BEN'S BACKYARD BMX-MAS with AGAVE UNDERGROUND

Coverage of the event courtesy of Gavin and Agave Underground Tequila!

Bens Backyard

Dane Searls jumps the world's biggest BMX dirt jumps: Giants Of Dirt Part 3

Injury Report

Ok so last blog post was all about the jam.  And the jam and after party were sick.  But thanks to a hospital trip the next day me me, I found out that I broke my hand on a bad crash late in the afternoon. 

This picture makes me look like I got hit by a bus

Check out the break in the 1st metacarpal,
(the bone that connects to the pointer finger)

Should be back on the bike in no time, 2012 contest season kicks off Jan 15th!

Christmas Jam 2011 @ Bens Backyard

On Sunday the 11th of December we threw a Christmas Party... BMX style.  But back up a week and you will find all the roommates working hard, in between kick ass sessions of course, to prepare for this event.  I mean we had to prepare, we were expecting 2-300 people or more!  Yes a lot of work went into this event and I have to say it couldn't have gone off any better.  We had Ari from Protec sponsoring the event, grilling up delicious burgers, we had coolers and coolers full of vitamin water to give out, and probably the best part, we had Agave Underground Tequila in house giving out free sample shots to anyone of age.  All that plus a bunch of shredders and killer ramps to ride?  If you ask me that is a golden recipe for a bmx barbecue jam!

The new up and comers

He might have showed up late, but made up for it with these tasty burgers

In between what seemed like power sessions for AJ, (the dude was killing it all day long) He could be found on the mic, talking shit, cracking jokes, calling people out, haha it was a good time.

Party at DJ Snowdens dj booth!

S&M bikes tent over at the flatland area

Want a free sample of Agave Underground?  Of course you do.

Myself and some friends, and the legendary TK

After the sun went down and all the kids went home, the fiesta started.  It seemed like there were a few separate parties within the big party,  the dj dance floor party, the room parties, the open garage party, and of course the on top of the garage party!  You could have found me at any one of these, doing laps and talking with everybody, but I do believe I was on the dance floor the most.  The party raged, and when everyone went home, the Roommates kept raging.  I built a big bonfire and we kept it going until early hours of the morning, cracking jokes and reminiscing about how rad the day had been.

Thanks to all the sponsors who helped out, everybody who came and showed support, and all of our media people documenting the event with photos and video.  I want to especially thank all my good friends over at Agave Underground for supplying us with what seemed like way too much tequila...until we finished every last drop. 

Videos should be dropping soon!

Stay Strong Benefit

Stay Strong Benefit

My wheel sponsor Aliennation BMX is hosting a Stay Strong Stephen Murray benefit coming up at the end of November.  For those people that don't know, Stephen Murray was a proffesional dirt jumper who suffered a bad injury resulting in paralization from neck down.  If you are in the southern California area, come out to Sunset Beach to enjoy for some drinks, food, and good times all going towards a great cause!

Holloween in Las Vegas

After some really fun Holloween parties in Orange County, we decided to pack up and head to Vegas, why? Why not, it's Vegas!  A couple days trip turned into a whole week of partying and getting crazy every night.  This picture is from our first night there at a mansion party that was too much too even try and explain.

DEW TOUR 2011 with AGAVE UNDERGROUND TEQUILA

Hey everybody, I finally have made it around to posting this video from vegas, it is by far my favorite video! Big thanks goes out to everyone at Agave Underground Tequila for making my stay in Vegas that much better!

REPLAY XD

ReplayXD spread done by Margie Richland

Team Gamble has recently made new friends with all the guys over at ReplayXD.  Hands down, these cameras are cool!  Shawn from replay was actually able to make it out to vegas to work with me to help get tons of footage which turned out really cool.  I'm excited to post the final result once it comes out, stay tuned!

