Joey's/Bongi's Again...

We rode Joey's jumps for a bit then headed over to Bongi's jungle jumps. Steve had never ridden Bongi's before, but after a few runs was boosting the line and getting rad. We're supposed to be headed to some trails in Rhode Island this weekend. We'll see how things pan out...

Joey's/Bongi's Photos: CLICK HERE

Mid-Day Sesh @ Wethersfield

Bry and I met some peeps at Wethersfield at 11am today for a mid-day session. The place was empty...as in nobody at all! It was fun to have the opportunity to flow around that place not worrying about dodging a flying board or pre-teen scooter rat. I've heard rumors that the park is in pretty rough shape and the rumors proved very true. The flat bottom is gnarly and chipped up, but just fine for some 75 PSI bike tires. Fun, fun!

New Decals; Nice!

They're in and they're rad! Get 'em while they last, only a few dozen in stock.

Storm Carnage

Bry and I made our way over to Joey's Trails today to do some riding, but Mother Nature had other plans. The violent storms on Wednesday and Thursday night wreaked absolute havoc on the trails. As we rolled up it was clear to see that the jumps were eroded, very pitted, and needed some solid work. The real surprise came as we got out of the car and actually made our way over to the trails...a 25 foot tall tree fell right on the 4th lip and lander. We spent a solid 2 hours cutting up the tree with axes (cause there was no chainsaw!), removing water from the pits between jumps, packing new dirt on the lips and generally tuning up the place enough to be rideable. When all was said and through we only got in an hour of riding. Bummer!

R.I.P. Hamden Trails

I heard a rumor that the Hamden Trails were gonna be getting plowed, but this was the real nail in the coffin...

CLICK HERE

Before our session there last September, I hadn't ridden Hamden in nearly 6 years. It's really sad to see such an amazing place being shut down for good. Those trails were truly a work of art and I know the locals broke their back there for the past decade making that place what is was. One can only hope that a new set of trails rise up and the riding goes on.

R.I.P Hamden

New Vinyl Here!

The new website vinyl decals arrived today and the new logo ones should be close behind...

Falcon Monday

We made our yearly trip to Falcon BMX on Monday night. It was hotter than hell, but we managed to get in some solid runs around the track and have a good time. No photos to show for the session, but I'm sure we'll be back there in the near future.

Sunset Ranch Trails Jam

Steve, Bry and I headed up to Mass. to the Sunset Ranch Trail Jam. We arrived at 11 and nobody was there yet. As the day went along more and more riders showed up and people were getting more comfy on their bikes. Chris had the place groomed to perfection and the place was running mint. The soil up there is so nice and tacky, rides so nice! After the trails we hit up Chris' rope swing for an hour or so. Def a great time across state lines! Looking forward to going back soon.

Sunset Ranch Trails Jam Photos: CLICK HERE

New Vinyl Coming

There are 2 new vinyl decals coming in the next week or so. The website sticker is pretty large, meant for a down tube, car rear window, etc. The smaller decal is 5" x 1.25" and should be ideal for sticking just about anywhere.

1st Jumps in June

We had a good sized crew riding Joey's tonight. Surprisingly the placed dried out a ton since Tuesday's session...almost too dry, but we still had fun riding. Steve and Ryan pulled the first over under at the trails, pretty wild! Gonna be one crazy Summer!!

1st Jumps In June Photos: CLICK HERE

DROUGHT OVER!

Yikes, sorry about the posting drought. We've been going through some moving madness and after 9 days, 4 trips with a 17' UHaul, and some brute strength things are done! I hadn't ridden in 2 weeks, but luckily that drought too came to an end Thursday with a solid session at Joey's. A good number of people showed up, the trails were dialed due to all the rain we got, and fun was had by all. Summertime heat is here, as are the bugs. Woo!

Joey's Trails Photos: CLICK HERE

Dick, Stack, Pack

It's been raining like hell, so we've been digging like mad men. We put in a solid 6 hours over the past 2 days dodging the rain showers passing through the state. The trails are looking nice. Can't wait for the rain to end and the riding to begin!

