Shane Badman sent in an email with a few pics of what he has bene up to of late. Read on below…

The harsh northern winters of Europe arn’t great for riding. Living in Sweden is awesome but with snow becoming an all too familiar sight & the temperature currently around -12C during the day sometimes you gotta make the big call. So 4 airports, 3 flights & 22 hours in the air later I landed back in Australia to warm summer weather & white sandy beaches. Word.

It was a great being back in Aus. Coming back to visit never leaves you with as much time as you’d like, but we were still able to get to Melbourne for a Jam that was put on by a bunch of the locals – big thanks goes out to Paul Chamberlain & crew for putting it all together. While in Melbs I also managed to hook up with world renowned photographer Chris Polack for a shoot. Getting the job done at Imax & down at St Kilda was great with an impromptu demo going down for the locals at the beach – look for upcoming shots in future issues of Rebelyell!

So I’m back in Sweden now riding in my warehouse that I have for the winter. I’m taking care of a few projects & also planning for some of this years trips – stay tuned for further updates!

Yo yo !!

Today Guettler, Ross D, Jasmine, Niki & myself started cleaning up the new warehouse/office. It was a pretty cool feeling to know that this place will be the hub for all things Colony over the years ahead. I am really excited about the changes ahead & I am looking forward to getting stuck into working on it all. Thanks to everyone that helped out today, really appreciated.

Yo yo !!

Alans BMX in the UK who are our distributor there sent over this new Colony advert they are running in an upcoming issue of Ride UK. Nice, simple & to the point. I just thought I would share with you all here.

Yo yo !!

Finally made it back last night into Brisbane. It really is a long drive from Melbourne to Brisbane no matter how many times I have done it before. It’s good to be back though & now all the hard work begins setting up the warehouse & moving forward with all things Colony.

To all the stores out there in Australia needing & waiting on product, it will be ready for despatch the week of February 9th. Many thanks for your patience & support in these new & exciting times for us.

Yo yo !!

Alex & myself are making our way back home to Brisbane after leaving Canberra this morning. It’s been a long day of driving & we stopped off at Forster to ride the park there. It was a chilled session & a great chance to stretch our legs. The park has a cool section made out of wooden logs which is a challenge to ride. Tomorrow we will hit up a couple more parks before arriving back home finally.

Yo yo !!

Zac Miner, Alex Hiam & myself left Melbourne today for the long drive home. To pass time in the van Alex did some work on Zac’s ink & showed his true art skills. We made it to Canberra this arvo & are staying at Zac’s place for the night. To stretch our legs we dropped off at Tugga’s for a roll. Zac & Alex had fun there & we took a few pics for the site. Enjoy.

Zac’s ink & a pic of Wallis on Zac’s fridge.

Alex & Zac stunting it up.

Yo yo !!

It’s been in the pipeline for almost 6 months now but I have finalised details on some major changes with Colony as a company & the way Colony will be distributed here in Australia.

The biggest change is that Triplesix Distributions will no longer be the distributor for Colony products in Australia & I will be doing this myself out of Brisbane. This is in effect immediately but I wont be fully operational with stock until early to mid February.

For all the stores in Australia this means you will need to contact me directly for your Colony needs & I will be in contact with those shops that had orders in place with Triplesix for 2009 products very soon. So for any store that wishes to continue stocking Colony or would like to start, please contact me via email at (info@colonybmx.com.au) I will have full contact details soon such as phone numbers & fax numbers.

This also means that for any warranty issues please contact me directly & not Triplesix Distributions. I will take care of any issues that may arise with our products as I totally stand behind them.

We will also have a whole new art direction for our 2010 range with Cooper Brownlee from Focalpoint BMX becoming our new art director. I welcome Cooper to the family & look forward to the years ahead working with him.

I would like to thank Triplesix Distributions for all their support from the start for Colony & I really do acknowledge & appreciate their involvement in getting Colony to where it is today.

Lastly, I have taken sole ownership of Colony now with Chris Harrison no longer being a part of the company. I thank him for his efforts over the years & wish him all the best in his future projects.

What does all this mean for you, the rider? It means you can look forward to Colony moving in the right direction & having a fresh new look ahead. Once again, I thank you all for your support for Colony & without your support Colony is nothing. I am excited at the changes at hand & can’t wait to show the world what Colony is capable of.

Liam’s new advert which is due out soon. This is Cooper’s first job for Colony, a fresh new look.

Yo yo !!

Pretty much the whole team is injured right now. The trip has taken it’s toll on us all. Yesterday was a huge day of sun burn, heat stroke, oh & some riding too.

Alex Hiam crashed hard on a double whip over the box in practice so didn’t get to ride in the expert finals. He is OK though so all good.

Peta Shepherd rode girls park & did well enough to get 2nd place even with a bar end to the stomach the night before.

