Back to Sunset Ranch

Steve and I adventured North to to Sunset Ranch in Hatfield, Mass for a little trails action. Chris, the trail boss, has been slaving keeping the place in mint condition...even after Irene a few weeks ago and 3 straight days of rain last week. The place has progressed a ton since we were up there last in June. After a little dirt action we hit up the Southwick Trails, which were totally flooded surprising us all. We back tracked 15 minutes to Agawam and ended up hitting up the local skatepark there. The place was infested with kids, but it had a fun layout and when we could get a clean line it was fun as hell!

Sunset Ranch Photos: CLICK HERE

Non-stop Rain!

Man, in the wake of Hurricane Irene we're now getting hosed with 3 straight days of rain. The CT River is flooding again and everything is saturated. The trails are going to need some insane maintenance after these past few weeks. Get out there are dig!!!

Ride Your Heart Out!

5 years ago this week Shawn Hebrank created this kick a$$ artwork for us. Back then the design was used for stickers, but I though it was about time I got it on a shirt...AVAILABLE NOW in the Online Store above.

Be sure to check out Shawn's other artwork on his website by clicking his name above or over the link in the right sidebar.

Post-Irene

Nothing new to report, it's been a slow week in the wake of Hurricane Irene. Fall is fast approaching, cool weather sessions are just around the corner. Psyched!!!

Come on Irene!

Steve and I hung up the bikes and got out the body boards today. We made our way down to Rhode Island in hopes of getting in on the high surf action. There was a mandatory evacuation and only town residents were being let into the area. We rolled up on the Westerly evacuation check point pretty convinced we'd be turned away by the cop, but a little fibbing and knowing people who have a house in town got us through. We hit up the surf near the Westerly Town beach for a solid hour or so and Steve's GF Melissa was snapping photos (I'll post them Monday). Eventually the State Police made the rounds and evacuated everyone from the beach. Nothing like a little pre-hurricane adventure!

Friday Full Pipe

Steve and I hit up the Norwich Skatepark for a little while Friday afternoon then went on a stealth mission to find a full pipe we had heard about. The place is in a pretty populated area, and the evening rush hour wasn't the most ideal time to be sneaking around places, but we made it happen. Despite the pipe being small, the place that it's located in is epic! Steve wasted no time in giving it hell in the rusty death pipe.

Full Pipe Friday Photos: CLICK HERE

EH, Wolcott, Falcon

Bry and I did a little day tripping and hit up the East Hampton Skatepark, the Wolcott Skatepark, and the Falcon BMX Track in Meriden. The weather was perfect, mid 70's and sunny! We did a ton of riding and I shot no photos...so here are some GoogleMaps photos of the locations as filler. Doing it all again tomorrow...Norwich, Baltic and Plainfield!

9 Day Drought, 3 Days Full On!

So I've been really busy, didn't ride for 9 days straight! I had to put a swift end to that! Bry and I rode the Newington and Cromwell Parks late last week. It was good to see Bry riding decent despite still recouping from a destroyed wrist. Saturday I spent 4 hours at Cromwell riding and getting roasted in the sun. Sunday Schmidt, Steve and I hit up the Southwick Trails. It had rained Saturday night so the trails were nice and tacky, pretty ideal conditions. Sadly, the session was cut short due to incoming severe thunderstorms and torrential rain. We shot South down to the Windsor Locks park for about 20 minutes before the storms caught up with us there too. The guys went home and ended the day at the Middlefield Park getting in a solid hour session with nobody there at all. Gotta love an empty park.

Being part of the over 30 crowd is rough, so sore today!

Fresh New Threads!

T designed a new shirt that came out awesome! The whole image was free hand painted by her and digitized so we could use it on a shirt. Head over and check out's T's site for some more of her amazing artwork: CLICK HERE.

In addition, the "Creeper" zip up hoodies look great. Fall is just around the corner and we'll be rocking sweatshirts before you know it! Someone felt the need to e-mail me complaining that the hoodies are too expensive. Sure, $42 is pricey, but not really considering a plain American Apparel hoodie is $41 direct from them. So you get a rad as hell TYRANT hoodie for a mere $1 more. Just sayin...

Note: When ordering a sweatshirt from the online store you have the option of pullover or zip-up.

