Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Allen park, Alliance skatepark, Austin, Beecam, Blacks BBQ, BMX, BMXbabes, Brittany Campbell, Dani Windhausen, Denise Baca, girls BMX edit, housepark, Junkyard Dog, Mo Malone, murph, NY accents, originaaaal, San Marcos swim spot, Stoney D, TX, Yeah Zine
Did a little roadtrip for the day with some of my girls, Mo Malone, Brittany Campbell (aka Beecam), Dani Windhausen and Denise Baca. We left around 9am, and got to the Allen park around noon. It was easily 100+ degrees out and we had hoped this meant it would be empty but it wasn’t. Swarms of kids on scooters infested every corner of the park. We still managed to have an awesome time, film some clips and shoot some pics.
We headed over to lewisville bowl around 3pm and the heat was so bad that the park was deserted. We discovered real fast that there was barely any shade anywhere. Thank goodness for 7-11 big gulp cups of ice and 2 for $3 gatorades or we would be dead.
We wore ourselves out in the heat, stopped in Deep Ellum for some tacos with our friend Johnny and then booked it over to the Alliance Skatepark for the last few minutes of the session. Here’s a few pics from the trip:
Dani was roasting this bowl, but we still couldn’t escape scooter wrath.
Mo shot this one of me, so stoked! I sent this one to Freegun as a thanks for the new tank top 🙂 thanks Mo!
Alliance skatepark
Mo shredding the vert ramp
Eventually, we made it back home sunburned and dehydrated but amped on going back to Dallas soon nonetheless! Super fun trip! I think we all tried some new things, what a refreshing trip. For more pics from our trip, can peep our Instagram(s) and follow: @denise_baca @beecam @mo_malone and @nina_burrito..
In the meantime I went swimming and riding everyday before work, Beecam and I watched some of the Vans bowl contest at the US open of surfing Huntington Beach, CA, there was a live stream on the computer while we took turns blowing up this floatable donut to bring to Barton Springs.
Then some homies from Long Island came to town, rolling about 7 deep! Hailing mostly from Glen Cove and Locust Valley, we had Steve, Mike (aka Junkyard dog), Jake, Dave, Matt, Pauly C, staying with Elliot and Tom 516. These comedians were a trip, we had a great time showing them around Austin.
Their final day in town we hit up the San Marcos skatepark, went swimming and then hit up Lockhart for some BBQ and and another skatepark Sesh there. Too many laughs, hopefully they will come back soon!
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👋💪
And Dani learning how to do the “murph”…
Too much fun!
Dani and Denise just finished a little roommate edit, just in time for Yeah Zine video contest! I am stoked to have helped film some clips and contribute to their project..
Watch their edit here:
https://vimeo.com/71389006
In addition, Beecam put together a fun little BMX Babes in Austin edit for the same contest filmed mainly at Housepark from majority of the local gal shredders. I have a few riding clips 🙂 thanks B!
Watch that one here:
What an amazing week! I am getting ready to leave for Xgames in a few hours after work..then continuing on the yeah Zine trip! Woo!! Post more soon..
Keep having fun in the meantime 😉
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Adrianne Franscini, Afro pat, Austin, Becci, BMX, Boondocks, Bowl, Chris Hald, Chris Rubinich, Coney Island, Dad and Dana, Darryl Nau, Dave Ghandi Hall, Denise Baca, Dk bicycles, Dustin, East Hampton, empire BMX, Freegun, Freegun underwear, Germans, Hanson Little, Joe Rich, Marc Johnson Interview, Marie Suchan, Maya Angelou, Mo Malone, Nathans International Hot Dog Eating Championship, New York, NY Bagels, Owls Head Skatepark, Pistol Pete, Point Lookout, Rebecca Berg, reds gun range, Ruben Alcantara, Sam Fiorino, sister, Steph Fiorino, Stoney, sunburn, t-1, Tami, Tara and Adam, Tomas Fuentes, Total Riders, TX, Uncle Mullet
“Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.”
..a quote by Maya Angelou, enlightening. I recently made a decision to leave my bike sponsor of more than 6.5 years, DK Bicycles. I just want to say that I am really grateful for all that they did for me, I got to travel the world, make some of the best friends, got to go on Megatour, and even design signature handlebars! Really, it is the most any company in BMX Freestyle has ever done for a girl, and for that I truly do thank them for all that they have done.
I confided in some of my closest friends and mentors about my relationship with the company and how it has changed over the last two years or so. Face to face confrontation whenever possible is always better, however, across the miles, over a computer, or via text, I learned that a lack of communication can most definitely stir up some frustrations and create misunderstandings. I am someone that believes in professionalism and that it is very important to keep a healthy relationship in business and friendships and love; good communication is key. In life, I believe it is important to work hard, appreciate what you have, who you have in your life, and equally it is also important to feel appreciated and no matter how much time passes, that your hard work shouldn’t go unnoticed. I also feel that even though it may be the easier route for some to “just take the money and run,” at the end of the day, I’d rather keep my pride and stay true to my beliefs. Maybe I’m from a different generation, (ex.I don’t live my life for more likes on instagram enough haha), whatever the case, it was time for me to try to enjoy what I’m doing on my bike without any stress or wonder if I am still a part of something. I am still doing what I always do, just without any uncertainty. I just read an interview with a pro skateboarder, Marc Johnson, in which he rips into the skate industry and how a lot of the skaters are just as guilty for “taking the money and run” attitude. The interview seems to parallel my situation with riding for a smaller rider-owned company that merged with a bigger corporation that is moving in a different direction. When you have a minute, read it here.
