valinhos nene 5

Great video from brazil, some good switches, especially liking liking the opening carving lawn jump to steam, thanks to Lisias for sending this one, brazil in the house!!

7th level clothing co- coming in 2010...

Lachlan Cameron sent this promo vid, good stuff, look out for these guys, hardcore riding in the basement, props guys!!!

7th LEVEL Clothing Co. Coming 2010! from Lachlan Cameron on Vimeo.

Bike animation?

More Level Vibes footage

Found this online last night, edit by Matt Baker...

Untitled from matt baker on Vimeo.

Gary Young at the Nike 6.0 tunnel

Gary Young was over this neck of the woods just before Level Vibes to ride the local infamous tunnel, all a bit hush hush, heres the end result,the ender is sick!! one of the lines you have to see in person to appreciate!! enjoy!!

THE LATEST VIDEO FROM ODYSSEYBMX.COM

Gabe Kadmiri: 2009 Flatland Portfolio

Happy birthday Dez!!!!

Happy 21st Birthday today to Dez Maarsen, we are currently working on a interview for this blog, so keep an eye for that day!! Have a great day Dez!!!

Dez Steam Kickflip to Halfpacker from Dez Maarsen on Vimeo.

Bike project in effect

This is a rad story...Chino Sonido of Davao City, Philippines is a recipient of the Phil.Bike project. Courtesy of Bike Project of Karl Hughes a.k.a. Paradoxium.

Chino for Phil. Bike Project from Archie Babiera on Vimeo.

Jeremy Brosset late links 2009 edit

Late Links 2009 from Jérémy Brosset on Vimeo.

Diversion Tv clips- King of Ground

Don;t forget Bobby's dope diversion tv site, if its raining or snowing outside or you just flat out need some motivation, the king of ground footage is comprehensive! www.diversiontv.com

Ahead of the time- Yammer

We featured a lil of Yammer yesterday on Old school sundays, watching modern day flatand you can see what a massive influence Yammers riding has had. Whether its the halfpacker inside xft steam pivot to steam switch that a lot of people still do,or just the style. Heres a small part from "sleepwalker", Yammer deservedly was killing everyone around this time period, winning big events, king of ground, circle of balance in germany, flatground in holland, nowadays Yammer takes a backseat at the contests and is helping out with judging. Which is great to see. Much respect due!

New Japanese dvd- Kani Plus

One new dvd to look out for, from the land of the rising sun, in need of some winter motivation??

 dope rider list, Shintaro Misawa, Tomohiro Kiyoku, Yasunari Ishjima, Jin Kundou, Jyunpei Dodo, Keisuke Matsumoto, Taikou Kaneta, and Shinichi "Russia"Kiba...

Out now!!!

Odyssey/Flatware release "Thumb Tack" grip...

I've gone through a whole year of not previewing any products, with 2010 that's about to change, just caight this on the Odyssey website. Here's the word.. "We have a new flatland specific grip available known as the Thumb Tack. It utilizes the same olastic rubber compound as the Adam Banton 2 grip so they’re soft to the touch and still very durable. Just like most of our other grips, the Thumb Tack comes with a pair of Par Ends! Available now in Black, White and Ocean Blue."

Old school sundays

Is this old school? Its funny cause I wouldnt say it is, but it does feel like it...
Remember flatground? I feel like its soon been forgotten...Heres some footage by Shane Neville that didnt ever make it on to flatland manifesto....

More from the austin texas crew, session with Aaron Frost

Aaron Frost with Austin Texas Flatland Crew Nov. 2009 from Adam DiClaudio on Vimeo.

Winter Wonderland jam

Rad dad is awesome, austin texas scene is sick, feel the energy, xmas vibes...

Winter Wonderland Jam 2009 from BMX Freestyler on Vimeo.

Bonkers Xmas treat from Mark Webb and Alex Coleburn

During november I rode with these two guys almost daily either at the park whilst they were filming this, or at the lab, enjoy!!!

