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Jason Parker moving over to the veteran’s squad

by on 15. Jul, 2021 in Bmx, Jason Parker

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Jason Parker such an awesome rider, such an awesome dude, moving over to the veterans squad

In 2014 Jason travelled to Japan. He competed at the international bmx flatland contest Flatark. This cross footed Mc Circle was taken at a riding spot in Osaka.

Jason Parker is a very important part of the Freestyle Now squad. His journey to being part of Freestyle Now is a unique story for sure. In the mid 90’s Freestyle Now co founder Shaun Jarvis was doing solo stunt shows. Jason was 15 years old living in Australind when he heard that Freestyle Now (Shaun Jarvis) was going to be at the 1995 Brunswick Junction agricultural show, he was devastated that he could not make it there. Jason almost went to the Perth Royal show in 1996 as he knew Shaun would be performing there, he found a program for the entertainment in the news paper, but unforeseen circumstances rose and he did not make it. Shaun was again at the Brunswick show in 1996 but Jason could not make it there but some of his friends did and told him about it, he was super bummed and just wanted to be able to meet Shaun and see the Freestyle Now show. This was at a time when there were not many riders and no one was riding flatland bmx in Perth. This was at a time of no skateparks and if you found another rider you were lucky. The BMX freestyle scene in Perth was super small. In 1998 Shaun was back at the Brunswick agricultural show and Jason did not make it. In 1999 Shaun returned to the Brunswick Agricultural shows to perform another solo show but by now Jason had moved to Kinross in the northern suburbs of Perth, so he missed out again.

By this time Shaun had started to be the distributor in Australia for the well know flatland products Graveyard, Nankai and Cam Acura. To help promote this distribution an advertisement was placed in a national BMX magazine called Freewheel BMX. In a print mistake the phone number listed was wrong and Jason who was keen to meet other riders rang the phone number. Jason “Is this graveyard products”, old guy on the one end of the phone “Graveyard is some kind of joke” and hangs up. Jason rang that number a few more times and almost put the old guy into a graveyard! Not giving up Jason was determined to get in contact with Freestyle Now so he called a bike shop called Pal and Panther, a popular bmx friendly bike shop who was also a sponsor of Freestyle Now. They happened to have the correct phone number for Freestyle Now and Jason made contact. This was late in 1999. On the first time Jason came to ride with Shaun it was at Shaun’s house in Clarkson, 10 minutes from Kinross. Jason got his mum to bring him up and ride, Jason had some rad tricks and knew what was up with bmx flatland. This was the rider that Shaun was looking for to join Freestyle Now and start doing BMX shows. At the end of the riding session Shaun was showing Jason some photos in the photo album (yes that’s what we used then) One of the photos was of Shaun doing an air on a quarter pipe, Jason recognized it straight away. “That was taken at the Whiteman Park opening, mid show a tram came into the show area and the riders had to stop and wait on top of the ramp” This was correct Jason was at the very first BMX freestyle show that Shaun had been a part of. Mid 1986 before Freestyle Now Shaun was part of the Redline trick team and the very first show they performed was at the opening of Whiteman Park. Jason was only 6 years old at the time. He held that memory of that BMX freestyle show for 13 years. The connection was made 100%

Jason’s first show with Freestyle Now was at the Denmark country fair 26th February 2000. Jason performed constantly for 8 years with Freestyle Now. He even got to perform at the Brunswick Agricultural show 4 times, something he was always pumped about doing. Jason has performed in several Freestyle Now stunt shows since 2008 but his involvement in Freestyle Now had tapered off due to work and life commitments. It’s not as if Jason has ever left Freestyle Now as he never will, this is why we are moving him over to the veterans squad. Jason is a lifer Freestyle Now squad member, his involvement and contribution has been epic.

Be sure to check out Jason’s website profile here

Check out the website archive of all things Jason Parker here

More photos of Jason Parker can be found on out Facebook page here

Jason Parker joined the Freestyle Now squad at the start of 2000 and his first show was at the Denmark Country Fair in February 2000. This was Jason’s second show at the Toodyay Moondyne Festival in May 2000.

This is the photo that Shaun showed Jason when they first met. Shaun at doing a show at Whiteman park in August 1986. Jason was only 6 when he saw the show and 13 years later he got to met Shaun. Both friends were surprised that this actually happened. Was it this show that got Jason into BMX?

 

Jason joined the back flip club in 2008. Jason had always talked about backflipping the FN box jump but he never really had the chance. Jason had been working in Tom Price when Freestyle Now had the opportunity to perform BMX stunt shows there. So while his workmates looked on Jason threw it down. On this occasion Jason did not pull it and it was a few weeks later when he was in Melbourne at Rampfest that his goal was achieved. What make this even more challenging is Jason is riding a pure flatland style bike, a bike that was never meant to back flip or has the geometry that even would make backflips easier. A pure Jason Parker move right there for sure.

In 2016 Jason surprised many competitors when he arrived at DownUnderGround, telling everyone he has not been riding much and then proceeded to take the win in the expert class like he had been in full training mode, everyone knew that he always tells the truth. That’s a total Jason Parker move right there.

Jason Parker worked fly in fly out at Tom Price for many years. He had one bike at home and one bike in Tom Price. Jason trekked all the way up to the top of Mt Tom Price with his bike and had this perfect decade photo taken with the town of Tom Price in the back ground. Pure radness.

In 2002 Jason got to perform at the Brunswick Junction show, he was pumped, as always.