Aside from leaving DK, Stoney and I were graced with a visit from my friend Becci and her boyfriend Dustin for two weeks. Aside from getting severely sunburned and attacked by mosquitoes, I think they had a really good time. I drove them all over Austin, upto Dallas and back to ride some spots, took them to shoot guns for their first time, introduced them to quesadillas, and the idea of homecooking instead of their favorite place on earth: Mac Donalds. Ugh! haha Here are a few photos I shot during their visit:
Hmm..Lip tattoos: Denise Baca (Left), Becci (right) got “AUSTIN” tattooed on the inside of her lip 2 years ago her first visit to America, and TX, and first tattoo ever
Dustin needed a souvenir tattoo from TX also..Another fine piece of artwork by our friend Mo Malone from Triple Crown Tattoo here in Austin
Germans in Austin……Homemade quesadillas a la Nina Burrito
Why Germans should listen to me when I tell them to put on sunblock..
In America, you only need about $40 and a valid ID or passport to shoot guns..in Germany, guns are strictly for military and law enforcement.
Yep, then after Becci and Dustin’s visit, Tomas Fuentes super nice kid from Chile came to Austin on his way to Woodward West to hang with Coco Zurita. Here is a photo I shot of Tomas at our friend Morgan’s (frenchie)’s back yard..
Aside from trying to show people around Austin, shooting pics, and riding, I have been keeping busy, working on a little video edit for one of my sponsors, Freegun Underwear. I am trying to get some local bands to let me use their song for it, which I think will work out great because I love to support the homies, and Freegun prefers I use music that is “cleared” to use. Once I get that sorted, should have a nice little edit out in no time 🙂
A few holidays passed since my last update, including Flag Day, June 14th, which also happens to be my birthday! It’s been a few years since I’ve had a new frame, I even sanded the paint off and clear coated it to buy myself sometime to maybe get a new one, but it never came. So in the end, Stoney bought me a T-1 “Ruben” frame, and it looks sweet and feels amazing! The specs are pretty similar to what I was running but it has a more laid back head tube angle, 74 degrees instead of 75, I can’t believe I notice that much of a difference! It’s only been a few weeks, so far so good, I forgot how exciting it is to build up a new frame! Thanks Stoney!! Huge thank you to Afro Pat for being a good friend, and “get shit done” homie, and Hanson Little at Empire for helping me put this together..seriously, thank you both so much, and Joe Rich for helping Stoney figure out what frame to get me as a surprise. I am so lucky to have so many good friends here in Austin!
Oh yeah, so in the midst of all of these changes, my friend Mo and I decided to take a Motorcyle safety course so we could get our “M” endorsement on our TX drivers license, a requirement in order to take the test here in TX. We opted for Total Rider school’s Basic course since they offered it earlier in the week. I couldn’t afford to take off a weekend from work since the 3-day course was from 6am-noon. Our instructor goes by “Uncle Mullet” and if you ever need to renew your motorcycle license and would like to be entertained while you get informed, this is the guy to go to. I sent these photos to a few family members who agree that they would rather my new hobby be “Basket weaving,” (which incase you didn’t realize, it’s a lot safer).
Mo Malone and I with “Uncle Mullet”
The course still went on “RAIN OR SHINE” and so we went the poor man’s rain gear route and picked up some “fresh” trash bags haha, actually held up pretty good all things considered.
the fleet of Kawaski Eliminators, I think they were 125 cc’s..nothing crazy but super fun!
And we completed our course! We mastered the parking lot! My friend Tom, “Tom 516” from Long Island lives here in Austin now helped us out, threw a new front tire on the Honda we have been trying to get on the road. I bought some side mirrors, we got the timing adjusted, and now whenever we have some extra $, ‘can take it to get inspected, and registered so we can finally go on some rides!!! Yay!! Here she is pre-new front tire and mirrors.
In addition to new bikes, motorcycle education and parts, I invested some birthday cash into a portable radio I call the “ghetto blaster” that uses the same battery as my drill and is rechargeable! Woo!! This little thing kicks so much ass! Took it to San Marcos park on 4th of July for a session before work, and it got everyone at the park going! It was about 100degrees out, no shade, but the jams kept everyone’s energy in the bowl and gave everyone a boost to keep the session going; I love this thing:
I have been loving life, and appreciating everyone I have in it, my friend Adrianne just had another birthday, her and I lived together in Arlington, TX at one point circa 2005 and have had so many laughs! Cheers to many more! Shot from birthday dinner at Bouldin Creek, babe-fest..
Oh and even though I had to work, you better believe that I was cheering for the annual Nathan’s International Hot Dog eating Championship, held every 4th of july in Coney Island, NY! Reigning champion, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, ate 69 hot dogs for the win this year in the mens division and Sonia “the Black Widow” Thomas ate 36 3/4 hot dogs for the ladies title. HA! That’s a lot of freakin dogs people! Screen shot of the TV from the preliminary..
All of this excitement, and then a trip home to Long Island to see family and good friends?!!! SO RAD!!!! I broke down my bike and flew home with it, july 5th to try to catch a family gathering, my mom and her sisters at our cousin’s place in East Hampton. Unfortunately, one of my aunt’s wasn’t feeling well and they left a few hours before I got there, but mom and I made the best of this beautiful place to ourselves, played scrabble and swam laps in the pool.
I almost forgot how beautiful Long Island is, driving passed all of the wine vineyards, farms and lush green caves of trees..and then there’s the BEACH! and the pizza, and the bagels, delis, lots of family and some of my best friends ever! Here are some photos from the trip, I got to see Steph and Sam, hang out with Biscuit (Mom’s dog aka my bro-ski), :
tar beach (Marie’s rooftop in flushing), dinner at moms, Point Lookout (a lot smaller since Sandy)..