Mark Webb and Alex Coleborn Edit - More BMX Videos

Merry Christmas from flatmatters

Merry Christmas to all on this festive day!!! Hope everyone got the presents they were after!!!

Lets hear what flatland related presents you all got..

Ho ho ho

Effraim

A Merry White friday!!!!

Have you all been good Flatland boys and Girls?

Well here's a little present from me to you. One of my favourite mixes at the moment: http://www.mediafire.com/?oz1jf0edrey

Download it! put it on your Pod! Go Ride!

If you don't like it wear it like that horrible jumper you get every year.

Happy Christmas Rat Fans!

Flatland with Bing from James White on Vimeo.

Ben Moran edit

Ralf maier's Bmx book trailer

Continuing the flatland back in bmx theme, heres Ralf Maier's trailer for his up and coming bmx book, good stuff!!

On the road with deepbmx 2009

I love what the deepbmx guys are doing right now, best flatland company of the year?!

Ride BMX's best of 2009 compilation

Quite timely with today's debate about flatland being involved in the rest of bmx, great edit!!

Topical: Is it time for flatland to return to "BMX" contests?

As the Bmx flava returns to flatland, two piece bar designs, basic double diamond frame designs are becoming more and more common place...
I think its time for flatland to return to BMX, there's a common feeling in the air, lot of talk recently with us "golden oldies" in the UK, "flatland forgot it's roots", this post is dedicated to a few contests that have included flatland in the bigger picture in the last few years, how many new people are exposed to flatland that wouldn't be otherwise... What are the benefits to flatland being included in more bmx events? And to counter react, what are the benefits to flatland staying solo?

Dominik Nekolny's final winning run between the ramps from the 2008 German Championships, feel the vibe...


The Fise contest in the south of france has supported flatland for many years, look at the crowd, damn!!!


The jomopro contest last year promoted by Flatland fuel's Pat Schoolen reached a bigger audience, live internet streams, tons of street pros watching, Catfish does a great job on the mic,hyped crowd, this looks like being the biggest contest of the year in the US in 2010...

Ziffir crew edit

Zavar for Ziffircrew from ZIFFIR_CREW on Vimeo.

Cory Fester-16 days!

Cory Fester 16 Days from cory fester on Vimeo.

Flatlandism blogspot.....

Trevor Lacey, known as many as "flatlandism" on this blog and the global flat forum, has just started his own blog site, nice update on an indoor spot he's found in Peckham, well worth joining up and receiving updates, good work trev!!!

http://flatlandism.blogspot.com

New Shintaro Misawa Colony edit

Always good to see what Shintaro is up to, smooth as butter style! enjoy!

New ganji quick edit

Laidback, autumn vibe to this one, enjoy...

Flatmatters interview on New Circle

Shane Badman just posted this on the new circle site today, enjoy!!!

http://www.newcircle.com.au/news/2009/12/flatmatters-the-effraim-catlow-interview/#more-629

Old school sundays

Aaron's part on Props Groundworks, check out the rest of the dvd on http://www.diversiontv.com

Manos from greece edit

manos from greece from swtiris k on Vimeo.

New Wolfgang Sauter edit!

Havent heard a thing about this guy for at least a year or two, good to see hes still riding! enjoy!!

Wolfgang Sauter riding in Leipzig from wolfgang sauter on Vimeo.

Michael Sommer "darchor" trailer

Michael Sommer "darchor" trailer from sevisual on Vimeo.

Phil D's Fat Favourites

http://www.fatbmx.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=9753

Perthism preview edit

PERTHISM preview from Michael Brandt on Vimeo.

Navid Saleki's winter session

Timely winter session from the winner of expert class at Level Vibes, feeling this guys energy and will to ride, enjoy!

White Friday!! (and its snowing outside..)

