Steve Crandall

Coffee sipping pilot of a red FBM frame and a Nikon camera.

Posts from Steve:

Moto Trip

These photos are words are from a Trip we took on Motorcycles, in Early January 08, with a bunch of buddies, and a diesel Van that runs on recycled veggie oil…

The first part of the trip consisted of the group meeting at Evan’s house on Laurel street in Richmond virginia. Derrick, and that bunch arrived from New England, Kaczur Drove down from Jersey, and tag and I motored down from upstate NY, and we all unloaded the Motorcycles, bikes, and skateboards and packed them into the Shitluck Veggie rig…

The first day of motorcycle travel, was a sunny January day, and a balmy 38 degrees. It was 107 windchilling bonecold miles to the coast, stopping periodically for added layers, gloves, coffee, and ‘oil’. We had to fix a flat tire on K’s Harley at the end of the afternoon, which put us on a 40 or so mile addition to the travels, and in the dark, after sunset which put temps at 29 degrees (sub freezing motorcycle terror for 45 minutes). We ended up in the midst of a skate session in a garage bowl, put up a makeshift campsite, with a burn barrel in a friends yard and called it a day.

Lords of Fun – Tag, Derrick Girard, Myself, Clint reynolds, Brian Yeagle, Nutter, Randy Mueller, Evan V. Mike P. Credence Joel, Anna lisa, Joe Stakun, and Steve Kaczur

Day 2- We were still in some cold temperatures, but it was a nice day, and we travelled about 50 miles into North carolina, and checked out a cement skatepark in a town called Currituck. A good session on a cold sunny, and windy day, while Derrick hot rodded the Sidecar all over the parking lot. at one point a sherrif told him ‘no motorcycles in the skatepark’. After some parking lot cooking over butane fires, we headed to Kill Devil Hills in the Outer banks, and got a room at the Days inn, We soon find our way to a karaoke bar called Jolly Roger, and break into some off season beach home hot tubs…. Nutter breaks a chair in the hotel, and it costs 75 bucks… Stoked

Day 3 – after dialing in a sweet continental B-fast. its 10 miles own the road where we hit up Nags head YMCA park, Everyone is stoked on the temperatures getting out of the freezing zone, and Derrick spends the day torching through the parking lot like he is at a drag strip, or in some Hells Angels Cult film. At one point, he is launching 10 feet off sand dunes, and getting repremanded by local law. At dusk we hit up a desolate beach or drag races on cycles, and at this point Clint Crashes into derrick as a huge wave comes in, leaving the Honda submerged in the Atlantic ocean. Chaos ensues, everyone is wet, cold, and completely stoked.

Day 4 – We end up waking up at the Same hotel, who reluctantly let us get another room, and ask us how many people are in our party, I asked how many were allowed, and responded ‘thats how many we have’…. anyrate, we are right on the beach, where Yeagle decides to dismantle his skateboard, and make a ‘sand Surfer’.

It doesn’t really work. the weather is sunny and beautiful, but the road through the lower part of the outer banks is closed for off season repairs, forcing us to detour inland. We take the scenic route along the Tar-Pamlico river basin, and the sights are amazing. We travel over Crazy bridges, with swamps on one side, and a bay on the other, through rural Carolina. We were on Highway 264, and I noticed 2 signs that stood out, one reading ‘Its unlawful to feed bears along the Highway’ and another that read- ‘Welcome to Hyde county, the Road less travelled’. I was stoked. At one point we detoured off the main road, at a town called Belhaven, where the road literally ended at a sandy point at the bay, at an abandoned pier. We stopped, had a picnic style lunch, did bike maintenance, and continued on. Further down the road, after at least 150 miles we end up in Greenville North Carolina, at Ryan Nyquists Skatepark. Derrick Learned flips, and we rode till we were exhausted.

Day 5 – We wake up At Shea Nyquists, and played with his toys all morning, pogo sticks, funny bikes, bb guns, etc… while Tag scoped out Oil for the rig. At one point it was realized that the Sidecar was all but totaled. So it was torn apart, and Mods ensued, grinding, re welding, the whole nine yards. Randy’s bike had a flat tire at his point as well, Shea’s house became Mod central, and its a perfect place for it. Mid afternoon we end up on secondary highways for the rest of the afternoon, and cruise Rd 301 towards Richmond. We scored some veggie oil along the way, met some crazy folks and took in some amazing back roads scenery.

