Freestyle Now squad member and good friend to thousands Paul Chamberlain, sent through a rad update on what’s been going on in is realm lately. This update comes fresh off the back of his epic road trip of New Zealand with Billy Brooks. Read on and get stoked.
“First up I got to say that I’m so stoked to hear that long-time squad gypsy Ben Moran is riding once again so I thought I would drop an update. I’ve just thrown an edit together for S&M. It’s a pretty ghetto production, but it’s all phone on the floor stuff from when I was feeling a trick over the past few months. Check it
So, fresh back from NZ. I changed a lot there. Still going strong with the vegetarianism. Haven’t missed eating meat or fish at all. It’s been cool. After riding and camping at Gorge Road dirt jumps in New Zealand for over a week I want to ride more trails and hit some pump and race tracks now. It was a really good experience to hit jumps for the first time in over ten years. So much fun just hanging in Queenstown with the locals too.
The old bike doubling up as a washing line. Still running all the same parts. Just a change of frame.
I’ve been really busy lately, moving house to Marrickville, riding, working, getting things ready for the baby and looking after my wife, Jen, as she gets bigger as well as still trying to do stuff for 2020 bmx magazine. It is only 10 weeks now until our baby is born. Everything’s fine though. I feel totally ready and Jen is really happy. Might get to make another edit before, but I’ll probably hold out until the end of the year so there’s a bit of diversity in there. It feels more natural that way too. I never go out just to get clips, it feels weird, prefer just to see what happens and how the day unfolds.
The new ride, S&M Intrikat XL (20.5″ toptube) at the new local, Dulwich Hill skatepark. I live around the corner and it’s getting an upgrade!
As far as riding my goes, my right foot started hurting after Japan so I started messing with more pegs and doing more left footed stuff again. I’m set on 3 pegs now because I like whiplashes too much to not do them. If you watch my video you’ll see that I have a back brake with a straight cable. It’s an odd choice of setup for a flatlander, but I like it for two reasons. Firstly, it’s cool to think about winding up the cable then unwinding it completely before I finish a combo. Secondly, it stops me from doing multiples of the same trick in a row. I thought it was the two pegs that was doing it for me, but it was really the straight cable that was driving the change in my style. I don’t really pump anymore. I’m mostly just rolling slowly. It’s a new method, a new challenge. I’m happy to be learning and changing as a rider.
Anyway! Peace!”