Point Lookout with mom and ice cream <3, and a different beach day with aunt diane, aunt janette, marie, cousins nick and alex
Marie’s crazy Fish ornament, haha we had a blast
Got to shred some BMX while I was home, great session joined by Thad, Dave Hall, Darryl Nau, and Jimmy at Owl’s Head skatepark in Bay Ridge, we rode as long as we could in the rain until the ramps just got too wet.
I also had the pleasure of attending my cousin Laura’s engagement party, congrats Laura and Joey! Dad, Dana and I and we danced our bums off ha or as dad says, “we cut the rug.”
My buddy Brian Kaminsky hit me up on his way back from the beach threw my bike in the back of his truck with the surfboards and we went to visit the “Boondocks” some Long Island trails. Got to catch up with Chris Hald and Darryl Nau and helped dig for a few hours. 
Got to spend time with little sister, Tami ha she is 14 and almost at tall as me now!
And I finally got to meet my friend Dave and Lauren’s baby, Penelope! They are having a destination wedding in 2 weeks in Mexico, Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend, but we had dinner and then a nice evening of ping pong, skeeball, and Cinnabags, a signature cocktail at the Tender Trap in Brooklyn joined by John Lynn and Thad and even ran into “Wormz!” as he rode by, haven’t seen him in forever!
I also got to see Nana and Aunt Terry before my trip ended, it made my trip to see you both! Dang! I wish I had more time!! At least I got to see my friend Tara and her boyfriend Adam, they are still relocated since Hurricane Sandy, holding up alright in their temporary spot until they get their place back together or find a new one. I made a pit stop to see Pete Miranda, better known as “Pistol Pete” and his lady and family who live right by my dad for a hot minute on my way home from the trails. Ah!!! And then there’s Chris Rubinich!!! Unfortunately I missed out on getting to see his son Joseph,nor did I catch his lady this trip, (she has a wild schedule nursing school and work) but he filled me in. My friends are the best, catching up like we didnt miss a beat, embracing whatever short time we have. Everyone is doing as good as they can be, and that makes me feel at ease. Smiles for miles, I made it home safe, and eventually so did my bike and the bagels! I miss you all already, thank you mom and chris, dad and dana, and marie for driving me around and feeding me lots of NY delicacies. Until next time……..
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 9th street, Afro pat, Austin, Beecam, bike shop, biltwell, Freegun underwear, Jack behal, Lance Armstrong, Lindsay Hale, Livvie, Lockhart, mellow Johnny's, Natalie Noble, Phil Bailey, Sarah, Smittys BBQ, Sterling, Tooth Fairy Jam, TX
It’s amazing to me that my first downtime to update this blog is on an airplane!
First off, one of my best friends “Afro Pat” Schreader and his lady and Livvie their pup are finally reunited here in Austin! Congrats on getting the rest of the fam down 🙂
Pic of pat and Sarah)
Here’s a photo of Sterling and Livvie playing Frisbee haha
Our friend Lil John had some German lady friends visiting him in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and were bumming out on the grey rainy and snowy weather so we put them up for a week in sunny Austin. Linda and Janette had a blast, we even got to canoeing 🙂
OMG/this next blurb is why I am stoked on thrillerburrito to “blog” about occasional mishaps as such..
So we took the German ladies on a bike ride and one of the girls got a flat on my spare bike. The nearest shop we ended up being able to walk to in the direction we were headed was Mellow Johnny’s, which is Lance Armstrong’s bike shop. I have only been in there once or twice but thought it would be a novelty stop to show the ladies. PffFft!!!! They were really nice, but I didn’t even think to ask beforehand how much it is to change a flat. I figured at the MOST it wouldn’t be more than $10-12. It was almost double!! $18.40 to change a single speed flat?!! You must be on steroids! I have NEVER in my life been charged so much to change a flat!!!! Thanks Lance, sorry but next time I’ll walk a few miles home instead and patch the tube myself for free!!!!!
The ditch that Lindsay and Dani and I had been building some concrete stuff in was about to see some traffic for BMXFU 4/20 jam. We met up with Big Rob and Jeremy to try and get phase one of a concrete mini ramp built but some ditch goers ( aka ditch people, sketchy neighborhood kids) wrecked our forms. Frustrated and defeated wasting all of thay time and $ it was bound to get wrecked again..so we bailed on that idea 
And only a few hours after..
But either way the 4/20 jam had a badass turn out! Our friend from the NW, Natalie Noble was in town and Beecam and I had a few hours left to with her to ride and chill at the ditch before her flight. I am saving the action shots from my good camera for the next issue of Yeah Zine sorry homies here’s an iPhone pic:
Stoney had a birthday and turned 31! We went out to Lockhart for some BBQ and skating. This time we hit Smitty’s BBQ, the sausage was probably the best tasting sausage I have ever had!! No forks policy brought us back to medieval times ha! We made the awesome rounds of eating BBQ before going to the skatepark so we were definitely feeling a little wonky like fat kids on wheels afterwards.. Usually we eat after the session. Oops!
One more reason I love Austin, is the Alamo Drafthouse!! It’s a full menu full bar movie theater that had amazing themed events. They did a free showing of BMX Bandits on the big screen sponsored by Toy Joy, gave out Vegemite sandwiches and slap bracelets..win!!!
I worked the night before but got my bum out of bed and pedaled there fast to meet Joe Bob, Emily, and Lindsay. BMX Bandits was Nicole Kidman’s first starring feature film.. If you haven’t seen it, try and Netflix it.. So good def up there with “RAD!”
