Nick Ferreira

Posts from Nick:

Holeshot Issue 8 Promotional Tool

Issue 8 is now available for Pre Order here. Subscriptions are no longer available and I guess this is probably the most fitting place to say that issue number 9 will be the last. Don’t worry, we’re working on going out with a bang.

Bonus! Check out Holeshot’s section from the FBM Gypsy Caravan 3 DVD. The full video is available at finer bicycle retailers everywhere.

Sasquatch Canyon & Jackson Allen

1000 posts on a blogspot doesn’t sound like much of a topic to, well, blog about. But if you ask these motherfuckers or anyone else who’s ever tried holding down a consistent blog, blogging ain’t easy, especially when done well. Jackson Allen does just that. His blog, the Santa Cruz, CA based, Sasquatch Canyon is a testament to what good things can come from the internet and new media. The site is not an overnight sensation or a place for your sponsorship news, but rather a place for local scene updates and an outlet for some really great original content. Just recently though, Jackson and Sasquatch Ccanyon hit 1000 posts. And while celebrating any number seems arbitrary, taking a minute to recognize something real is the least we could do. It’s also a little easier to recognize when Jackson went ahead and made one awesome video to premiere here on The Least Most. To coincide with the release on the world wide web I got in touch with Jackson to discuss Sasquatch Canyon which you can read below.

Jackson Allen by Joey Cobbs

So 1000 posts. You must be some kind of big shot blogger right? In case people are not familiar with the site, could you describe it, in your own words?
Haha, yeah it’s a pretty nerdy reason to celebrate but then again Sasquatch Canyon can get pretty nerdy sometimes. The blog serves a lot of functions and depending on my moods or the seasons concentrates on trails both here and abroad, the overall Santa Cruz/Central Coast BMX milieu or just things that catch my eye and the eyes of my friends. There are a lot of people who I would consider part of the Sasquatch Canyon family, birds of a feather, and the site serves as something we can all share even though we may not all live in Santa Cruz or see each other everyday.

Mike Hernandez by Joey Cobbs

What does 1000 posts equate to in real time and how has it changed, or not changed, from it’s inception ‘˜til present?
When the Canyon turned 1000 posts recently I actually looked back at some of the older posts and figured out that it has been about 3 years since I made the first post. The last two years I have averaged more than a post a day so that accounts for the big number. Originally the blog was just a way to share sketchy photos of our progress at a specific set of trails that shared the same name. The trails eventually became a bust and have since been plowed and although that sucked, the blog had changed so much over the years it didn’t matter much in terms of carrying the blog on. Pretty early on I also started posting photos and videos of other trails and stuff that held my interest. I still do this but over the years a lot of other blogs have done this (more thoroughly and enjoyably, I might add) and at the same time I started to get interested in photography and filming and wanted to produce more of our own content. In fact, I just finished some tangible Canyon content: t-shirts. So check those out, designed and printed by Chromaculture (a trail-rider-run-business in Santa Cruz). Although I am still the only person who actually makes the posts, the family of people who contribute has grown over the years. Tons of people have submitted photos and email me with ideas or notes about content that is out there and the majority of the posts come out of conversations with friends.

Mike Hernandez by Jackson Allen

One of the things I really like about SC is you produce a lot of original content for what I’m assuming is no financial gain, Why bother? Going on a roadtrip to ride a fullpipe and building trails is enough work, what makes you want to document stuff?
Yeah, for a reasonably small seaside town we have joked that we have a pretty high blogger-per-capita count, particularly in the bmx world and we all seem to be working on stuff all the time. I work a fair amount and I don’t mind what I do and enjoy my co-workers, but I have a ton of energy left over that wouldn’t be satisfied by just riding and chilling, particularly as I get older. I think creating things, even small things is incredibly human and I am not quite sure what else there is to do in life so I think we all just get the itch to take photos, film things, dig when we can and generally modify and document the world around us. Although we have a really cohesive group of friends and riders here in SC, everybody has different tastes in riding and documenting and people live on different sides of town or have different schedules so we often create stuff to share with each other as well as the outside world. There is a lot cross pollination in our groups and its really fun to see what other people are up to.

