Steve Crandall

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

Posts from Steve:

Familiar Faces

A look at some of the friendly faces at the Annual Virginia Beach BMX Reunion…

Good times, and good people, riding bikes in the parking lot of a pizza place on makeshift ramps!

Land Escape

Archived travel photos… Everyday sights from around the map, shot on an old Nikon.

Gwar Face

A few of the friendly faces in the crowd at the 7th annual Gwar-BQ in Richmond Virginia.

Dog Days of Summer

Eric Holladay at Keyko

These photos were shot by Kaleb Bolton, during a week of driving around New York and Pa. in the heat of summer!

The Ginch- Catty!

No Pennies please- NYC

Burley!

Schwantz- Catty!

The Appalachian Trail

Rich Bartlett, AKA the Butcher- Catty!

Allentown!

Where’s Burley?

Steve Crandall- Catty!

Schantz dial- Catty!

Seamus Mckeon- Bakers Acres- Ithaca New York

John Corts- Ithaca NY!

Seamus Mckeon- Ithaca NY!

John Lee- Ithaca NY!

Billy- Connecticut Hill!

Shortstop!

“Mo Wimmin”

Seamus Mckeon- Ithaca NY!

Latane Coghill- Ithaca NY!

The Guru- Shortstop Lunch Blessings

Eric Holladay at FBM in Ithaca NY

Frame Inspection- Burley at FBM

Lets Dial- FBM

Music Notes

Street Hassle- Lou Reed

Under The Gun– Circle Jerks

Breakdown– Chron Gen

Bonzo Goes To Bitburg– Ramones

Skate Babylon– Adolescents

Bear Witness– Dr. Octagon

Film Photos By Garrett Anderson.

I woke up in a beach town on the west coast, at 4 a.m. and drove to a desert city called Palm Springs a couple hours away. It was barely dawn, in a pick up truck, with a friend named Van, on the way to an empty swimming pool, at a defunct nudist colony, where rumor had it, a man was stabbed and killed at a party, and the local Sheriff’s had shot the pool up with assault rifles, and bulldozed it into oblivion.

As a kid I had seen a golden image of Dave Clymer carving over the stairs on a bicycle in this dried out beast. wearing a stars and bars motorcycle helmet, it was some kind of iconoclast that changed my perspective from that point on. 20 some odd years later, I find myself trudging up 30 minutes of off- road trails in a truck, at sunrise, soon after learning someone had unearthed this relic.

There were 3 of us in the truck, and 3 people already there, staring off at the storm rolling in, they decided to get down the desert mountain road before the rain washed it away, and my friends an I took a couple slippery laps in the pool as it started misting. Slick layers of spray paint became total hazards when the rain came, and the pool was already scary, so we aimed our sites down the hill, westward towards another legend.

By the time the storm hit, it was still early morning so we decided to bee line it for Phoenix to the infamous Love Walls, an old TV studio in another desert, home of the former Dick Van Dyke Show. It was a few hours across the I-10 to a suburb north of Phoenix, and we drove through the gnarliest sandstorm I had ever witnessed, motorcyclist were hiding out under bridges to avoid being sandblasted off their bikes, and visibility was about 20 feet. Quite a contrast from the rain we were escaping.

After some off shoot navigation we could see the love walls, behind a shopping plaza, some yellow crime scene tape, and a couple of parked police officers at it’s entrance. We found some parking, snuck in the back way, and rode our bikes up the giant steep transition, once a photo studio of auto advertising and swimsuit models.

Today it smelled of burnt embers, and extinguished incendiarism, as the ground was flooded with water from a fire department. I only know that was where the water was from because the same police who were guarding the entrance, found us riding bicycles there, and asked if we were involved with the arson they were investigating just a few hours earlier. They were not pleased to see us on the crime scene they were supposed to be watching over, ran our ideas, and soon ran us off the property, luckily with our liberty in tact.

Humbled by two epic spots, the elements and a little dumb luck, we rejoiced in the adventure and drove to Tempe to get dinner, before planning another mission. Not soon after the walls were plowed, never to be ridden again, and we’d soon be back east, thinking about these kinds of treasures reclaimed by progress and time…

Open House Smiles

Here are a few of the friendly faces seen in attendance at the FBM Open House in Ithaca New York.

Wooded Lineaments

Some faces in the woods on a summer afternoon. Catasaqua Pennsylvania.

No Service

“…Take the third right after the speed limit sign, and be careful of the logging trucks driving fast around the bends”

That was about all I had to go off of, as I lost phone reception on a winding Carolina back road, in the rolling hills and the tall pines. When I pulled up, the giant gate leading up a dirt road into the woods was closed, but Unlocked, and after a slow drive up a big hill, I was at Whipsnake.

Off the map, off the grid, and totally on point, a private DIY paradise sat hidden in the middle of nowhere. Cooking in the summer sun, a clearing in the forest , is a giant cement sculpture, that I was lucky enough to ride, and unroll my sleeping bag for the night.

As the sun set, and the moon started to wander higher and higher, it cooled down to a comfortable temperature, and the heat of the day radiated off the giant cement whipsnake, to the chorus of crickets, coyotes, mosquitos and small talk.

Check out these photos I shot of Zach Rogers, Trey Jones, Seamus Mckeon and one of yours truly…

Check out this Small Video from my last visit…

West Fast

A collection of Photos from Brian Barnhart, showcasing some West Coasters riding Steadfast frames built in NY, Featuring Jackson Allen, Dirty Mike, Mr. B, Henny and the Freedom 40…

This ain’t no picnic…

Some words and film photos from Austin Texas’ Eastside…

When your favorite food truck court gets the boot to make way for a swanky new hipster hotel at least put the picnic tables to good use before the the bulldozer comes. Jack (Hartje) and I built this set up one night when we were out playing pool, came back the next morning and found Kenny Horton and Neil already riding it. Unfortunately within about 48 hours of it’s construction, the Eastside Fillin’ Station’s first and only trash ramp was gone. No traces of the tables, cinder blocks or food trucks left. Within another week the T1 ramp that was just down the street would also be gone. Despite losing both spots, it’s awesome to appreciate the spectrum of stuff you get to ride in Austin. From a stack of rickety, rotted, trash picnic tables to what many would consider to be one of the most world renowned ramps ever in existence, and only 5 blocks apart at that. Always appreciate the ones you got to ride and stay stoked for the ones you might make tomorrow.

– Brad “Puck” Byrne

The Lost art of Fun

A jam, Photos, and a video by Steve Crandall and friends… Lost Bowl, Richmond Virginia. Build your own Fun! (more…)