Another reason a lot of other people love it here is a WEIRD Austin tradition to celebrate a Winnie the Pooh character’s birthday. This year Eeor turned 50, and hippies everywhere rejoiced in Austin wearing watermelon helmets, ridiculous fairy outfits, or nothing at all besides body paint..if we were lucky. Ha! There was some unsightly topless people of all ages shapes and sizes just letting it all
Hang out, no big deal. There was also unicycle football, a farthest egg toss, live music, beer tents and tons of people who were probably on psychedelics camping out in the woods. This event was about 5 blocks from the skatepark I go to everyday and I could not help it, i HAD to go see this for myself. Stoney and I walked around laughing for an hour or two…here’s a glimpse of what we saw:
All I have to say is, YIKES!!!
So then I went to ANOTHER birthday gathering, this time not as weird for my girl Lindsay Hale! It was a birthday / going away party. She even scored a birthday dress as a gift from the Mexican market haha so good! We had a great day of riding at the pumptrack first. Its always rad to see her in a dress hahaha especially a Mexican fiesta dress!
Last few laps in the Subaru brat for now with Dani and Lindsay in the back (best seat in the car!)
This cracks me up her new Biltwell helmet she got already stickered up from our buddy Leland.. “Hardcore drinking team” haha if you know Lindsay, you know that she doesn’t drink haha.
Farewell Lindsay! She loaded up the Brat with all of her bikes and motorcycle and clothes and is headed home to Utah before returning to work in the Grand Canyon as a river boat guide.. Amazing! Safe travels and see ya for TX toast in October!
After several hellos, goodbyes a jam and quite a few birthdays.. This final jam I helped set up was so rad! It was the “Tooth Fairy Jam” at the Ninth street trails downtown Austin. it was a benefit jam for our friend Phil Bailey who broke his jaw and lost a lot more teeth than I did! 👎👎👎Several bike companies and local businesses threw down some really nice product for us to raffle off. Hopefully the jam was a good jumpstart fund of $ for Phil to get a new “grill” so he can bite into some food sometime soon 🙂 The turnout was wonderful, we saw generations of BMX and ninth street locals in attendance. Thank you to everyone who came out helped with the jumps shredded and donated for a good cause. Good luck Phil you rule!
Jack behal took a run in his newly acquired pair or Freegun underwear haha sick’
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Austin, Buck Rogers, Bunnyhop Pizza Party, Chickflick BMX, Danielle Windhausen, girls BMX, Shakespeare's Pub, Subrosa Video premiere, Texas Toast, The White horse, trailer hitch lights, TX
Greetings from a Uhaul somewhere in Austin, It looks as if my trailer hitch didn’t come with lights so I am killing time until they get them installed! “Trailer lights? What are you towing?” Looks like I am going to have to bring the Honda in for some TLC, brake fluid is leaking and the clutch cable keeps popping out..eek! Super stoked on acquiring this motorcycle thank you Logan! Can’t wait to get it purring again!
Here’s the car, getting the stinking trailer lights installed..
The gals have been taking it back to the parking lot basics, bunnyhop a and manuals.. Pretty stoked on these sessions haha we drug out the left over Bunnyhop Pizza we built for Texas Toast Jam last year.
Haha making fun of paparazzi-dog-watching-mom-shred-BMX Sesh..
I got a copy in the mail of Chickflick BMX DVD and did a little/big video premiere in our backyard the other night.
We projected it up on the wall, a lot of people stopped by for it and were stoked! Here’s the link to the trailer again:
http://vimeo.com/m/34962543
The video is for sale now at Empire BMX
My photos of backyard BBQ premiere aren’t anything to post here really but!
If you missed it, we are going to show the video THIS Saturday to warm up the crowd before the Subrosa “Get Used to It” video!! 21+up only and I will be bartending! Come support the ladies and Subrosa! And enjoy some $5 Liquor pitchers until the videos are over..
Don’t be square, be there!
Latest sightings, I had an evening off with Stoney, pedaled up to the White Horse to see his friend Jordan’s band jam out, and wow! I heard someone yell my name and boom! My college friend from NY, Ro was in town her first time in TX! Great to see her 🙂 so random!
She looks exactly the same, cutest little thing! Hehe
Aside from that I am getting stoked on this Colombia edit!! Clips are sorted, music chosen, now it’s time to throw it up on a timeline..
Any day now!
And a late breakfast for lunch with fresh eggs from Brent our homie at Project Loop straight from his chicken coop! I scored at a friends birthday gathering he brought them to, everyone there was vegan except for me! Ha, Bon appetit!
Thank you Brent!
I made a delicious scramble: Carmelized onions, garlic, sauteed kale, tomatoes, pinch of salt, touch of mild cheddar, black pepper and some cayenne with avocado..mhm.
After this uhaul bit is done I’m dropping the Moto off and headin to the trails before work! 😜
Ps thank you to Austin local Kim for catching some flicks of me and some homies at Housepark the other day..
Click this link to peep some pics maybe she caught one of you?!
Photos by KTYarborough
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Angie Marino, Austin, Beecam, Black Angels, Camila Harambour, Chelsea Light Movement, Chickflick BMX, Jessica Ausec, Natalie Wade, scoot inn, Shakespeare's Pub, Simple Session, Sister session, sxsw, thrasher death match, Thurston Moore
We just got back from Colombia in time for one of the craziest weeks of the year in Austin, South by Southwest (sxsw.). What this means is almost every type of music and celebrity you can think of will be in town and yours truly will be bartending downtown at Shakespeares Pub.. I have a had a few 16hour days already!
