Today I’m taking it ALL the way back. This is the very first photo I have of myself riding a bmx bike!! I’ll tell you the tale of how I ended up on that fine, lime green machine… I was 12 years old and had just moved from the corn fields of Indiana to North Carolina. My lanky frame and silky jumpshot suited me well for the basketball courts of Indiana. I thought I would just slide onto the team in NC, but it was unlikely for the new guy to land a spot with the Apex Cougars! I was pretty bummed, but a life changing event was just around the corner. Some kids in the neighborhood were always cruising around on bmx bikes. I scrounged up some cash and bought Greg’s old GT mach one. That’s the bike you see above of me launching that tiny ramp in front of my parent’s house. I can still shoot the j’s behind the arc, but I’d rather air the bowls at the park!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I just got back from North Carolina for an early birthday celebration with my family. Good news and bad news.. Bad news is that my digital camera stopped working. Good news is that I scanned in a bunch of old photos for some throwback whens(days). Petey Pablo is soo dope!!

The Verde Vex arrived at The Greenhouse today. The Vex is an all new 2008.5 model and our first entry into the sub $300 market. We’re really excited about the Vex and shops are too. We’ve been prebooking this bike for months. If you’re one of the shops that prebooked, please give Lou a call at The Greenhouse (614) 777-0900 and ask him about the current specials on other Verde models. Go ahead and thank him for unloading the entire container by himself too. We appreciate it.

Way back when is March 3rd, 2006. It’s been a struggle for me to embrace digital photography, but one of the many benefits includes looking up the camera data to see what day you took a photo. On March 3rd, 2006 Mike Ardelean, Cory Muth, and I had no clue we’d be working together on this bike company that we call Verde. Instead we were trying to look inconspicuous, avoid a campus cop, and shoot this photo in Los Angeles. Cory set up the flashes, I set up the camera, then Ardelean showed up a few minutes later and slid this rail sans pegs. It was quick hit and the results turned out great. This photo ran in Ride BMX. Good teamwork guys.

Kris sent over a couple photos of his Verde Spectrum today. His bike is pretty close to stock, but he’s added some Demolition Parts. Kris and Mike Ardelean, (along with Verde flow/friends Aaron Nardi and Todd Walkowiak) are all riding Verde Bikes right out of the box. The Spectrum, Modus, and Cadet are all team certified. It seems like everyone has been asking when we’ll have frames ready. We still don’t have an answer, but Ryan Barrett and Dave Thompson are both riding some prototype aftermarket frames that we’re happy with (see Barrett’s blog entry below). We’re in no hurry, so more prototypes are being built as I type. Here’s another angle of Bennett’s ride.

here’s a look at our first prototype frame. It’s been in the works for a while now and I was more than excited when it showed up on my doorstep.  (more…)

One of the hottest topics web dwellers love to anonymously rant about revolves around who “invented” the latest product advancement. Honestly, people rarely come up with ideas out of thin air. Every new idea is influenced by earlier ideas and there’s nothing wrong with this. To make any product look better and work better, there must be an existing product that people feel is inferior. Nothing is really new; it’s all been done before. What brings me to this post is an article I found about old Braun products and new Apple stuff. As a huge Apple fan, it was cool to see that even an innovative brand like Apple can find inspiration from the past.

Last night Converse celebrated their 100 anniversary with their Portland employees and friends. I was lucky enough to get tickets to the private event (thanks jen!).  Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth frontman) brought his brand of distorted rock and Pittsburgh’s Girl Talk spun his very danceable mash-ups. At the end of the night it was all sweat and smiles!

This is a young me; probably 16 or 17. This was taken by famed hardcore photographer Greg Straight Edge.  He was in Wilmington, NC at Eastwood (Dave Mirra’s old skatepark) (more…)

wow. I came across this photo on Mike Cottle’s blog and couldn’t pass up the re-post. Remember all the bike aggression, punching, spitting, and yelling?! That’s a thing of the past. Keep it fun, go swing.