The BMX In Our Blood

Paul Isbester is a great old school friend of mine that I'm fortunate to have in my life after all of these years. This past rainy Sunday we had planned on meeting up for a ride on a new/old Spooky June Bug mountain bike turned gravel bike that Paul found and built up for me. Since the ride had to be canceled, Paul being the ever giving friend, drove to my house to deliver the bike only to be surprised by my devious plan to record a podcast with him. The day was super special due to two podcast call ins, Eric Brownell and Whitey Williams, along with being the beneficiary of an amazing bike build that Paul delivered. I hope you enjoy the podcast as much as I did! Thanks once again to Todd Breau for the podcast announcement artwork!

If anyone is interested in joining me at Foothills BMX in Torrington, CT I will be at Foothills on September 7th at 9am for my annual birthday laps followed by birthday road miles, 54 of each. Any money donated that day will go directly to Foothills BMX, a track that is near and dear to me as I am one of the founders of the track/organization. Contact me through IG at @gromdad2000 with questions or to shout out encouragement for the day! Thank you to Tasha Lindemann @tjl.creative on IG for the flyer artwork!

Enjoy!

Joe

Robbie Miranda was the perfect #thebmxinourblood podcast interview to cap off my quick 36 hour stop in SoCal a couple weeks back. Robbie is a true professional in every sense of the word. He took his sponsorships seriously and absolutely gave each company the best ROI they could possibly have. Instrumental in these sponsorships was Steve Buddendeck of 2B, DK and Verde fame (among others). Having Steve call in and reconnect with Robbie made my heart full! We talk about a bit of everything from the Vans Triple Crown, XGames and his days as an amateur and professional BMX racer. Afterward we got into his transition into his current job as a sheriff where he has worked since his last BMX race over 17 years ago. Enjoy the podcast and take a moment to appreciate Robbie for his service. We couldn't do without people like Robbie working hard to protect and serve the public.

#bmx #bmxpodcast #robbiemiranda #dkbmx #1800collect #vanstriplecrown #xgames #nblbmx #ababmx

Episode 149 - Jerry Bagley With Biz Jordan by Interviews with the BMX community

I have a pretty cool podcast for you all this week! It came up as an impromptu opportunity that made for a recording that surprised me and Chris Moeller of S&M/Fit Bikes. My intention was to say hello and drop off two letters that Chris had written back to me in January 1988 in response to my requests to buy an S&M Mad Dog frame (a brand new company at the time) and to invite Chris to a trail jam at the Sunnyside trails in Connecticut. We also talked zines since Chris was putting out the Soul Zine at the time. What we ended up recording was a full hard goods production tour that was so interesting! Chris's passion for the shop and creating product is amazing. We finished the tour off with Chris reading the letters he wrote to me in 1988. It was a trip down memory lane for both of us! Just a couple of 17 year olds in love with BMX and dirt jumping along with side hustle passion projects to support our mutual hobby.

Enjoy the podcast and look forward to two more from that day, Jerry Bagley and Robbie Miranda! Special thanks to Sean from Vans for providing a home base for me for my quick visit! Lastly, thank you to my son Joe Jr for letting me tag along for the cross country truck camper trip to his winter job way up at June Lake in the Sierras of California. If not for his adventures none of this would have happened. Love you Joey!

If you would like to support the podcast please consider a monetary donation of any amount through my PayPal or Venmo. Message me through @Gromdad2000 on Instagram.

Thank you! Joe

It's been a while since the last The BMX In Our Blood episode but as it goes, timing is everything. I am forever grateful to have been asked by Base Brooklyn (Enos Colombo) to be a part of what became more than a bike show, reunion and tribute to Eddie Rios at the Coney Island Brewery on Sunday October 22nd. Unbeknownst to him the event WAS Eddie Rios and it was truly amazing. Eddie has been a staple of the freestyle BMX community back to his days ruling Mullaly in the 80's, 90's and beyond. Everything I learned about Eddie through the mini interviews and conversations off the record were absolutely a testament to the love the NYC BMX community has for Eddie and Eddie's incredible personality. Although Eddie's time with us is limited he will have an impact on all of us for the rest of our lives. There was one sentence in Eddie's speech that was so emotional and so incredibly impactful in such a positive way, "I'll miss you guys but I'll see you." Listen closely and think about it as you look at the photo used for this podcast announcement (by Norman Blake) as Eddie raises his arms as the King of New York, one more time.