Tonight is also the first ever premiere of the long awaited Chickflick BMX video! First ever all girls bmx video with full parts from Natalie Wade, Jessica Ausec, Camila Harambour, Angie Marino and Nina Buitrago. The DVD is now available for pre-order at a discount of 15%off until it gets back from the distributor. Visit the website to order yours now! I will be working on an Austin premiere as well. Watch the trailer:
In other fun girls BMX news, Simpel Session is going down this weekend in Tallin, Estonia. The top 13 spots have been filled for “Sister Session” the girls class. Again I SO wish I could be there with all of my ladies right now, I had to make the call with my knee, still pretty fresh after hitting it again in Colombia, I cannot risk crashing on it again until it heals a bit more. I have been following all the girls on Instagram and watching the Yeah Zine site for updates. Looks like they are cold, bundled up and LOVING the course! I am off Sunday to watch the Sister Session live stream 11:20am Eastern Time click here to watch. Go girls! The course looks amazing!! Mark your calendars! I set several alarms haha.
In the midst of all of this awesomeness, I have managed to catch some skateboarding and music before my shift yesterday. Here are some photos I shot at the Thrasher Death match event at the Historic Scoot Inn where my friend Beecam (Brittany Campbell) works.
I got to see Chelsea Light Moving one of Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth’s side projects..
And enjoy a set by the Black Angels local psychedelic rock from Austin.
It was great to see some friends outside of work 🙂 everyone seemed to be in between “sessions” either riding or skating, or working too. Nice little one hour reunion with friends got me even more stoked on this week.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ARF, athlete recovery fund, Austin, BMX, Colombia, Diana BMX, Dk bicycles, empire BMX, Freegun underwear, girls BMX, hormigas, Lindsay Hale, Maddog, Montserrate, Nina Buitrago, Ruper BMX, Shakespeares, sxsw, Yeah Zine
Oh my how the time flew by!! Initially, we didn’t have much of a solid plan for places around Colombia that we wanted to visit. All we knew was that we were going to meet some girl riders, eat some great food, hopefully ride some cool spots, see some sights, and get to know the culture.
DK Bicycles Colombian distributor Oscar and his wife hosted us for the first week or so, he took us to several parks, and had us sign posters for the locals.
About a week into our trip we got word that a girl rider from Ecuador named Monica heard we were going to be in Bogota, and hopped on a 3 day bus ride just to meet us and come ride with us! Unfortunately, during her travels, there was a bus strike, and she got stuck somewhere half way, and 3 days turned into 7 days until she finally got on a plane to make it. Diana informed us later that Monica had sold her camera to pay for her flight. Anxious for her safe arrival we changed locations to stay with our new friends Diana and her husband Ruper so we could at least get to spend some time with her the last few days of our trip whenever she finally arrived.
Diana and Ruper were great tour guides!! not only did they also make us breakfast every morning, but they pedaled with us all over the city, introduced us to new fruits and breads we don’t have in the states. They even hiked up AND down Montserrate with us! Their 6 year old son Matthew did the hike too 🙂 what a trooper! Our legs were destroyed for the next few days after that one ha!
One of the first days in the van with Oscar..and the posters we had to sign:
We even went to “el salitre” BMX race track, and met some kids who ride for Community BMX’s DK racing team..
It was amazing to see so many kids at the track the few days we went, they were killing it! Some of Colombia’s fastest! ” El dragon” Juan Pablo 8yrs, Linda Rubiano 15yrs, Santiago Suarez “hurricane•
The rest of the time was amazing here are some photos..
🔝 There were not only lots of dogs in the streets but also horses!!!
We hiked up to top of Montserrate and back down, and were sore to walk for days…across from the top was the virgin of Guadalupe, beautiful! Elevation Circa 10K feet!
The crew that made it!! Even 6yr old matthew!! 
The view was gorgeous! Lots of beautiful flowers and plants, we even ate some tamales at the top 🙂
Bogota used to be “Santa Fe bocota” the capital of the region now known as Colombia. There’s a lot of history here, a lot of battles and gold! The lake behind Montserrate used to be where El Dorado and several families would throw their wedding offerings into for good luck. At some point in time when the Spaniards arrived and got wind of the gold in the lake, they even tried to take a chunk out of the lake and drain it to get to the gold! To this day you can still see where they attempted it but most of the gold has been recovered and is in the “Museo del Oro” another awesome stop. If you’re interested in the history of metals, jewelry, weapons and trade, this place is awesome! And less than $2 USD to see!
We also stopped in Simon Bolivar’s house at the base of Montserrate. Beautiful beautiful garden..
On Sunday the girl from Ecuador still hasn’t arrived, so we participated in “ciclovia” which is an all day Sunday bike ride. The city closes down a lot of roads just for bicycles from morning until late afternoon. So fun!
La plaza de Bolivar, the capital.. A lot of history here, this is where everyone comes to protest anything and everything.
There isn’t really much of a middle class in Bogota, it’s seemingly poor or super rich.. This plus the government finally compromising some what could be “temporary peace” with the drug guerrillas and terrorists are just a few reasons Bogota hasn’t been very popular for tourists. There is definitely some sketchy areas to avoid, we saw a car in front of us get robbed at a red light, (lock your doors!)..yikes! These areas are easily avoidable if you have the right tour guide..being on the look out, always looking 360 was key to having a safe trip here. “Ojos buenos”
In a nutshell We learned that Colombian people poor or rich, truly have the biggest hearts, and make sacrifices second to no one here in the states. We got to ride some amazing spots, make some amazing friends and learn a lot about Colombia and its history..and food! Oh my gosh the food!!! Everyday there was a new type of mango or fruit I have never heard of that was delicious! Fresh juice on every corner and so cheap!
I definitely need to come back to Colombia!! (When there isn’t a bus strike) we have yet to visit Baranquilla, Girardot, Cali, Cartegena, Sierra Nevada Santa Marta, and the amazons.
