Haro Generations Exhibit-Interbike

Rider of the Month - Pat Lipovski

How did you become involved with RAD?
Our sponsor, NORCO Bicycles (in Vancouver) let us (Terry Lipovski, Kirk Bihun, Brent Christensen and myself) know about the movie as NORCO was going to be a Sponsor. NORCO asked us all if we'd like to take part in the movie. This meant moving to Calgary for a while NORCO and DairyLand (and the Super Socco fruit drink) were the main sponsors of our Freestyle show summer tour and we were just wrapping up our summer of shows. NORCO called us while we were on our way back home, and we immediately said "we're in". We really didn't know what we were getting into. Only knew it was a BMX movie. We all thought is would be cool to be a part of it. No one had ever asked us to be in a movie. What else would we have to say. This was just too cool to be true.

Do you remember what bike you rode? Any special setup?
We (the NORCO guys: Terry, Kirk, Brent and myself) all rode the NORCO Freestyler, Signature Series. This was a bike designed by the 4 of us. It was really cool designing a bike, and the final product had a sticker on the down tube (where the seat goes in) with all 4 of our signatures on it.


What is your favorite part of RAD?
There are so many favourite parts. Being part of a film with such a famous Director, Producer, Cast and group of riders were the coolest. Some memories that really stick out in my mind include just riding with all of the American guys we all looked up to so much. Mike Miranda had a major impact. He was an amazing leader and very well grounded. Another great guy was Jamie Clark. Jamie has gone on to do so many amazing things in life since the move. When meeting him on the set, you just knew he was destine for good things.

After all these years, my favourite part of the move is watching the 1st time the guys rode down Hell Track. I remember how hard it was to do it for the first time. I remember as Beatle, one of the youngest riders in the movie, climbed up a tall ladder held by a bunch of us, 3/4 of the way up to the top and push off the ladder to ride down Hell Track, then head to the top to show the others it could be done. I think each rider lost hair (not as much as me now) when the rode down the first time. Even Sheep-Dog must have shed some of his big doo when he rode down that first time.

Another favourite memory was rooming with Jose Yanez (I hope I've spelled his name right). One day, Jose was lacing up some new Vans and the laces were too long. Jose was looking for scissors to trim the laces down. We were minutes away from leaving for the set and he didn't want to go without cutting the laces down. At the last minute, Jose whipped a glass stray into a solid garbage can to break it. He cut his laces with a broken shard of glass. He did this so quickly and low-key. I was just blown away at his creativity. Jose is a guy who wan't only the 1st to to a flip on a bike, he had an ability to deal with life in a comfortable, composed way. His way of doing things really blew us all away. He was a really cool and great guy.

Overall, my favourite part of RAD was just being part of a major motion picture. We were treated like kings. Everyone was very professional. We were all treated the same. Meals were catered daily, fans were on sight looking for autographs daily, and the entire group of riders, actors and film crew were all great people to be with.

Did you do any stunt double work? Why or why not?
Mostly play myself. I did some stunt work. In one scene, I was asked to crash and have guys run me over. Richie Anderson rode right up the middle of me (face-up) in one take. It hurt, and was a real honour all at the same time.

Any stories you can share about life on the set or off?
Life on and off the set was awesome. We all lived at the International Hotel in downtown Calgary. The hotel is still there, under the same name. We'd arrive each day back at the hotel after a day of filming to watch the "Day-lies". Each day, the riders would have dinner, then watch the scenes shot that day, and vote for the best of each "take". This was fun. It really brought all the riders together. After day-lies we'd grab our bikes and go find cool places to ride downtown Calgary. I remember this one jump we'd do by Princes Island Park (just north of the hotel). My kids (2-boys) ride over that same jump today. We'd also hit movies and head down to the restaurant in the lower level of the hotel. We'd hang-out there with Mr. Hand (from Fast Times at Ridgemont High), Bart Conner (US Gold Metal Gymnast) and Lori Laughlin (from Full House). I think the entire group of riders had HUGE crush on Lori.

One of my biggest memories off-set was also a small faux-pas of mine. During filming, Rick Molniterno crashed on Hell Track and broke his ankle. He had to get to the airport to fly home, and I offered to give him a ride. When I returned to the set, Hal had filmed the individual shots at the top of Hell Track, introducing each rider. I missed this part of the filming. I had some regrets but knew we'd done the right thing. Rick was bummed about having to leave. Brent Christensen and I were there for him. Rick is a great guy and we didn't want to see him dumped into a cab and sent home.

The relationship with Hal, Robert, etc.
Hal & Robert were great guys. They were like the CEO of a big company while on set. They were at a distance from many of us, and almost seemed like the "Untouchables". Both guys were very professional and passionate on set. When you did talk with them off set, they were very personable. Overall, just good guys.

It was very cool seeing and talking with Hal & Robert at the 25th reunion last summer. I wonder sometimes how forward thinking Robert and Hal were in creating RAD. BMX is s sport that had so much potential in it's day. Today it's bigger than ever. Something tells me Robert and Hal saw this potential in doing a BMX movie knowing where things could go.

Have you enjoyed the interest people have 26 years later?
The interest in RAD has been amazing. I had no idea the movie would be such a big thing today. I just want any rider to know that I would be more than happy to answer any questions at all. Just email me at pat.lipovski@shaw.ca.

What are you working on now?
Today, Im an Executive Coach. I help leaders in big companies get promoted, and help leaders develop the people in their respective companies, and on their teams. I work Internationally with high potential leaders, Executives and elite athletes. For more on what I do now, please visit www.envisiongroup.ca.