Do you have any formal training in the realm of photo or video because everything looks pretty damn good?
Thanks, I don’t have any particular formal training, but I do benefit from having free time, the internet at my disposal and some incredibly talented and generous friends to learn from. I don’t consider myself a photographer but I have learned some amazing photo and video stuff by osmosis from the following people: Dave Reuss, Chris Riesner, Ryan Fowler, Chris McMahon, Chester Jones, Jarrod Allen and many others.

Anthony Quiroz by Jackson Allen

Santa Cruz plays a big role in the site. If I were you I’d never leave Santa Cruz. How do you feel about it, based on the site I assume pretty good?
Well, I have lived here for a little over 9 years now and still thoroughly enjoy it. Although it is a small area sandwiched between fairly finite boundaries (a small mountain range and the ocean) it seems to get bigger every year as I meet more people and find new stuff to do. My extended family lives here now, so if I ever did leave, this would still be home. Sasquatch Canyon is a bit of a place of the mind at this point but it is definitely tied to, and fueled by Santa Cruz, so if I ever did leave I wouldn’t take the blog with me. I like to travel but I’ve never found a place I like more than Santa Cruz.

I also really like that there seems to be a lot of varying inspirations coming through on the site. Care to name any?
I once read a discussion about skateboarding being about the exploration and exploitation of architecture. I think that is true and I think BMX is about doing the same with landscape in general. Santa Cruz, Northern California and the landscapes we travel to are the first and foremost inspiration. Green and Gold. With my aesthetics, a ton of disparate elements have informed it over the years, but these are just a few that have particularly influenced the Canyon: Neil Young, the woodblock printer Tom Killion, The Adventures of Tintin by HergÃ©, Bill Waterson, the illustrations of NC Wyeth, Dig Magazine, Me Write Book: It Bigfoot Memoir, the spirit of the pioneers of BMX and Mountain Biking, Spike Jonze, Richard Brautigan, Dave Parrick, accounts of Santa Cruz history, and Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. I am constantly inspired by the stuff I see on the internet and in the real world and by all my friends in and out of bmx, people that dig and create all the amazing spots around the world. All the people that are generally living in a way that is of their own choosing and makes them happy inspire me to do the same.

Andy Maguire by Jackson Allen

Thanks Jackson, I really enjoy checking the site and thanks for sharing this video with The Least Most. if you have anyone you’d like to thank or anything you’d like to add, feel free!
Thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and continues to view it, thanks to everyone who has let me come ride their trails or other spots and let me stay with them. Thanks to all of Santa Cruz, the Central Coast and the Bay Area and particularly, but in no order: My parents, Otis, Mike Hernandez, Dave Reuss and Snacks, Ryan Fowler, Jordan Murdock and Brandon York, Chris Riesner, Dusty Sampson, Andy Maguire, Kurt Seiver, Country Clubbin, Anthony Quiroz, Murph, Ryan Nyquist,Travis Hill, Matt Mardesich, all the NCBs, Eric Zelner and all the trail locals in SC, Mark Potoczny, Chester Jones, Chunky, POWS, Crazy Chris, Joey Cobbs, Chris at SJBMX.com, Chris San Agustin, Brad Davies, Luke Brennan, Pacific Avenue Cycles, Holeshot, IntheGnar, Pretty Shady, Steve Crandall and John Lee at FBM, Robbie at Cult, all of the bloggers and sites that have given the Canyon love (check the links on the blog), Least Most and you Nick for giving me this opportunity. Thanks to everyone else who I forgot, you know who you are. See you out there.

Be sure to check back for Part II this Friday!

A Critical Study Involving Live Fast Die

I know most of you readers are either out of school for the summer and don’t even want to think about anything considered “critical” or could care less but I was just reading some excerpts from this book “To The Extreme: Alternative Sports, Inside Out” and stumbled upon the BMX chapters. In Kyle Kusz’s essay BMX, Extreme Sports and The White Male Backlash he uses FBM’s “Live Fast Die” to back up his theories on the stereotypical angry white male, subcultures, and sports in general. It’s sort of interesting and available on every luddite’s enemy, Google Books, here (page 153).

That photo has nothing to do with FBM’s Live Fast Die but looks pretty cool and dude looks like he probably lived sorta fast.

Rhode Island Gold

Great Moments in Props Commercial History.

