Jean Marie Baertsch said he’d send an update but since it’s wintertime in Switzerland he does not have much to tell: I’m taking it easy because my foot still hurts after hard riding sessions. Well it’s the right season to chill. Anyway I’m saving my power the whole week to ride in the sun on the weekends, I’m stoked on all these new concrete bowls which are being built all around Zurich, I just love to carve the concrete wave and try out new lines. Besides that I’m working and drinking too much beer lately (not so usual). I’m also doing all my exams to finish my apprentice ship next summer and we are working hard on our new BMX Park project in the next closer village. Unfortunately I have bad news too. They took our Vert ramp to the manufacturer to get a complete overhaul done on it. So no good Vert Ramp this summer, there are a few others but they are not fun to ride (slippery) and far away too. Well that’s it. It’s winter, what else can I say. Jean-Marie Baertsch

New York City is home to Nigel Sylvester. The way he cruises through traffic at speed on his Mirraco Chocolate frame is scary. The tricks he does down big stairs is plain nuts. There is a Nigel Sylvester movie up on Youtube that you should check out. Here is the link to the clip: Nigel Sylvester/Chocolate

Ryan Guettler is going to Europe in April for the t-mobile extreme playgrounds dirt session. It’s an invite only dirt event which does have some open spots which requires qualifying at special events. The event will be indoors and the following invited riders will be competing together with Ryan: Ben Wallace, Tobias Wicke, Alejandro Caro, Patrick Guimez, Ben Hennon, Bibi, and Kye Forte. Millencolin and a few other bands will be playing live on stage. All the action can be watched live on MTV in Germany. T-mobile  Extreme Playgrouds, the Dirt session. Duisburg, Germany. 20 April, 2008  Info 

This Wednesday 13 February on FUEL TV’s The Daily Habit: Mirraco’s Nigel Sylvester and Mark Losey. Right off the latest Nike 6.0 photo shoot Fuel TV brings you New York native and BMX pro Nigel Sylvester in the studio. And, speaking of photo shoots, the man responsible for countless covers, ads and iconic images, renowned BMX photographer Mark Losey is stopping by. Don’t forget to tune in: Fuel TV; Wednesday 13 February. On FUEL TV, tune in on Saturdays at 11:00am, 4:00pm, 7:00pm and 10:30pm ET (8:00am, 1:00pm, 4:00pm, and 7:30pm PT); Sundays at 11:00am, 2:00pm, 5:30pm, and 2:00am ET (8:00am, 11:00am, 2:30pm, 11:00pm PT), and Monday through Friday at 3:00pm, 6:00pm, 10:30pm, and 2:00am ET (12:00pm, 3:00pm, 7:30pm, and 11:00pm PT). To see if you get FUEL TV, visit www.fuel.tv

Yo., what’s up! I got a pretty cool story for you. I just got back from round 1 of the rally america series where all the best drivers like Travis Pastrana and Ken Block are trading times for the championship. So, I got talking to Travis about bmx and what I thought was possible on a dirt bike. Before the rally I told someone I could totally see Travis doing a no-handed 360 backflip on his dirtbike. And believe it or not, it really wasn’t that hard to convince him to come down to Greenville and give it a go. So, I told Travis if he comes down I will get him a Mirra co. (Blend Limited) dialed in and it was up to him to figure out the rest. Well, after about two hours of riding it wasn’t going as well as I thought, so I was like “Travis, what’s the plan? You want to go eat or something?” He was like “Give me like an hour or two to figure this out!” I’m like “o.k.” So anyway he starts to fully commit and I was like “no way he’s gonna figure this out”. Within ten tries Travis was fully no handed and rotating a backflip 360 degrees. I was so stoked he actually figured it out. I knew if he could do it on a bmx bike then he could do exactly what I imagined. Travis on moto over a 50 ft. gap. Whatever!!!!! So, It was an amazing night at the warehouse to say the least. Travis is a very cool and very talented individual so I must say that this was just as fun for me as it was for him. Much respect. Check the pic. dm P.s. Imagine how amazing he is in a subaru through the forest at 120mph.