Our friends Alejo and Cassie from Chicago drove all over Colombia a week before we arrived and brought us back some “Hormigas De Colona” or famous fried, big-booty ants. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, choked one down, woof! Tasted like crunchy salty popcorn kernel mixed with dirt. Eh, not my favorite.. Somehow didn’t yack.
Colombia is crazy, so much talent, and SO many riders, but sadly, very few will ever afford the visa to visit the USA. Hopefully our friend Diana can find a way! She can bunnyhop higher than most dudes and has a lot of style when it comes to jumping. Keep your eyes peeled for a little video edit of our trip 🙂
Longest blog update for me ever!!! Ha, thanks for reading, quite a gap without wifi to play catch up. Finally home safe in the states, time for SXSW here in Austin..aka Work work work!! Come visit at Shakespeare’s Pub on 6th
Some love and healing vibes for my friend teammate “Maddog” in Colombia:
Everyone loving some Freegun underwear stickers
And some Empire BMX goodies as well (thanks Hanson!)
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Austin, cupcakes, fairdale, gluten-free, Sugar circus, Texas toast jam, truffles, vegan
My longtime friend who is an awesome baker, Meghan, teamed up with some fellow bakers and opened “Sugar Circus” the ultimate cure-all for your sweet tooth right here in Austin.
“The best sugar show on earth” is located at 2613 E.5th street between Pedernales and Pleasant Valley.
I rode my Fairdale there yesterday morning on an empty stomach which was trouble! Thankfully it was 2 for 1 cupcake special so I scored some extras to share (haha don’t worry I shared). There is a perfect assortment of classic buttercream frosted cupcakes, cookies, and the other half of the items offered yesterday were vegan and gluten-free friendly.
I wanted to bring one of everything home!! I did well though and only bought one of each truffle and a few cupcakes to try.
For the record, this place is also open on Sundays so they can offer regular and vegan cinnamon rolls!!!!
Make sure all of you reading this who will be visiting for Texas Toast Jam 2012 stop in for some treats! It is located a stone’s throw away from this years contest site.
Oh man, so after my little sugar extravaganza, I show up to go for a swim with girl Dani at her pool and she is hopping on one foot making pancakes from scratch!! More sweets!! Ah!!!
Ha!
So glad I went for a bike ride yesterday after all of that sugary goodness!
Oh and some GREAT news, someone reported the license plate of the truck that hit our friend Joe Bob that took off after. The police are on it! I am so relieved to hear this!!
Happy Saturday!! I’m off to shred before work again 🙂
Joe Bobs last night in the hospital woo!!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: All Wheel Sports, All Wheels Extreme, anchorman, Andy Martinez, Austin, autumn Spadaro, common house, Dani, DoMy Books, girls BMX, house park, Joe Bob Montgomery, Shakespeare's Pub, Taylor brown, Yeah Zine
This past weekend I am pretty sure there was a full moon out..
“it’s that time..of the season..”-mommas and the papas
I worked every night Thursday-Sunday and managed to not Labor on labor day after all. This may have been one of the busiest weekends all summer, we were really busy and I love when it’s busy!! More tips and more live-drunken dancing-on-the-stage entertainment at Shakespeare’s.
I had a few high noon 100+degree sessions at house park, where I ran into Francis, local kid I heard about having “shit luck” over the years. This time he was cruisin around with two broken wrists!! “who wants to Ride some trails?!” I can’t believe this kid. Poor guy..I was introduced to Francis last year sometime as the “kid who got shot in the ass by some local thugs while he was riding a ditch.” and now this:
Get well Soon dog!
I also had the pleasure of riding at 9th street here and there over the weekend! If there even was a missing link in the good vibes of the Austin scene, it was the ninth street trails! They are mostly running again, making for a great time just before sundown everyday there! The bugs, absolutely love me, so I re-upped my bug repellent stash. The shelves of the local grocery where all the Off! is were looking pretty bare after news reports that there is a strong presence of the west Nile Virus in surrounding areas of central Austin yikes! If you are hittin’ the trails, be prepared people! Douse yourselves in that Deet! Haha
Here we have even more gimps, in the heckler section: Andy Martinez coming off of a broken ankle.. And girl Dani with a broken tibia kickin it next to “slacker” line at 9th
I have still yet to upload some of the action shots from the weekend…
However I want to put a HUGE reminder to everyone reading this, “PLEASE SHARE THE ROAD and WATCH OUT FOR CYCLISTS!!”
After a fun weekend of riding, I got a phonecall that my buddy, Joe Bob Montgomery, was hit by a truck yesterday on his way into work.
He is in the hospital with a broken back, surgery still pending, no health insurance, and as it turns out, the incident was a hit and run! This makes my blood boil..
He is in good spirits though, hangin tough! Healing vibes Holmes!
The impact was so crazy his bike is mangled, pedal and seat melted, grips all shredded, headset all jacked, I’m pretty sure the frame and forks are twisted too
Joe got lucky this time. Yikes! Healing vibes kid!! Follow him on instagram for more updates @farmlife
Aside from crazy news got to take this lovely lady out for some Thai food for her birthday, happy birthday Marilyn!
Sorry my phone camera didn’t do our lunch justice ha
Also exciting news congrats to our friend Mo Malone for completing her first mini triathlon! An excuse for celebration dinner and girls night here’s some more pretty ladies:
Congrats Mo!
I got up early this morning to meet Beecam at house park to shoot some last minute photos for the next issue of Yeah Zine today is my day to sort through all of my photos since the last issue and write some stories! Got my work cut out!!