Bulldog Bikes “Worldwide”

Perhaps the best Props commercial ever. I watched this thing 4 million times, confused and psyched at the same time. Unfortunately, it’s not on the internet for our viewing pleasure. Hopefully someday Jimmie Mac will upload it. And for the record, I think Bulldog is awesome. Until Jimmie Mac uploads the notorious commercial, watch the above YouTube video and check out their site, BullDogBikes Worldwide, at the same time and you might get an idea.

Chad DeGroot Baco Designs

props commercial for baco designs spoofing riders from Chad DeGroot/Deco. on Vimeo.

Thanks to Tunney for reminding me of this one. Pretty amazing. An updated 2010 street version of this would be killer!

Todd Lyons JNCO

I was always a little confused about the interludes of TL sweeping and mopping? I can’t see how he would have been sponsored by Huffy and JNCO and had to work as a janitor but who knows. One thing I am not confused about is how awesome those warp effects and TL”s bashguard was! Hell yeah!

Psychic Flying Monkey “Carnie and Trailer Trash Show” Trailer

While this is not the original that was in Props (I know because the opening clip was the last clip of the young lady lake jumping had a flashing censor bar over her chest that read “BOOBS!!!”), it is still amazing and I hope you’ll take the time to watch it. Afterward you might find yourself asking “what happened to Jason Davies?” or maybe just “What happened?”. I would also suggest taking a few minutes to click around Psychic Flying Monkey’s site or at the very least just these photos of Jose Yanez lake jumping.

Animal – Bob Scerbo Filler Commercial

I hate to be nostalgic but this is probably one of my favorite periods of BMX and this commercial sort of exemplifies why. Great song and I don’t know about you but those 29 seconds definitely convinced me to buy Can I Eat?

Joel Miller

Joel is without a doubt one of the best to do it. I met him at Woodward years ago and we’ve stayed in some sort of contact ever since. Cool, calm, collected. Those words don’t even begin to describe this enigma from Derry, NH. Ever since knowing Joel he’s done something that has blown my mind. From building his own bikes to learning how to sail around the world, he’s been on it. There’s no doubt he’s got it all figured it out and has for some time. I heard a story that when Joel was down under on his sailing expedition he borrowed a local’s bike and blasted some ramps with nothing but some booty jean shorts on. He’s legendary and not just for his skills but for his attitude. I’m sick of people being held in high regard just because they are “good” at stuff. Joel could probably care less about who is better. In fact I doubt he even knows how awesome he is, in his world everyone is awesome. A sailor, welder, farmer, BMXer and now husband, Joel is a true inspiration and hopefully sometime in the future I can put something more than this ragtag of words and photos together so the world can get a better picture of who he is. For cinematic proof of Joel’s prowess on a bike see the Props Credence trip from a few years ago and the opening clip to the youtube flick below. For proof of how awesome he really is, well, you might just have to track him down yourself for that.

Bottom photos stolen from internet.

Holeshot Issue 7 Promotional Tool

Issue 7 of Holeshot is at the printer now. What follows is some of the stuff that went into making it. The last page has pre-order information but if you already want to pre-order, do so here. Thanks.

Holeshot #7 is 56 pages, B&W digital offset, stapled and available for pre-order now. Also, all t-shirt orders come with a free zine, while supplies last! Pre-Order here!

Build Your Own Ramp

My buddy Mike has had numerous ramps in his yard over the years. Some better than others but all of them bring back great memories. From trying to figure out how to ride a 6 foot quarterpipe while listening to Civ to mellow afternoons sippin’ beers and riding the current mini ramp that’s tucked away in his backyard, it’s all been fun and Mike made it happen for his friends.

I know it seems like a huge cop out to get my friend to answer some questions about ramps, but it’s kind of the point. Mike is just a regular dude, who tries to build his own fun in his free time. I’m sure Tim Payne or whoever is a professional ramp builder would have interesting things to say about building ramps but you’re probably not trying to build the next Woodward. This is fuel to fill that awkward piece of land behind your mom’s house with a plywood paradise. Hopefully Mike can help the budding ramp builder in you get started on a summertime fun creation.

As someone who has had numerous ramps in their yard, can you give the readers any advice for getting the ball rolling on building their own fun?
I think that for me it came to a point where I just bought the wood and went for it. The more I thought about it, the more my ideas kept changing so I just started framing the transitions and went from there.