Thanks for the positive feedback from last week people. Is it just me, do I feel Flatland starting to rumble! Let’s make it happen.

This week’s topic is mainly for the UK Heads – 'I'm dreaming of a White (Friday) Christmas'!... WEATHER!

Rain, Ice, wind, hail stones...But now the summer is long gone and Jack Frost isn’t just nipping...he’s positively slapping us across our pasty face’s. The struggle is on! The Long wait to warmth has begun. How are we gonna get through it? With Whitey’s winter warmers...that’s how! Cue the top of the pops music and let’s count em down.

10. Coffee. Not every ones cup of tea!?#! But it gets me going! In fact I usually have a large Starbucks before every sesh no matter what the weather. Go easy on the espresso shots though. I once had three and almost started doing turbines...Dangerous stuff!!

9. Wet. Okay...I may not actually ride when the old man is snoring, but if you keep waiting for a dry day you better be bloody patient. Just slap a bit of grip tape on your pegs and get rolling.

8. MacDonald’s Apple pie. I don’t wish to promote unhealthy eating or anything. These must contain a ridiculous amount of calories and very little apple but they sure are HOT! Put them under your hat if nothing else.

7. Double up. (Also see layers) Two woolly hats, two pairs of socks and even get Effraim’d up on the hands. When the cold really comes I have been known to wear up to three woolly hats! There again I am a little lacking in the insulation department up on top.

6. Layers. It takes ages to warm up in the depths of winter and just as you get going, the icy wind blows right through you! Layers are the answer. Yes you can buy all sorts of second skins these days that promise to keep you warm, cool and even claim to give you an instant six pack! For me though you’ve just got to have layers. Buy t-shirts and long sleeves in a Varity of sizes and start your riding session looking like the Michelin man and just take a layer off as you go.

5. Music. Turn up your latest playlist and lose yourself in the winter wonder(flat)land.

4. Wind. Go home and make a new playlist for Tomorrow...Unless you’re Sam Foakes of Course!

3. Riding Indoors. What could be better than riding in sports halls and the like? Never had much luck with this myself but then again I’ve never really tried that hard. With all the councils trying to encourage sports these days your chances have got to be pretty good! Just let me know when you’ve secured one and I’ll be there to session.

2. Underground car parks. I don’t believe it, if you say there isn’t one near you. You’re just not looking hard enough. The problem is most of them are connected to shopping places and the time you want to ride in them coincides with the busiest shopping period (Christmas and January sales) well...unlucky darts! When it’s busy take the time out to log on to Flatmatters!

1. If your still here reading and not outside kicking jack frost in the nuts. Immigrate, you pussy! Your upper Lip obviously isn’t stiff enough!!

Cold Wet and Dark from James White on Vimeo.

Travis Collier's new trick (combo)

Tasty new trick (combo from Travis, good to see hes still out there riding!!!

Travis Collier New Trick from MACNEIL BMX on Vimeo.

Chris Massey's Level vibes edit

Nice edit from Chris, enjoy!!

New Shinde edit

I have to admit, this guys riding is growing on me, nice edit, some original lines here, enioy!!!

Adam Kun and Peter Sarlos Prague Worlds 2005

Loving these old videos, Adam's Cliffhanger stubble duck at 2:00 is still sick now!! enjoy...

Prague 2005 Flatland Part 1_ Adam from adamkun on Vimeo.

More from the madrid crew

The madrid crew taking advantage of warmer temperatures...enjoy...

Saturday Night fever agoride edit

Three man flatland, only in Japan

Footage from the brunch jam organised by Moto Sasaki, enjoy!!

Flatmaster 09 results

Bit of a surprise here, York Uno beats Shintaro for the Flatmaster 09 title, congrats York!

1st. York Uno - Japan
2nd. Shintaro Misawa - Japan
3rd. Hezlan - Malaysia
4th. Coco - Philippines

Markus Redlberger Soul Bmx tv edit

Old section that Pete Olsen kindly sent in, lot of hard switches from Markus, who pretty much goes under the euro radar but everyone knows about him... enjoy!!

