Benj’s Busy Blog

I used to compete in BMX races and does BMX flatland freestyle and ramp riding for fun. The sport has evolved to much when I have started in 1989 but after all those years, I have never seen such graceful flatland freestyle, dabless, flawless, flatland freestyle tricks NOT on a 20″ wheel BMX/Freestyle bike. But on a 26″ Road bike. Although I watched the movie Quicksilver starring Kevin Bacon, the freestyle there on road racing bikes were still done by the hard core flatland BMX freestyles of that day like R.L. Osborne, Martin Aparijo and Eddie Fiola. I am not sure if Dennis McCoy was in Quicksilver but there was definitely someone doing multiple boomerangs which look like Dennis McCoy’s signature moves of that day. Some bike spinning looked like Pat Romano.

But I recently found this video online, that is a flatland freestyle video, but on a racer/touring/road bike. Although there are a few obvious modifications like, there is no freewheel. It was a continuous peddaling gear, so unicycle type of balancing tricks were possible, handlebars were like modified road racing handlebars turned upward and I believe there were no brakes since it was not using a freewheel anyway and thus did not need any brake cable detangler like a gyro, oryg, spinmaster, spintech or rotor. There seemed to be small axle pegs as well. The freestyler is a female (which reminds me of Krys Dauchy).

You got to see this video. Her routine goes like this:

• It starts out with just coasting in circles, then does a gymnastic pose with both hands on the seat and legs extended forward. Totally not a part of BMX flatland freestyle.
• The does a surf and controls it quite well since she gracefully rides it out in a figure 8 path.
• She then does a trick similar to a framestand. But it is a seat stand! Again gliding in a figure 8 path.
• Then a boomerang.
• Does a wheelie next, climbs over the bars and does a unicycle type of moneuver, does some variations then goes into spastic circles.
• Then does a reverse wheelie with 1 footed variations. Reverse wheelie is the normal wheelie position but doing a rollback with it. Maybe we can call it a fakie wheelie?
• Continues doing a rollback, then rollback surf/surf fakie?
• Rolls out into a 180 rock walk and goes into a grip ride and rides in a figure 8 path again.
• Then runs into an in-and-over type of technique going into a backride.
• Then going into a no handed rolling (and peddaling) backyard.
• Transitions into a reverse grip ride.
• After that she does a backward rolling and pedalling backyard. You got to see it to understand it.
• She just decides to stop running backward and balances, then run forward like an ordinary backyard, but pedalling and does it spastically.
• She then goes over the bars in a pedal picker position but does a unicycle thing and does it spastically again.
• Now from here, she just lets the bike fall on its wheels while she is still in front, balances, pedals making the bike run backward, and suddenly goes into a seat grinder position, and does spastic circles. A seat grider but she is not grinding the seat, and is actually balancing on the rear wheel. And she ends her routine there.

Crazy! She does it gracefully, never touched the ground, no sign of wobbling. And looks like ballet with the Vanessa Mae violin background music.

NFL or College Football, you can be updated with the schedules at a glance. Sometimes looking and searching online can be confusing and you need to turn on your computer. Having the football schedules with you in your pocket all the time would really be great. And that is why I like Doc Sport’s College and NFL Football Schedule. I bring it everywhere, very comprehensive. I have one in my car, and another beside the TV. They give it away for free so you don’t lose at all. Just pay for shipping which is not that much.

When I got my copy, all I can say is that this guy, the Doc is The Source. He has been in this business since 1971, that is a very long time which makes him an authority in these sports journals. Aside from footbal schedules you have a lot of valueble stats that can help you a lot in betting. I think Fantasy Football people would love this. At the back there are also a few coupons you might want to check out.

Radical Raredog Circa 1989

Now I feel like immortalizing online my old pictures too! And I will still try to get new pictures, if given the time at the Clairemont Skatepark and might ask John a favor to take the photos.

Canon in D has been used many times as I have mention in my previous post. And good friend of mine Louie Morales has decided to send me an mp3 of the song but it does not seem to be complete, but good enough. And I did not listen to it right away since I though I would feel like I have listened to this song to much already that any version may not sound that impressive compared to the first time I heard the song Canon in D by Pachelbel. But this acapella version of Pachelbel’s Canon in D is just different that it still find this song very nice to listen to over and over.