I feel like your ramps are always the perfect blend of scrap and salvaged material with quality craftsmanship. What kind of carpentry skills do you have?
My carpentry skills are average, when I built the ramp I have now, I would get aggravated and impatient at times so instead of trying to make something perfect I would just go with it. As I kept building the costs were getting higher so I think I started to cut some corners to make ends meet, that’s probably why the ramp I have now is pretty scrappy.

You can be bias on this one, but what are some of the best backyard ramps you’ve ridden?
When I was younger I thought Steve Wholen’s mini/bowl at the West Bridgewater Massachusetts trails was unbelievable, perfect transition on that thing. I also have to say the quarter I had in my driveway with the added vert wall that you and I rode everyday after school was a hit. Also who could forget my scrap street spine that was never finished even though Kris Viera ( Editor’s Note: Taunton Legend) jumped it and landed on the 2x4s.

The high school era quarterpipe was so good, I kind of forgot about that but regardless I’m sure a lot of kids have a hard time convincing their parents that a ramp is a good idea. Got any first hand experience with this?
I always just told them it was going to be smaller than the last one which was an absolute lie. As far as advice goes, I’d just keep bothering them until they give in like when Bart and Lisa (Simpson) did when they kept asking Homer for a pool.

What do you consider the most important tools and supplies for ramp construction. What’s a necessity for the kid just getting started?
A good cordless drill and solid circular saw with a fresh blade are probably the most important tools needed. A good jig saw isn’t a bad idea for cutting the transitions.

Speaking of transitions, they are one of the most important parts of the ramp. Any secrets to getting that perfect wooden wave?
Yea one of the most important parts and probably the toughest. I tried the string and pencil approach but I think what worked best for me was just going free hand. I think I had some help from you on one of my ramps. I feel like you can always adjust slightly when it comes time run the 2x4s across to the other side. You don’t always have to follow the cut you made in the sides, I think if you want it a little steeper you can screw them in so they stick above the edge of ply. Maybe this isn’t the best idea but that could be why each side of my mini feels like it has a different slope.

But it works and we’ve great times out there. Okay so once you have the ramp, what kind of maintenance do you do, if any, to keep it running strong especially with harsh New England winters?
I was lucky enough to have some old swimming pool covers that basically kept the entire ramp out of the elements. I would always tie them down and put some old blocks of wood on top to keep it from blowing off but it got to the point that no matter what I did water was still getting underneath. I was also pretty good about shoveling it off after a snowfall but as the ramp got older I started to slack of a bit with that.

Thanks for doing the interview. I think I got everything but feel free to fill in the blanks to anything I may have forgotten.
Thanks for appreciating my ramps over the past decade and I hope this motivates people to go out and build something of their own.

If we forgot anything or if you’ve got any insider ramp tips, hit up the forum and keep it flowing.

Under Appreciated

There are countless BMXers that go under appreciated. Shit, pretty much everyone that rides and doesn’t do a footjam tailwhip on a bank kind of falls under the radar, so I thought I’d make a (very) short list of pros and non-pros that deserve maybe a little more than what they get, appreciation-wise. Obviously there are literally hundreds of under appreciated riders so I’m going to be missing a lot of those. To state your claim, hit up the forum or something.

1. Kevin Robinson

Call me biased because the first skatepark I ever went to (Impact) was Kevin’s, but this dude rules. Obviously to Johnny cool guy BMX, some of Kevin Robinson’s choices may seem a little suspect and he is a little on the athletic side, but let’s face it, this dude rules. I’ve seen him duct tape kids feet to the pedals so they learned how to peg stall, rip jumping variations in Britania hi-top Seakers, and literally play Bro-Hymn Tribute all day at one of his infamous Impact contests. Think about that for a second. Duct tape, Britania hi-tops, and Bro Hymn. How could you not like this guy. Plus he aired 27 feet out of a 27 foot tall ramp. In case you’re too cool for school that’s 54 feet on a tiny ass bike.