Samiam live show online.

It’s on a German Website, So I couldn’t figure out how to embed the video here.. But check it out Here. Good Stuff.

From the web

Howard Tarpey and friend Ben Zeswitz!

Ramp Riders

On December 11th, Ramp Riders in St. louis Missouri hosted it’s annual Buck Nutty Jam, Here are some photos and a video from the comp, and the FBM best trick jam.

St. Louis Local Shredder

Ricky Mosely Of Memphis Tennessee

1 footed tabletop on the Dingaling spine.

Adam Guilliams, inverted 360

Garrett Guilliams, Groundchuck seat grab

Adam Guilliams, 1 footed x-up

Adam Guilliams, turndown 360

Garrett Guilliams high on the Vert Wall.

From the web

Found this online with this quote- “Groundchuck at posh. More impressed now than I was 15 years ago when it came out. 1 handed table.” Chris Hallman Shot this…

Surf Ontario

Rochester Surf Sesh Nov. 2010 from jimmy rathbun on Vimeo.

Jimmy Rathbun, also known as “Lil Bun” and some of the guys in Rochester Ny. with a good example of doing what you can with what you have… Cold weather surfing on one of the great lakes!

The Flying Brick

On Saturday December 4th at the Books, Bikes and Beyond thrift store was host to a benefit for the Flying Brick Library. A light, first snow dusted Broad street, but that didn’t stop people from coming out and supporting the Brick.

The Brick is a lending library in the Oregon Hill neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia focussed on radical media. It carries thousands of books, zines, and dvds among other things. The Brick also hosts movie showings, speakers, authors, poets, workshops and meetings.

Richmond’s finest songsmiths donated their time and talents. Julie Carr started the show with a beautiful set and closed it with an a capella number that shook the shelves. Rameysaurus is the name that Flying Brick Ramey Connelly volunteer goes by. She sang her alternately dark, funny, poignant songs to a rapt audience. Josh Small wasted no time in getting started and played his impeccable heart stopping tunes, closing with the gem, “Knife in My Belly.”

After a long year of touring, Tim Barry was set to finally do is
last show of the year. After sitting in with Josh for a couple of songs he came out of the gates raging with a fan’s favorite, “Dog Bumped,” and it was on from there. It was a special treat for the hometown crowd to have Tim’s sister, Caitlin, on the violin. After a few songs Tim brought on an audience member, Maurice Robinson. He talked about his participation in the recent silent protest at VCU in regard to the negro burial ground in Shockoe Bottom. Naturally he played “Prosser’s Gabriel.” After that, he closed the set with a new song about touring and some older favorites.

All in all, the night went off without a hitch and the Flying Brick Library raised a good amount of money for new books thanks to the Books, Bikes and Beyond crew, the performers and all the people who donated.

The flying brick can be contacted via Facebook, MySpace, theflyingbrick@riseup.net, and good ol fashioned snail mail. 506 s. pine st. richmond va 23220

– Robert Cataldo

Tim Barry, Josh Small and Caitlyn Barry

Julie....

Josh Small...

Robert Cataldo of the Flying Brick

DIY Bowl Project

Our Friend Pat, decided to do what many day-dream about, build a bowl in his back yard. We decided to ask him some questions about it, to learn how such a task is tackled, and if it’s possible for anyone to build their own fun… Here are some answers, and some photos of the build in progress.

Name, Age, current Location, years shredding-
Pat Lowery, 35 years old, Richmond Va. Zero years of shredding, but 25 years of trying to shred.

The early stages of the dig, Skaters and BMXers working together...

What inspired you to build your own kidney pool in your back yard?
It’s the dream of every 16 year old. isn’t it? I’ve always liked skating things that just flow. Just going fast, carving and grinding. There has never been anything here that skates like that, So i decided I’d make it. Last winter around the time i was looking for a house I found a blog about a dude building a bowl for skating only. It only cost him like $6000, so the idea started there.

Transition, Framing and rebar in progress..