Norwich: 5/10

Bry and I hit up Norwich earlier in the week and he was throwing down the suicide nose picks like they were going outta style! The new section added last year is so nice! Lots of Norwich session this year for sure.

Norwich Photos: CLICK HERE

DIRThsday

Rode Joey's again yesterday afternoon and also hit up Ben Fitzpatrick's trails. Both places were so dry! Man we need those days of rain coming next week.

DIRThsday Photos: CLICK HERE

Logan's Mass. Pics

A huge thanks to Logan Mitchell for snapping some great pics on our trip to Mass. on Saturday.

Check out the action: CLICK HERE

Monday Trails: Joey's & Bongi's

I made my way down to Haddam yesterday afternoon to meet up with Chris Piascik and Ryan Staron and a posse of young rippers from the area to ride Joey's Trails. The place was super dry and crumbly, but we made the best of it and rode for a solid 3 hours. Ryan threw down a tailwhip over the first set, a solid 8-10 foot gap, and got everyone fired up! It's wild to see the next generation of BMXers riding a place I used to hit up 10 years ago. When we used to ride Joey's back in the day most of these kids were just getting out of diapers. Damn I'm getting old! I made an early evening call to Bongi and we made our way down the street to check out the 6 pack in his yard that he and Steve Baklik built in the Fall. The place is legit...true Haddam Trails style for sure. Big jumps requiring lots of speed! Bongi was blasting the set and local Ben Fitzpatrick was getting rad as well. Another fun day of trail riding in the books and it's only early May. Gonna be on hell of a Summer!

Trails Photos: CLICK HERE

Sunset Ranch Video

Chris Traverse made this edit from Saturday's session at his Sunset Ranch Trails. Good stuff!

Sunset Ranch

Steve, Bry and I road tripped up to Mass. on Saturday to hit up the Sunset Ranch Trails in Hatfield. Chris Traverse and his army of local dirt slingers have done some serious digging over the past 6 months and the place is really coming along nicely. Logan Mitchell made the trip down from Keene to ride and shoot some photos. It was good to see him, it's been years since we last rode. We sessioned the trails for several hours, Chris did some grilling, and everyone had a good time. We made our way to the NoHo Park in the afternoon and the park session quickly turned into a wallride session at a near by cement slab. Steve gave it hell and boosted the wall way too high...Rad! The late afternoon plan was to hit up the Westfield Park, but a last minute call from Matty Still took us down to Easthampton for a little ramp action. All in all a kick a$$ day of riding, hanging with old friends, and loving the warm weather. Let's do it again soon!

Mass. Photos: CLICK HERE

Sprague Sesh.

Apparently what we've been calling the Baltic Skatepark for the past few years is actually the Sprague Skatepark....ooops! Anyway, Steve and I rode the park for a few hours and it was insanely windy with random 30 second showers on and off. Really odd weather! Steve was blasting the hip and getting his grind on. Good times.

We're headed to Mass. on Saturday for some trails and park. Should be a fun trip seeing some old faces.

Sprague Sesh. Photos: CLICK HERE

Classic New England BMX!

Man, it's videos like this that make me wish I could go back in time. Tons of rad people riding BMX and having fun. This was shot in 1997, I didn't meet Weasel and his brother Matty..and all the old MSC crew till 2000 or so. Would of been a good time to be up in Mass. in the late 90's!


Go to BNQT.com for more videos.

Hudson Park

I was in Mass. visiting family for the weekend in the vicinity of the Hudson Skatepark. I had planned on hitting up the park on Saturday, but it rained like hell! Oh well, looks like we'll have to road trip up soon. The bowl alone is worth the trip!!

Hudson Skatepark Photos: CLICK HERE

All Trails

So all we've been riding is dirt lately. Gas prices are on the rise and Chad's trails are only 10 minutes from my place! Steve got rad on the Tombstone Kicker, glad it's running well.

