that day i found a Haro Master

a couple days before christmas i was driving back from the city dump, when i noticed a building with a bunch of bikes surrounding it. i'd been by it many times but the bikes were a new addition. naturally, i had to make a U-turn and inspect. when i pulled up, there was an older man getting out of a small pick-up. i asked him him if the bikes were for sale and if i could look around. he obliged. most of the bikes were department store junk, with the exception of a few road bikes. as soon as i ventured inside, a neon green Haro caught my eye. when you spend hours and hours as a kid looking at these things in magazines, they tend to jump out at you in real life. the state it was in was heartbreaking and laughable at the same time. it had 144 spoke lowrider wheels and a 3' seat. i probably would have crapped my pants if i saw someone riding it around like that. in case you didn't know, all old BMX bikes and stuff from the 80's are highly collectable and hard to find. the Haro Master was arguably in the top 3 of freestyle bikes (hutch trickstar is #1). i asked him what he wanted for it, and he told me to make an offer. i threw out $30 and he said he needed more. he showed me around the shop and we chatted for a while. homeless and addiction problems for years, now he's into church and fixing up bikes for people. he ended up being a really nice guy who was enjoyable to talk with. we came back to the Haro and i ended up getting it for a bit more. he taunted me when he disclosed that he has more old BMX stuff in storage. i'm going to be paying him another visit soon.

bloomington ramp sesh

got alot of skateboarding in over the last few days. the weather broke for a change and friends were in town for the holidays. got my camera out for a few shots at the bloomington ramp.

1988-indianapolis skateboard contest

one of the first big skateboard events i went to as a kid was a contest held in 1988 on pan am plaza downtown. i don't remember a whole lot, other than there being tons of skaters downtown. more than i'd ever seen i one place. i also remember there being an 8ft wall as an obstacle. no banks going up to it, just a straight wall. i've always wanted to see photos from this but never came across any. last month when i was on the send help trip, we stopped to skate a bowl in northern minnesota. i got to talking to nate one the owners of it. he asked where i was from and i said "indy". his response was "we were down there for a contest in '88, actually woody won it." pointing to his friend on the other side of the bowl. i proceeded to ask if they had any photos. turns of they had something even better, footage they shot that weekend and it was already transferred to DVD. nate and woody were nice enough to give me a copy. i recognize a few people, jason may, byron kothe, jesse neuhaus, justin lynch. the commentary is priceless and skate footage just plain rad. hope everyone enjoys this as much as i did.

send help edit

i spent last week up in minneapolis and north dakota on a little trip with the Send Help guys. i'm going to do a little story for Street Canoe but for now here's this.

nuisance-broken van

i hadn't thought about the band nuisance in years. last week, the song "broken van" popped into my head. i dug out their old records and have been jamming them non-stop. i totally forgot how good and how far ahead of the time these guys were. i was lucky to see them a few times back in the day.

hanging with patrick jilbert

i got a random call from patrick last week. i hadn't seen or talked to him in years. he needed a photo for a Thrasher piece on his art. we met up today and skated, shot some photos, and kicked it. good seeing you man.

an afternoon with shafer and grant

these two have been killing it all summer. yesterday i had a chance to roll around with them and take some photos. good times kids.

#falltrip2012

went on a trip over the weekend headed up by the bloomington crew. i should have taken more photos, but this is what i got.

more Jorr

jorr, ben, and i went for a ride out to raccoon lake yesterday. jorr spotted this rad entryway to a native american camp, so of course we stopped to take photos

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"the mess"

a few days ago, there was an ad that caught my eye on craigslist. it was for a "kawasaki 550". from the photos it was clearly a honda cb500. i called and left a message and the guy called me back a few days later. i ended up going to look at it today and got it for close to nothing. there's no way this thing is coming back from the dead, but there are a few good parts. drilled out rotor, finned valve caps, exhaust, rear sets, carbs, etc...it was obliviously someones drag bike project, but i doubt it ever saw the track. the engine has my curiously. it's cb500 bottom end with a cb550 head. someone has definitely worked on it. i'm really hoping it has a big bore or hot cam!

summer biking

bikes nights, rockers reunion, and ripping around. it's been a good summer on bikes so far.