Bull Elevation. The drive up there from Vancouver is completely amazing, the town is awesome, and Red Bull takes such good care of everyone; that experience was surreal. Also, I’m very fond of Prague, Czech Republic, Austin, Texas, Portland/Seattle/the entire northwest, Greenville, North Carolina, and a whole lot more. I could ramble on for hours about this, but I’ll shut up now.

Who are some of your favorite people to film with?

Once again, another subject I could ramble about for hours, I’ll try to keep it brief. Michael Cleveland, Dennis Enarson, Josh Harrington, Morgan Wade, TJ Lavin, Marcos Torres, and I’ll end it at that.

Shortly after Mirraco appeared, Carlsonco seemed to be popping up all over, what is it? is there any big plans for it?

Hahahaha, Carlsonco is the biggest and most powerful company in BMX, people just don’t know it yet. We got some plans for the next year, get ready. We’re going to make money.

How did you and Dennis Enarson become such good friends?

I’ve known Dennis for a long time now just from going to San Diego here and there and he’s always really impressed me. Not only is he one of the best riders in all of BMX right now, but at only 16 years old, he’s a really mature kid that could totally kick my ass and then steal my woman. He’s a good kid to travel with and his dad, Kenny Enarson, is by far the most badass man on the planet.

Any big trips coming up or plans for 2008?

I took this semester off school and I’m supposed to start back up in January, so I probably won’t be on the road quite as much. However, Australia, London, Thailand, Ireland, and a few others have been talked about. We’ll see what works out.

It sounds like you didnt have much fun at Interbike, what happend?

Hahaha, Interbike wasn’t bad, I just really really really enjoy complaining. It was definitely a lot of work, Milligan, Losey, and myself were tied up doing work for Vital the entire time so things got pretty hectic, but it all worked out well. However, as soon as it was all over, I got out of Vegas and drove to Phoenix.

If I remember right you go to college, what are you going for?

I definitely took this semester off, but I have been going to the University of Nevada Las Vegas since I got out of highschool. I still haven’t declared a major, but I’ve taken a few film class, a few philosophy classes, and a few business classes and am still trying to get everything figured out.

Favorite websites?

Pretty much everyday I check vitalbmx.com, vitalmedianet.com, myspace.com :(, digg.com, gmail.com, defgrip.net, wellsfargo.com, apple.com, and burningangel.com. Yeah, I like naked chicks with tattoos, I’ll admit it.

Favorite songs/artists?

I’m all over the place on this one; lately I’ve been really into Jets To Brazil, The Good Life, Timbaland, Kanye, Third Eye Blind, Morrissy, The Album Leaf, Stylish Vest, and whatever else I can come up with. I’m a stereotypical scene kid. Also, be sure to youtube Do The Heizman by 3rd Flo. You’ll thank me later.

If you could have one thing in the world what would it be and why?

A woman who punches me in the arm until I have gnarly bruises, scratches my wrist until it bleeds, and then expects me to take her on vacations. What more could anyone want? Also, a Hummer limo and a new yacht would be nice.

Didnt you win free chipotle for a year!? how did that happen?

Sort of, it’s kind of a long story. The city of Henderson and Chipotle put on a contest where they hid giant burritos at city parks, I had an insider working at the city who let me in on the secrets, and my friend Braxton and I collected them as soon as we could. It was definitely a good decision. It was like 60 free burrito coupons, enough for one a week and then a few bonus ones. I’m almost out and it’s only been a few months.

Any Shout outs or thanks?

I’ll try to make this as short as possible…. my family, my dogs, Brad McDonald, Mark Losey, Glenn PP Milligan, and Todd Toth at Vital, Mark Noble, Chris Noble, and Steve Bancroft at Ride UK, kT-Pain, Sam Adams (the photographer, not the beer), Josh Betley, Will Stroud, TJ Lavin, Ryan Mills, Braxton Wirthlin, Andrew Hefner, Cody Boor, Kevin Conners, Michael Cleveland, Robbie Morales, Daniel Dhers, Mike Spinner, Dave Mavro, Rooftop, Ryan Fudger, Eric Marlis, Aaron Nardi, Dennis and Kenny Enarson, Foski Brown, The Fun Zone crew in Tempe, AP, The Beard, The Largest Man on the Planet, Jake Honesto, and anyone else who has ever picked me up at an airport or let me sleep on their floor; I can never thank you guys enough.