BMX Videos - 2011 Las Vegas Dew Tour - Dirt Prelims Video Highlights - Ride BMX Magazine

BMX Videos - 2011 Las Vegas Dew Tour - Dirt Prelims Video Highlights - Ride BMX Magazine

Hey check it out everyone, here's the link to the Las Vegas prelims video that took place on Thursday the 13th of October.  Alex Landeros finished out his season 19th out of 32 qualifiers, and many more who attempted to qualify.  Super bummed that this years Dew Tour is over, theres been nothing but great riding, parties and good times!

Photo by Josh Metz,
great photographer and friend

Pro-tec Headquarters

Today the crew took a 15 min drive over to the Pro-tec / Vans headquarters to take a look and check out whats new.  First thing that caught my eye was their mini ramp, super solidly built and I' excited to ride it.  Don't tell anyone but I believe there are plans on going back next week and filming an edit there.  We got hooked up, I'm talking helmets of all kinds and colors, full face helmets, body armour, tons of gloves, shin guards, and other things.  When we go back next time we plan on picking up some more stuff that they were out of.  Major props goes out to Pro-tec for keeping us strapped up and well protected! Check out some pictures of some of the product we got!

Love the artwork on this helmet

Can you say, MEGA RAMP?

No caption necessary, this is rad

New Pad

Team Gamble has officialy moved into Ben Snowden's house in Santa Ana California, and let me just say, there hasn't been a dull moment yet.  This house is crazy fun, we now have a total of ten roomates, and only two of which have real jobs.  The rest of us, well... we just goof off and have way too much fun.  There are awesome ramps in the backyard to ride all day everyday the wheather is amazing, the beach is close by, skateparks all around, what more can you ask for!

Danny Josa pausing from the chaos for a quick photo

Nice shot of some of the ramps and fire

 So basicly we are not paying rent on the side lot but we have been using it for this and that, beech, pump track, fire pit, ect.  But the land lord buckled down and said we had to clean up the lot and make it level, (plow the remains of the old dirt jumps) before 4:00 oclock the next day.  This was no easy task, even with a bobcat.  So with all the random scrapwood, what else is there to do but burn it!  What you see in the picture above is only one pile of wood we had.

Haha, check out the dude peepin up over the fence

Askin assistance from ben in the bobcat

Talk of the fire department was all fun and jokes untill we heard sirens... lots of sirens.  Getting closer and closer.  We went into double time trying to put it out to avoid the huge fine that would inevitably come.  Luckily we were bought some time because the fire trucks couldnt find where we were!  Let me tell you it was quite amusing standing on the roof watching all the flashing red light trucks drive up and down other side streets.  Eventually they popped there heads over the fence, and the best part is, Ben goes, "That's what they did last time!  They couldn't find us and they came up over the fence just like that." 

Um, too big? I didn't think so

All in all the fire department coming was kind of a damper on things but it made a good story and laugh.  Plus we managed to avoid any fines!  Funny side note, the next night (wednesday) we decided to have a party with a dj named dj ninja.  Cops came and shut us down for playing music that could be heard 5 blocks away at 1:00 o clock in the morning.  What can we say we like to have a good time! And personally, I thought it was saturday.

Fun Fun Fun...Mega Ramp

Team Gamble has settled down in Santa Ana California at Ben Snowdens house, well I don't know if you can say settled down, but you know what I mean.  It's a pretty good scene here, parties at night, ramps in the back, rad room mates, what more could you ask for.  Here at the house right now we have Ben Snowden, Tracy, Ryan, Kyle Biller, Danny Jose, myself (Alex Landeros), Aj Anaya, and Ricky Mosely.  with this many people you know there's killer sessions and side splitting laughter popping off at any time of the day...or night.  But even as we were moving in we packed up the van once again and drove up two hours to the action sports wonderland known as Woodward West.

Alex Landeros

Ben Snowden

Danny Jose

 This was my first time here at Woodward West and my first time riding the monstrosity known as the mega ramp.  Let me just say, there is nothing better in life.  I wish I had a picture of the whole thing from the roll in to the quarter but I just don't have a wide angle wide enough!  You drop in down a roll in reaching speeds of up to 45mph and then hit either a 50ft, 60ft, or a 70ft jump.  Now your cruising down the landing looking up at a 28ft tall quarter pipe where there really is no limit on how high you can go.