New Gangi promo edit

Jumelin's xmas jam by flat tv

Renato is busting out the vids, good fun at jumelin's annual xmas jam...

New Moya university edit

University edit Moya made, enjoy!!

Pikantny Trzmiel edit

Super nice quality on this edit, few russian riders coming out the woodwork lately (im assuming russian by the name), good to see....

Pikantny Trzmiel from Radek Drozdowicz on Vimeo.

Groundtactics results just in!!!

k. Here you have the results. Please remember that we were looking mostly on originality then came rest of the criterias. I know that there was lot of talented guys part of the first round of Ground Tactics, but there was some originality missing therefore we scored low. And for the second round, we will be even more strict so everyone in top 16 start preparing some original stuff. And rest who didn´t qualify, please enter next time, you have plenty of time to get a lots of new tricks for it.


1 Sam Foakes 367 points
2 Moto Sasaki 364 points
3 Waldemar Fatkin 350 points
4 Peter Olsen 342 points
5 Takahiro Ideha 334 points
6 Pakphpum Poosart 314 points
6 Giannis Gaternallis 314 points
7 Ezequil Camara 306 points
8 Aleksi Ritsilä 302 points
9 David Nagy 300,5 points
10 Stephan Fabien 294 points
10 Taslem Raziff 294 points
11 Navid 288 points
12 Stephan Kornernly 287 points
13 Mazar 284 points
14 Alex Poirier 283 points
15 Remy D 282 points
16 Thomas Noyer 281 points
------------------------------------------------
Non qualifiers:
17 Jeromino 280 points
18 Guelo 274 points
19 Thomas Deschenaux 269 points
19 Daniel Boros 269 points
20 Joda 260 points
21 Prasheel 256 points
22 Golf 253 points
23 X 238 points
24 Romain Dodelier 236 points
25 Esteban Palencia 234,5 points
26 Jeremy Brosset 234 points
26 Gaoussou Issabre 234 points
27 Renz Viaje 230 points
28 William Perez 225 points
29 Hezlan 224 points
30 Lachlan Cameron 223 points
31 Tony Mendieta 221 points
32 Patric Ras 217 points
32 Renaud Lasprayes 217 poins
32 Javier Roldan 217 points
33 Moya 195 points
34 Sebastian Palencia 171 points
35 Paolo Gepulango 164 points
36 Medvev Ivan 152 points

Matthias Dandois iphone Christmas jam edit

Good times in Alex Jumelin's practise spot in Acheres, France...enjoy

Christmas Jam Iphone 3Gs Edit from Matthias Dandois on Vimeo.

Gilles van Sompel madrid edit

Gilles kindly sent this in, good progression from Gilles. Nice backyard pivot to blender...enjoy!

Gilles Van de Sompel - Madrid Edit from Gilles Van de Sompel on Vimeo.

Miguel Tardio St martin edit

Old school sundays with Day Smith

One of the most influential styles of the 90's, Day Smith!!!
2nd place Koln 96 worlds..

Classic footage from the Graveyard Static video..

Southsea Sessions- Bonus

Pete Hollinger just sent this in, of his trip to Southsea earlier in the year, hopefully he makes it back over for more of the same, thanks for this Pete!

Awesome new Ciaran Perry trick edit!!

Check this out!!! Stoked on this!!!

New trick 12.12.09 from ciaran perry on Vimeo.

King of Ground extensive coverage on Diversion TV

Diversion TV teamed up with King of Ground, to bring you the King of Ground Video Series. Each video contains comprehensive coverage of each round. All the pro battles, plus expert highlights.