I just received an email:

Hi Benjie,

I saw your profile in internet and im trying to keep in touch with the berris bmx team I am  also a member of berris trick team back on the days….I just want to know by chance maybe you know address and phone number of berris bmx store in sampaloc.

And also about building the a website how much  it cost to make one…thanks hope to hear from you soon…

Sony Bolus

Wow, talk about blast from the past! lolz. That was like 20 years ago, actually my most active BMX days were 1988 to 1993 I think although interest in BMX racing and freestyle started as early as 1986. Man, I that old already? And I still want to ride ramps if given the time. When is it time to let go? I got 2 Mountain Bikes and 2 BMX’s in the Philippines and 1 BMX here in the US. Or do I have zero mountain bikes? I heard Allan Go brought the mountain bikes to Vigan, Ilocos Sur.

Which reminds me of my BMX in the Philippines, the one in North Olympus, that I believe I have spent a total of P35,000 (about US $700) and it was kept it in the rain for 2 years, and looks good as trash today. That’s a easy let go. It looks worthless. The freewheel rear sprocket will surely be rusty. But that will not go to the trash right away. Those have original Shimano DX pedals. Every BMXer wants those, compared to some Victor Pedal imitation. The Araya rims for sure will still be great. Maybe I will take it apart and just get what still has value and put something together when the house in the Philippines gets bigger with a nice covered garage.

As for Sony, sorry, I have no contact information of the Berris Trick Team, nor was I active with the group. I was always with Rad World, the people in Lagro, Novaliches, Quezon City, and when that group died, I had several set of BMX buddied in the Teresa Heights, and occassionally went to Villa Sabina in Talipapa to ride the Quarter Pipe.

And I just went to Berris to buy parts and watch the other freestylers. But do you agree that the Berris quarterpipe was kind of extended in front? It was kind of shaped differently. I also had a chance to just ride the launch ramp once in Guadalupe and also jam around with the flatlanders by the parking lot of SM North EDSA. I personally do not know everyone by name, mostly by face and by bike. Except the oldies in Lagro and Talipapa in Novaliches since they were closer to me by location.

When it was the time of the Philippine’s XGames qualifiers for Asian XGames, that was already like my BMX retired period. And I just go to watch the Philippine Radness as it progressed from what it was before. Still we (pinoys) need a lot to work on to really become competitive. Like in the Philippines… at least 1 or 2 can do a backflip, 1 or 2 can do tailwhip airs, 1 or 2 can do 900’s and these 1 or 2 people are not the same people. Unlike in the US, backflips are like basic to all ramp riders today. But more ramps are coming out in the Philippines, and more riders are progressing, so maybe there is a good future for BMX in the Philippines. Let’s see. And to answer your question, nope, sorry I do not have the address or phone number, but I think I have heard they are closed already.

Funny thing is that this was so long time ago, but I still raced in June 2002 and got a not-so-cool 4th place with no prize!

Being a BMX’er and a Filipino, I was just interested in posting this video I found online of Josh Oie.

The American Bicycle Association’s number 1 BMX’er is Josh Oie. Half Filipino-Half Korean.

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Just started playing around with the camera…

http://photos.benjarriola.com

I basically play the piano/keyboards and has a good understanding of how to play the guitar, but I do not consider myself an excellent player like some other friends I have. But still this is also one of the things I like doing. So my interest was drawn to two videos I found online.

9 and 11 String Bass Guitar Player Jean Baudin Plays Mario

I found this video of Jean Baudin. He plays the bass guitar, and one thing unusual with his bass is it has more than 4 strings. To me it looks like a lead guitar with some extra bass strings. He plays it so proficiently that it looks like he is not using a bass guitar at all and all his fingers are all plucking away. Below is a video of him playing Mario.

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Not everything he plays sounds like that. Actually he has some pretty cool guitar bass solos on his MySpace account. The bass solos Vanishing and Frosty Acres are really cool. Jeff Baudin’s official website is on JeffBaudin.com.