Here are the interviews in the order of the episode:

Enos Colombo

Roy de Guzman

Nito

Brett Irrgang

Eddie Haller

Mike Ick

Jimmy Mac

Glenn Milligan

Richie Poole

Eddie Rios

Ralph Sinisi

Edwin DeLaRosa

Bob Scerbo

Tyrone Williams

Robbie Morales

George Gallo with Eddie Rios

Until next time....

Episode 146 - Chill Phil Downell by Interviews with the BMX community

Waaaay back in October of 2017 I started this podcast and my very 1st interview was with Chelsea Wolfe, at that time Chelsea Fiets Godin. While planning my trip down to Swampfest in February I thought it was a perfect time to catch up with Chelsea 144 episodes later. Since our 1st meeting Chelsea met her goal of being an Olympic athlete and earned a spot on Team USA as an alternate, a huge deal! Enjoy the quick check in with Chelsea and also give episode #1 a listen by scrolling back or listening to the repost that I will have up shortly. Thanks for listening!

Episode picture by @jeffzphoto (Jeff Zielinski)

Announcement graphics by @nagooarts (Todd Breau)

"World number 3!" The phrase most commonly heard from Robbie Morales of Cult BMX when he runs into Greg Lanthorne! Why? Because he is the W3 pro from the 1987 IBMXF World Championships in Orlando Florida! Everyone loves an underdog and Greg didn't disappoint. There is much more to his BMX story that spans over four decades. Add in his job at Sparky's Distribution and there was lots to talk about and now for you to hear. The interview with Greg was recorded at Swampfest a few weeks back, what a crazy time! Enjoy the show and look forward to the last of the Florida recordings with Chelsea Wolfe. Always a great conversation with the Florida born Olympian.

Allie Wolfe may be the sister of a notable freestyler (Olympian Chelsea Wolfe)but she is absolutely her own self made badass! Coming from a family of all BMXers (parents included)Allie decided a bit ago to trade BMX racing with freestyle and has been having the time of her life. Recently she decided to move into her van and work remotely so she can do what many of us would love to do, go cross country and really see what this Stateside part of the world is all about. I give Allie so much credit for remaining as independent as she has always been but accepting help when needed. You never know where she will be as she lifts up her Florida floor mat and heads out to her next destination with a lot of interesting diversions along the way. Coming to a town near you! Enjoy the podcast and please like and subscribe, someone told me I should be asking for that small request.

One last tidbit. Allie will be at the last stop of the @FLBMX skate park, April 15th at the Oviedo Ripping Riverside Park. If you in the area, don't miss it!

Thank you @nagooarts once again for the Podcast announcements!

#bmx #bmxfreestyle #alliewolfe #vanlife #workingremote #bmxgirl

Another amazing podcast experience was had with the latest BMX In Our Blood interviewee, Ryan Sher. I never stop learning and definitely won't anytime soon because I believe you never stop learning no matter where you are at in life. Ryan had some really thought provoking views on topics such as manufacturing, sponsored riders, events and the next generation of riders among other subjects.

Ryan's role at Sparky's Distribution is pretty cool between his team managing to marketing and quite a few other roles he and others at Sparky's join in on. Interacting with Ryan was nothing but fun and interesting, I was a little jealous when I left there! Imagine a group of people that are all in a workplace for the right reasons and having fun doing it. The staff was also super welcoming, I really appreciated that! Anyhow, give it a listen and enjoy!

**One small correction/addition. When reading off the brands under the Sparky's umbrella I forgot to mention Bone Deth, sorry about that!**

The Sparky's brands also include Subrosa, Shadow Conspiracy, Rant and Shadow Riding Gear.

Don't forget the Road 2 Recovery Jam on July 16th! Put it on your calendars and be ready for the best one yet!