Chad's Trails Photos: CLICK HERE

Quick Vid. from Chad's Trails

Chad's Trails Revisted

We hit up Chad's Trails yesterday and they've been rebuilt in the past 6 months since we were last there. The line is tighter and smaller than it was before, but crazy flowy and fun. Rumor has it things will begin to get built up more and more as the weather get nicer. Steve manned up and was giving it hell on the mountain bike bridge drop. Good times for sure...and the trails are only 10 minutes from my doorstep!

Chad's Trails Photos: CLICK HERE

April's a Drag!

April showers in full effect that past 3 days straight! Looking forward to May, warmth, sunshine, and trails!

More Middletown...

This is the finished product :(

Middletown Skatepark Progress: 4/5/11

Despite some set backs it looks like the crew is making progress at the Middletown Skatepark. It was raining like hell today, but some makeshift tents were set up and the concrete was flying. Rumor has it the park will be done sometime this month.

Park, Trails, Street Sunday

Steve, Bry and I hit up the Middlefield Park for a half hour yesterday morning. The place was empty and fun to pump around. We met up with Sean Milnes and Chris Piascik and headed down to some trails South of Middletown mid-day. The local kids were cool and the place was pretty fun, it was nice to ride some dirt for the first time in 2011. It was fun to ride with Sean and Chris, it's been too long! Riding trails also got us inspired to start digging and getting things in order on our end. New trails in the works, should be a fun set up! We topped off the day with a little street riding at a local high school. It was a pretty ideal day of riding, a little park, trails, and street and everyone had fun.

Sunday Photos: CLICK HERE

Tuesday Session: March 29th

Bry and I rode the Cromwell park for an hour or so with Ryan Staron before Evan showed up and persuaded us to head over to Wethersfield. It was the first time we've been to the Wethersfield Skatepark this year and the Winter was not nice to the park. The majority of the flat bottom is cracked and chipped away making the place nearly un-skateable. Apparently this has resulted in the park being virtually empty on a daily basis...leading to some heavy BMX sessions. I'm sure the town is gonna fix the damage so get your sessions in before it's infested with kids again!

Tuesday Session Photos: CLICK HERE

Plainville Park

The new Plainville Skatepark is open and Bry and I hit it up on Friday afternoon for a bitter cold session. The place has a few good hits, but is pretty spread out and small...like most pre-fab parks are. Brandon Begin showed up and was getting rad. It was good to ride with him, haven't seen that kid in forever. Good times likes usual!

Plainville Photos: CLICK HERE

Jam Postponed!

Sorry folks, the Spring Has Sprung Jam is being postponed till May. We're due to get 5-8" of snow tonight, the temps are gonna hover around freezing till next week, and things just aren't falling into place as expected. We'd rather postpone it and have it be a great event, than have a cold, sh1tty one this weekend. Stay tuned for a new date!

Saturday Sessions: 3/19/11

Steve and I hit up the Middlefield Skatepark Saturday afternoon. I didn't even have my bike out of the car yet and some 3 foot tall weiner who couldn't of been any older than 12 or 13 felt the need to belt out "Skateboards Only"...as if that was gonna stop us from riding the park. Need I say it again...we have plastic pedals, pegs, and bar ends. Our bikes are less destructive than skate trucks! We rode the place for 20 minutes or so before a ton of skaters rolled in. The place isn't crowd friendly and is packed with 5-8 people trying to session the place at once so we hit the road.

We headed over to the Newington Skatepark later in the afternoon and the place was crowded as usual. Pro-hoes sitting on the ramps, little kids on scooters....typical Newington session. Ryan Staron was at the park blasting airs out of the big quarter. Total balls!...cause it was windy and the slightest gust could of been deadly! It was nice to ride 2 days in a row, but damn I'm getting old...my whole body hurts! We capped off the day chilling around Steve's fire pit, good times for sure. Rest today, rain tomorrow, maybe some riding Tuesday?

