I don't know Mel Stoutsenberger, but this may be the greatest collection of early BMX (and MX) photos I've ever seen. Click here to see them all.

helmet laws suck

...but helmets save lives. There have been three widely publicized head injuries in BMX in the last week. Two riders in Vegas in comas. One rider in Oregon died. The horrible and sadly ironic part is that all three were wearing helmets. It has been suggested that full-face MX style helmets are the answer, but I'm not sure it is. I can't imagine wearing a full face at the trails. Your vision is limited and the weight of the helmet is a hindering. It's time to meet somewhere in the middle. I've long been an advocate of helmets but I'm going to take action....

VST

VST are the initials of my dad and this stem from SNAFU is a nod to BMX roots as deep as Vern's. I designed this gooseneck over a year ago and after a couple mis-fires in the early samples and a long wait for the final, revised production model, I finally got my hands on one. Of course, it was purple, so I had to give it the once over with some oven cleaner, scotch-brite, 400 grit wet-or-dry and Semi-chrome polish (the best ever), but it now "meets my approval" (something my dad would say). I want to thank my good friend McGoo for giving me the opportunity to create something that means more than I can explain in words. Seeing two different guys running the VST stem a week ago at the Vital Game of Bike in California and Jeremiah Smith with one on his bike this past weekend at the Dew Tour finals in Vegas (he finished 6th in park!) makes an old man proud. My dad will be proud when I tell him about it too...

See more of it right here.

Room with a view. Someday I'll see this up close.

A six-year old photo I'd never seen until a couple days ago. Mike O'Bryan was holding out on me. Read all about it.

After a couple of hectic, heavy weeks, it felt good to take some hot laps on the freedom machine today. What? Yeah, of course it's totally street legal.