FISE UP June / EVERYDAY IT'S SHOVELING

FISE

FISE UP / DREAM BACKYARD  How many of us have had this journey, discovering BMX via XGAMES or fise at the end of the last millennium, then over time we have become find out about  and belong in the culture, through bibles such as Props and Road Fools.  In 1998 Shawn Shimkets saw this memorable trail running sequence at the foot of legend Tim Fuzzy Hall's house, featuring a young mike aitken... 25 years later he is sitting in the middle of his californian Zen garden telling us about it in a few well-inspired words his journey to these palm trees. Thank you for accepting the visit and giving us such inspiration.   Life is a shovel, right ?  Video by Dan Coronado @dan.coronado.photo  More words on fise.fr with pics by Pat Kempany

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 I started riding BMX seriously at a probably 13 years old.

00:16 I mean, I always had a bike,

00:18 but actually dedicating myself to riding BMX,

00:21 watching the X Games, you know,

00:23 and actually jumping bikes at probably about 13.

00:26 My biggest inspiration I'd say in the early years

00:28 were all the guys that were in the X Games.

00:30 That's what, you know, got me hooked, got me into it.

00:32 So, I mean, Dave Mirra, Ryan Nyquist, Cory Nostazio,

00:35 just all those guys that were at the top of the game there

00:37 that were really progressing sport.

00:39 But for this setup for the backyard,

00:41 I remember the first time seeing Fuzzy Hall's backyard.

00:45 I think it was in a Props Road Fools

00:46 or one of the bike videos,

00:48 but just seeing that he was able to walk out his back door

00:51 and have all of these top pros that were, you know,

00:54 his best friends out there riding with him.

00:56 I would think, I think that planted a seed

00:58 that I don't necessarily know that I ever thought

01:00 I would one day have that,

01:01 but I think that that seed got planted

01:03 at the time I watched that video

01:04 and I never thought that I'd be here.

01:06 One of the coolest places I rode here in Southern California

01:08 was Blue Bench up in Riverside.

01:10 And the top, they call it like the desert

01:12 and the bottom is a jungle.

01:13 And it really does look like a jungle

01:15 when you get down in there.

01:16 And for me, I always wanted to be able to,

01:19 I was like, if I have backyard trails,

01:20 I want to duplicate what Blue Bench had

01:21 because like, it looks like you're in

01:23 like a tropical rainforest.

01:24 It's the coolest feeling.

01:25 So it was, you know, several years

01:28 until the foliage really came in here,

01:30 but now it has that oasis feel that I really,

01:33 I think, wanted to capture back here.

01:35 You know, I've had people tell me before, like,

01:37 "You grind, man.

01:38 That's what it comes down to."

01:39 And that's really what it was.

01:40 I, you know, I didn't grow up wealthy.

01:42 You know, I didn't have everything handed to me.

01:44 And I got to California because I was in the military.

01:46 So I got stationed out here and two Iraq deployments,

01:49 which I don't wish that on anybody in this world,

01:52 but those deployments are what allowed me

01:54 to set aside a good portion of the money

01:56 that I was able to put down in this place.

01:57 And then after I got out of the military,

02:00 I lived on some horse property for free for a couple years.

02:02 And yeah, I was living in a trailer,

02:04 but it was enough to be able to just,

02:06 all that money that came in, just throw it into savings.

02:08 And I knew that that's what I was going to do,

02:10 was save up for a house.

02:11 And again, the luck side of things, I mean,

02:13 I was able to buy in 2011 when the market was at a low.

02:16 And realistically, if I didn't buy then,

02:18 I couldn't afford now.

02:19 So, I mean, it's just like,

02:21 everything happened to put me here at the right time.

02:25 And I'm so grateful for that.

02:27 I've had so many people come back here and say to me,

02:30 "Do you do this professionally?

02:31 Do you do this for a living?"

02:32 And I was like, "Not at all.

02:33 I don't make a dime from this."

02:34 And they're like, "You mean this is a hobby for you?"

02:36 And it is.

02:37 And like, there's so many aspects of having this back here.

02:40 It's more than just a spot for me to ride.

02:42 It's a zen garden.

02:44 I mean, it allows me to bring the things that are in my head

02:47 and use the shovels to put forth the work,

02:50 to build the things that I want to ride

02:52 and then be able to test it out and then tweak it.

02:55 And it's really just opened up so much for me.

02:58 It's been like, you know, it's been mentally beneficial

03:02 and, you know, it gets all these crews together out here.

03:05 I mean, it really has become a,

03:07 if you build it, they will come scenario.

03:09 I mean, I've ridden back here with legends in BMX

03:12 and the guys that I grew up,

03:14 I mean, I just said, Corey Anastasio,

03:16 as one of my influences,

03:17 and he's been here a handful of times.

03:19 So it's so cool to have ridden with so many people

03:22 that I looked up to.

03:23 And I mean, if you were to show my 16 year old version

03:28 of me, my cell phone and the contact list that's in there,

03:30 I wouldn't believe it.

03:31 Like, it's just so crazy that the networking

03:35 that this has given me,

03:36 and, you know, it's kind of this unwritten rule

03:38 of like no dig, no ride in the trail scene.

03:41 And so it doesn't mean dig at this spot.

03:44 It means if you're digging somewhere, you're welcome here.

03:46 And that's kind of, that goes both ways.

03:48 So, I mean, it's gotten me the invite to spots

03:50 all around the world and vice versa.

03:52 Guys from all over the world have been here to ride.

03:54 So it's just cool that riding a kid's bike

03:58 has put me in touch with so many different people

04:00 across this planet.

04:01 If you have a goal that you're going for,

04:10 I mean, whether it's building jumps in your backyard

04:13 or anything else in life,

04:14 if you want something bad enough, you'll get it.

04:17 Just don't quit.

04:18 (upbeat music)

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04:34 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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