Dew Tour Dirt

I watched the Dew Tour Dirt contest yesterday and was psyched! Sure, it was cool to see people going big, but I was more psyched on the trail rider friendly course TJ Lavin designed. Straight out of the mouth of TJ himself, "this is a dirt jumpers course. If you spend your whole day in the foam pit you're gonna struggle here"....and struggle they did. The course was such a subliminal kick in the nuts to the foam pit junkies and box jump monkey's. It's not like it was even a dramatically different set-up, just some rollers and a long and low. Love it! So sick of the whole "training" for BMX mindset! Ride your bike and have fun!

New shirts available in the online store now!

Mini-Vaca

Spent a few days down in Westerly, RI at my friends family's beach house. I was psyched to get to the beach and get in the ocean for the first time this year. I had planned on riding the White Rock Skatepark on the way home today, but of course it had to rain. Looking forward to getting back down to Westerly and riding the park.

East Hampton Park 2011

The East Hampton Skatepark got ravaged by the harsh Winter. Steve and I had plans to resurface the park with some of the skatepark committee youth in late May, but we were told by the town that the ramps were not structurally sound and most of them needed to be torn down. Honestly, there were only 2 ramps that needed re-enforcing and nothing needed to be torn down. Long story short, we gave up on the park at the point. We put in 28 hours of volunteer time building the ramps last year, why spend 8-10 hours more resurfacing ramps that are just gonna be torn down?!?!

Jump forward to August....
The town demolished the grind box, 1 quarter pipe, and the box jump set-up. To our surprise, they are in the process of resurfacing and repainting the remaining ramps. Wow, didn't see that coming at all! I figured the park would be leveled by now. I'm psyched that the ramps are getting a much needed facelift. I stopped by today and the place looks pretty good. Props to whoever is doing the work on the ramps, not too shabby. The one exception is the death coping, look out! Looking forward to riding the park next week when it's finished. Thanks EH Parks & Rec!

Rode on the East Side..again

Yesterday was the Riding on the East Side II event and it was a great turnout! We rolled into the Baltic Skatepark with 16 riders and the place was empty. We got in a solid 2 hours session before heading over to the new Plainfield. The new park out in Plainfield is pretty off the hook. The flowly layout allows for lots of boosting and speed. Good times for sure! We made our pit stop at Daily Grind and everybody was stoked on Chuck's shop. Imagine just about every BMX part in every color in stock. Daily Grind is dialed! A huge thanks to Chuck for the pizzas and air conditioning we were in desperate need of! We topped the day off at Owen Bell and sadly it was a pretty mellow session. The 85+ degree temps and sun kicked everyone's a$$ and we were all beat tired by the last park. No complaints though, we had an awesome day and I can't wait to do it again. Mass skatepark trip in September? Stay tuned...

Riding on the East Side II Photos: CLICK HERE

Been Digging!

I spent a few hours down at Chads yesterday slinging some dirt on a new line. Psyched on the set-up down there. Bring on the rain, we need it!!!

Dirty Afternoon Photos: CLICK HERE

Click to enlarge panoramic

Snake Run Video by NSA

Great GoPro footage from our Sunday adventure courtesy of the guys at the Northern Skate Alliance.

Chad's New Line

I headed over to Chads trails late yesterday afternoon and to my surprise he had rebuilt the whole main line. The old set-up was cool, but the new one is super fun! It's still really soft and in need of some major water and shovel loving, but when it's done it's gonna be dialed. Looking forward to getting some more jumps built and possibly adding more onto to the other lines.

Chad's New Line: CLICK HERE

Monday Mods

I made some mods to my bike today. Finally sick of the murder out same old, same old black bike! I machined the front wheel sidewalls, fork cap, brakes, brake lever, cable hanger, seat post, and headset spacer for that raw aluminum look. Faux bling!

NSA Runnin'

Schmidty and I met up with Ryan Howard and some of the Northern Skate Alliance crew to hit up the snake run yesterday. Man, those long board dudes are out of their minds!

Snake Run Skating: CLICK HERE

Finally Back at Southwick

Steve and I adventured up to the Southwick Trails to meet up with a few people yesterday. It was my first time back to Southwick since last year and my first time riding trails since my surgery. So psyched to be back on the bike! Some of the Enfield crew showed up and were blasting it like usual, Steve was dumping a nice 360 over the last set, and conditions were awesome. Nothing like a Saturday playing in the dirt!