In 2007 Jason was working in Tom Price. Freestyle Now has a stunt show there so this was super close for Jason. No one nose picks the FN box jump like Jason.

2008 Kojonup show. Shaun Jarvis and Jason Parker double routine on the FN box jump.

Jason entered the video round of the 2016 DownUnderGround video contest. This was filmed while he was in Byron Bay

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The Freestyle Now jump box – it’s history, now ready for retirement

by on 04. Sep, 2019 in Bmx, Jason Parker, Kie Ashworth, Random, Shaun Jarvis, Stunt shows, Tim Rose, Video

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Freestyle Now started in 1986. In 1987 Freestyle Now built a small flat bank ramp also known as a kickturn ramp. It was used in a few shows but it did not last long as it got eaten by termites as it was stored in a bad location and all made from wood. After that ramp was destroyed Freestyle Now moved toward more bmx flatland type shows as the logistics of ramps posed many difficulties at the time. When Jason Parker joined Freestyle Now in early 2000 a small ramp was built that could be transported in the small trailer we had. Freestyle Now performed a few shows with this small ramp.

Left – Georg Molnar in 1987 on the first Freestyle Now ramp. Right – Shaun Jarvis and Jason Parker in early 2001 with double stalls on ramps made to fit in a small trailer.

After hosting the bmx jumping competition at the Joondalup festival in 2000 using a wooden take off ramp it was decided that it was time to build a metal ramp for stunt shows. So at the start of 2001 Freestyle Now had a quarter pipe build that could also be used as a jump ramp. The ramp was first used at the 2001 Joondalup festival bmx jumping competition in March which was also featured in Behind the Bars show 2. The first stunt with the ramp was in May at the Mirrabooka Family Fun Day that took place at the Mirrabooka high school. It was always planned to make a landing ramp so that Freestyle Now would have a jump box. So in early 2002 the landing ramp was made, with the first show being the Kalgoorlie Bolder Community Fair in March. The jump box was only small but the plan was to make and extension for the deck to make the jump bigger which was then added to the jump box for shows in late 2002. This was the final configuration of the jump box which has continually been used.

Left – Ben Clause at the Mirrabooka Family Fun in 2001. This was the first show the FN ramp was used at. The ramp was so new it was not even painted. Right – Adam Duncan with a no hander in early 2002 at the Kalgoorlie fair, the first show with the inclusion of a landing ramp on the FN ramp.

Clockwise from top left – The first show Kie Ashworth did with Freestyle Now waas at the Corrigin Agricultural show in 2005, notice no side panels or banners on the box jump – Jason Parker in Tom Price nose picking in 2007 – Shaun Jarvis and Jason Parker dueling handstands at the Kojonup agricultural show in 2008 – Kie Ashworth no hander over Shaun Jarvis at the Donnybrook family fun day in 2010

Tim Rose in 2009 at the Northampton agricultural show

 

Shaun Jarvis talks us through the FN bmx jump at the last show at the Beverley agricultural show in August 2019

Over its 18 year history, the FN box jump has seen many new layers of plywood applied to keep it fresh. There has even been some on site repairs and some modifications to keep it strong and working. It has severed Freestyle Now well. The FN box jump has been transported around to many stunt shows around the country. The jump box has seen many riders perform rad tricks in the air above it. Riders have done their first back flips and front flips over the FN box jump. Some riders have seen bmx for the first time at a Freestyle Now show with riders getting rad over the jump box.

One of the last shows with the FN box jump, the 2019 Perth sky show, Nathan Dobbie flairs while Shaun Jarvis balances.

The time has come, the landing ramp needs to be completely rebuilt to maintain the safety. The up ramp / take off/ quarter pipe (it has many labels) is in need of some repair to ensure its integrity, which sure can be done but what is really needed is a new jump ramp. Over the past 18 years the level of the tricks performed has increased and this needs a new level of jump box to accommodate these new amazing tricks that take place at Freestyle Now stunt shows. Freestyle Now is getting a new bigger and better jump ramp ready to make is stunt show debut. The old ramp was 1.5 meters tall with the new ramp being 2 meters tall. That half meter will make a big difference on the amount of radness the riders will be able to unleash. The landing will be an air bag style which will add a level of safety for the riders knowing that if they were to crash out of a bmx stunt their risk of injury will be minimized. For now the FN box jump will be put into semi retirement, a few repairs done and maybe a new down ramp, will it come out and be put into use again? Never say never but one thing to be sure of is to Freestyle Now…………. before it’s too late.

 

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Paul Chamberlain wins DownUnderGround

by on 16. Jun, 2017 in Bmx, Competitions, DownUnderGround, Flatland, Jason Parker, Lee Kirkman, Paul Chamberlain, Shaun Jarvis, Travels

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Freestyle Now squad member Paul Chamberlain has won the open class at DownUnderGround round 2 that took place in Bridport Tasmania on the weekend. It was a close competition with Paul winning by only 1 point ahead of Simon O’Brien. Lee Kirkman took out the 3rd place in the open class. In the expert class Shaun Jarvis took home a 2nd place with Jason Parker placing third. It is great to see all the Freestyle Now squad members taking home podium placings. The finals are scheduled to take place in Melbourne on the 25th November. To seek more information on anything bmx flatland related in Australia be sure to check out www.bmxflatlandaustralia.com for more.

Clockwise from top left – Paul takes the win in open class – Lee Kirkman with 3rd in open class – Shaun was stoked on his 2nd place – Jason Parker give the thumbs up for third place

Paul Chamberlain carving on the inside peg no handed on his way to winning the open class.