Saturday Session Photos: CLICK HERE

Middlefield....Finally!

We finally hit up the Middlefield Park today. Rumor has it the town decided to make the park skateboards only. No bikes, blades, scooters, etc. Talk about some BS discrimination! Regardless, we rode the place for 2 hours and nobody said a word to us. To our surprise the place already has a lot of chipping and cracking going on, proof that boards are just as destructive as bikes can be. Fortunately, we run plastic pegs, pedals, and bar ends so even if our bikes did hit the concrete no damage would be done and nobody could gripe at us. Bry pulled a really solid fuf which resulted in a great photo. We had a good time flowing around the place. Hopefully there will be more sessions to come at Middlefield. Later in the afternoon we hit up the Cromwell Park, which was infested with kids like usual. It was sunny and 75 out, so it didn't matter how crowded the park was, we were enjoying riding outside and the Spring-like weather. Bring on the sunshine!

Session Photos: CLICK HERE

The Lot

The Lot needs some serious shovel loving, but the snow is finally gone!

2 Weeks - WHOA!

New world record, 2 weeks without a post! Why you ask?...because Haven has been closed, we haven't been riding much and I've been away on a ski trip for the last week. The snow is melting fast, the temps are in the 50's, and rumor has it the Cromwell and Newington Parks are clear and rideable. Spring is just around the corner and we'll be riding out a$$es off soon enough! Don't forget, Spring has Sprung Jam in 2 weeks!

Jake's Going Under the Knife!

So after 6 months of waiting to get into a doctor and get an MRI due to insurance BS, Jake finally got his knee checked out. The results were what most of us expected, a torn ACL...and torn meniscus. Man, that is sh1t luck! After all the huge front flip attempts and 720's Jake has hucked at The Lot, a dead sailor bail on one of the small line jumps and a mis-footed landed took him out. Jake goes under the knife in mid-March and will be off the bike for 5 months. Get well dude! Jake will be the one man cheering section at all the jams this Spring & Summer...and peddling TYRANT merch. for me :)

Spring has Sprung is back!

After a 1 year hiatus due to my busted hand and rehab, the Spring has Sprung Jam is back for 2011. Mark your calendars kiddies, this year's jam won't disappoint!

NEW Old Graffiti Tees

Re-screened some more of the graffiti tees, this time in periwinkle blue. $10 as always!

Officially Over 30!

31 today! When am I eligible for the senior citizen free coffee at McDonalds?

Saturday Mass.

I was being lazy and napping on my couch Saturday afternoon when Matty Still woke me telling us to come to Saturday Mass. Bry and I made our way North through some snow squalls and over some black ice and it was worth the ride. Nothing beats a good old Mass. session, thanks guys!

Saturday Mass. Photos: CLICK HERE

Finally...BMX!

Man, I have ridden once in the past 6 weeks. We've totally been giving in to Winter having fun skiing, snowboarding, sledding, and most importantly snow biking! Thanks to Ryan Staron and his hench men the Cromwell Skatepark mini ramp is shoveled off and totally rideable. I met Steve over at the Crompton Park this morning for a brisk 33º session. The whole park is under 40" of snow, but the mini is legit!

P.S. Spring is 37 days away!!

Cromwell Snow Sesh: CLICK HERE

Banks A Go Again?

So the Portland Banks have been somewhat of a bust, and totally littered with machinery, storage containers, and dumpsters, for a few years now. Due to all the snow and ice we've received the 2 building at the banks suffered severe damage...including one completely imploding! Could this mean the place is gonna sit abandoned and in shambles this Spring?...and we can session the banks once again? Time will only tell!

Winter Carnage Photos: CLICK HERE

Giving in to Winter!

So it's been snowing non-stop and Haven is closed due to roof issues. Steve and I took full advantage of the mass amounts of white stuff and built a little booter at a local hill. Good times!