Ill post more here later today from the coffee shop, but I also wanted to remind everyone that my homies from cedar point, All Wheels Extreme will be on NBC tv show America’s Got Talent tonight!!! 9pm EST I think so tune in they need your votes!!! 🙂
Signing off from house park parking lot ha..-Nina B
Few parting shots:
the OTHER Taylor brown
Paul Rad sent me this (it’s dorito’s van, still has oatmeal all over the back of it from my last visit to Ohio..sorry Holmes! Hahaha drive it down here so I can clean it!)
Autumn Spadaro had an exhibit at local gallery spot called Common House which was pretty sweet you can buy her photo book at DoMy Books Austin
And everyone loves a little “yazz” flute in their lives haha #anchorman
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Action sports hall of fame, Alamo, Austin, coffee, dentist, flat track coffee, lady terminator, sterling Roberts
Holy shnikes! I got nominated for action sports hall of fame! Please vote here:
Nina Buitrago
After about 20+visits to the dentist I just yesterday got my final crown put in! This is exciting news because it means After one or two more follow ups I hopefully will no longer need to visit the dentist to repair anymore teeth from my jaw-breaker crash last October! Woohoo!! I have to admit although everyone at my dentist is super nice, it is kind of weird when you walk in and everyone’s like, “Nina!!! Yo girl how’ve you been? How was your trip to Woodward? Oo you cut your hair!” haha it’s like girls night out.
I also pedaled my Fairdale over to the Alamo Ritz movie theater for “Terror Tuesday’s.” It used to be a $1, but it went up to $3/ticket. Still not a bad deal for a grab bag of awesomeness! Last nights featured film was “Lady Terminator” which so over the top ridiculous. If you can imagine a super low quality Indonesian version of terminator 2, but instead of machines vs. humans a story about “The queen of the south sea” seeking vengeance on men hundreds of years later…
Tons of fake blood and the acting that you can tell they are trying not to laugh during their lines. Here’s the link:
lady terminator
Besides adjusting my headset on my BMX and giving it a little tune up in between laundry I had an awesome Tuesday.
My good friends Sterling Roberts and Matty V just launched their long awaited coffee roasting company here in Austin! Visit Flat Track Coffee or follow them on instagram and twitter “@flattrackcoffee”
They hooked me up with some of their Guatemalan Roast, it is delicious! Hit me up of you’re interested in buying some or coming over for a cup 🙂 or if the place you work needs to start carrying some good coffee!
Oh Austin, you have lovely sunset skies..
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: All Wheels Extreme, Austin, Beecam, BMX, Dane Beardsley, Dani Windhausen, Dk bicycles, Etnies BMX, Freegun USA, Fun Fun Fun Fest, George D, girls BMX, jukelife, megaramp, Nina Buitrago, Odyssey, Sunday, trail pirate, Volkswagon, Woodward West, Yeah Zine
The last few weeks since my All Wheels Extreme trip have been non-stop, after facing plenty of ups and a few downs, I’m happy to have made it back to the surface!
It all started not even week or so home from Ohio! I was home and starting to catch up with friends and beat the heat. I decided to meet up with my good friends Adrianne and Sam for a swim at Barton Springs pool. After a nice long swim, we parted ways, and in the midst of carrying my pile of clothes towards the exit, my phone rang on vibrate and I totally fumbled for it in the pile of stuff I was carrying and splash! It fell right in Thanks to a group of little girls swimming around exploring with goggles, they volunteered to fish my iPhone out for me. After a day or two of trying the bag of rice trick and no luck, I was able to get it replaced for only $50! Thank God for Apple Care Plus insurance!!! phew!!!! That was kind of sucky few days of not having a phone, thankfully I had backed it up just in time!
Carrying on, I believe it was a day after the phone incident, a bunch of us got together for a session at the Walnut Creek Pumptrack. It’s so peaceful out there, but occasionally when you’re trying to get psyched up to hit the jumps, you need some music to help you through! My gal friend Dani and I always crack each other up whenever we ride at pumptrack together. Before we do trains through main line we always try to belt out a fun-get-psyched tune. Anything ridiculous from our favorite Salt N’ Pepa “Slide, Push it..” straight into making guitar sounds from Black Sabbath “Supernaut” haha we do our best to keep the energy up and the laughs going each lap, anything helps when you’re attempting to beat the heat and get some good runs in. We were having a great session for awhile until Dani did a sweet toboggan over the first one in main, got way stoked, and over shot the second jump a little far right, almost going over the berm. She bailed and put her leg down a little weird and ghost rode her bike. I thought she was alright because she seemed to be laughing, but when we ran over to help her up, we realized her leg was pretty jacked. A bunch of us helped carry her down the trail and out to the car, gave her a harmonica’s worth of cigarettes to puff on to feel better. (haha even though I don’t smoke and can’t stand cigarettes, I felt like this was a more than appropriate occasion to encourage smoking multiple stogies at once haha and in my car no less her leg looked jacked!!) We loaded her in the back of my Subaru “forester”, which was now converted into a rally car style ambulance blasting Metallica “Motorbreath” on full blast to the hospital. It would take a few days to find out for sure what she broke. Bummer!
Photo by Octavio Octurno from Yeah Zine issue 5 Release jam
So I end up going to my first ever pilates class the next morning with Adrianne, super rad! And as I’m leaving feeling awesome, my cousin Melanie hit me up with some sad news; our grandpa Yayo had passed away. I was floored by the news as I had just spoken to him a week before. ‘walked my bike home that day.