Lee Kirkman had killer first run, with only a few foot dabs. This rope-a-roni was only one of the many flowy tricks that he did.

Shaun Jarvis scuffing a backyard during warm ups. 2nd place in the expert class.

Jason Parker hitting up a USDBW (upside down backward wheelie) on his way to 3rd place in the expert class.

Check out the video that bmx flatland compiled for more random stuff that took place on the journey

Paul Chamberlain took out the win at DownUnderground with his 1st run being his best run and only 4 points ahead of Lee Kirkman in 3rd

Lee Kirkman 1st run that took him to 3rd place.

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Freestyle Now web play – June 2017

by on 07. Jun, 2017 in Bmx, Flatland, Jack Carwardine, Jason Parker, Lee Kirkman, Paul Chamberlain, Scooter, Shaun Jarvis, Skateboard, Skateparks, Street, Video

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Freestyle Now has been rolling out the rad since 1986, that’s over 30 years of radness. Freestyle Now has had many squad members come and go over the years and our current squad roster is the raddest yet. This is our first full squad web video since 2013. The concept of the video is to show the riders and their everyday riding style. The Freestyle Now squad had a diverse range of squad members that cover many disciplines including BMX (park, street and flatland) scooter and skateboard. Inclusiveness and diversity are two of the main principals behind Freestyle Now. This Freestyle Now webplay features Freestyle now reserves squad members, Jack Carwardine, Jarrod Murfit, Kieran Ramsay and Mitch Harris with Freestyle Now squad members Jason Parker, David Pinelli, Lee Kirkman, Paul Chamberlain, Ben Thomas, Matt Adkins, Tanh Ga, Shaun Jarvis, Dez Maarsen and Dylan Schmidt. Give the video a watch to see all of our squad members in action doing what they love to do, rolling out the rad….

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Freestyle Now turns 30 years old

by on 22. Dec, 2016 in Bmx, Coaching workshops, Competitions, Jason Parker, Photos, Shaun Jarvis, Stunt shows, Video

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Freestyle Now has been rolling out the rad since 1986.

It’s hard to believe but Freestyle Now started way back in December of 1986. Now 30 years later it has grown from 3 young guys just wanting to promote BMX freestyle with BMX stunt shows to an Australian wide entity. Freestyle Now specialises in entertaining stunt show performances, skatepark coaching workshops, well managed skatepark competitions and motivational school presentations all while making sure inclusiveness and diversity is at the forefront of our ethos. By applying the same philosophy that free sports teach us, to our business ethics, we have persevered to achieve our goal of running well-managed events and entertaining performances. We have accomplished this all while promoting the fun aspects of BMX, skateboarding and scooter riding and associated activities. This has, and will always be our main focus.

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The original Freestyle Now squad members L to R Shaun Jarvis, Brad Dyer and Georg Molnar taken at the Fremantle Speed Classic in March 1987

Freestyle Now began as an idea in mid 1986 by three friends Georg Molnar, Brad Dyer and Shaun Jarvis. 1986 was a year of new things for these three friends. A new sport was emerging, BMX freestyle. This is what brought these three guys together. In Perth Western Australia where they lived the small BMX freestyle community was tight. There were only a handful of riders and Georg, Brad and Shaun were in the core of it. Shaun started in the BMX racing scene in 1981 and raced in Western Australia until the new emerging freestyle sport took hold of his senses in early 1986. Within a few months, he took a spot on the newly formed Redline BMX trick team which was put together by Padbury cycles bike shop. It was through this shop that word got around about other riders, this is how Brad, Georg and Shaun met each other. The very first show that the Redline trick team did was at Whiteman Park for its grand opening in August 1986. Although this team did a few shows they only lasted a short time and in the later part of 1986 Shaun left. It was upon this leaving that the three friends got together to form their own BMX freestyle team, Freestyle Now.

Where did the name come from? A very popular magazine from America was called “Freestylin”. Freestyle is what the riders did, it’s what they called it. Now is an action word as in do it “now”. So Freestyle Now was the name that Brad, Georg and Shaun settled on as it seemed fitting.

In 1986 the only form of information available in the BMX world was through magazines. There was no internet to gain instant information from. Only the magazines had the information and this was sometimes up to 6 months old by the time it would reach Perth from either America or England. BMX freestyle teams were all over these magazines, from the large factory teams to the little group of friends that started something. It was this that inspired the formation of Freestyle Now.

The sole purpose of Freestyle Now when it was formed was to promote to the masses the newly emerging sport of BMX freestyle. This was done via BMX stunt shows. December 1986 was when Freestyle Now did their first ever show at the Mullaloo primary school which was followed a few weeks later by a performance at a Christmas dance event in Girrawheen It was the start of something that no one could ever imagine would survive still all these years later.

The second show Freestyle Now did was at the Girrawheen Christmas dance

With the first show done new locations were sought for more stunt shows. For Georg, Brad and Shaun it was all about the promotion of BMX freestyle. Another medium that was also emerging out of America was the “Zine”. A small photocopied magazine that was produced by various people. It was another platform to promote BMX freestyle. So the three guys brought a second hand photocopier and started making the “Freestyle Now zine“. These were produced using photos and a cut and glue method. They were put into bike shops and given to other riders. It was a very D.I.Y mentality. With no prior experience it was just hands on and make it work, a true Freestyle Now philosophy.