Anything else you can add?
Nothing else to add. Just stay RAD! (I've wanted to say this again for years) :)

The Documentary???

Update: I get weekly questions about when this will be released and cannot accurately provide any details. Just so everyone know's I am not responsible for this documentary and have no ties other than the love of RAD. My goal has always been to support anyone that wants to preserve or promote the movie without prejudice. I have assisted with contact information and was excited to promote the efforts, however this was to be released last year and no updates have been provided to me. I am not in control of the documentary or any release around it. Please contact the originators of the piece through the link below.

A RAD Documentary

Tribute To RAD - Real Life's Send Me an Angel

Heroes of Dirt-The Next RAD?

Directly from the Heroes of Dirt Producer Eric Bugbee:

I just wanted to send over the link for the new official trailer for our movie “Heroes of Dirt.” We changed the name from our working title of Accelerate, so that it’s more focused to the theme of the movie – and more BMX.
I also wanted to drop a line to explain why this project has taken so long to get off the ground. First off, we had a tiny budget. Tiny… in fact it was so small that we blew through that well over a year ago. My wife an I have been funding the rest of it (about 1/3 the total cost) out of personal finances – not advisable, but definitely necessary. This project is far too important to so many people to let it fall apart over money. But we’re now at the point where we have to raise some additional funding to pay for the sound edit, MPAA rating and a handful of other things in order to get it ready for release this fall. We’ll be launching a Kickstarter.com campaign sometime next week to get those finishing funds through the door. I’ll be sure to let you know when that drops.
A lot of people in the BMX community have the impression that this is a “Hollywood” movie that’s trying to exploit BMX – and therefore isn’t legit. That’s the wrong idea. This movie was produced and put together by a tiny core of independent filmmakers, many of whom have been actively riding BMX for decades – primarily trails. I’m included in that. When I was in film school at Penn State, I wanted to be the guy to produce the next great riding movie for the big screen – that was around 15 years ago. I’m stoked that I finally got to do it, and that all my bros from way back in the day were able to be a part of it, either as riders or film crew. This one has been a labor of love on many different levels.
As the director and primary screenwriter, my goal was to create an awesome BMX action movie that not only has sweet riding, but a real story line that isn’t predictable. We did a test screening last November of our rough cut and caught a lot of people by surprise. It was a success based on the feedback sheets everyone in the audience filled out.

Official Trailer:
 

Rider of the Month August - Kevin Hull

Currently Lives In: Washington

Follow him on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kevin.hull.10

How did you become involved with RAD?

I became involved with RAD because I was riding for GT at the time. Eddie Fiola was already up in Canada doing his work on the movie. I got back to LA after the NBL Grands in '85 and Rich Long called me into his office. He asked if I would want to also go to Canada to be in the movie. I of course agreed. I went back home to Texas for a week then flew back to LA. Martin Aparijo and I drove the GT van with the trailer on up to Calgary from Huntington Beach. They wanted the van and trailer in the parade scene.

Do you remember what bike you rode? Any special setup?

The bike I rode in the movie was a GT Pro Series. Most of the parts I ran on my bikes were made by GT. No special set ups. I did run Flight cranks. And on my frames I would have a brace added behind the bottom bracket and my rear dropouts were double thick.

Did you do any stunt double work? Why or why not?

I did do a little stunt/double work in the movie. My big stunt part came when I doubled the twin that was taken out by Bart over the first jump. There was talk of Miranda and I jumping the first jump and crashing into each other.  I was bummed that it never happened.

Any stories you can share about life on the set or off?

Life on the set was a whole different experience. It was cool to actually see how things were done to make a movie. The one thing with Rad was that all of the Helltrack scenes were filmed before the starting sequence. The start was filmed last because it took us a while to figure out how to get down that starting hill. once we figured it out it was a blast. There were some days that we couldn't film because of the weather. Some days it would rain while other days it was actually snowing. I spent some of this off time building models in the hotel room. There was a hobby store close to the hotel that we stayed in. Other times we would ride around downtown Calgary.

The relationship with Hal, Robert, etc.

I didn't have much contact with the cast or guys like Hal, Robert, etc. I would just follow directions on where and when to be. Then it was my job to get the GT logo in where I could.

Have you enjoyed the interest people have 26 years later?

I think it's great that RAD has such a following after all these years.It has such a cult status. It's cool to hear stories from people I've met over the years about how they used to rent it every weekend to watch with their friends. When we went to the reunion last year one guy came all the way from Serbia. Now that's a fan.

Anything else you can add?

Thanks to all the RAD fans from around the world for keeping this going. I'm hoping someday it will be released officially on DVD with a bunch of outtakes and deleted scenes.

RAD 25 New Images

Bill Allen signing some sweet cheeks during the RAD25 event last year! Thanks Kurt.

San Diego Comic-Con 2012 Photos - Thursday Part 1

San Diego Comic-Con 2012 Photos - Thursday Part 1

Glen Adams

Remember Glen, from Binghams Schwinn? I think he actually rode a Blue Max during the filming. We'll, he is currently working at Specialized. Pretty cool to grab this pic off facebook. Cool poster behind him.

Rider of the Month - Beatle Rosecrans

Currently Lives in Orange County, CA

Got the name Beatle after his hair style in the 70's wihile racing and skateboarding for the Vans Team



Favorite Part of the movie: When Bart and Cru come up through the half pipe section. That was Beatle and Eddie Fiola doubling.

Most Notable Piece in RAD: Beatle was the first to succesfully drop in on HellTrack. Several tried but Beatle was the first to pull it.

He can also be seen in the qualifying race with white wheel covers shewn below.