Ryan & myself flew the flag in pro park. Ryan rode well enough to make the finals with some original lines that no one else did. He destroyed his back wheel & had to use mine on his second run & went for a double backie but slightly looped out. Ryan didn’t ride the finals though due to his 3 broken toes amongst other injuries. Smart move I say.

I just flopped around & did a few nose picks. I can hardly move today with the bruises I have from the trip. Feeling like an old man for sure, haha.

Simon O’Brien rode the pro flatland contest which was really cool to watch. It was good to see a legit flatland comp in Australia take centre stage with a really cool atmosphere. Simon rode well enough to score 2nd place. Stoked.

Happy Australia Day to everyone as well !!

Yo yo !!

We are all hanging out in Melbourne for the BMX Games this long weekend. Some good riding going down so far & more to come I am sure with pro park later today. Speaking of good riding, Alex Hiam qualified in 6th place in expert from a field of 50 riders & has his final on today ay 11am. Can’t wait to see him kill it. See you down there…

Yo yo !!

I thought I would post a bunch of random pics here from the trip for you all to check out. It was a great success & everyone had the best time. Be on the lookout for magazine coverage & a DVD later in the year. Thanks again to everyone that came out to say hi & all the support everyone showed us at each stop. We really do appreciate it.

Yo yo !!

Yesterday we had an in store at Strictly BMX in Southbank & it was huge. Marc & Paul organised something really original & had ‘live’ tee shirt printing while you waited. Everyone had the chance to order their very own custom Colony or Strictly tee which was made right before your eyes. If you check their site soon you will be able to order these limited edition exclusive tee’s. They also put on a BBQ for us as well which was very much appreciated. Thanks guys !!

After the in store we headed to Flemington banks for a session & Zac Miner did a wallride no one else has done yet. Zac rules, plain & simple. Everyone had a great time & I only wish I had something like Flem banks in Brisbane, it’s such a good spot.

That night we went to Rampfest for a session but we were all too wrecked from the last 2 weeks of riding that only Alex Hiam rode. Alex proceeded to kill it with huge moves all the while dodging the masses of people. It was a pretty crazy night & everyone got a bit loose to say the least.

Our ‘official’ trip is now kinda over & we’re now just gonna chill for the BMX Games this weekend. I would like to thank all my team riders for being as cool as they are & for making the trip a huge success. I would also like to thank Cooper Brownlee for taking pics all the trip & Stu Munro for filming all the action. Look out for stories in 2020 BMX, Focalpoint & DIG magazine soon. We will also release a DVD from all the action as well.

Thanks also must go to Jerry Badders at Vans USA as well as everyone at Vans Australia for the support. John Buultjens from Forgotten Bikes also helped out as well & I appreciate it for sure mate.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank every single shop that we visited for their hospitality & support. I would like to thank every rider that came out to say hi at these stores & at the parks we visited. Without you guys, Colony is nothing & I thank you all for your support.

Yo yo !!

Tuesday we had an amazing in store at Sealy’s Cycles down in Frankston. Peter & the boys really showed us some great hospitality at their store with a great BBQ & we gave out so much free product that we almost ran out of everything. The response was amazing at this store which really makes these things feel so worth the effort. Thanks Sealy’s Cycles !!

After the in store we headed to the park at Frankston for a really fun session. Everyone was having a good time it was good to ride with the many locals. After our ride there we headed off on some street missions headed by Cooper Brownlee & also rode the infamous random concrete ‘U’ pipe in Moredialloc. Fun times.

Yo yo !!

Nick Gascoine, Dan Gascoine & Liam Fahy-Hampton have started a blogspot which you can check out by clicking here. Rumour has it that Ryan Guettler is also having something to do with it as well. Should be interesting to see what it’s all about…

Yo yo !!

Tomorrow we have an in store appearance & BBQ/Jam at Strictly BMX. The guys there have organised a cool thing where you can have your own Colony/Strictly tee printed while you wait. These tees will feature some exclusive designs available only at Strictly. Come along & get some freebies from Colony & Vans plus a chance to meet some of the team.

Yo yo !!

Today we left Canberra & did pretty much nothing but driving. On the way we broke up the long drive to Melbourne by stopping off in Albury at Sanction BMX. It is a really cool shop that only opened in December & it’s plain to see that they will do very well for the local scene. Simon & Dre are stand up guys & are 100% committed to BMX. Sanction will be stocking Colony from mid February which I am told the locals are keen to see happen.

We have arrived in Melbourne now & will be heading to Sealys Cycles in Frankston tomorrow at 1pm for an instore & BBQ. We’re then going to the park in Frankston afterwards at 4pm for a roll. See you there.

Yo yo !!

