PSBMX: First of all let’s go down with some introduction. Who are you?
Boy: Hello folks, my name is Piotr “Boy” Wyszynski.
How many years in the BMX saddle?
Straight in BMX? I am guessing its more than 15 years now, but it’s close to 20 years when it comes to riding a bike.
Damn man, I wouldn’t give you more than 25 years , how old are you if we may ask?
(Laugh) I am 30 years old.
Nice one, you marinated well.
Thanks, it’s all by BMX riding!
How many years under the AveBMX banner?
It looks like it has been 4 years now.
So you ve been with them from the early beginning. From the small rental garage shop to the one of the biggest distros in Poland which believe in Polish scene and helps it grow. Not only by selling top parts but also by investing in the scene for exmp. Making jams like: “Uderz z nami” (Hit with Us) where you connect groms with the pros and let them acknowledge each other.
It’s great to hear such a kind words from someone and not just “to think about it” by ourselves. There are very few people who talk freely about how we helps the scene. It’s always nice to hear some kind words in this hermetic scene. We try to help those who are new on the block and needs just a few “tips” to get things right. When you encourage people to ride, they get stoked and get a chance to follow their passion. Not everyone got money for parts, clothes, shoes ect. And these things tend to get destroyed.
Its good that you see those problems, cause young riders need just a little attention to stick to the community. When they come to the local jams like “Hit with Us” they feel like they belong to the group, even if they ride along with the pro riders. They learn how to communicate with the others. As most of the “older” riders don’t appear at the skateparks in the “normal” time because they work and need to match the adult life with riding as there are only few previlaged people who can live from riding. At the jams riders of all kinds can ride together. You grab their attention from easy ways of “having fun” like smoking or drinking and give them a chance to enjoy time in much cooler way.
Our jams bring people togather that for sure, we don’t hate on kids who bring their boards or scooters, we just tell them that some spots will be used strictly for bmx “couse we have a jam here” but we also showe them our community and how fun it is. We teach them that they can ask anybody for help, despite their level of riding and show them that we are too normal people.
Another cool thing about your contests are there are always a good set up behind the scenes: a dj, BBQ from time to time, drinks ect. Also you keep the stoke high with gifts for everybody, not only for the top 3 riders that tend to be local “pros”.
Yeah, those who want to participate grab some bigger gifts or cash but if you want to just chill and talk with homies who came around, The good atmosphere is overwhelming. Why I ve decided to organize such event? Because I was always looking for some chillout jams in Poland and finally decided to make my own! And by chillout I don’t mean drinking beers and smoking pot but where the groms don’t feel like they don’t belong. `To find a place for a safe start! Where even the speaker is not only about “barspins and bangers” but keeps the good vibes high. Everybody can start here, if you take part in it, you will always win something and I am not only talking about material things. That’s a good point, if you set the challenge for the highest bunnyhop with 20 years old and 12 years old, winners wouldn’t be hard to pick and most of the groms wouldn’t even take part in it. This formula helps everybody have fun.
I ve also noticed it, I was at probably 1 or 2 jams with you…
One exactly, that’s the point, I remember probably most of the homies that appears at them…
Haha, you got me, I recall the last one at the National Stadium park where about 20 people rode their bikes but two times more were cheering them up and had fun also, despite the kinds of wheels they ve used. Even when some lost skateboard flew right into riders wheel, nobody gave a damn about it and kept riding.
That’s the point, kids not always know what’s truly happening, how to avoid other lines, don’t get into the camera angle or how to cooperate with other at the spot. The worst this is to blame them with a shout or a bad word. Keep them informed and ask their parents if they are around to keep en eye for them. Miss communication is one of the worst things at the skateparks.
We don’t always look like a calm group of nice people, we take hits from life, sometimes you are bleeding, your face is missing something or we are tattooed from head to toes so little kids and parents may fear us a bit.