Another good friend of the trio Todd Triebler, who had also been on the same BMX freestyle shop team as Shaun in early 86 was recruited to announce the stunt shows and as a backup rider. These guys were tight, inseparable, spending every moment they could riding together, learning new tricks and exploring Perth.

The BMX freestyle scene was growing steadily in Perth and the need for regular gatherings was required so Freestyle Now went ahead and held its first competition in January 1988. Riders came from all over to attend. The only way to spread the news was through word of mouth and the Freestyle Now Zine. The competition was a success, so more were organised. Over the next few years, many competitions were held.

The whole ethos of promoting the new sport of BMX freestyle was complete, BMX stunt shows, BMX zines and BMX freestyle competitions.

In time Georg Molnar started to move on from BMX and left the Freestyle Now team and Brad Dyer returned to America. Shaun and Todd recruited new riders into Freestyle Now and kept on performing the BMX stunt shows.

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Todd Triebler on the left and Shaun Jarvis on the right at the Bruce Rock show in 1989 performing double no handed cherrypickers.

When the 90’s rolled around a major shift took place in the sport of BMX freestyle. It was as if overnight every rider had quit and stopped riding. There was still a core group of BMX freestylers but the need for competitions had passed. With Brad now in America, the drive to produce the Freestyle Now Zine was in a standby mode. The promotion of the sport had shifted to just the stunt shows.

Over the coming years, Todd and the other riders moved on from BMX and their association with Freestyle Now. This left Shaun Jarvis at the helm steering Freestyle Now into the future. When there were no riders to perform at the stunt shows Shaun just went out and did solo shows. The need to carry on the promotion of the freestyle sport was what drove Shaun to keep going. After 30 years you can check out a list of all of our past stunt shows on our past stunt show page here.

In late 1996 the sport of BMX freestyle seemed to be coming back, new riders were emerging. One of these riders was a young Jason Parker. Jason had heard about the Freestyle Now stunt shows through friends in the south-west area of Western Australia where he lived. When Jason moved to Perth in 1998 he managed to track down Shaun through an advertisement in a national BMX publication for BMX products that Freestyle Now was then distributing. The two guys started riding together. It did not take long for Shaun to recognise Jason’s riding potential, and he was asked to join Freestyle Now in 2000. In an ironic twist, when the two riders met for the first time Shaun showed Jason some BMX photographs, one of the photos was of Shaun at the very first BMX show that he did with the Redline BMX trick team, the one at Whiteman Park in mid 1986. Jason was surprised to see the photo because as a very young 6 year old Jason Parker was in the crowd that day and saw the show. The two new friends could not believe it, Jason remembered the whole show, how a tram came in through the middle of the show location and stopped the show leaving some riders on the top of the ramp. Even to this day, the two riders can’t believe how ironic it was. Jason is still riding and involved with Freestyle Now today and apart from Shaun is the longest serving squad member.

jason-parker-framestand-toodyay-show-may-2000-freestyle-now-bmx-stunt-show

Jason Parker joined the Freestyle Now squad at the start of 2000. This was Jason’s second show at the Toodyay Moondyne Festival in May 2000. His first show was at the Denmark Country Fair in February 2000

Over time more BMX shows were performed and new riders were recruited into the squad. But now with the growing popularity of BMX, the need for competitions became prominent once again.

In the early 80’s Co-founder Shaun Jarvis helped organise BMX races on the local BMX dirt jumping/BMX track that the youth of the town of Quinns Rock had built. Organising BMX competitions was nothing new as he had done it before as a BMX racer and then as a BMX freestyler. The need for well managed events was something that was required to help with the growth of the BMX scene. Some of the first competitions that Freestyle Now organised were dirt jumping competitions in the late 90’s. These morphed into BMX skatepark competitions for local government and community organisations and were very successful. Freestyle Now was then asked to manage skateboard competitions as well as BMX and then with the rise of the scooter scene the whole skatepark culture was catered for in competition management. All of our past competitions can be found on our past competition page here

In 2001 community T.V. was starting to emerge in Perth via channel 31. There was a show being air called “Cruzin” a show about Perth hot rods and the car street scene. Shaun was watching this show and realised that a show about BMX could be done. Shaun called up Jason and said “do you want to do a television show on community television”. Jason said “sure why not!” and with no prior computer experience or video editing experience “Behind the Bars” was started. The show was a nine part show with each show airing every 4 weeks. It was a major undertaking at first. In the same way, the Freestyle Now zine was done with a D.I.Y. mentality so was Behind the Bars. Learning as the show progressed was the format. It was just hands on and make it work, a true Freestyle Now philosophy.

 

This is the first episode of Behind the Bars which aired on Perth community television in 2001. All the episodes can be found on the Behind the Bars media page here

With BMX, scooters and skateboards being a great youth involvement activity it was not long until Freestyle Now started its motivational school presentations. These school presentations were to help keep the youth motivated to pursue their dreams and goals. Using the medium of BMX, scooters and skateboards as a way of delivering this motivational message, with self discipline and consistency you can reach your achievement. Tricks done on BMX, scooters and skateboards are a great example of this

To help grow the competitions and to also help new riders Freestyle Now started to host skatepark coaching sessions. These sessions are designed to help younger participants or those needing to progress their skills.

With show performances, competitions, coaching, publications and promotions, Freestyle Now is advancing into the future with positivity paramount. The past was great but the future holds larger aspirations. Freestyle Now continues to grow by using our fundamental ethos of courtesy, respect, inclusiveness and diversity within our cultural industry. Please always remember to Freestyle now……….. before it’s too late…………….