Classical Music Canon in D of Pachelbel - Rock Version by JerryC

Being a piano player, I really like Canon in D by Pachelbel. Not everyone knows classical music, but Canon in D is used often in many TV commercials I have seen. I remember one commercial of a Bank and many commercials of baby related products like milk and diapers. I remember some popular flash animation that circulated the Internet one time that was about the 7-day creation of the Christian belief that also used the same music. And it is my first time to see a version on the electric guitar by some dude named JerryC. Canon in D is one of my favorites and this JerryC guy did a good job in giving it a touch of rock.

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JerryC’s is from Taiwan and his official website is JerryC.tw

Related Links

About Pachelbel’s Canon on Wikipedia

As I continue to look for BMX hot spots here in San Diego, I started search for skateparks online. I saw a lot, in fact there is a walking distance one from where I live right now, but are for Skateboarders only. BMX’s are not allowed.

Most of them are like that, there is one in Poway too that is very near my location, it is a good biking distance, but still BMX’s is not allowed.

After searching, I found three main skateparks I want to go to. The first one I found, was the Clairemont skatepark. When I first found it online, just by looking at the pictures, how big the ramps were with enough space to generate a lot of speed, I already knew, BMXs are allowed here. It would be impossible if they are not allowed. But just to be sure, I called them up by phone. And yes, 3pm to 8pm weekdays and 5pm to 8pm weekends are the BMX schedules.

Just look at their vert ramp! In the Philippines, all my life, I have only ridden a quarterpipe. I haven’t really catched air big time, just slightly over the coping on an 8 foot quarterpipe in Lagro, Novaliches, Quezon City and I have been to Villa Sabina in Talipapa Novaliches, Quezon City. Both of the ramps mention are demolished already. They were also narrow, like 8 to 10 feet wide, so learning was even harder. You can’t make wide arcs while learning and should really make good 180 turns or else you will fall of the ramp on the sides. Which already happened to me in the past. And in the Philippines, we never wear safety equipment.

Now look at this ramp. The last time I did quarterpipe areals was in 1989 to 1990. I am not even sure if I can still do it, but what the heck, this is a big ass super wide halfpipe. I can just go back and forth, go wide first with big arcs and progress going higher and higher. I am sure I will get the skills back that I had before. As the saying goes, once you learn how to ride a bike, you will never forget it. I hope that applies to ramp riding too.

The Clairemont Skatepark Website
The Clairemont Skatepark Photo Gallery
The Clairemont Skatepark on SoCalSkateparks.com

As I continue on searching, I found the Escondido skatepark. This looks just as exciting as Clairemont!

But, it is made of metal?!@#$% I guess that is pretty stiff, stable but it looks hot on a sunny day. It might be glaring to in some instances.

I will also give this a try, maybe who ever is cheaper, that is where I will go to more often.

Escondido Skatepark Website
Escondido Skatepark BMX Photo Gallery
Escondido Skatepark on SoCalSkateparks.com

But if I have no money and is saving some money, I might just go to the cheap public parks. But most are for skateboarders only, I found one that allows BMX. Ramps are not big. No serious very ramp, but if I need to have fun and needs to save on money, I found the one in Santee.

Santee Skatepark Webpage on the City Gov’t Website
Santee Skatepark on SoCalSkateparks.com

But since I am in the US now, and the people here are pretty much sane than the people in the Philippines, that means I need to buy a helmet and some pads. Since I am not the crazy Philippines. Nyahahaha. These skateparks are also not that near, so I need a bike rack too to place on my car. Money again… Well I am not buying these right away, I got other things to work on first. If I need more money for recreation, I must not spend my money from my working income but spend it in income generating assets first and generate more money for recreation. Well I am near that already, once all these hosting sign up process is all done and my customer support system and billing system is also done already with my existing company so I can concentrate on boosting sales after that.

The company where I work along with a bunch of webmasters, writers and sales people had a company picnic by the beach.

I brought my BMX with me since it was by the beach and so I can go from end to end on the beach. We were at Crown Point by the side of Mission Bay.