Southwick Photos: CLICK HERE

Riding on the East Side II

It's been a year and a half, but we're doing it again. An epic one day skatepark trip hitting up some of the radest cement parks in the state! We're meeting up in Portland at 10am and making our way over to the Baltic/Sprague Skatepark. Riding should start around 11. Come ride bikes and have fun! Chuck at Daily Grind BMX & Skate will be hosting a pizza party at his shop around dinner time, prior to us riding their local Owen Bell Park. Be sure to bring your appetite and some spending cash...lots of rad stuff at DG!

New Shirt Hotness!

A bunch of people ordered shirts as part of a mass order I put in and they arrived today. Check out the hotness below! Remember, you can order your own courtesy of the ONLINE STORE link above. Thanks for the support guys!

Back at Chad's

It's been several months since we've ridden Chad's Trails. Pretty pathetic seeing they are literally 10 minutes from my doorstep! Chad's had a cast on and hasn't been riding or digging, so the place was in pretty rough shape when we arrived. After a thorough hosing with bug spray we did a little fixing up and the guys rode for a bit. It was 98 out and pretty grimy, fortunately the temp dropped as the sun went down. Looking forward to getting back on the the bike and getting some digging in at Chad's.

Chad's Trails Photos: CLICK HERE

9 Years Going!

Summer of 2002 is when the whole TYRANT thing started, 9 long years ago. Since then we've ridden hundreds of places and had one hell of a good time in the process. I'm brainstorming for next year, something off the hook for the "10 Year Anniversary". Maybe a re-release of the original shirts and mesh hats? A huge 10 year party somewhere? a TYRANT road trip? Whatever I end up deciding to do you can be sure I'll be hyping it up on here well in advance. In the meantime, the next 12 months will be a ton more riding and having fun.

Here's a throwback photo from '02 from my folks...



















(NOTE: I wouldn't EVER considered riding without my helmet now days!)

Sunday Run

Good times on Sunday! Schmidt moved home from Fargo, Evan made an appearance and it was fun getting back to the run!

Sunday Run Photos: CLICK HERE

Sunday Runnin'

Monday Meltdown Video

Monday Meltdown!

Bry, Brandon and I headed up to the Windsor Locks Park for a mid-day session. The sun was in full effect and the temp was 93 when we rolled into town. The session was pretty short lived due to no shade and hellish temps, but I was still able to get a few photos and a bunch of clips. Bry is running pegs again after 3 or so years without them and he's a grinding machine...as you'll see by his 40" double peg and feeble at the park. We made a brief stop at the GMP park so Brandon could say what's up to a buddy of his. The afternoon brought some much needed shade at the trails. Brandon was on a mission to land a flair and by 5:00PM he had. The local kids were boosting all the lines, big and small. Damn youngins'! All in all a fun day of riding despite the heat.

Monday meltdown photos: CLICK HERE

GMP Jam/GMT

I tagged along with Steve to the GMP Jam in Enfield to watch the madness and shoot some photos. The day got started with the Bunnyhop Contest and Seth Bernard and Jimmy Oakes dueling for the win at 40". Jimmy finally took the win clearing the bar with a wild horizontal style hop. The Long Jump Contest was ridiculous. The wedge ramp was a solid 2' high and people were hucking themselves. The jump off came down to Seth Bernard and RJ Legault both jumping a solid 30' or so with Seth eventually taking the win at some stupid far length! Highest Air on the Hip went to James Nelson who somehow blasted 6-7' out of the 4' hip. There were two games of Footdown and Steve was the runner up both times. Bummer, the damn youngins took him out! Jimmy Oakes won the first round and a GMP local the 2nd. I'm not sure who ended up winning the Best Trick Contest? Seth somehow managed to wallride the 2 x 6 sub rail on the back of the quarterpipe and Danny Todd dumped his whole bag of tricks on the ramp! All in all it was a fun jam despite the scorching heat and no shade at all.

After the jam a ton of people went to the Green Manor Trails. With all the rain on Friday the trails were in pretty good condition, nice and tacky. People were boosting like usual, but the highlight was def Jimmy Oakes throwing down a flair/360 flip hybrid on the dirt quarter. He didn't end up landing it clean, but regardless it was nuts and he was damn close.