The next day I also got a phone call that my friend and Etnies teammate Aaron Ross was feeling under the weather and was supposed to be spending the day with some cancer kids at a local children’s hospital. Since the kids immunes systems are already challenged it’s best to keep anyone not 100% good health from getting too close. This actually was amazing way for me to keep my mind off of grandpa bring some excitement and smiles to some kids facing some real challenges. Aaron hooked me up with a bunch of Odyssey and Sunday stickers to pass out along with whatever Etnies and DK stickers I had. It was definitely uplifting to share and put some smiles on some new faces, these kids go through a lot, and having them do some little bike races in the hospital courtyard was a lot of fun. One kids dad even joined in haha good times!
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After my visit with the kids, I got home to a package of goodies from Freegun Underwear! There were some swimsuits, bras and underwear, thank you Fat Tony for the hookup! So with only a few hours to kill before work and then getting on a plane to NY for grandpa, I figured I’d try one of those swimsuits out down at Barton Springs if the rope swing was up. I got there and it sure was! Thanks Freegun!
Stoked on the Freegun swimsuit
I then raced home got ready for work. The trip home to say good bye was by far one of the wildest. I worked until 4am, barely slept, made it on a flight eventually to North Carolina, and due to stormy weather, any and all flights out of charlotte into the tri-state area were cancelled! The delays had already made me miss the final day of the wake, and now almost the funeral the next morning! No trains, planes or buses were going to be able to get me to NY until the following evening, after grandpa would already be buried. Not accepting of this,it was 7pm on a Sunday, I rented a car, and drove 700 miles from Charlotte, NC to NY. I was delirious! Had my friends sending me funny photos and calling me to stay awake. I rolled into NJ around 4:30am, not even realizing what time it was had texted a few friends as I passed their exits. Haha sorry homies! Oddly enough, my homie George D hit me up and he had just rolled up back in to NJ from his band playing a show in Boston! Met up at a rest stop to say what up, and I think honestly that totally saved me from falling asleep at the wheel for the last leg of the trip. It was rad to see George for like 10 minutes, first time in like 10 years haha! Still shreddin’ bikes, playing music and driving the VW!
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pretty much how i saw the road signs pulling into NY as the sun was rising
700+miles, 4 coffees, a gallon of water, some flaming hot cheetos, and $41 in tolls and about 12 hours later, I made it to my mom’s in NY, changed my clothes and went straight to the funeral. I did it! I got to say good bye to grandpa yayo! I slept so hard that night. It was so hard to say goodbye, but I feel so much better that I got there in time and got to catch up with family.
He lived 89 years, was a hard worker, and a great man. When I was younger I couldn’t pronounce “Gustavo” his name too well or at all, and “Yayo” was how I managed to say it and it stuck haha! Yayo, in 1960 he moved with my grandma Olga, my aunts Liz, Janette, uncle Gus and my dad, Irving, from Colombia to NY. He worked for Pan Am, and eventually Avianca the Colombian airlines as an airplane mechanic. He was old school, very traditional values, and a man who only wanted the best for everyone. I feel like our time together wasn’t long enough, but I’m happy to have known him and even after the fact learn what an interesting life he lived. I miss him dearly, and already miss making him crack a smile over the phone..
Grandpa Yayo and I in the lobby of his place, on one of my crazy short NY visits last year, RIP gramps, I already miss ya!
Man that was rough, but it was rad to see family and catch up and be there for each other. Not even two days home in Austin, I hopped on a plane to Woodward West in Tehachapi, CA for DK Bicycles week with the campers. My friend Brittany had been meaning to go visit her friends and Juke Life teammates and so I told her I was going and that she should too! So she booked her ticket and boom! We were both at Woodward West about a week later shredding!!
First day there and we got to shred the Megaramp quarter! 28 ft tall!
I sent Mom a photo of me riding the quarter and this was her response ha!
Camp was a blast, we all learned “surfers” from my teammate Dane Beardsley, among some other new moves..
And so it was a fun week at Woodward West, I got off the plane back in Austin and went straight to work again until 4am, and then woke up and it was the Fun Fun Fun Fest Aqua Olympics! Basically a really fun PRE-party for the organizers of the Fun Fun Fun fest a huge music festival that takes place in November here in Austin with an indie stage, hip hop stage and a metal stage usually has a mini ramp and some amazing bands. This Aqua Olympics thing had a huge mega-ramp style roll-in lake-jump! It was my first time lake jumping ever!!!! I hopped on some other peoples bikes and bombed into the lake all day. Even got Mo Malone to give it a go! However, the next few days I felt like I fell out of a building haha after a few 360’s landing head first into the water I imagine that’s what did me in. ha! Oh well, here’s some sweet photos my friend Hippi Josh TRAILPIRATE.com posted:
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Sooo yeah ahhaa the adventure continues!!!!! I managed to catch up with girl Dani and her busted ass leg, turns out she broke her tibia, and had to get surgery to fix it. Pretty cool procedure they did, instead of putting a metal plate in with screws, they now use a “tight rope” which is supposed to help improve overall healing and range of motion after the fact, and will be less likely to have to be removed later on.
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I took her to her appointment to get her stitches out, and so far so good!! Here is a view of the tight rope. Healing vibes your way girl!
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Aside from that, I’ve seriously been just playing catching up. From blogs, laundry, bills, roommate beef, you name it haha it is good to be home. I will add some more photos later. Even though this one is long I can’t believe how much I still left out! Well, I will go ahead and end this long ass update with a quote from Ferris Beuller, (fun fact: this movie quote was used as the opening line before the music started in All Wheels Extreme show at cedar point this summer, for 2 weeks 3-4 times a day it will forever be engrained in my head..seemingly appropriate quote for my endless summer): “life moves pretty fast you know, if you don’t stop and take a look around once in awhile, you could miss it!”
😘
thrillerburrito 