Jay's Ramp Sesh.

Arnwine and I headed over to Jay's ramp last night to meet up with a bunch of riders and skaters. I haven't been to Jay's since April, but it sounds like most Tuesday nights through the Fall/Winter there will be an evening session. The place is pretty tight seeing the ramp is in the middle of a working factory, so I only had 2 or 3 vantage points I could take photos from with my bum arm. Typically I'm crawling through all the nooks with the wide angle lens, but I just shot with the kit 18-55 lens for once. Arnwine started off the night with a bang landing his first ever tailwhip air on a quarter. Bry proceeded to land several more whips throughout the night and was attempting to learn downside whips. Schmidt was beasting it like usual...much more literally know...seeing he is rocking the shaved head and mega beard looking like the love child of Mr. T and Kimbo Slice. Schmidt blasted one of his signature grizz air outs and of course I missed the shot! Maybe next week? Ry Howard from Cutting Edge was killing the ramp on his board. That was the first time I ever really saw anybody skate the ramp fast and clean. I'm psyched that we may be at Jay's once a week from here on out. I love that place!

Jay's Ramp Photos: CLICK HERE

Digging The Lot

Bry and I headed up to The Lot last night and the place was pretty ravaged from Saturday nights torrential rains. The new line was still soaked and the flat between the 1st lander and 2nd lip of the big set had a 1 foot deep trench that eroded away....despite the fact that Bry had buried a 4" drainage pipe. Mother Nature laid down some watery whoop a$$ on us! After some patching up, filling, and packing Bry had the big set rideable and I sat and snapped some photos. Rumor is Dave Blachura's B-Day Jump Jam is Sunday, October 25th...some come ride!

Some Photos: CLICK HERE

Sausage Thumb!

So my hard cast was cut off, the post-surgery dressing removed, the ends of my stitches were cut off, the internal stitches will dissolve, and I'm now in a thumb spica brace for 6 weeks. My thumb still looks like a sausage and the underside is a rainbow of bruising colors. No complaints here though, this brace is better than a damn cast....at least I can shower now without sealing my whole lower arm in a garbage bag condom to keep it dry. The road to recovery has begun, PT starts next week. If all goes well I'll be riding in late January. This is a great moral booster because the culmination of no riding, cold weather, and T being away for 2 weeks at a time is kicking my a$$!

TNT Trails After All?

So the year is winding down, Fall is here, and I'm off the bike till 2010 some time...but it looks like the TNT Trails are still going to be built! My cousin just informed me his work schedule is slowing down and he is going to drop off his backhoe at 122 for some clearing and digging in the coming weeks. I'm pretty much useless in a cast, so I'll be navigating John through the woods and he'll be stacking some lips and landers which will be left to harden over the Winter for Spring carving and clean-up. There will be a set of 4 pretty big table tops on the far left of the woods. This will be the line that the BMX, MTB, and cyclocross bikes can go through by jumping or rolling each jump...gotta keep everyone using the trail system happy. I figure there is no better way to celebrate the end of Winter and getting back on the bike than finally have the trails up and running by early Spring. If anybody is interested in slinging some dirt, raking, etc. contact me. The more work horses, the better. Pizza and beer, soda, water on the house!

Soon to be four 5' x 10' table tops


















The main sets will go here...

Fresh Dirt

Bryan and Dave have been doing some serious digging at The Lot. The guys are working on a small line complete with a satellite wallride mid-set. Rumor has it there will be a Blachura's Birthday Jam later this month and the new line will be rideable. Check back here for details in the coming weeks. I snapped a few photos with T's point-and-shoot camera...

Fresh Dirt Photos: CLICK HERE

Screwed!

So this is the outcome of my surgery that took place Thursday...

Box Comp

Chuck and his crew from CT BMX are holding a box competition in a few weeks. I suggest you head down, shred the gnar, and support the shop. Good times are guaranteed with that crew! T and I will be making our way back from Rhode Island that day and plan on stopping in to check out the madness.

Road to Recovery

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been nursing my bum thumb and typing lefty is a challenge. I had my surgery Thursday and it was a success. 2 screws were installed in my right thumb to re-attach broken bone and secure the joint. I'm stuck in a soft cast and sling till October 5th and then it looks like I'll be put in a hard cast and losing the sling. I owe a huge thanks to my good friend Erik who got me taken care of so quick. Lucky for me, Erik is an Orthopedic Physicians Assistant and hooked me up with Dr. Joyce, who in turn got me right into surgery due to the severity of my injury. I also owe my parents a huge thanks! I've been all doped up on very heavy pain meds since the surgery and I had doctors orders not to be left alone till I weened off to a lesser strength pain killer. T is away on business so my folks got stuck babysitting me for 3 days. So, I'm on the mend and with any luck will be riding sometime before Spring 2010.

The Lot Jump Jam

Sunday's jump jam at The Lot was off the hook! Lots of people showed up from all over CT. A huge thanks to Steve G. for letting us throw the event at The Lot. Good times for sure!!!

Lot Jump Jam Photos: CLICK HERE

Thumbs Down!

So September looks like it's going to be the sh!tty month of 2009. To start things off, Interbike begins tomorrow and I will not be there. This is the first time in 6 years I won't be out in Vegas for the show. Bummer! 2nd, I'm not racing CrossVegas or any other cross races this year. Lolli, Jason, and I had a blast last year at CrossVegas. Joy riding around Vegas in a Uhaul rental van...what could be more fun! Strike 3 is that I severely broke my thumb and tore my Ulnar Collateral Ligament on Saturday...rollerblading of all things! I don't know what hurts more, the actual injury or that fact that I did it rollerblading. Damn fruit boots! I'm headed under the knife on Thursday to have some pins, and possibly a screw, put in to fix my thumb. I hate surgery, but I'm confident because the doctor is amazing, and my good friend/college roommate Erik is an Orthopedic Physicians Assistant and he will be taking part in the surgery looking out for my well being. If anybody wants me to come shoot photos or video, feel free to contact me, I'm off the bike for 4-6 months!!!