Yeah, how does it look like when a bummed rider who looks like a typical bum shout at the kid and blame it? Parents won’t ever support our lifestyle if they see examples like this. In my 15 years of extreme riding experience I have witnessed a lot of situations but I remember time when we all used to ride togather and support each other even MTB and BMX. Do you remember that?
For sure! It used to be like a good’ol pathologic family.
I ve seen it all and at come with us jam I saw something completely different. Some old fellow, who doesn’t seem to enjoy our crew for the first time, came to me and handed me 20 pln for the winner “cause he liked his riding”.
How many jams under your belt?
Crap, I knew this question will drop but to be honest I may not remember all of the jams I’ve ever organized. I will try to shoot I guess. First one was “Misja Beton : California pool” (here is a big holla to my mate Oktawian who designed a kickass poster for us with this one! I hope you will read it despite your trip to Transylvania!) Next one was? Next one was Piaseczko aka. “PNO” where we made it look “all about metal” style. One more time the poster was over the hook with demonic look of heavy metal album. To be honest, in every of them we have hidden some messages that only the clever ones will get. Every each of them were prepared for at least 2 days full of brain storms. Another one was “Hit with us: na bażanta” (I loved this one because it was close to my flat so, as I had my leg sorted by doctors, I could ride in this one for the first time in a year. Also I’ve been waiting for this park for 15 years to happen!
What is the special thing You want to point out about the Jam series You run?
You can spot a whole range of riders at them! From the oldschool dinosaurs who have seen it all, through newschool shredders to the groms that put their first steps at the BMX camps we organize too as AveBMX.
Tell us more about what BMX Camps really are.
It is a camp series we are doing every summer where the newcomers to our lifestyle can get a hint what it is all about. Typical first touch experience with tons of fun on top of it. Comps, events, pros giving tips and special guests. Place where people can learn from each other. How many times you have a chance to go to the spot and ride with guys like Brad Simms, Dawid Godziek or Ben Lewis? We never spoil who will be a “special” one on the upcoming stop of our camps so the stoke is high. Ahh and some of the top Polish pro riders are there daily. People who I look up too and even despite my age, the ones that I will ask for an autograph, because they deserve it. Fact is we do it a lot of times, It is always a pleasure to talk to this kind of people. Most of the times, signed things are given away to the winner of our little competitions during the camps. The whole point about our BMX camps are to give some positive attitude to those who still seek for something new in riding.
Here comes the hard one. What about the haters of AveBMX? You’ve got a lot of them but most of the times if you ask a hater about their issues, they simply don’t know. What’s your opinion about it and rumors that happened after “smoke a snitch for Ave” movement?
Like always, every argument happens by misunderstanding and lack of communication. I am not a right person to talk about it because it happened and disappeared in time. For me it was funny, but don’t get me wrong on this, I consider the “smoke a snitch” movement as a prank, nothing more. To say something more about all this hate is not easy because it’s mostly “follow the leader”. It dug hard into Polish BMX scene as a saying, like a meme from 9Gag or something and people just use it. You can’t get over it so why fight with it? If you have a distance to yourself your life could be easier. It’s a problem with Polish mentality. The same goes for the first Oscar in Polish history. There are still haters. I would recommend to trip a lot, visit places and learn the culture to see a different view on your own home. People need to see the bigger view.
Will we see more Jams from “Hit with us” tour in 2015?
I can’t say much but “yeah” should be enough. It will be a stacked years for us, that’s for sure!
Since you have a new HQ localization, do you want to make a new spot next to it? You’ve been talking about some legit ledges, maybe you will mount a rail next it?
Yep, new AveBMX HQ is looking sharp and as you mentioned, we’ve got two sweet ledges just in front of it. USE THEM! Thank you “Dzięcioł” for making them! Also I would like to mention that on any given Saturday we would make a BBQ at our home spot, so come and join us folks! Do we want more? I can’t say (smiling)!