Available now:
KOG 2006: round 2,3
KOG 2007: round 1,2,3
KOG 2008: round 1,2,3
KOG 2009: round 1,2

http://www.diversiontv.com

New weekly column!!! White Friday

A play on words from the "black friday" look it up on wikipedia if your unsure, a new weekly column comes to flatmatters, who knows what it will bring!. Without any more delay I will let James continue..



Hello and a very warm welcome to ‘White Friday’. Your Friday has just been upgraded..Whiteski Style!

Who the heck am I? I’m the Godfather of this shite... that’s who! I was into this stuff before it was even here. i‘ve invented more tricks than you’ve had days on your bike. I even invented socket pegs god damn it. I AM FLATLAND!!

Here and every Friday that I can be bothered you will find all sorts of hints, tips and thoughts from me to make your flat life that much better! I’m gonna tell you what’s good! What’s bad! Show you how to, what not to! And probably make myself look a prat while I’m at it! (as if I haven’t done that already).

I would of loved to kicked this off with some Crack pot video from the depths of my warped head. But with the ‘Level Vibes’ just gone and the state of British Flatland Scene on everyone’s mind I’m gonna get a little serious and tell you a story. It’s a true Story, from the way i saw it!

Once upon a time (early 90’s) there was a Family…A BMX Family, there was Daddy Vert a Mummy Street, and Baby mini Ramp…..Oh! And the poor relation ‘Flatland’. It was a small close nit family and all got a long. They held contests together, got merry together and simply rode BMX together.

No one in the family could understand why the sport wasn’t growing, why companies weren’t interested in supporting BMX anymore. And really, we were having too much fun to care. Bring on the passion and foresight of one Matt Hoffman and the Bicycle Stunt series and things started looking up. The later part of the nineties was an exciting time for the family. BMX was on its way back! The media giant TV was knocking on our door and money was looming. Yes even for Flatland! My brother ‘Dolan’ was receiving a healthy salary, add this to his prize money (for second place when I was competing) and things were good. That was until Mother Nature stepped in - Money + TV+ Large corporations = Stress. When the dust settled the poor relation ‘Flatland’ was out of the X Games, off TV and basically disowned by the family. We were hurt, but not down! Plenty of things were going on, Brother kuoppa was franticly upping the level, youngsters were coming through. F**k them! Was the natural reaction! We can go this alone!

Sad story huh? The first flatland only contest ‘Level Vibes’ was held in 1998 in almost a protest…we don’t need them attitude. Yes, it was a hit. No. I wouldn’t change those jams for the world but at the same time, did it push us further away from the family? Probably!

Have we continued to distant ourselves more and more from the family? YES!! Is that good for us? No! We are more BMX than anyone.

‘Level Vibes’ Last week was great! Everybody had smiles on their faces and we really were a real family. It restored my faith in flatland and brought a tear to my eye. We need to keep it rolling and build, build, build.
Is a BMX Contest happening in your local area? Can you organise a flat comp along side it? Let’s bring the family back together; it is that time of year after all.

Let’s Show the BMX World what they’ve been missing!

Ganji promo 2

Level Vibes week? Friday Pictorial

Great shot from Salvador as Sam Foakes announces James White, Phil in the background, everyone smiling, this is great!

Viki Gomez front scuff nose wheelie osicka style, photo by Johann Chan.

Bottom half of a top greek flatlander, Sakis two footed pedal caboose turbine, photo by Johann Chann.

The return of the cowboy flip brakeless style, flatmatters photo by Johann Chan.

Phil Dolan long carving backwards karl kruzer, photo by Robert Voller.

New Trevor Meyer video

Stoked to see that Trevor is still learning stuff, as you can see from this video, Trevor is still pretty much still very much "on it", i'm sure this video will have its critics in the originality front, but for me, at least this cat is still out there busting out after all this time, he's out of the contest limelight and obviously still loves riding! much respect!!!

Trevor Meyer 2009 Southern Yankee part 2 from Danny A. Harrison on Vimeo.