Any last words?

Everyone needs to know that because we weren’t old enough to get into Nora Cup, Mike Spinner and I went to the strip club and watched naked chicks box. It was tite.

Some of Kyle’s work..

See More BMX Videos at VitalBMX.com

See More BMX Videos at VitalBMX.com

See More BMX Videos at VitalBMX.com

Age?
20 years.

Sponsors?
Fit Bike co. and Transition bmx.

How many years have you been riding?
Probably since I was 14 or 15 so 5 or 6.

You seem to be excessively well known on bikeguide, why is that?
Not sure, I post quite a bit on there so that is probably why…..Good Ol’ Bike Guide.

Along with all of the lovers, what do you think of the haters?
Not sure, they are there and they make some pretty funny comments, I can’t help but laugh. Good times.
Its only bike riding right? But seriously, there are dudes that hate because I do a lot of airs, turndowns and such, for some reason I get a lot of shit for that. I have rode like that for a long time, if I feel like going all trick crazy I will and do at times, just whenever it feels right. Like everyone else.

You have been going for fully clicked beyond clicked lookbacks(bars all the way around) have you got those yet?
Um, not quite. I can get them further in 180 loobacks over a jumpbox or hip than I can in an air but I think it is possible. 300 is there just 60 more I guess. Probably have to break may arm or something. haha.

I heard somewhere you try really hard to put style in to your stuff, is that true or is it natural?
I like to land my stuff really nosed down and I have always rode pretty crouched, people flag on me “quite putting style into just pedaling around” That is how I ride can’t really change it. I try and do what feels natural and right, that’s all.

living in Canada, it snows a lot (last time I checked), what are your plans for the winter?
Ah man, my nearest indoor park got closed down and the next closest is on the vurge of closing its doors as well. There is one about and hour and a half away and a skate only one really close. I am thinking I am going to convince the skaters to let me ride there. I think I can.

Do you have any big road trips or anything planned for 2008?
Probably go to Vancouver a few times, Penticton, head to Cali and Vegas also. I have big plans.

Outside of riding what do you do? (work and stuff you do for fun)
I like to play around with videography, my VW, music,read, write, party, and mad bitches, haha.

If I remember right your going to college, what for?
I am second year in the education program, going to major in health ed. and minor in social studies. Yeah, yeah, a boring high school teacher.

What are some things you would really like to be able to do with BMX? (anything in general from stuff you want, to the people, to the companies, whatever you make of it)
Not really much I want to do but have fun riding my bike and progress. I am really happy with the stuff I get from Fit bike wise so that’s basically it I guess.

What is your favorite song/artist?
Man, that is broad a question. A few of my favorite bands are Pinback, Tegan and Sara, The new pornographers, The Doors, Tom Petty, Smashing Pumpkins, I could go on and on.

Favorite place to ride?
Kaskitayo skate park and Downtown Street in Edmonton. The Penticton Park in B.C is great too. basically big steep quarterpipes and I am happy.

Favorite websites?
Fitbikes.com, bmxtransition.com, bikeguide.org, skateperception, vwvortex.com, seehersquirt.com…haha.

Any shout outs or thanks you would like to say?Yeah, I would like to say thanks to Bernie at Transition bmx and 1664, Robbie Fitbikes, my family, and my friends.

Anything else I didnt ask you would like to say?

ride bikes.

Brakeless from Jared on Vimeo.

Name:
Doug. Most know me as Sheepdog.
(I try to give out my last name as little as possible for various reasons.)

Location:
Missouri, some would say B.F.E. but I actually kind of like it here.

you run bikeguide, when and how did that all come about?
Well I started out on Ride BMX’s message boards, but they were not moderated at all. Which was a mess and a pain. Some things happened, things got worse, I was reported to them. Somewhere along the way I had started a small web page with some common answers and measurements, things of that sort. I figured why not start a small forum.