 

Over the 30 years Freestyle Now has progressed so much. This is one of our stunt shows from January 2015

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Freestyle Now at DownUnderGround bmx flatland finals 2016

by on 16. Dec, 2016 in Bmx, Competitions, DownUnderGround, Flatland, Jason Parker, Paul Chamberlain, Photos, Shaun Jarvis, Travels, Video

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freestyle-now-at-downunderground-melbourne-2016-paul-chamberlain-jason-parker-shaun-jarvis

DownUnderGround is the Australian national bmx flatland contest series. Round 1 was in Adelaide with round 2 being a video round and round 3 the finals of series 8 took place in Melbourne at the iconic Imax location at the Melbourne Museum. Freestyle Now squad members Paul Chamberlin, Shaun Jarvis and Jason Parker attended the contest with awesome results. With one of the best turn outs that DownUnderGround has seen in recent years the contest was great. Paul Chamberlain took out the win in the open class along with the series 8 year end title in the open class. Very consistent riding as normal from Paul with some great whiplash combos. Jason parker was a surprise entrant as no one knew he was showing up. Being off his bike for 6 weeks due to his up north work schedule can be hectic but it was great to see Jason there. With two good runs he ended up taking the 1st place in the expert class to his surprise. Well done Jason that was epic. Shaun Jarvis rode well and took home 4th place in the contest and in doing so won the series 8 year end title in the expert class. Congratulation to all three squad members for their efforts at DownUnderGround.

freestyle-now-at-downunderground-bmx-flatland-melbourne-2016-paul-chamberlain-with-a-plastic-man

Paul rolling out a plastic man on his way to 1st place in the open class

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Jason Parker with a upsidedown backwards wheelie on his way to first place in the expert class

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Shaun Jarvis fresh from his Japan trip on his way to 4th place with a backyard

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Paul Chamberlain (open class) and Shaun Jarvis (expert class) both taking the year end titles for series 8 of DownUnderGround

 

 

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Freestyle Now squad members – DownUnderGround video round

by on 11. Nov, 2016 in Bmx, DownUnderGround, Flatland, Jason Parker, Lee Kirkman, Paul Chamberlain, Shaun Jarvis, Video

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Congratulations to Freestyle Now squad members for their recent placing in round 2 of DownUnderGround. Shaun Jarvis 1st in expert, Jason Parker 2nd in expert, Paul Chamberlain 2nd in open and Lee Kirkman 3rd in open. DownUnderGround is the Australian bmx flatland competition series. DownUnderGround is now into series 8. Round 1 took place in Adelaide in April and now round 2 – the video round has just recently concluded. As Australia is such a vast country DownUnderGround has two physical rounds (round 1 and 3) with round 2 being a video contest. Round 3 the finals take place in Melbourne at the Melbourne Imax location, on the 26th November and again Freestyle Now is supporting the event. This is one of the events you don’t want to miss. Check out the round 2 contest video submissions from the squad members to see the radness.

Shaun Jarvis 1st place in expert class

 

Jason Parker 2nd place in expert class

 

Paul Chamberlain 2nd place in open class

 

Lee Kirkman 3rd place in open class

 

It’s time for the finals of series 8, DownUnderGround 2016 the Australian national bmx flatland contest series. Round 3 the finals of series eight is taking place on the 26th November in Melbourne at the famous Imax location. It will be a great time with riders from all around Australia heading to one location to meet up, hang out, ride, and party. Make sure your get there from 12noon to 5pm to witness some of Australia’s best bmx flatland riders. The contest is supported by Freestyle Now , Colony Bmx , Anchor BMX , Nothing Wrong , Level bmx and Solid Signs. All the info is on the flyer so make sure your attending.

downunderground-round-3-australian-bmx-flatland-contest-2016

 

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Freestyle Now squad member Jason Parker York Jam America trip

by on 10. Feb, 2016 in Bmx, Flatland, Friends, Jason Parker, Random, Travels

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Freestyle Now squad member Jason Parker recently fulfilled one of his long dreams and headed over to America to attend the York Jam in Pennsylvania in America. Jason has been an important member to Freestyle Now since he was enlisted on the squad in 1999 with performing bmx stunt shows around the nation and being heavily involved in the production of Behind the Bars with Shaun Jarvis. Jason sent through some good words about his trip and a few snaps so read on

“Well I guess ever since I started riding freestyle BMX way back in 1995, I came across a video called “Wheelies” That video had, and still has some of the best flatland riding caught on film. Ever since seeing that video, I have wanted to go to York Pennsylvania to ride at the annual event called ‘York Jam’.Earlier this year, while I was on Facebook, I saw an advertisement for the “25th anniversary of York Jam”. I decided just by seeing that ad, that if I was rostered off work, I was going! It was that easy. I looked up my roster and checked that I could go! All that was stopping it, was a decision of “was it worth it”? That was easy to decide. I had always dreamt of going to meet the best riders from the world, the riders who made flatland what it is now! So I said this is it, the Jam has rolled for 25 years, if I miss this one they may not have another! It was the easiest decision I have ever made. So next I was booking the flights and accommodation, car hire etc. Then I thought I would see if anyone wanted to come along. I ended up getting my friend Simon to join, he was stoked!

Simon and I had started riding together back in 1995. He knew the video and the people we were heading to go and hang out with. It was game on! We were booked and ready to go, next I received the worst news from Simon, “man I have broken my leg and torn an ACL and Ligament too”. Oh no way, I was like “so I guess you can’t go”? Simon was like “hell no, I’m going”! So despite the major setback Simon pushed through the pain barrier and discomfort and made it along for the ride.