New ganji promo

Sevisual Carhartt Tour 2009 part 1

Really nice edit from Tom of the Carhartt tour 2009, enjoy!!!

Carhartt Flatland Tour 2009 - part 1 from sevisual on Vimeo.

Level Vibes week? Pictorial by Salvador Brown

Viki Gomez in the Uk to visit his sister, stoked the crowd with his technical riding style, here xft steam jump around to plasticman..

TGM's Steve Green rolling from No handed messiah to halfhiker...

Sam Foakes coming out of crack turbines with insane amount of speed..

Lee Wilson working the steam in smooth effortless fashion..

Jeremy Brosset's first time to the Uk and I dont think the last, he had a blast, Jeremy has progressed a lot since I was last saw him at the Worlds in Koln in Summer. Keep an eye out for him, x foot hang five...

The man who made it all happen, and ultimately gave us hope that not all is that bad in the UK, James White two footed pumping death truck...

TGM's Gabor one handed multiple whiplashes...

The ever present Cunners, onboard new Yammer dragonfly frame...

Andy Wood backpacker across the contest floor.

Flat-tv Vlog updates

Renato is back on the case, check out this update!

Effraim level vibes interview on ESPN site

Mark Noble sent me a few questions on the Level Vibes event, pretty stoked this got published, spreads the word much bigger than just flatland circles.

photo by Robert Voller.

http://espn.go.com/action/bmx/blog/_/post/4727525

Mike S Section on new Peoples store edit

From 9:15 to 11:37, really nicely filmed section of Mike S on hometurf at the infamous Hyatt spot in Koln, Germany, enjoy!!

People's Store RANDOM Video from peoplesstore on Vimeo.

Level Vibes week? Pictorial by Marcelo Nardi

Marcelo kindly sent in a ton of shots, this is fast turning into a Level Vibes week, but as this doesnt come around too often, so enjoy!!!

Viki Gomez two footed dump truck passed around the back.

Sam Foakes Multi Raph switch one footed halfpacker exit.

Navid Saleki, pedal gliding dump truck flip to upside down wheelie...

Phil Dolan, slow mo nosemanual...

Jason Forde time machine decade combo..

James Smith steam to karl halfpacker combo...

Who's got the most chopped seat? Whitey or Trev...

Giannis front wheel undertaker combo...

Flatmatters, spinning gerator over the headtube...

Stuart Rose, aka DJ Silence on the decks...

Merry Christmas from Rad Dad and the Austin Crew

Lil early but what the hell, Rad Dad rules, I don't care, great guy on the flatland scene!!! Check this out!!

Merry Christmas from the Austin Flatland Crew from BMX Freestyler on Vimeo.

Mika on quamen edit

From Level Vibes this weekend to this edit from Mika, looks like things are looking up for Quamen, dope new frame, enjoy!!

Mika 11/2009 from Michael Machard on Vimeo.

Level Vibes edit by Robert Voller

Level Vibes 2009 by robertvoller.com from robert voller on Vimeo.

Whitey brings back Level Vibes it back in style!!!

Whitey in effect, back wheel style for a well deserved first place, photo by Robert Voller.

Text by Effraim, photos by Johann Chan and Robert Voller.

The level vibes weekend began at the Green mile on an overcast Decembers day, good turnout of around 25 riders, all to ride the infamous spot in Wet Norwood, or is West Norwood. This time of year the floor at TGM struggles to dry, one of the funniest moments looking back was Phil Dolan's dog shitting on the floor haha, most riders sessioned till around 3pm, until it rained, we hung out for while in the rain, which Jeremy Brosset couldnt believe it, "in France we'd be inside an hour ago"....
As is almost TGM folklore we headed to the pub opposite, what followed was one of highlights of weekend, a random game of "flat trivia" just for kicks, after couple of beers and much laughter, myself and Jeremy headed off to find hotel in Dartford, ready for the next day.