Slaves & Strobes: Round 1

Borrowing some slaves and strobes from JBazz for the weekend. I played around last night trying to get the hang of the whole remote set-up, strobe placement, etc. Lots of riding is going down this weekend and I'm really looking forward to shooting a ton of film!

Slaves & Strobes Round 1: CLICK HERE

The Usual Routine

Another afternoon hanging out at The Lot.
Photos: CLICK HERE

We'll be back at The Lot tonight getting the place cleaned up and dialed in. Rumor has it the backhoe and bulldozer will be in action again so who knows what the end result will be?!?!

Lot After Dark

Arnwine, Blachura, and I rode The Lot last night well into the darkness. Dave opened his bag off tricks and was throwing down everything off the drop. We carved out 2 smaller dirt jumps, which are pretty fun. Trying to add a little variety to The Lot instead of the same old, same old. This weekend should be super fun!!!

Lot After Dark Photos: CLICK HERE

JBazz's Haven Photos

Jamison Bazinet got his photos posted from the after-hours Haven session with Ron Wilkerson on Tuesday night, go check them out: CLICK HERE.

Yeah Blanchara!

"Dave Blanchara gets some big air off the Highland double with a no-foot can. He was all over the park tearing it up with no-handers, 360s, and fluid style" (See photo below)

Props to Dave Blachura for getting some coverage over on VitalMTB. Dave rode in the Brodown Showdown at Highland a few weekends ago and apparently caught the photographer's eye. Must be that sexy blue TYRANT t-shirt!

Photos by Christopher Vanderyajt courtesy of VitalBMX.com

Legend In Town

Bry, Steve, and I killed some time at The Lot yesterday afternoon. After a little ghetto re-enforcement to the partially done bridge drop, Bry and Steve sessioned the new obstacle till dark. Pretty wild, that thing is scary! We headed down to Haven around 10 for an after-hours session at the park. BMX legend and 2 Hip owner, Ron Wilkeson, has been on the East Coast for the past week and he headed down to ride Haven last night. I'll be honest, there were only 9 of us in the park last night and that place is so fun to ride when it isn't congested and the lines are endless. Ron was stuffing himself into the oververt of the fullpipe with some monster carves! Jamison Bazinet was going to town with his camera, so I'm sure I'll have some great photos of the session from him in the near future. For now, check out the link below...

Lot & Haven Photos: CLICK HERE

Lot Work

A few of us met at The Lot yesterday afternoon to start making progress on the 3rd hit in the line, the TYRANT Drop! We couldn't of asked for better weather and the rain on Friday and Saturday made for some ideal conditions. Eric Davis worked hard as job foreman playing in the mud on the quad, 70cc, and in his WRX. Steve G. and his machines were a HUGE HELP, we couldn't of gotten any work done without him! We're about 75% done with the drop and hopefully it will be rideable this week. That thing is burly! Hope to hell you don't fall off the side!!

Lot Work Photos: CLICK HERE

Full House @ Haven

Wow, Haven was PACKED last night. I've never seen so many riders there for a regular session. Walking in you would of sworn there was a contest or pro demo going on...the place was infested with teenie boppers! After 1/3 of the masses cleared out at 9 the late session went down till 12:30am. The bowl was getting sessioned pretty heavy and Arnwine was looking super comfy on his bike. I think the week off due to sickness did Bry good! Bry got his Canadian nosepicks back, was almost getting his tables inverted, and pulling some nice pedal stall variations on and over the spine. T was riding the bowl for a long time with Jamison Bazinet and the 2 were looking really smooth. T was getting the hang of pumping the tranny's as I was barking orders that she wasn't allowed to pedal in the flat bottom :) She's going to be popping out of the coping in the near future! I'm pretty sure most people would admit that the highlight of the night was watching Chris Childs flair the smallest transition/wedge in the park...in addition to blasting everything else throughout the night! Go look at the photos...bonkers!!! Another super fun night at Haven as expected!

I have to send a shout out to Macisco for flowing me some new Odyssey Pro Race forks. Sweet! Thank you!

Haven Photos: CLICK HERE

A New Edge

Congrats to TYRANT's own Jake Lineberry, Bryan Arnwine, and Dave Blachura, all 3 riders are now getting hooked up from Cutting Edge. Ryan Howard approached me about starting a TYRANT/Cutting Edge BMX Team, and I was really stoked, but I had to respectfully decline. TYRANT has its roots planted deeply in the BMX community and I wouldn't feel comfortable showing "complete loyalty" to only one shop when there are a lot of great shops in New England who support the BMX scene. I'm psyched for the guys and psyched that Cutting Edge is looking to step it up in the BMX community and I support all of them 100%! I'll be shooting photos of the guys riding at various events which will be turned over to Ryan for Edge ads, the shop website, Facebook, etc. This is a great opportunity to gain each rider and Cutting Edge a little more exposure out there in the BMX world. Go check out the Edge's site and Facebook!
Thanks Craig & Ryan @ Cutting Edge!

Team Cutting Edge photos: CLICK HERE

In Case You're Busted

I don't want to jinx anybody, but we all get hurt riding from time to time and some injuries require an ER visit. We've all had a hellish experience waiting in an ER for hours upon hours cause the place is mobbed with sickies, drunks, and awaiting in-coming ambulances. If you're riding in Middlesex County and you happen to get hurt, check out MiddlesexERtime.com to see which of the 3 local ER's you can go to without worrying about major wait times. The sooner you're in, out, and fixed up, the sooner you are on your bike!