GMP/GMT Photos: CLICK HERE

New Online Store!!!

I've been getting pretty fed up with the consistency of the CafePress store. One day the shirts looks mint, the next day the logos are crooked and the shirts looks beat! I made the jump to Society6 yesterday. They only stock American Apparel shirts and tees are available in 6 different colors, which is awesome! Head over to the new store and take a look at the new tees! Click on each shirt to see the color options...

CLICK HERE

Thanks Sunset Crew!

Gotta send a huge thanks out to the Sunset Ranch Trails crew for the well wishes! Looking forward to getting back on the bike and getting up to the trails soon!!

Stir Crazy!

It's been 6 days since surgery and I'm going stir crazy not being able to drive anywhere or ride. I decided to occupy some time today pimping my bikes small parts out with some blinging metallic fleck paint. Getting iced out!!!

T's Dragon For Sale

T's getting a new ride so the Dragon has to go. The whole bike is a brown and green color scheme. Hotter than any colorway complete you can buy! If you or anybody you know is looking for a smoking deal on a VERY LIGHTLY RIDDEN custom built bike with hand built wheels send them my way!

20.75" Eastern Dragon - Brown Sugar color
DK Nina Bars - Black
Shadow Conspiracy Grips - Green
FBM Top Load Stem - Green
Carbon fiber headset spacer
Eastern Internal Headset - Black
Tectro Brake lever - Black
Tectro 990 Brakes - Black
FIT Stock Forks - 3/8" - Black
Primo Powerbite Cranks - 180mm - Black
Animal Hamilton PC Pedals - Clear Green
Shadown Conspiracy Crow Sprocket - 28T - Green
Animal Seatpost Clamp - Green
Shadow Conspiracy Post - Black
Shadow Conspiracy Pneumbra Seat - Green & tan pattern
Odyssey Hazard Lite Cassette Rear Wheel - 10T cog - Chrome rim
Premium Sealed 3/8 Hub laced to Primo Hula Hoop Rim - Black
Primo Wall Tires - 20 x 2.10" - Black

Worth over $1,150.
Asking $500!

I could part this out an easily get $500 for the parts on Craigslist, but I'd prefer not to waste my time and effort!

Photo to come soon. I can't lift over 10 lbs. due to my injury thus can't get the bike off the hanging wall rack.

Out for A While

Sorry for the lack of updates, it's been a rough few weeks to say the least!

I haven't been feeling well since early June and it all came to a head last weekend when I spiked a 102 fever and was doubled over with severe stomach pains Sunday night. Being the hard head that I am, I fought the pain and sickness for 3 days till Wednseday before T encoraged me to seek medical attention. The initial thought by the doc was Lyme Disease until an abdominal CAT Scan was ordered. After the scan I got hit with the news that my appendix was possibly perforated and about to rupture and I needed surgery ASAP. I left the clinic I was at and reported to Middlesex Hospital where I went under the knife Wednseday afternoon to remove the appendix and some toxic fluid around the area. Come to find out I also had a small tear in my intestines that they found while they were Roto Rootering my insides! Damn, my gut was all messed up. Word is if I hadn't caught it when I did I would of been in serious trouble....like dead!!!

I spent a few days in the hospital so they could monitor me and be sure the antibiotics were kicking in to prevent internal infection. I'm basically on house arrest till my follow up on July 11th. I'm on 2 heavy meds and can't drive my car or do anything active...besides short walks. I've already been told I'm officially off the bike for the better part of July. I'll be looking forward to shooting lots of photos and video in the coming weeks to prevent me from going insane!!!

Circuit/Cumby Trails

Steve and I headed to Rhode Island yesterday with Bongi, his girl and his dog in tow. We went and checked out Circuit BMX's new shop location. Vic has that place stacked with the latest and greatest in the BMX world! Eventually made out way to the Cumby Trails, their local jumps. To say that I was awe struck would be a total understatement. These trails were epic...the place was beyond perfect! Steve and Bongi got on their bikes and got jumping pretty quick, while I was a chicken sh1t and manned my camera most of the day. It was a fun session watching Vic and the locals blast over their huge sets. Gotta send a huge thanks out to those guys for having us at their trails. Amazing!

Cumby Trails Photos: CLICK HERE

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.