BMX UNION

Name:
Hoang Tran

Location:
San Diego most of the time

Sponsors:
Subrosa, Kronik energy, Give D

It seems like lately you have been getting a ton of coverage, did you ever expect riding to become like this for you?
Not at all haha. All I can say Is I got lucky.

What is Give D to you?
Give D is something created by a straight edge kid and represented by drunks haha… but really it’s just an excuse for all of us to take trips, hang out, and escape the clutches of adulthood for a little longer, allowing us to stay young. It gives us an excuse to make our dumb ideas into reality, and not be so serious all the time. It personally reminds me of being young and having all the stresses of day subside, freeing my mind, in order for it to truly travel its lengths. Give D just basically shows me how in the beginning bmx is possible because of youth and later how youth is kept through bmx.

How are things going with Subrosa, you have been with them from the start has anything changed?
Things with Subrosa are pretty bitchin’! I couldn’t ask for a better frame sponsor! Ryan’s one of my best friends and I’ll be with subrosa till the end. Nothing comes to mind about subrosa changing…other than kicking ass more everyday!

Would you say you are a street rider? or are you more of an all around rider?
I like the way street looks in videos but when it comes down to it, I’m an all around rider. I love everything from jumping down a big set of stairs to flat, going as fast as I can towards a quarter, or flowing through that fresh dirt. As longs as I’m going fast enough for my tires to make that buzzing noise I’m happy.

If I remember right, arent you originally from Iowa? How did you end up in San Diego?
Yes I am, I was raised in the fine town of council bluffs, Iowa. I ended up in san diego because my mom wanted to move closer to family (the rest of the family lived in san diego). At first I hated it but now I can’t thank her enough.

Whats it like being apart of such a huge scene like San Diego’s? Do you think it has impacted your riding much?
Its so awesome being apart and getting the chance to ride with all the people around san diego! We are all close and good friends. No drama in SD and that’s the way I like it! And I only hope it continues to grow.

How is the whole brakeless thing treating you? Do you plan on getting brakes again anytime soon?
Being brakeless is whats fun to me right now and it’s fun to pedal as fast as you can at a gap and not bitch out! I’ll probably put brakes back on when brakeless isn’t fun anymore…or not popular haha.

Your real big into photography, when did you start doing that?
I’ve always liked photographs but I officially started when I took a class my junior year of high school.

What kind of camera gear do you have?
I have a couple. I own a Nikon D80, a holga, random medium formats I find at thrift stores and my favorite camera, a Nikon fm2.

You have had the chance to travel a lot lately, where are some of the places you have been this year?
Northern California, Nevada, Vancouver and the cities surrounding it, I went to the east coast but I had no idea what state I was in the whole time cause over there you drive 20 minutes and your in a different state, Oregon, and Washington. Thanks again to Subrosa for sending me to all those places!

Where are some places you haven’t been that you would really like to go to?
Since I’ve pretty much gone everywhere in the United States I would really like to venture across the ocean. Anywhere new and I will be pumped

5 favorite tricks?
Proper pancakes (includes all variations of the table), 180, Proper Tuck for the sky, Proper lookdowns, and bar twirl.

What is a trick that has given you the most problems?
Barspins have been the most elusive but I am trying my best to tame the beast.

You just recently got done filming and editing the new Give D web video, how do you think it turned out and when will people be able to see it?
I thought it turned out pretty good, I was stoked on everyone else’s clips. I wish I could of done better but my shoulder was bugging me for a lot of the trip. Both edits should be out now on defgrip.net!

Who are some of the people that have impacted your life the most?
Ron “dirt” pitcher for showing me even if you have -69 cents in your bank account you can still lead a rich and glorious life, Kyle Hart for giving me advice when I needed it and always telling me to do what I want to do because you can’t make someone else happy if you are not first happy, and Michelle Babick for making me appreciate the world around us a little more. My kitty uhmelio for showing me to enjoy the simple things in life.