2. Sean Butler

No forced trail quail style, plenty of weird contest antics, and unabashedley a dirt jumper make this SHL high on my list of riders who don’t get the credit they deserve. Now, I don’t know about him being the “Michael Jordan of BMX Dirt Jumping” (Did Michael Scott write that entry?), I’d save a title like that for someone like Mirra. Maybe a good NBA comparison could be Mugsy Bogues. Under appreciated by most but held in high regard by some. Plus his 360 can-cans are amazing.

3. Robbie Morales

Forget about Fit, CULT, and the business side of BMX for one minute. Think of Rob-O and appreciate the simplicity that was apart of his riding. Tables, manuals, fastplants. Everything was effortless and made me realize I didn’t have to get extreme in order to have fun riding BMX.

4. Ratboy

Although I think Ratboy is actually appreciated more now than when he was in his prime ( I can remember vile things being said of the hip hop soldier in his day), I still feel he should be on the list. But with the help of a few other Arizona riders, he pretty much shaped the current state of BMX, slower, all street, weird grinds, etc. His rocket variations are incredible and his seat is higher than Jody Donnelly’s. ONE HANDED TAILWHIP FOOTPLANT.

5. You.

You can call this a cop-out (you’re partly right) but hear me out on this. Chances are if you ride BMX you don’t get flow, no one pays your entry fees or plane tickets to ride exotic locales. It probably consists a little more of doing things you don’t want to do and squeezing that 2 hour skatepark session in or getting up early before work to dial in the trails. Whether you sit in your moms basement and play video games all day before you ride or juggle school and work and only have a half an hour every week to ride, you’re under appreciated in my book.

Great BMX Part Names

1. Primo Stiffies.

C’mon, doesn’t get any better. So butthead.

2. S&M Handlebars.

Gay Bars, Dive Bars, SLAM Bars, etc. The Gay Bars Graphic was so awesome.

3. FBM CB4Ks

Truth be told, I’ve never seen that flick, but Chris Rock is incredible, as well as Michael Scott impersonating him.

4. Hoffman Deebo

I just think it’s awesome that they named a frame after a character in Friday. Plus it’s Hoffman so they gotta get on here at some point, right?

5. SNAFU Rim Job.

Yikes. Ain’t touching that one. Although, surprisingly, not that crazy of images with SafeSearch off.

6. Primo Moe’s Bars

I <3 Moe.

7. Animal Sprocky Balboa

Good name. As much as I like Ripsaw or something as equally sprocket-like, this one’s funny and funny always wins. While on the subject of sprocket names, does anyone know why Odyssey uses Vermont, and the capital of Vermont, Burlington, for a sprocket name?

8. S&M Menstrual Cycle.

S&M keeps it going with butthead names. Girls who ride get to deal with all kinds of awesomeness like this.

9. HWA Fong Daddy

Duh. Jimmy Garcia, Pre Hwa Fong.

How To: One Page Zine + Free Download

I love zines. Good ones, bad ones, whatever. Actually, I kind of just like when people actually make stuff or do something but if it’s a zine I guess it’s an added bonus. With that in mind I figured I would do a how to make a one-page zine. Since it’s all fairly easy to do, I’ll be brief with descriptions and instructions. And really if you want to make a zine, you shouldn’t take any instructions too seriously because you should just make it how you want it to look, like riding. Freestyle it, you know? Okay so here goes.

1. Get some source material.
Your own photos, drawings, magazines, other people’s stuff, whatever. For example, I decided to make a one page zine from the February 1995 issue of BMX Plus!

2. Photocopy that shit!
Since you probably don’t want to ruin any of your own drawings or photos, you’re best bet is to just photocopy them. Most copy places have certain settings for different things you’d like to photocopy (Text for line drawings, Photo for photos, etc.). Sometimes they look cooler on different settings though and since it’s pretty cheap to make photocopies you might as well experiment with it a little. Some features to experiment with are the negative/positive modes, repeat, and just straight destroying something by photocopying it over and over. If you don’t use it sometimes the copy clerks take it back and refund you but sometimes you’ve got to eat it.

3. Cut & Paste.
Decide what size piece of copy paper you want to make your one pager (or more than one pager) and use it as the background for all the cool things you’re going to cut-out. This is pretty self explanatory. Cut out stuff, arrange it, paste it, repeat. Note: Cat on back is not necessary.