Jason Parker York bmx Jam trip 2015 holiday snaps

Holiday snaps surrounding the epic bike bag pack up – clockwise from top – That’s LA in the background, The girls from York Jam, The 25th York Jam crew, Looking mean on the Harley Davidson factory tour, New York New York, The yellow Stang, Chillin at the York Jam, Riding at Santa Monica. Photos by Simon Johnston

We left Perth flying via Sydney and then flew onto Los Angeles. We saw Santa Monica Beach, Hollywood, and Huntington Beach. As fate would have it, when we left Huntington Beach Simon noticed a rider in the car park. I was like “No way! That looks like Gabe Weed”! We decided to go see who it was, Yep it sure was Gabe Weed, he was just about to have a ride. We had a yarn and rode some flatland for a bit. Simon and I could not believe it, what is the chance of meeting one of the best flatland riders like that. We then drove down to Las Vegas in a Ford Mustang. That is a must if you are ever going to go see Las Vegas, Simon drove most of the way. We went to Hoover dam then arrived at Los Vegas. After we were in Vegas for a few days we headed to the East coast landing at JFK airport, New York. We had made it to the big apple AKA New York. We did the tourist thing and saw Brooklyn Bridge, Empire state building, and the Statue of Liberty. We also ate the best Pizza ever!  NY is not my scene that’s for sure but the Pizza is so good. We got out of NY and headed to the place we had been waiting to ride since we started riding. The drive was awesome, we saw so much. Once we made it to York we got on the “Buffalo wings” and did a wall mart visit. Simon was loving it! He wanted to get a bike and ride at the jam.

So Friday 11th Sep 2015 the Pre jam day arrived. We headed out to find the spots that were on the advertisement. No one was there yet. We decided to do a Harley Davidson tour while we waited for the jam to start. The place is heaps cool. Interesting fact that Australia is the second biggest purchasers of Harley Davidson other than the US. So about 3.00pm I get a message from Brett Downs on Facebook, Saying “Let me know when you want to go ride”! So I replied “I’m at the Hidden Spot now”! So I was doing a manual and a car pulled up. It was Brett he was like” You want to come ride, with Kevin and me at the Pit”? I was like “Yeah that would be sweet”. So Simon and I followed Brett and we meet up with Chad, Ivan, Terry and Kevin. It was so cool to see Mr Jones ride in person. He cranked up a heap of speed put one foot over the bars and did the longest no handed nose wheelie I had ever seen! EPIC was about as good a word I can think of to describe it. The man is KING! I could not believe how lucky we were, to be able to hang out with these guys. The typical BMX crew, who I had never meet before, but felt like I had known them all of my life! So after hanging with the crew, we headed back to the Hidden spot and started to meet some of the people who also made the long journey to York P.A. Riders from all over the US and Canada had made the effort to be at the 25 year jam. It was so cool to be apart off. We rode until about 8.00pm then headed out with everyone!

Jason Parker York bmx Jam trip 2015

Clockwise from top left – Jason at Santa Monica Beach hitting up a decade – Meeting on Gabe Weed at Huntington Beach – Hanging out at the York jam undercover due to the rain with James McGraw – Meeting legendary flatland rider Kevin Jones

The day had come and after 3 months with no rain in York, the only thing that could ruin travelling over 18000 Km’s was RAIN! Yep it sure did “It pissed down all day”! But in typical flatland style we had plan B. Lucky the locals knew of the best spot in York for this 25 year jam to push on. We had a whole multilevel car park all to ourselves. Well unless the local authorities were to show up! Everyone headed, to go ride in the car park out of the rain, It was awesome I think at least 150 riders made it for this year’s jam. Also we had six girls show up to throw down some flat action, they were all awesome!!  The rest were “two tired”. No that was just a real bad joke! Mark Eaton was cranking tunes all day it was like being in the video “Wheelies” but it was real life. LOL some awesome riding was done and heaps of tricks were pulled. After a full day of flatland, we headed out yet again. We made heaps of new riding friends for life. After a huge night with Lincoln and Matt, everybody reunited and jammed again at the George st spot on Sunday. It was awesome getting to meet hero’s you never think you will ever get to meet in your entire life. So many good riders and the scene was like when I saw “Wheelies”. Thanks to Diggs and everyone who organized York jam. Simon and I left the next day we had 28 hrs of flights and 2 days of travel ahead of us. And then straight back to work for me.

For anyone who has a wish to or thought of an event that you have always wanted to attend, just go for it and make it happen, you will be so happy you made the effort.
As the saying goes Freestyle Now…….. Before it’s too late. Ride on!”