I grew up doing BMX racing and freestyle since my highschool days until early college. I was always up to date with the news, X-Games did not even exist and it was all American BMX Association (ABA) and National BMX League (NBL) for Racing and American Freestyle Association (AFA) for freestyle. The Ron Wilkerson’s 2Hip contest came out, vert, street, dirt content. Then Matt Hoffman started doing his Bicycle Stunt contest and was getting much coverage by media with the help of ESPN and MTV. That somehow became B3 - Bike, Blades, Boards contest and I guess with the EPSN coverage, and popularity was getting better, then X-Games was born that included all sorts of extreme sports.

All these information in the early days was all from magazines. BMX Action and BMX Plus. BMX Action also published Freestylin’ and Go-The Riders Manual. Cheap magazines came out, like SnapBMX. Today’s magazines include Ride, which is a Transworld publication. I subscribed to BMX Plus for 2 or 3 years I think. There was no X-Games then, and the only BMX we see on a TV screen was from videos ordered from the US and borrowed by BMXer’s and Freestylers in the Philippines. The have the movie Rad and the oldschool Movie BMX Bandits that had Nicole Kidman. Also the Hi-Torque Publication videos 101 Freestyle Tricks, part 1 and 2. I also have the GT Demo Tape. There were actually Betamax tapes.

And whenever a new trick came out, that you read from the magazine, you really do not see it, but just read the descriptions and just imagine how is was done, like when the tailwhip airs came out, the 900s, I never really save how they were done, but I ready about them.

Then the age of X-Games came out, there we saw everything in the Philippines, how everything is done here in the US. Ever since I was in highschool, until the X-Games age… one thing in common that you will see in a lot of BMX news… a lot of it happens in California.

The BMX companies were in California, many of the freestyle pros lives in California. And when you live in the Philippines and is a hardcore BMX fan, you start thinking, BMX is really hot in California. I remember the early Playstation game that came out, called California Games that had BMX, Skateboarding, Rollerblades, Surfing.

Now I’m in San Diego for 1 year already. I got a BMX, and I see BMX nowhere. Yeah I see people biking, but just by looking at their bike, I already know, this person does not freestyle. Where the hell are these people? LOLz All that BMX sh*t I see in the magazines all in California. Well one thing I didn’t consider is California is really a big place. Bigger than the Philippines alone. If there are a lot of BMX people in California, there are more people that do not give a damn about BMX. lolz And just want to ride a bike the normal way.

My skill depleated over the years, but I do not care, I still ride for fun. I can still rockwalk, and do a smith boomerang, a simple tailwhip, wind surf, framestand, and yeah, the lawnmower nyahahaha, the balance lawnmover too. Front hops and back hops, the infinity roll. All old school tricks. I do not even have a single scuffing or rolling trick dialed in. I cannot pull off a hang five, steamroller, backyard funcky chicken, freak squeak or other similar tricks.

And when I brought my bike to the company picnic, being in San Diego, California where (Ron Wilkerson used to live for some time too) I was thinking that I would have many co-workers that would know freestyle. And would probably pull off a hang five easily and I might even ask them to teach me. And when a BMXer sees a BMXer, and we are in the same company, for sure, they will try the bike out and pull something off with it.

Everyone that approached me, I offered them to try the bike out, and I was surprised no one was really doing freestyle. Some said they used too, like Chris Jilly, but way back 1980’s. Eric Ricasa said he had he share of BMX accidents in the past. When Justin Sepulveda saw me doing simple freestyle tricks, he said: “Is that Benj? What? Is that Benj? What? That’s Benj? Get off of that bike.” LOLz

So everyone in the Philippines reading this… if you think California is all BMX because of the magazines you read. Not exactly true. I guess it is true that the good riders are here, but not true that you can easily see them everyday. California is a very big place.

Or maybe I just haven’t seen all the hot spots yet?

As I have mentioned that I have been working out lately pretty hard, just giving myself a one month preparation to get back into shape and compete again in the San Diego Annual Taekwondo Championship, where I won 2nd place last year in my division, I was doing a rush fitness crash course and see what it has done to my thigh.

Lolz, not good. Some hematoma on my left inner thigh. But it does not really hurt that bad. Actually my whole body feels sore but I know it will go away on my second week of August. So if some of you at work has been noticing me walking like a robot, I actually feel so stiff I feel like walking like a robot. Everything should loosen up by the 3rd and 4th week of August.