Valleyview Booter Photos: CLICK HERE

Remembering Alexi DeRochambeau

I got word today that long time BMX friend Alexi DeRochambeau passed away Saturday. This news sent chills up my spine! The kid was so young..WHY?!?!? I have so many amazing memories of hanging out at Alexi's old shops Broken Spoke Bike Shop and Dying Trends, both in Westerly, RI. Alexi was a great guy and we had a lot of fun at the White Rock Park back in the day. I could never forget all the hell raising we did at the FBM Ghetto Street Comp in 2003! When TYRANT got up and running in 2002 Alexi didn't hesitate to fill his shop with shirts, hoodies, hats, and those OG bar ends we made. He supported the hell out of TYRANT! Rest in peace friend, you'll be greatly missed but NEVER forgotten!

New Year, New Stickers

Mellow '11

At the beginning of each year I have big hopes and dreams about doing crazy things with TYRANT and moving in leaps and bounds. Truth is each year I let myself down by March or April - get in that work, eat, sleep, ride groove - and next thing you know Winter is here and the year is gone. I'm not making any predictions for 2011. My goal for TYRANT is to focus on having a sh1t load of fun riding and hanging out with friends and snap some rad photos here and there. Anything else is a total bonus. I do have a new TYRANT site in the works. Nothing too bling, blinging...but a little something fresh to look at. Keep checking back, it will be up in the near future. Enjoy 2011!

Cravin' Haven!

It's been 3 longs weeks off the bike, jonesing to get out and ride Haven. Steve and I went down on Thursday night, but I still felt the need to let the leg chill, hoping to ride Tuesday night!

Haven Photos: CLICK HERE

All Iced Out

So yesterday's storm put a nice glaze on everything! The snow bike is now an ice bike.

Leg On the Mend

It's been just about 3 weeks since I've ridden the BMX, but the leg is feeling really good! The bruising has disappeared from the quad and my knee is feeling pretty stable...though I've been wearing a brace for any outdoor activities. I got in some XC skiing last weekend and I'm hoping to get in some more this coming one. Gotta get the strength built back up. Hoping to get to Haven next week for some easy riding, just pumping around and stuff. The Doc. said "Don't be a jacka$$, no stunts or anything, just leg the leg heal! You'll be happy come Spring when you're 100%" Makes sense.

Benedict Kicked Our A$$

27" outside my house boys and girls...that's no joke. Snow so deep the snow bike wouldn't even slide when T tried to ride it!

Never Too Old to Get Rad!

Steve, Bry and I headed down to Haven from 9-11 last night for Macisco's Birthday rental. Another year in the books for Mike, dude's well over the 30 mark now but still getting rad. Happy B-Day Mike!

Macisco's B-Day Rental Photos: CLICK HERE

Snow Bike Sesh.

Steve gave it hell on the snow bike this afternoon! We went to some huge sand hills ideal for getting rad on the bike. Soft snow with soft sand underneath, ideal "hucking" conditions. Good times for sure!

Snow bike sesh photos: CLICK HERE

Pasta for Heaven

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW AND READ UP ON THE HEAVEN BENEFIT PASTA DINNER...

Hebrank on the East Coast!

Good friend, world traveler, tattoo artist, and dead bird fanatic Shawn Hebrank is on the East Coast for a week of hotness at Off The Map Tattoo in Easthampton, Mass. After stopping by the Team EAST lair I met up with Shawn and gal pal Amy in NoHo for some Indian cuisine. It's always a treat when Shawn's in town...good stories, good laughs, and all around good times. If you're out in the Minneapolis area be sure to look Shawn up for some tattoo work...or catch him at one of his many guest spots around the country!

Over 30 Club

Age is nothing but a number! Old dudes can still give it hell. Over 30 club in full effect...

Photos: CLICK HERE

Team EAST New Year's Jam

A huge thanks to Matty Still and the Team EAST family for throwing a kick a$$ jam last night. Lots of great peeps and lots of fun! If this is a sign of things to come in 2011 expect an epic year!