Can you explain the basic parts of the process, from the start, to the its current point right now?

It starts out with paper work. Permits weren’t too bad, basically if you are doing owner/builder you get a lot of lenience. i had to draw up plans and have them stamped by a structural engineer, get a professional survey done, and kiss up to the dudes at the permit office.

Digging was the most work. We rented a bobcat mini excavator for a week and went crazy. Note to anyone doing this over dig a little and backfill. then we shaped it up 6-8 inches back from what would be the riding surface. This is where you dudes (BMX) kicked ass. You guys got digging and shaping done in an hour or two that was taking us a day or two. Thanks again by the way.

Rebar wasn’t bad either. It took us two to three days of bending and tieing it.

The pour was super rad, Luckily we had two super experienced dudes here. It’s all about really having forms in there ready, and the right tools. Friends made cutters that fit the radius’ perfect. Tim and Hippy hooked those up. To anyone thinking about it, this is the day you need experienced help!!

Spraying in progress...

Can you give us a rough estimate of a cost comparison by doing this yourself, versus hiring someone to do this for you?
This is going to come in around $11,000 total. A pool company would charge at least $30,000 if not $40,000

What are some of the ballups you have come into along the way?
Getting rid of the dirt! I knew there was going to be a lot, but it was sooo much more than expected. Everyone said put it on Craigslist and people will come get it.They were kinda right, for two months people would occasionally come by and get a truck load, not even making a dent, but, finally some dudes showed up with a tractor and a dump truck and have been removing it.

Shaping and dialing...

Any welcomed surprises while getting this project rolling?
So many! So many new friends and old friends that have helped in so many different ways, Labor, deals on rebar, deals on machine rentals, tool making, trucks to get supplies, throwing down money, everything. It’s crazy.

Any additional thoughts?
This can be done! do it! Start now! If a bum stagehand like me can make it happen, you can!

Any Thanks?
Holy shit, sooo many thanks. I can’t really name everyone, but this wouldn’t have happened without the help of Bernie, my brother Brad, Dwayne(hope you heal up buddy), and all the Cardinal Sins, you guys and all the bmxers that dug, Hank, and everyone that has helped. I’m gonna make a list one day, I’d bet there will probably be 60 people on it.

We’ll be posting more from the Lost Bowl in the future, for now, click Here to see how you can help, and check out the video below…

Circuit Short.

Mix Fall Footage from Circuit BMX on Vimeo.

Short Circuit.Rad stuff from the guys at Circuit BMX, some late Summer and Fall riding.

Chin on the tank

Mick Kalata does an amazing website called Chin On the Tank and sent over a handful of photos to be shown on the Least Most. We are stoked. Look for more from Mick, the crew, and the cafe scene in Philly in the future, in the meantime, check out these great pics…Thanks guys.

Two riders from the group head west for a wild adventure on old bikes. Philly to Denver and back in 2 weeks. Open roads, tornados, torrential rains, and good times.

Cruisin some back roads, headed out on a group camping trip.

Headed out off town, Devyn hammers on the CB500.

As you would figure, vintage bikes need some lovin. Tuning the carbs in on a CB550.

Adam locks in a hang-five after sessioning a turn for a bit.

The best part about the cycle group is meeting all sorts of new people from all walks of life. Camping on the Susquahhana River, mid-summer.

Philly is the city of neighborhoods. Each holds it's own flavor and charm. Sundays we meet and hang in West Philly at the Green Line Cafe. Pretty ladies, lots of green space, and all around good fun before taking a small cruise.

Holly St. Jam/ Anthem 2 premiere.

On November 20th, Evan Venditti of ReCycles Bike shop in Richmond VA. invited everyone to ride some ramps in a basketball court, and have a good time. Close to 100 riders showed up, some brought ramps to ride, some brought 4loko, and just about everyone showed up with a good attitude, stoked to have a good session, on a sunny autumn saturday. Later that Evening, Mojo’s, Evan And Robb Tibbs hosted a premiere for Anthem 2, a video by Stew Johnson that was not to be missed. Judging by the rowdy applause for about the entire duration of the video, I figure its safe to say the video is a success. Here are some Photos I shot, as well as a few By Dave Mingee.