We left Conway at about 7:45 am, in hopes to get to Missouri before noon. Kris was driving, and I was riding shotgun. We
had our bikes because there was a skatepark in Monet Missouri that we wanted to hit, and some street. Here we are, traveling
into Fayetville and about to get some McDonalds. We order, get our food, and start talking on our way out of the parking lot,
but in the wrong direction. So we're cruisin' and cuttin' up when we pass a cop. Great. A 45 in a 35. The officer asked for
the usual stuff, and gave us a ticket. Awesome. We leave, in the right direction this time, and were on our way.
We arrive in Monett just in time to pass Kris' aunt's house 2 or 3 times. We arrive and knock on the
door. No answer. Now keep in mind that this trailer is out in the sticks and it is seriously like 30 degrees out side and
windy. His aunt comes to the door and invites us in. This lady was so hospitable to us that it wasn't even funny. Thanks Dana,
you rule. We went looking for Kris' cousin Brian and can't find him anywhere. The house where he is staying is more or less
a zoo. 8 cats, a dog, 8 rabbits, a corn snake, hamsters etc. Yeah.
After we get tired of looking for Brian, we decide to head out and try to ride. It is so cold outside
when we arrive at the park. Be thankful that you have the parks you do in Arkansas because this one sucked. Not taken care
of at all, coping missing, and screws takin out. Whatever. So instead of riding park, we go out to ride street. Kris was so
cold and so was I, but I brought my bike to Missouri and I was going to session, cold or not. So Kris stayed in the car and
followed me from spot to spot while I was on my bike. We found a ledge in front of a Bar, and decided to hit that. It was
pretty fun, except for the glass on the landing, because of the beer bottles. I was on a mission and it was not done. for
the next half hour, I proceeded to grind anything in my path. I found a ledge that curved and as it curved, got higher off
of the ground. I smacked sprocket a couple of times and found a small pipe rail with home made skate stoppers in the top.
Bypassing the stoppers, I conquered that rail. Cool. I did some more riding, and then packed up and went back to Dana's. We
walked in and watched Smokey and the Bandit. Yeah. A classic. Then Adam showed up. Adam is Kris's cousin, and the dude is
crazy. He got back a while ago from the war, and well, dude's crazy. We ate dinner and decided to go out and get Adams son.
The ride there was a treat. Bo and Luke have nothing on the wild driving of Adam. I promise those wheels left the ground a
couple of times on those back roads in that raised truck. Yeah, we are still alive. We got his son and brought him back to
Dana's house and chilled for a while and proceeded to go home.
Kris had 5 dollars and some change that I had. We got some cheep oil, and some gas. Cool. We were leaving
about 9 o'clock and we were ready. Ok, it is dark, about 9:30, and we come across some backed up traffic. We saw an emergency
helicopter and everything. Pretty big accident. We are stopped in traffic with the gas turned off so as not to waste any.
Kris thought he felt the girl behind us hit our car with hers. He hops out, checks it, and she yells out that she didn't hit
the car. The traffic is finally moving, we turn the key, and nothing. Crap. So I hop out, and start pushing, and someone passes
us and helps me push the car. It finally starts, and we are off. Thanks dude, whoever you are.
After a couple of hours, we pull into a gas station with $1.30 in change. Kris is like, "oh it'll make
it, trust me." We are about 10 miles to Conway and the car bonks out. Wonderful. I was ready to start riding my
bike to Conway down the freeway. Finally, after 5 minutes, a state trooper lets me call Michelle to tell her to pick us up
in Morilton. On our way to Morrilton, the trooper picks up another lady who's car was broke down. Well, Michelle picked us
up in Morrilton and we came back home around 2am. During this whole time, Kris' wife Anne is so mad. She is scared something
happened. Well, she doesn't know the half of it.
Thanks goes out to Dana, Adam, Michelle, Anne, and anybody else that I forgot. Cheers.
Kris, we'll have to do it again.
Rider Down! (Again) 1/25/05
I'm new to Conway, but Shawn and I have a history. Shawn and I used to ride the Foundation together.
That's where I learned the feeble grind. Enough old news, here's the lowdown. Shawn and I were filming around Conway, and
Shawn was hitting a rail at an anonymous location, which was FAT! A cop came to check us out, but he was cool about it. We
talked about riding for like 5 minutes, then he left. We already had good footage by then, so onward!
We pedal for a while.....
At the next spot Shawn hit a nice little dirt double a few times. Shawn does not like dirt! He was
flowin' good though, smooth like butter. I made a new dirt jump, it looks weird, but works well. After hitting that a few
times, I pulled a few nice big bunnyhops, including one over a bucket that looks good on tape. Shawn was doing wallrides on
a concrete pipe, and did I mention that this guy has balls? He nailed it after several attempts. Good Job Dude! Yeah, I know,
get to the point already!
I decided to take the bucket that I mentioned earlier and jump over it with the new jump. I have knee
problems that took me out for over 3 yrs. altogether. (Big bad landing at the Foundation). Being out so long, I forgot my
BMX geometry. I set the bucket to close to the jump, clipped my front wheel and lost it. I came down on my left foot, my left
knee popped out of socket, and sent me down hard. I rolled around in the dirt holding my knee and cussing for a while. Thanx
Shawn for not taping any of this.
So now I have a cane for at least a week until I can walk again, and some gnarly scrapes and scratches
on my left arm. Before my body could go into shock, I got up on my right foot, got on my bike, and pedaled home one footed
of course. Shawn is RAD! He came to my house, checked my mail, cooked me lunch, and of course talked a little trash.
Will I ride again? Don't know. With a 5 year old son and a baby on the way it probably isn't wise.
The wife says I'm grounded anyway. Oh well, I'll still be behind the video camera! Rock on.
Kris
LETTERS TO AND FROM THE PROS!
THESE ARE SOME OF THE LETTERS THAT I HAVE SENT AND RECIEVED SOME REPLIES FROM THE
PROS. TODD LYONS AND MIKE ARDELEAN
Todd,
Do you ever miss having a bolt on bashguard on your bike like you did in the mid nineties?
I've got a GT bolt on bashguard w/skid plate and I can't find a frame with a small enough down tube to fit it. Can you
recommend any up to date frames that can use the bashguard? Thanx
Later,
Shawn
Shawn,
I had somebody make a new clamp piece so my Kore bashguard would fit onto
my oversized Huffy frame. It was a lot of work, though. Good luck.
Oh, and yes, I miss that thing!
-Todd Lyons
Mike,
Hey whats up man? I am a rider out of Conway Arkansas and I ride
brakeless.
I like a mixture of both tech and burly style. I was
wondering what you like better, tech or burly?
And
I have been working on getting 360 airs off of ledges, but
can't seem to get them down. I can get a 360 tire
tap, but cant seem
to keep it in the air long enough to rotate all 360 degrees in the
air. Any tips?
Thanks,
Christ
Rules
Shawn
What's up Shawn, thanks for writing. Nice picture too. As far as style
goes, I like a mix too. Clean and simple is
usually what I like. My
advice for the 360 is to learn how to carve off the lip and tuck your
bike up into you at
the same time. This took me forever to learn--I
could only do one or the other. Once you learn to carve hard AND
bunnyhop
all at once, you'll be able to spin off anything, even flat
ground.
Other than that, I like to turn my head and
look under my armpit when
I'm rotating. People say look over your shoulder, but I think that
looks ugly and makes
it harder to keep your bike up beneath you. So
don't stretch your body out, keep those handlebars right under your
chin
while you spin.
See ya,
Mike
