Now it appears his anti-bike stance has extended to the construction of the BMX track being built as one of the venues for the upcoming Pan-Am Games in Toronto.
As part of an online video series, called Coffee Run, Rob Ford takes a ride with musician DeadMau5 to talk local politics, driving in Toronto and…the construction of the new Pan Am BMX track.
Here’s just part of the conversation (starting at about 17:30):
Ford: “There are some things that are just ridiculous. Like they’re building a BMX track.”
Deadmau5: “I saw that.”
Ford: “$4.5 million … They’re saying a professional BMX track, they got a quote, listen to this, for a million and a half bucks. A f–king track!”
Deadmau5: “I’ll do it for $500.”
Ford: I’ve got more calls coming in, and they said, ‘Hold on a second, no, the real cost is going to be $4.5 million.’ And I said, ‘Whoa partner.’ I said, ‘How can you get a quote for $1.5 million and then all of a sudden it triples in price?’ There’s a scam going on if you asked me. It’s ridiculous.”
Granted, $4.5 million does seem a little rich for a BMX track. (That must be one heck of an announcer’s tower being built.)
Regardless of where you stand on the price tag of the Pan Am track, and Rob Ford in general, it’s still funny to hear him say, after all his past shenanigans, “I’m not a BMXer” in an interview.
That, and to think of how much caffeine is in his coffee order…five espresso shots(!) in a single cup.
Back in the late 80s/early 90s, Freestylin’ magazine would run articles on zines (small, indy-style, xeroxed publications) that riders were producing for their local scenes.
I was intrigued by them and managed to get a few through the mail. It was cool seeing the different scenes out there and the unique ways that people would put stuff together.
Time passed and one summer, while catching a freestyle team doing a bike shop tour (was it Haro, GT? I can’t remember…) someone handed my a copy of the iconic AGGRO RAG zine.
Wow.
I was blown away.
It was so good.
I had to get in on this action.
I quickly started amassing pictures, images and anything else I could think of.
I threw it together old-school style with scissors and glue-stick and took it off to a local printer to do a print run.
I handed them out whereever I could, mailed them off to people and even sent a few off to the big mags at the time, GO and BMX Plus.
Then…nothing
I’m not sure what I expected at that point but I was hoping for some kind of response. I heard back from a few people that they liked it but that was it.
A few months passed.
Then…out of the blue…I started getting multiple letters a day for people asking about the zine (remember this was before email took off). I couldn’t figure out why.
Then finally, someone gave me a clue…”I read your letter in BMX Plus!”
BMX Plus! had printed my letter, address and all, and people were into checking out my little old zine.
I was stoked.
And then I realized I had to make issue #2.
That started off a 6-year journey of sporadic publishing, writing about contests and crazy road trips and all the associated shenanigans that come with it.
Now Travis is ready to give it a proper launch at Brooklyn Projects (on Melrose Avenue) in Los Angeles on July 12th.
The event promises a meet and greet with Travis Barker himself, limited edition tees (only available at the event) and a bike giveaway. I’m sure The Wildman, Todd Lyons, will also be in the house which should also liven up things.
Sounds like a good time to me. Check it out if you’re in the area.
The legacy of cats and the BMX media probably begins somewhere around the time BMX Action magazine introduced Cosmo, “the most factory watchcat” to readers so many years ago.
Here at Cruiser Revolution, we’re carrying on that tradition with a factory watchcat of our own, Marty.
Marty can often be found underfoot when I’m trying to type or jumping on the desk to nudge something on the floor.
Other days, he’ll be checking out my bikes….whether it’s climbing on the bars…
Testing out grips:
Or busting out moves like this one-handed lookback…
Marty’s got skills…they may not pay the bills…but I think we’ll keep him around anyway.
From humble beginnings, the 4130 Subway Series Ride has grown to become the largest BMX ride in North America (and probably the world).
Hitting streets of Hollywood, LA, Beverly Hills and points beyond, this ride draws hundreds of riders every month.
Now, for those folks that haven’t made it out to a ride yet, PSi films has teamed up with the 4130 crew to put together a documentary on the ride. The release date has been pushed out a bit (no confirmation at press time) but if this trailer is any indication, it looks like it’s gonna be a good one!
I joined these guys (both the LA and Vegas crews) back in 2011 for the first ride they did together (I’m actually in the pic above, under the Vegas sign) and it was an awesome time. Not to be missed if you can make your way out there.
cruiser revolution 