Built for parks and street with lightness and high performance in mind, this Blend Series Mirraco bike excels on all surfaces thanks to its fast-rolling Mirra Signature Maxxis tires, 10-tooth cassette drivetrain and lightweight 4130 chromoly pegs. Frame 20.75” T/T full D.B. Crmo w/ heat-treated integrated head tube, MID BB shell & 5mm dropouts Fork Mirraco full Crmo w/ 3/8” dropouts & cut-outs for pegs Headset FSA Impact 1-1/8” integrated sealed Crankset M3 3pc Crmo 170mm w/ 19mmx8-spline Crmo axle BB Set MID BB w/ R12 sealed bearings Sprocket M3 alloy 28t Freewheel cassette 10t LHD 1pc Crmo driver Chain KMC Z410 Nickel plated Pedals M3 alloy 9/16” loose ball, w/ Allen head pins, Crmo axles Handlebar M3 2pc 7.5” Crmo 2.0T Stem M3 Downside, extruded + CNC alloy, 1-1/8” Grips Snafu Freestyle / low flange Saddle M3 Blend 8mm rails Seat Post M3 alloy Micro Adj., 25.4×200mm dual bolt assembly Seat Clamp M3 alloy 28.6mm Front Hub M3 alloy 36h 3/8” Crmo axle, 2 sealed bearing Rear Hub M3 alloy cassette 36h w/ 14mm Crmo hollow axle, LHD, 4 sealed bearing, 1pc driver Rims Alienation “Black Sheep” doublewall, 36h, Blue anodized front, chrome Plated rear Spokes 14g stainless black Tires Maxxis Miracle 120 Psi, 20×2.1” front, 1.85” rear Pegs/Acc. Snafu Crmo w/ inserts (1 pair) Rotor SST Oryg w/ SST top & lower cables Brakes Diatech 997 Magic rear U-brake w/ Fiesta pads Brake Lever Snafu C-Lever alloy w/ hinge Weight 28.4 lbs / 12.9 kgs USA MSRP: $660

If you want top of the line forks for your ride, look no further. The Mirraco M3 Black Label Forks are what you want. Check the details below and then head on over to your nearest Mirraco dealer. Use the Dealer Locater on the site to find out where the closest shop is to your place. M3 BLACK LABEL FORKS * Double-butted 4130 chromoly tubing * CNC machined one-piece steer tube * Heat treated after TIG welding for greater strength * Threaded steer tube with alloy headset adjuster nut * 4130 chromoly CNC’ed 5mm dropouts w/ 10mm axle slots * Weight: 2.23 pounds (1.0 kg) * Finish: raw sandblasted

A little bit ago Alessandro Barbero send us some promo items. The package consisted of 3d headshot stickers, a huge poster and a T-shirt that was as neon as it gets. Alessandro is from Italy and runs his own website. Maybe you should take a look and hit him up from some promo items. www.alessandrobarbero.com

The end of one of the best trips I have ever done! So it was a ten day trip to Australia, longest time I have ever been out of the country and it was awesome! Made a million new friends, all the shops we went to were packed with kids and all the sk8 parks we went to it felt like we were just having a good session with the locals. The last 3 days of the trip were the BMX games. It was a cool contest which had Mini, Park and Dirt. I entered the Park comp. The course was a lot different than most contests we ride in the States. The ramps were pretty small but it was cool to see all the locals kill it. I found the lines I was psyched on and it was two 60 second runs which I like. I qualified 1st and ended up in 1st so I was stoked on that. I also got to do one of my new tricks; 720 invert so that was cool! The next day was Dirt. Ryan Guettler had something up his sleeves but I know everybody had been having problems just jumping them. He didn’t get to do what he wanted but he still ended up in Second so that was tight. I got back to Greenville two days ago. I was feeling the jet-lag like crazy but I’m feeling way better now so until next time. Peace. Spinner