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Freestyle Now at Flatark 2014 – Kobe Japan

by on 25. Sep, 2015 in Bmx, Flatland, Jason Parker, Paul Chamberlain, Photos, Shaun Jarvis, Travels, Video

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Back in October 2014 Freestyle Now squad members Shaun Jarvis, Jason Parker and Paul Chamberlain traveled to Japan to compete in Flatark, one of the stops in the flatland world series of contests. The three riders travelled there with a few other Australian riders for the contest and most importantly good times. Spending a week in Japan the group visited Osaka, Kobe (the contest city) and Kyoto. Riding every day, sightseeing, experiencing new culture and making new friends. The three squad members sent in a few words about their travel experience read on and be inspired to venture outside of your city. This year Shaun Jarvis and Paul Chamberlain are again venturing off to Kobe to once again experience all things Flatark

Freestyle Now squad members at flatark 2014

Left to right Paul Chamberlain, Shaun Jarvis and Jason Parker at the Flatark contest site in Kobe Japan

Shaun Jarvis – I had never been out of Australia before, so I was a bit nervous on what to expect. I knew it would be a bit of a culture shock. So much happened over the ten days it’s so hard to tell everything. It was an experience I’m so glad to have been on. Meeting new people and seeing new things is what inspires me to travel. Here are some of the experiences that were the highlights of the trip.
I travelled with Jason from Perth and Paul said he would meet us at Osaka airport, well no Paul there to meet us, so only armed with the accommodation address and not able to really communicate with anyone due to language barrier it was a late night train mission to get to our accommodation. Two trains later, we finally get close and exit the train station to the street, build our bikes and ride towards were we think we need to go. Counting the streets on the map as we pass them, a left turn, another can you help us, we finally get to our accommodation about 11:30pm to see Paul standing out the front. A little surreal. After travelling for 18 hours I just wanted to shower and sleep. Not as easy as you would think. Paul had taken care of the accommodation and we were staying in a traditional Japanese capsule hotel. So the format to get to your bed was as follows, Take shoes off, take to counter, get your shoe locker key, put shoes in locker, go back to counter give shoe locker key back, get clothing locker key which is also bed number, take gear to locker, change out of cloths into sleeping cloths. To shower you headed down stairs to the bath house, take off cloths and put everything into bath locker take key with you on wrist, yeah it was a confusing system. Anyway so first night was a team bonding experience with Paul, Jason and myself experiencing the traditional Japanese bath house, being naked together with a bunch of other guest all bathing and showering, something I never thought I would be doing when I stepped on the plane in Perth.
The uniforms the people wear are awesome, it’s like a privilege, or to show the importance of their job, train drivers, nurses, police, security, rubbish men, there seemed to be a uniform for any job. It was great to see and I thought it seemed a very respectable thing. We were riding late at night in Kyoto and went down a street then down a side ally where there were these workers in well dressed in uniforms and helmets, I did not know what they were doing, pushing wheel borrows of bags, and turns out they were the rubbish men collecting the trash, in their uniforms.
The contest was awesome, so many flatlanders of all ages. In the expert class (the class I was in) there were 3 groups, a total of 45 riders, many from Japan and some from around the world. I was lucky enough to be in the first group so I got my run over with early.  The call was up for practice/warm up, something like 15 riders all trying to roll on the special built stage for the contest, it was daunting, and I found that I had to not be so polite and force my way out on the floor as I was struggling to get a roll in. In the end I started to feel comfortable riding on the stage, my name was called for my turn, I was so nervous, my first international competition. Hundreds of people watching. Most of the time at the DownUnderGround flatland contests it’s mainly just riders that I know. I had a run planned out, we had a minute and a half to throw down, and I stumbled a bit at the start but then got my groove on and had a flawless last half of the run. I was pumped, as I knew that I rode my best. The best part was a lot of the other Japanese riders came up and were giving me props. I was more stoked on the mutual respect from the riders than the contest run I had just done. In the end I placed 35th out of 45 riders.
On our last night in Japan we were in Osaka. We were heading out to go ride with the locals at the university. It was a fair long ride from where we were staying. Being vegan and gluten free in Japan is a challenge and on this night we were riding to get food on the way to the riding spot. During my stay I found it hard to eat with the others as most of the eateries did not have vegan and gluten free food so it was constant visits to the convenience store to get rice, cabbage and bananas. This is what I mainly ate, and lost 2kg while in Japan. On this the last night my energy levels were low as I had not had much to eat so I was pumped to get to the eatery for a meal. To say I was greatly disappointed when we arrived to again find that they did not cater for my diet. So to not get lost I just road straight up the same street, taking a left or right turn could spell disaster by getting lost, all the streets look the same. So after a 5 minute ride I found a supermarket, yes a score. I walked out of there with a great selection of fruits and raw vegetables. Sitting on the streets of Osaka I had a feast. By the time a meet back up with the other riders and headed to the university to ride I was full of energy, this was a great example of food equals energy. When we got to the riding spot everyone had a bit of a ride and then slowly they just started talking and sitting around saying how cold they were, rugged up in big hoodies. I on the other had just wanted to ride and ride I did. One of the best sessions I had in Japan, so good I ended up going shirtless and still sweating hard. The others could not believe it, here I was riding shirtless while they are all just standing around shivering in the cold.

Shaun Jarvis in Osaka for flatark 2014

Shaun Jarvis on the last night of riding on the trip in Osaka, tomahawk.

Paul Chamberlain – What can I say about it. Even though my life is here I’m always a little bit sad to leave and a little bit too excited to set off. Whatever you do there, it’s a rewarding experience because it’s always so different from here. There are lots of great flatlanders there too. You can get a year’s motivation in just a few minutes sometimes. Japan. I’m really proud of all the boys for making the effort to attend. We’re all over 30 and have plenty going on back in Oz so it was a really precious time to just roll together. We did three cities, Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. The pics will tell some of our stories, and the rest, well you can come with us next year!

Paul Chamberlain in Osaka for flatark 2014

Paul Chamberlain at the Osaka University on one of the late night riding sessions that went down.