Alex Landeros



Danny Jose, flyin!



Ben Snowden, CLICK!

Woodward West was rad, especially with the super fun crew of people who went.  As soon as we were packing up the car to head back to Orange County we were already making plans on coming back.  I'm a little disappointed we had to leave to go back to Santa Ana, but wait, maybe it's not so bad.

Desert Driving and Ghosts

On our trip from Salt Lake City to the wonderful oasis in the desert known as Las Vegas, we found a quiet little town...with no people in it.  Funny, as soon as a long conversation ended about our desire to go to a ghost town, what do we see on the side of the road but a sign for a ghost town!  Sure it was a ghost town, and a whole bunch of old wooden buildings but I was a little bit disappointed to say the least.  Every building was full of overly priced trinkets and pointless merchandise that only a horrible gift giver would buy, the place was super commercialized.  The train ride seemed like it would be fun, but we decided it would not be 3 dollars worth of fun, which is what the ticket costs.  But enough of my complaining, look at the pictures.

Dustin Orem

Ghosts everywhere!

Real life donkey Kong! I loved that level

Las Vegas no letting down

After an amazing stay in Salt lake City, Gamble BMX headed to Las Vegas! To make the drive a little more hectic, we brought AJ Anaya along for the drive to vegas. He should be kicking it with us for a little while on the next leg of the adventure. When we got to Vegas we checked out the Inter bike convention as well as Nora Cup! Inter bike was a treat, saw all the new parts, companies, and people involved with the companies. A ton of good people. All you can say about Nora Cup was that it was amazing! Don't miss the coverage on ride, it sums up BMX

Giant sign in front of Palms Hotel and Casino 

Now were headed to Las Angeles, California for Soulstice dirt contest. It's in the middle of a music festival so musicians will be playing as we ride the contest. Should be an epic time. As a recap, when Kyle fell in SLC Dew practice, he didn't realize he separated his shoulder. Shouldn't be out for long at all. Hoping to ride the dirt contest this weekend. Check back soon for Soulstice coverage as well as trip plans. Woodward West should be in the cards!

Alex Landeros and Aj Anaya edit

A Fun Day At Beringer's house

Click the link above for an edit made by some good friends out of Colorado with Plus Size Bmx.  You can check them out at Plussizebmx.com.  This edit was filmed in Matt Beringer's backyard play place paradice in Layton Utah.  So much props goes out to that dude!

Salt Lake City Dew Tour Stop 2012

Here we are finding ourselves in the middle of the craziness called Dew Tour once again. 




Awesome Spread made for me by my good friend Margie

 

Here's the quick rundown for what happened in SLC Dew Tour for Team Gamble.  Alex barely missed the cutoff for LCQ vert, missing qualifying by one spot.  Kyle Biller went down hard in practice and ended up with a separated shoulder, but will be back at it sooner than you know it!  Alex couldn't really pull together a good run at the SLC stop, but hey, you win some you loose some.

More Videos!

Here is a link to an edit I did for Woodward Camps a while back, hope you like it, It was filmed and edited by two good friends with amazing talent.

LINK
http://bmx.woodwardtv.com/tv/169/iframe.php?vendor=226&mid=46363&cid=14927

Gamble Bmx Dirt Edit 9-4-11 | Vital BMX

LINK
Gamble Bmx Dirt Edit 9-4-11 Vital BMX

The edit is out from our latest escapades in Idaho!  Most clips of Alex Landeros because unfortunatley Kyle Biller Broke his frame before he could finish his filming but still managed to pull of some rad ass superman seat grabs! Scope it!

Gamble Update

Team Gamble is officially under way with Dew Tour in Salt Lake City with day one of practice under our belts.  We have dirt and vert competitions coming up along with plenty of coverage of both, so be sure to stay tuned!

Mountain Top!

Just a few pictures from our hike tonight up Mount Olympus, we didn't even make it all the way up because of our always running late style and the setting sun.  But it all worked out and made for some awesome photos!

Kyle Biller

Alex Landeros

Peace to the world!