Any thanks or shout outs?
Thanks to ryan sher for taking me further into the bmx industry, Alex at GDC for giving all of us SD kids motivation, Rich at lotek, Nuno, Bdubs, and anyone else at odyssey, The dudes over at kronik, my parents, my girls (the babicks and natty ice),John Paul Rogers at nice!, Kurt at bmxunion for this interview, and anyone else I might of forgotten that has helped me out or just made me laugh and enjoy life a little more.

Any last words or things I missed?
Dream like your gonna live forever and live like you’re gonna die tomorrow. And mustard is gross.

Name:
Kyle Thomas Hart

Location:
San Diego, CA Born and raised.

Sponsors:
Give D Clothing, Odyssey

How long have you been riding for?
16 years… haha I suck

Your with the Give D crew, whats your take on the D?
To me it’s all about having a good time and kicking a lot of ass on bikes. We all call out each other’s flaws and make jokes out of everything. We stay grounded because of that. Basically, don’t take life to seriously.

You seem to be real big into steet? or am I wrong?
I love street. It’s the place where tricks become legit. You can’t really go to the local gap or stairset and train. To me street is: Find a big gap/drop and don’t back down. I’m not too into tech tricks. But, don’t get me wrong, I ride parks almost everyday and flowing around a good cement park just can’t be beat.

San Diego is one of the bigger riding scenes in the U.S, whats it like to be apart of it?
It’s awesome. Everyone is ALWAYS motivated to ride, film, shoot photos, etc. Having so many people to ride with in San Diego is awesome. There are never any duplicates in our “scene”. Everyone has there own flavor.

Do you think living in San Diego has given you coverage options that a lot of people normally wouldnt get?
Definately. I might have to blame that on the weather though. It seems like there are always filmers coming to shoot something. Its easy to ride here compared to other parts of the US, because winter is still 72 degrees.

If you could only do one trick for a day, what trick would it be and why?
Lookbacks. I’m goofy footed… Is there any other choice? Haha

Do you have any big plans for trips or anything coming up for youself any time soon? No trips for now. Thank God. But, we are starting filming on a full length video that will actually end up on a DVD and not the internet…

You and Hoang seem to be real good friends, whats the story between you and him?(no homo)
Hahaha! We met riding bikes and just seemed to have the same outlook on a lot of things. I’m sure it helped that we ride similarly. It’s a lot easier to ride with someone everyday if they kick as much ass as you do.

What are some things you would like to accomplish in the next few years?
Travel across the seas for sure, have some full sections in videos, edit a lot more, learn how to film, get married, design better shirts and get in more fights because of Ron’s big mouth.

What do you like to do outside of riding?
Drink, smoke cigarrettes and treat my girlfriend to a nice dinner.

Favorite food?
Filet Mignon

I noticed on your myspace your song was pretty heavy, what kind of music are you into? Favorite bands and songs?
I’ve been into Death and Black Metal since I was in highschool. I enjoy everything, but I like to keep it faster for the master. Favorite bands? Wow… The Legion, Nile, Origin, Dark Funeral, Dimmu Borgir, Cryptopsy, Goratory, Crimson Moonlight, Antestor, Whitechapel, uh… I’ll stop before this gets too long. Haha.

If you could go anywhere in the world to ride, where would it be and why?
Spain. They have the culture and the spots.

Your favorite memory involving riding?
The only time I’ve ever got injured. 180 tuck no hander over a box jump in AZ. I busted my wrist and then the whole SD crew got crazy and broke down fences. We got banned from Fort McDowell. It kicked ass.

Any shout outs or thanks?
All of the GDC brigade, B-Dubbs at Odyssey, Ryan Sher and Subrosa, my badass girlfriend Kelsey and my parents for not disowning me when I told them I wanted to ride a toddler’s bike forever.

Anything I might have missed you would like to add?
Thanks for the interview and hugs and kisses to all of you in internet land.