Jason Parker – Where to start ? Arrived at Perth International airport at 3.00am meet Mr Jarvis. Checked in on Singapore airlines went to the lounge and had a killer breakfast. When we arrived at Singapore we checked out the Changi airport we caught a train within the complex to our next terminal and had lunch at another lounge. After hours of sleep and movies we made it to Japan. We got through custom’s hit Macas and looked for Paul Cee. Now it was like 11.30pm no Paul. So we decided to catch the train headed for Namba.  We got our tickets and hauled ourselves on to the train. After 1.5hrs we got to Namba station Osaka. Then the stations were closing up for the night. Shaun and i thought sick “were going street riding”!!. We got out on the streets and built our steads up. Now we headed for our accom. Our first roll on the streets of Japan. Flatark here we come ! Sure we had no idea were to go but as bicycle freestylers this is our way of life. Any rider knows this is part of the adventure. So after 15 min we were lost. Lol but hey who cares. We found some dudes that told us we were close but didn’t know where we actually were staying. Then we headed down some more streets and Shaun says “what’s that joint” ?. Well the flatland gods were leading us straight to our main man “Beefy”. Yes we found Paul Cee. Standing in the door of “what’s that place”. Sweet 2.30am just about 24 hrs after leaving Perth we can now Party. Lol Things are starting out different to Oz.
Our bikes have to be locked up outside under a subway like 5 min from where we are staying. Our beds are “capsules” and to top it off no showers but good ol bath fun ;-). Welcome to Japan. So after a great sleep i run into a ol mate Ron who i didn’t actually recognize until the aussie accent came out. Wow what a shock well after checking star bucks talking samurai swords and seeing Osaka castle we had our first session. I was pumped i finally pulled my link for the first time since creating it in my head in August. Just need to do it on the Sunday. So we had all the crew Shaun, Paul, Shane, Chris, Matt, Ronnie and Luke. We went and had Saki with some amazing Japanese food and beer. Day 3 was heading to Kobe so we grabbed another train and 1.5hrs later we arrived. Paul led the way we got our next capsules sorted and went down to check the Flatark comp. Well wow wow wow never seen so many flatland bikes ever! And the Japanese kids were just incredible. I felt someone tap my shoulder I turned and Ag was standing behind me. He is a local Japanese legend who travels the world living and riding flatland. I was so Stoked to see him after getting to ride with him in Sydney a few years earlier. We had a brief session with the crew Bobby, Terry, Ryan, Vicki, Dez and a few others. Then it was open class Qualifiers so we headed to watch Beefy go and represent. The level of riding blew my mind the consistency was just like watching a YouTube edit. These guys meant business lol.
After the Qualifiers we got ready to head to the demo and first party of Flatark. A few more beers and some cool stories from the riders at the event then the moment everyone was waiting for to see the Flatark ark judges do this demo. They got crazy for the crowed and rode with style and grace like only all that experience of a lifelong flat rider has. Old and new school all in one. Then we headed home so we could get some r and r before the 8.00am sign up of the expert class. So the day had come feeling nervous and excited we all head back to sign up. They had 3 groups in expert Shaun group 1 Chris and myself group 2 and Matt group 3. Well me and Chris lucked out probably with the easier group. Everyone rode so well and gave it their all. The experience of the comp was the most nervous I have ever felt ever on my bike. But anyone who wants to see the best flatland in real life needs to go to Flatark as its insane level of Flatland for competition. The open class have to battle for the top 12. This is the most grueling and craziest way for a Flatland comp as it’s awesome for the crowed watching but for the riders it’s more than riding one or two sick runs. It’s a battle of the fittest and that really makes this comp challenging mentally and physically for the rider. So after realizing I had smoke coming out of my head and pinching myself I saw the podium results and then typical rider fashion P A R T Y. We got to go on this boat and hang with everyone from the comp.
It was EPIC ! Once the boat ride ended we rode the streets of Kobe and made our way to a night club hanging with everyone again. Then we got back to the capsules about 4.00am. Our accom run out at 10am so we then headed to the train station at Kobe and I departed the crew for the trip home. Was good fun travelling with no camera or phone or any electronics not even a map. Yes I did make it back home somehow. Lol. Flatark is a must for anyone who loves Flatland.

Jason Parker in Osaka for flatark 2014

Jason Parker only went to Japan for a few days but enjoyed it so much, cross footed McCircles  at Sakuranomiya. Osaka.

More photos from their epic trip can be found on Shaun’s Facebook page here

The below video is the footage from the contest runs that Paul, Shaun and Jason did at the 2014 FlatArk contest in Kobe Japan.

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Jason Parker update – Belmont 2006

by on 19. Jun, 2014 in Bmx, Jason Parker, Skateparks, Video

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Freestyle Now squad member Jason Parker has been on the squad roster for 15 years, always getting rad and being stoked on bmx. Recently Jason went through some video archives and found some 2006 footage from Belmont skatepark and made this quick edit.

“Well was thinking I should put an edit together from some of the old footage I had. So I decided to show some of my riding that is not of the normal skate park runs. I put a clip from January this year on at the end. I had fun riding parks back then but now days it’s a lot more crowded. Hope some people may try putting some of the tricks they see from my edit in to use. Enjoy. The music used was from Rad. I used to watch this movie all the time wishing I could be like those riders in the movie. That Movie made my riding possible and helped give me a life of rad people and bmx in my life. Thanks Freestyle Now and Shaun Jarvis for all the support. I’m so happy to see the whole sport going so strong. We need to pass the torch to the next generation of youth for the flame to keep burning.”

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