Jeremy Brosset, french style in the house, wicked dude, good fun to hang out with all weekend!! Whiplash steam combo, photo by Robert Voller.

Sunday morning and Wow!!! Level Vibes came back with a bang and wake up call to everyone, that "hey the uk scene is alive and kicking", James White reports that there 80 heads in attendance. It was busy!!! The underlying focus of the event was to support the grassroots scene here in the uk, and keep it alive, Whitey certainly did that, and deserves much respect for his efforts!!!
The name "Level Vibes" brings back memories of goosebumps in the Kidbrooke hall ten years ago for me, it's been nine years since the last Level Vibes, which Martti single handly shutdown and I sadly missed..
There were three groups, Novice, Expert and Pro. Each group having a strong field of riders.
I was really stoked on the Novice and Am classes, where friends and fellow riders got behind the youngsters and beginners, and created a great atmosphere, with DJ Silence (Stuart Rose) spinning the hip hop/dnb/dubstep all day, the atmopshere was at times electric!!!


TGM Maz hitchiking mid run, Whitey on the Mic, photo by Robert Voller..

To kick off the contest, James held a longest hang 5 contest with the beginner class, which I believe was won by Chris Carter, who rolled the floor back and forth twice in brakeless fashion.
Whitey on the mic has been compared to that of a bingo dj, creates a funny laidback atmopshere.
The TGM boys were representing hard in the Novice class, with great riding from new comer Yinka, who had a no touch run, the delight on his face and all his friends, for me made the whole day whole while, and if the kid sticks at it, he will be moving up the places very fast!!! Much respect!!
Stu Maclaren attends all the UK events, and has some unique tricks to bring the table, gutlever direct to steamroller, you might not see that everyday, and on this day was rewarded with third for his efforts.
Reknowned by MC Whitey as having the smelliest feet on the flatland circuit Salavdor Brown recovered from a gnarly mega spin crash earlier on the slippery leisure centre floor and had a great run, pulling smooth Backwards Gadget whips, Mega spins, Xft Mega spins and may well have won the whole contest but for Chris Brown who should have been boosted up to Expert class in hindsight, but what's done is done, Chris had the highest level of the class, Dump trucks, rollback brakeless decade, opposite chick squeaks brakeless style, and won the Novice class at Level Vibes!!! And a whole host of prizes by Flatland fuel, Odyssey/Flatware, Emer, Black sheep, and Vans...James handed out prizes to everyone, which was awesome!! Much respect to all the riders in the Novice class, you are the future, keep at it!!!!!


Navid Saleki came all the way from Holland, with his bag of original tricks, mid x foot no handed hang five, winner of the expert class!! Photo by Johann Chan..

Things hotted up nicely in the expert class, with some international flavour in the mix to spice up proceedings!! So much good riding went down, standouts, Howard Avery 41 years old busting mega spin to inside opposite xft gerator!! Much respect Howard!!! New face Kevin Browne was very consistent, fast backwards spinning lawnmowers, came all the way from Ireland with Mizo..The UK's brightest new talent, Andy Hale had some of the hardest back wheel tricks of the class, 360 bike pivot to dump truck smooth as you like followed by xft pivot gerator two footed backyard out, but few too many touches kept him in fifth. Jeremy Brosset came all the way from Lyon France, his first time on a plane to get to London!!! Jeremy could have won the whole class but got stuck trying brakeless perverted rolaid a few too many times, sliding out on the floor, but got it done fifth try!!! Sick rider... keep an eye out for him!!!


Kevin Browne came over with Mizo from Ireland, mid steam jump switch, photo by Johann Chan..