Eventually I got sick of the Ride boards and told everyone I was leaving and where they could reach me. I guess a lot of people liked the idea and went with me. In a matter of months we were bringing that server to it’s knees so I bought an actual domain name and hosting and put up a real site with an integrated forum, which is Bikeguide.org. Within 2 years we were about the size of the older and most well known boards. We just turned 5 years old as Bikeguide.org and now we are one of the largest sites in bmx. We have a larger readership than most bmx magazines.

did you ever expect it to be as popular as it is?
Had I known, I probably would not have done it.

It is a lot more work, time and money to run than people think. Every mistake along the way, a few morons here and there, and the incredible growth has at times been a real challenge. 3 times I got called by my host and was told upgrade or we are shutting you down in 24 hours because we were killing the server we were being hosted on.

You do not get a site this big or run as smoothly as BG does without a lot of work. Luckily I have some people who have helped me over the years keeping it going. Most notably Bluebmx (Brett). That guy was there from day one and has always been a big help.

do you think it will ever get changed up a little bit or do some new things?
Expect some changes soon.

I hate to do too much though as every change, you either tick someone off, or lose some people. People fear change. I have been catching a bit of flack over this, but things are going good, I hate to mess that up.

How many years have you been riding?
Well it sort of depends on how you look at it. I was jumping curbs almost as soon as I could ride a bike (1976 or so). I started jumping dirt a few years later (1978).

I took a few years off in the military and did some mountain biking, but I kept doing bmx stuff and breaking the bike. I got tried of it and got transferred. I basically quit riding completely for a year or 2 and focused on RC car racing.

What are some of your favorite tricks you like to do?
Technical stuff. Anything backwards or opposite.

Not extremely difficult stuff, or big, but I like to take a simple trick and do it on opposite pegs or backwards, just because. While everyone was going big on heavy bikes, I was focusing on backwards stuff.

I have been known to take my pegs off and put them on the opposite side, run 4 pegs, or force myself to run opposite foot forward, all to learn things differently. Sounds easy but try riding as a lefty for a day if you are a righty, or other way round.

any that you are working on?
I have been slacking lately due to health reasons, but the last thing I was working on was a backwards whopper. Quite hard without a free-coaster, had one, it was terrible. Did more harm than good to my riding.

Do you do anything else besides run bikeguide?
I am a independent computer tech and consultant. Bikeguide does not pay well. It is definitely not large enough to support me.

I maintain several hundred computers in the area mostly associated with the real estate industry, and a few doctors. My job is cake though. I am the boss, I do not have to kill myself to pay my rent. I could make more if I wanted to work my ass off, but hell with that.

I also run some other websites, some are running, others are in progress. My plan is to eventually stop having to drive all over and focus on my sites once they can support me.

What are some of your favorite websites outside of BG?
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/
http://www.reefcentral.com/
http://www.m42club.com/ (one of my sites)

I check several others daily as well, but these are some of my favorites as they pertain to what I am most into.

Do you have any sponsors or hook ups?
No sponsors at the moment but I am open to them, to a point.

Some guys love going someplace and having every kid in the place running to get an autograph or take a picture. I am not into that, in fact I have had it happen and frankly I find it creepy, and this is the least threatening thing I have had happen. I am sure you can get used to it, but that is not me. People are idiots around anyone they think may even remotely be famous. Any sponsor I have would have to deal with the fact that I do not want my face all over everything.
Despite how it may seem on Bg, I am more of the guy behind the scenes type of person. I am often asked for input on products. People ask for ideas, advice, and occasionally I get to test something or get handed prototypes. I am all into the technical side of things. I am better at it than I am at riding anyhow. I probably should have stayed in school and gone for an engineering degree, but all the engineers I knew at the time were not what I wanted to become.

I am lucky though in the fact that I can call up several companies and get pretty much anything I need. Most of my favorite companies support Bikeguide so I get things pretty easily one way or another.

you have a pretty crazy set up for a bike, is it like that just because when you started riding having two brakes and all the extras on was just how it was and your so used to it or is it just preference now?