4. Proof It.
Now is the time to make sure you wanna spend your lunch money on something that most people will just recycle. To make people less prone to recycle your masterpiece, check your spelling, facts (unless you’re plan is to lie to the world, which is sweet), dial the photos in, etc. And when you think it’s all set to go…

5. Photocopy That Shit! (Again!)
The best thing about zines is that it’s so cheap to make something that is real easy to reproduce. Of course it’s not as easy and as widely read as a blog but this is neither the time nor the place for that article. If you care about that, might as well quit reading now. So if you decided to make a double sider, you’re gonna have to figure out the double sided settings on the copier you’re using. Sometimes it’s a pain in the ass but if it doesn’t matter how the pages are orientated back to back then it shouldn’t be a big deal. If it does matter you might have to do some finagling or if you’re pages are securely glued, then you could try the feeder on top of the copier (if the one you are working with even has it). You’ll figure it out, I have faith in you.

6. Distribute.
Drop a few off at the local bike/skate/record shop. Send ’em to cool places, pass ’em out to your friends, or embrace new media and make it available for download and instruct the masses on printing it double-sided. Of course for this you’ll need a scanner for this but it’s a cool option. Regardless, since you made something, you might as well let it see the light of day.

To download the 2 page .pdf of the files you see above, click here or on either image.

Accessorize

BMX accessories. As a kid, they were my favorite. They were cheap, made your bike unique, and most importantly just looked cool. And while you can get nearly any part you want in any color now, I know some people still hold the unnecessary things like valve caps, frame padsets, and even brake pads in high regard. Plus it’s fun to try and track down the elusive and coveted deadstock crap like the absolute nerds we are. I compiled a list of some of my favorite accessories. If you think I’m missing something important, feel free to log-in to the forum and give your two cents.

1. Valve Caps
First and foremost there is no other BMX accessory more near and dear to a ten year old’s heart than cool valve caps. It’s why we stole chrome caps off of cars in parking lots of suburban nation faux ritzy restaurants. Dice, skulls, sharks, bullets, money signs, I love them all. There are about four billion cool ones online and I bet if you look around at your local shop, you could find something cooler. My friend found some with Sharks that have sunglasses on. I’m not sure it even gets cooler than that but who knows. You might even be able to find those Jive Handle ones. Don’t worry about feeling nerdy and dorky, believe me, it could always be worse.

2. Pad sets
It seems that cool pad sets like UGP’s “86”, The S&M ones, and BOMBER’s, have been replaced by weird strips of patent leather and what amounts to a jockstrap for your stem (see below) so it really is no surprise that non racers don’t run them anymore.

Occasionally I’ll see a stem pad or maybe a crossbar pad but I’d be really psyched to see a full comeback especially with something like these:
. Which raises the question, what happened to BOMBER? They made the first pad set I ever had and while airbrushed graffiti art on BMX pads and number plates is a little suspect, they were relatively awesome. While doing some “research” for next week’s post in the February of 1995 issue of BMX Plus!, I found out BOMBER was based in Eugene, Oregon. But that was literally all I could find. Nothing on the web except for two pairs of shiny gold padsets, each for sale in completely different parts of the US, one on craigslist and one on ebay. I was expecting something, maybe an angelfire fan site or to find that streetwear aficionados co-opted the mix between BMX and graff culture, but nothing. Which is kind of weird because even Jive Handles still has their website up.

3. Number Plates
Occasionally I still see a number plate or two at on non race bikes but not nearly as when I was a kid. A number plate on your bike meant you raced, regardless if you actually were a part of a sanctioning body or not. Obviously it was pretty easy to tell the difference between someone who actually raced, and someone who just had it for show. This obvious discerning factor being the numbers. As a racer part of a sanctioning body, I had a boring “24F”. The kids who didn’t race but had plates in my neighborhood had something more akin to this.
Regardless of whether one raced or not, plates just looked BMX and it meant another spot for stickers and funny drawings which is always a good thing. Plates like the UGP Oval, that Troy Lee Designs one with the cursive writing die-cut around the top, and BOMBER designs were always my favorite. It might be time for someone to resurrect sweet looking number plates.

4. Randoms
Donuts, Brake Pads, Bar Ends. Like I said before there’s probably a million little things I’ve forgotten about so go reminisce in the forum if you have something to add.