Third place went to a very much improved Mizo, who made the trip over from Ireland, fresh on a new tricked out Quamen Cypher, Mizo rolled Double inside whiplashes to steam to jugglers and crackpackers, jumped effortlessly from crackpacker to rolling backyard, congrats Mizo!!! Mr Smooth, the Uk's Shintaro Lee Wilson kept it smooth and clean, with around the worlds, spinning lawnmowers, a nice hang five jump to steam turbines and out, Lee was pipped for first by Navid Saleki from Holland, who brought a lot of originality to the table, awesome to see!! Steam jumps to mega spins, backwards quick change tailwhip to karl, Fork wheelie hop to forwards karl to forkwheelie bunnyhop karl exit, I think Martti on the groundtactics forum said it best "Navid you do wierd tricks and I like wierd!"...


Second place in Expert, Lee Wilson stepping smoothly mid whiplash hang 5 combo, photo by Johann Chan..


"Holla at me" TGM's very own Jason Forde steam jump to crackpacker, photo by Robert Voller.

The next event up was the Pro jam, normally the highlight of Level Vibes, but for some reason didnt quite work out this year. What good riding did go on was by either Viki Gomez or Sam Foakes, two styles of flatland riding which are totally different, Viki was fresh on board a new Quamen Cypher, one of the best tricks I saw from him was in practise, Hang five no hands on bars jump to one handed steam without bars flipping, also fire hydrant flip direct to no handed tea kettle, nuts switch!!! Viki's riding is very technical, lot of fast switches whilst Sam Foakes is more brutal with his riding, being that Sam hadn't rode in two weeks, the level of riding was amazing, I've seen him ride a lot better, but I see Sam ride a lot more than most, steam triple whip to crackpacker whip to halfpacker turbine to backwards backpacker, and of course no pumps!!
The two best riders didn't ride, Viki had to go shortly after the jam session, and Sam isn't competing so helped judge.
James brought back the traditional three minute run, as of previous LV contests..




Couple of sweet shots of Viki Gomez, on board new Quamen Cypher, Viki was over to visit his sister in cambridge, unfortunately had to leave before finals. Photos by Robert Voller.

This year, James had set up a practise area and contest area, half hall each for both, which worked well especially if you wanted to warm up before your run.
Giannis from Greece kicked off the Pro contest with his unique bag of tricks, standout for sure was his pedalling time machine to half backwards decade out. Jason Forde nailed a super nice time machine to brakeless decade out...Steve Green impressed with his originality, no handed messiah no handed walk over to halfhiker...James Smith made it across London on his vespa, smoothly walking around whiplashes to hang ten grab juggler out...Sakis from greece turbined cabooses and gerators both two feet on pedals...


Giannis, raditude mid pedalling time machine half backwards decade out, photo by Robert Voller.

James White's commentary for his run was quite amusing, "the next rider is me", James deserved the victory, uneffected by the slippery floor, he laid down a solid opening multiple whiplash hitchiker whiplash hitchiker whiplash hitchiker combo, his double xft upside down flip to gliding dump truck, James won a painting donated by Griff..
Second place went to myself, I had trouble all day sliding out on anything spinning or turbining, I had previously been practising on a wet marble floor and thought this would help, and admittedly didn't have a great run.
Phil Dolan took the third place spot with his signature mega slow nose manuals and long carving around the world combos....


Flatmatters, two footed dump truck exit, photo by Robert Voller...

To summarise this was a very successful Level Vibes, lot of novice and expert riders went away stoked, and that was the whole point! Parts of the contest worked, parts didn't, some things click into place and "just happen", (i.e with reference to the jam circle).. One thing is for certain for me, Uk flat is alive and well, let's hope there's more events supported like this!! Thanks to Odyssey, Flatland fuel, Vans, Black sheep, Emer, for supporting this grassroots event. Thanks to James for all his hard work,DJ Silence spinning the tunes all day, Sam Foakes for helping sort out prizes, all judges who helped, and all of James crew...Get practising for the next event....What's gonna happen to Whiteys blog, i'll miss checking that everyday....(stay tuned...)

More photos posted throughout the week...
Thanks to Johann and Robert for hooking me up with decent photos.

Flatmatters..