Gettin' Dirty!

After about a week in Salt Lake City, it was time to pack up, leave the cement scene and  head to some dirt jumps. Which led us 4 hours north to Josh Hult's dirt jumps right behind his parents house. Having the jumps behind "Moma Hult's" house was a treat. During and after the session she would bring out anything from cookies to cheese burgers, hooking it up everyday. After about four days of awesome riding and camping, we headed back to Salt Lake with some good clips, some bangs and bruises, good memories, and one broken frame.

Kyle Biller, first time flip tuckin' some dirt

Alex Landeros squeeking in a double whip before it got too dark

Kyle Biller lettin' it fly first set

The trip was such a fun time, Idaho actually had more to offer than potato's! It felt good to get out in the sun and play in the dirt, and help dial in the jumps. Last day there Kyle sent a frontie middle set after landing low on the first.... haha coming up short bending his frame with no problem. Luckily it was the last day and not much injury... just a fat cut chin. Thanks to Josh and his family for the great hospitality, couldn't have asked for more. Special thanks to Moma Hult for being more than generous hookin up anything we needed!

Check out the edit coming soon!



Team Gamble on TV!

It was mentioned in an earlier post that team Gamble did a TV commercial for the Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation.  Well here it is everybody in the link below, although corny and almost comical, I guess there really is a good message to it. 


Here's the link, check out the behind the scenes footage too! 

http://www.zeroinwisconsin.gov/drivesober.html

Jungle Mini

After riding Tigard Park in Oregon with the Oregon crew, we were invited over to Marks house for a barbeque grill out and ramp session.  We had no idea that a tiny mini ramp nestled high up on the mountain surrounded by hanging vines and ivy and a death fall on one side awaited us.

Sage, now a good friend who actually put us up for a couple nights is an expert grill man.  Grilled garlic, hot dogs, and chili wrapped in a tortilla, soo good

Awesome invert transfer



foreground of picture, death fall, behind ramp, 6 foot drop to pricker bushes, on the ramp, one perfectly executed lawn mower



Sage blasting the tight quarter

Great shot of the van and stars on our trip away from Portland to Salt Lake

No photos of me (Alex) here, I just sat back and played camera man this time.  It was a super rad scene, we grilled out and rode the ramp outside, while there was a full on movie studio set inside where Roman and Mark were filming the third episode of their new show, be sure to check it out on Vitalbmx.com!

2011 Portland Dew Tour - Dirt Prelims Video

BMX Videos - 2011 Portland Dew Tour - Dirt Prelims Video - Ride BMX Magazine

Westbound

Drive out west was an adventure and a half, cross country trip and there wasn't one uneventful moment. Filled with Canyons, mountains, mountain goats, snakes, wilderbeasts?, waterfalls, water caves, forests, burnt down forests, wineries, hot tubs, covered wagons, Oregon trail, camping, Walmart parking lots, Snubways, $1 McChicken's (on a bakery bun), power bars, innovation stations, Scenic routes, I-80, truck stops, truckers,  cement parks, and so much more.

read on!

Canyon Evil Kenevil jumped! HERO

Water Falls and tripods

double pic from winery in Oregon!

inspiration

Climbed a mountain next to the interstate at 2am...
 thanks to our lack of attention span

conquering shit!

Wild Life we had to stop for because they were blocking the road.
That doesn't happen on I-80 

24 mile road, took 1.5 hours. I'd say it was worth it

Innovation station lacks AC...
leads us to jumping in any water we come by

Home :)

RIDAZ!

great shot by Alex, burned down forest...
shit to think about, but made for some great pictures

The drive out was an amazing experience, my first time driving across country... not going to be my last! Instead of straight through, we made it in 5 days. Stopping anywhere we thought looked like fun. These are only a few of the hundreds of pictures taken while headed westbound. We met shirtless X-truckers, welcoming winery chick named Sky, little black skate park hecklers, old skateboard roadtriping homies, and so many more. This was just the start to the trip, check back in for Portland Dew Tour Coverage. Going to be a great time, can't wait to see everyone and ride some dirt jumps!