Ride Issue 103

The position of the editor of a magazine is widely regarded to be one of middle-of-the-roadness. Actually, is that a new term? Still, one is supposed to be sat on the fence, overseeing all that happens within BMX near and far, providing something for everyone, a healthy fulfilling piece of every type of slice of the BMX layer-cake to the readers.

Never really proffering an outspoken opinion. For example, there’s an unwritten rule that one is technically not really allowed to announce favourites, in case the ones not nominated get the proverbial hump and crawl off with their tails between their legs. Worse case scenario, favourite brands; brand managers could certainly get the arse, if for example their brand didn’t even appear on a top ten list of “editor’s favourites”. Some could get the arse so much, that their knee-jerk would result in a pulling of ads, and I can see some suit-wearing number-crunchers not liking that a whole lot. However, over the nigh-on two decades I’ve been putting out BMX magazines, often various people have accused us of only putting in our favourite brands, scenes, riding styles and even riders. Pah.
And from this point on, just so we’re on the same page, here’s the new deal.
This month, we’ve put my favourite street rider on the cover of the magazine. Steven Hamilton is my personal number one street rider on the planet. Sure, I believe a whole raft of amazing street riders to be consummate badasses, and have all the time in the world for those guys (my list is quite long, and I won’t bother listing it here and now). But Steven has brought something new to the table. Fearless street riding at a thousand miles per hour. He powers new angles on things most riders would just ride past on their way to a lil’ ledge to feebs on or shoot the Bs off. Creatively, Steven’s top of the tree. Almost 190,000 people have watched Steven’s Federal video section on Youtube; and you can’t argue with that. Steven’s a little kooked, but like the green mould running through a mature Danish blue, it gives him a hell of a lot more flavour than the catering cheddar Ed from the sandwich shop slaps on our baked potatoes at lunchtime. So, it gives me great and personal pleasure to feature Steven Hamilton’s interview in this month’s issue.
Providing the chalk to the cheese, the yin to the yang, we have another amazing rider interviewed here: Scotty Cranmer. Scotty is a clean-cut, fresh faced, straight-laced, gung-ho, zero-to-hero rookie pro who came from nowhere to winning gold medals at the X Games in less time than it takes most people to fit a new headset. You may not like his whipflippery-to-whipflip-to-whip antics, but frankly, that’s of no concern to me any more: you cannot argue with the fact that Scotty’s riding ability is utterly outlandish, and if you get your strict pants on and want to see a nice stylish air instead of 14 tricks in one tyretap, then Scotty can buzz his shoulder on an invert higher and better than pretty much anyone.We also have two opposing ends of the roadtrip in this issue as well. In the blue corner, we have a pro team from one of the richest shoe companies in the industry sending their salaried professionals off in a very copious tour coach around some of the finest riding spots the Western United States can offer. In the red corner, we have three six-foot tall British BMXers setting out in a borrowed convertible compact car driving hard across a frozen Northern Europe to a contest that kicks off the year with a inebriated bang and the unleashing of this season’s new rookies, pros, and hammers. Yin and yang.

But that’s the beauty of BMX. Something for everyone. Pick your favourites and run with it. It’s only natural. I have, and will, until the end of my days

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