When I got into freestyle, yes, 2 brakes were the norm.

I am actually not quite sure what is so crazy about it though. To me it just evolved that way and in fact it is probably the most production oriented bike I have ridden in a very long time. At one point pretty much every part on my bike was being messed with, either for weight, strength or performance reasons. Though I will admit I am not 100% happy with it at the moment either. I am almost to the point of having several parts custom made. There is a huge market for some parts that companies are just not hitting.

I really like front and rear brakes, having only one or no brake can limit your creativity in a lot of ways many people do not realize. Yes, doing things brakeless is a challenge, but that just means I don’t pull a lever. I use them a lot less than most people do for the same tricks, and more for the things people just rarely if ever do.

I cannot think of any time when brakes really held me back, but they have unlocked doors for me. If anything brakes got me working in the industry.

Do you think there is more positives or negatives that come from forums like Bikeguide, like in riding sense, there seems to be so many pissed off people?
Wow, good question and a big one.

Well, I have gone at it with at least one manufacturer because they claimed forums like BG were the downfall of bmx. Obviously I disagree. Do I like where Bg has gone along with bmx, not really, though that could be a factor of my age vs the age of the average rider in bmx. It is not a result of forums but more a sign of the times. Society has changed and I do not like where it is going.

Here is the problem though, and I do see it from both sides. I talk to many companies regularly, so I know their side of this.

Some companies feel that sites like BG promote the bad things of bmx. As a company I could see them thinking that. If a rider breaks one of my frames, and shows it, that is not good publicity. Many people see it and think that company only makes junk or that the part has a high failure rate, especially when you see 10 other people saying they did the same thing. This is true.

The power Bg and I have is scary. I can see why they fear it. In all honesty, in some ways they should, they have little to no control over it and in my case they cannot just simply pull advertising. Bg is not funded that way.

On the other hand…
What they fail to see is the opportunity they are missing. A perfect example is George of G-Sport. When someone had a problem, he took care of it, assured them that he would, and did. His company has a GREAT reputation online. Same as Odyssey. They are there to deal with problems, spread the word, and just generally help. Does it help? I would say so. Parts fail, it is a fact of life. How a company deals with that can make a huge difference. Instead of looking at it as bad publicity, look at it as publicity that just needs help. Turn it around and make it work for you, not against you.

The other part of that is what many companies in bmx do. They watch BG for how people respond to products. Doe sit look good, is it what they are looking for, and more importantly, is it having problems and what can they do to fix it.

A lot of companies do this. It is the ultimate marketing research tool. How a good businessman fails to see that I have no clue. He is probably the same type of guy who will only update his site once per year even though it is the best, most direct and cheapest advertising he can do. Companies who fail to take advantage of the net are doomed to fail. Not because of the sites talking smack, but because they are living in the stone age. The companies who refuse to adapt will most likely go under. You can survive without the net, but why pass up what it offers. Ignoring it does not make it go away.

So are forums bad, hell no. Ask a few people how many new riders they have met from the internet, how much good advice they have gotten from it. Companies forget, bmx is not about them. It is about the rider. We need parts, but someone will always be there to take care of that. I have walked into parks thousands of miles from home and knew people there, and not just because I do Bg, but because I have talked to them online. It can be like meeting an old friend.

I am planning on writing more about this soon in my column on Bg because I could write a lot more about this and how companies deal with BG.

Any big future plans coming up for 2008?
I hate trying to plan too much for the future. Life is what happens while you make plans and usually your plans clash with life. I also hate the idea of things being too planned out.

Anybody you would like to thank or give a shout out to?
I would like to thank the guys who help run BG. Without them, it would be a mess and I would have shut it down ages ago.

Also, G-Sport, Odyssey, Seshin, Fit, Albes, these guys kept Bg and myself going. I am sure I missed a few as well, sorry.

Any other comments?
Thanks

To see some older riding pictures and motion gif’s.. check out this
RIGHT HERE!