Yesterday was a ‘day off’ for us & we made the most of it. We dropped Ryan, Josh & Jaie off at Cam White’s place so they could ride his massive jumps all day. I had heard these were huge & to see them in person is amazing. Total respect to anyone who gets through those sets.

The smallest guy (Alex) with the biggest guy (Liam) on the trip in the longest jump at Cam’s.

The rest of us (Liam, Zac, Alex, Cooper, Stu & myself) went to session the streets & a good day was had by all. I took a few slams which felt great, Liam did an amazing flair in a drain, Alex did a no hander on a street object & Zac did his biggest ice grind down a rail.

We then dropped Liam off at the airport & headed back out to Cam’s place for a BBQ. A great night indeed. Thanks to the White family for having us over, appreciated.

Today we are driving to Melbourne & will stop off at Sanction BMX in Albury/Wodonga.

Yo yo !

This morning we left Sydney & made our way towards Canberra. On the way we stopped off at Goulburn & rode the park there to stretch our legs for an hour or two.

After that we headed to Canberra for an in store at Backbone BMX which was really cool. Rhysty & the boys have one of the best stocked BMX shops in the country & a really chilled vibe to boot. Thanks go to Rhysty for the pizza hook up & the Bundy Red can, stoked. We gave out a bunch of freebies & then headed to Weston Creek for a roll.

After the park we headed off to a cool drain which was really run. Overall a pretty good day. Heading out for a street ride tonight to see what we can find.

Yo yo !!

Yesterday was a complete wash out with a huge storm coming in at Five Dock & we pretty much didn’t ride at all, so we went back there today for a session. It was pretty fun day & some good riding went down. Stunts were done by all & were documented by both Stu & Cooper.

After riding we went to the airport to pick up Liam Fahy-Hampton & headed to Bondi for what was meant to be a nice arvo at the beach. Except it was so cold & super windy that swimming was the last thing on our minds. A few of us rode the park & then shredded the water front street spot.

Tonight is going be a party night for sure & we then head out to Canberra in the morning. We have an in store at Backbone BMX & then a session at Weston Creek afterwards.

Yo yo !!

It’s been a few days since I have had internet access but finally got my mobile broadband to work now, stoked. The trip has been amazing so far.

Day 4 – Monday we rode Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast which was an awesome session. We all got sunburnt but some good riding went down & clips were clocked. Zac Miner wrecked his ankle & had to take a few days off.

Later that night we arrived at Ventoux Cycles in Coffs Harbour for a in store appearance & it was massive. We were 4 hours late yet that didn’t faze the 200 or so kids waiting for us. It was a great time for sure. Many thanks to Al & the boys at Ventoux for putting on the BBQ & beers.

Day 5 – Tuesday was a day of nothing but driving. Something I feel we have been doing nothing but of late. Before we left Coffs Harbour we got to check out the Big Banana & the Big Slurpee which was a treat. We arrived at AA Cycles & had another in store appearance & it was really cool to meet Les & his local group of riders. It was a cool little shop & everyone appreciated the free stuff we gave out.

After AA Cycles we headed to Slamfest for a session. That place was packed. Almost no standing room here but that didn’t stop the riding going down. Alex Hiam made about 300 new fans with his bike skills & was one of the crowd favourites. Zac sat this one out with his wrecked ankle & I did a nosepick or three. Ryan made the most of what was on offer to ride & did the first ever flip whip I have seen him pull, perfect. He also banged out a double backie over the box which should not be possible over a box so small. Crazy times.

Day 6 – Wednesday we arrived at Above All BMX in Sydney for an in store & Julian really looked after us so well with an awesome BBQ & plenty of cold drinks. There were again hundreds of people hanging out, chilling & having a good time. Julian’s shop is really well done & one of the cleanest around which is a credit to his efforts.

After the in store we all headed to Helensburgh park which was a really fun time. That park is pretty fun & has some weird stuff to ride which is always good. We had a few hundred people hanging out once again riding & watching the action. Stunts were done & more sunburn was inflicted.

Zac Miner back on the bike with his wrecked ankle.

Last night we stayed in Kingscross for the night & a little partying went down. But not before we all at dinner at BurgerFuel & saw a video there of Haimona Ngata & friends from the Redbull Dirt Halfpipe. It’s always cool to see your mates on TV at random places like that.

Today we have an in store at Hell On Wheels then a ride at Five Dock at 4pm, see you there.

Yo yo !!

Yesterday we had a shop appearance at Helensvale BMX on the Gold Coast which we had about 200 kids waiting when we arrived. It was a crazy scene & Ryan got a game of foot down going which was cool to see. I got mobbed by kids when I started to hand out DVD’s, stickers & posters. Many thanks go out to Mitch & Jimmy for getting us a bunch pizzas which served as our breakfast. Afterwards we rode at Helensvale park which was a fun time for sure. Check out the short vid Mitch made below.