Dustin is one of those guys who you always want on your side, no not because he can kick peoples ass’s.. but because he is by far one of the nicest guys around. He is an amazing rider and an even better friend, Everytime I get the chance to be around the guy it is a good time. He is also the guy who brought InterBMX which has been a good step in bringing riders together again!

Name:
Dustin Griess

Location:
Eden Prairie, MN (Suburb of Minneapolis)

Sponsors:
Drive BMX, InterBMX.com

You run interbmx, how is that going?
InterBMX is going great. It’s my baby. I love working on the code, adding new features, improving performance, and all that good stuff.

The coding for the website is pretty intense, how long did it take for you to get it going?
Ha. Oh man, to get it going, I’d say a couple hundred hours (about 6 weeks). To where it is now, I’d say a couple thousand hours (a good 1.5 years).

Do you have any other plans for interbmx, since I have noticed there is always some nice changes?
I always have ideas in the back of my head, they just take time… You could say that InterBMX will never really be “finished”.

Outside of interbmx where else do you work and what do you do there?
I have worked for QBP in Bloomington, MN for nearly 4 years now. I have a full time job as an Application Developer. I work on our QBP.com dealer only e-commerce web site, as well as some of our internal applications. I love my job there, and the people.

You are a really good rider that is some what low key, do you try to do that or do you just let things come to you?
Well thank you! I really haven’t though about that too much, I just ride and see what happens.

A few months back you won the free flow tour that came to overpass in Minnesota. You leave in a few days for Florida, how are you feeling about that? Nervous at all?
Other than the fact that the level of riding will be insane, and nearly impossible to compete with, no not at all… lol yeah definitely nervous, although I am super excited to go. My family is flying down there as well… We’re all going to have a good time.

Do you have any big tricks planned to go down that you have been doing recently?
I’d like to stick with most of my consistent tricks, possibly some fairly new ones. We’ll see what happens…

Are you working on any video parts, personal edits, or anything that will be up soon?
If I had time, I totally would. Honestly I haven’t shot or filmed anything in soooo long. I’d really like to though. I miss watching old video footage. I don’t have much from the past few years.

The winter will be here soon, what is your plan while the snow is falling?
Snow trails. I swear we can do it. Ha, j/k it will definitely go back to the indoor park sessions when the snow flies.

Any big trips or events coming up from now through 2008 you know of yet?
Other than Dew Tour this weekend, I really have nothing planned. Although it would be nice to get out of the cold sometime this winter… I’m sure you would agree.

Has anyone told you that you are too nice?
No but it is nice to hear that someone would ask me that. I try to stay as positive as I can, and support people with what they do. But really, we can thank all the negative people out there, they make the nice ones stand out.

How does a typical day go for you?
Wake up at 7:30, motorcycle to QBP for work around 8am, write some code, eat lunch, write more code, go home around 4pm, then I either go the riding direction, or the more code writing/InterBMX.com direction. Sometimes both if I’m lucky.

Where are some of your favorite places to ride?
G-Shock. Nothing will never even come close to comparing to it. I’ll have those riding memories forever.

Who do you like to ride with?
Anyone who is having a good time on their bike, having fun, learning new things, supporting each other, etc.

What are your favorite bands/songs right now?
I’ll Stand by You, The Pretenders.
Whiskey in the Jar, Metallica.
Wanna Be A Balla, Lil’ Troy.
How Far We’ve Come, Matchbox 20
There’s a nice variety of songs… lol

I have seen you take a few gnarly crashes, in person and in some videos of you, what kind of injuries have you gotten over the years?
I had a cast on my foot in 1997, a few stitches, and a few of those long term “over extended my knee” types of things that are really the worst.

Is there anyone you would like to thank or give a shout out to?
Yes sir! First of all, thank you Kurt, also my family for their support, Erik and Joey at Drive, Mike Corley at Eastern, Everyone at QBP… Todd, Tim, Jay, Andy, Dan, Bernie! And every single person who has ever typed “interbmx.com” into their web browser. All of you rock, thanks for everything.

Any last words, or things you would like to add?
“Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around, you could miss it.”