I am now at a point where I pretty much had every FMX/Freeriding relevant magazine in my hands (except one, ADB Roost) and every single one has its own history, its own impact on the sport and also its own effect on the reader. When FMX started to blow up, even the most uptight, conservative magazines at the time could not withstand the temptation of decorating at least half a page with Pastrana‘s Cliffhanger or Hart‘s Hart Attack. Many of them reported about the sport because it attracted the average Joe and brought new eyes to the sport. During the 2000s, you just couldn’t ignore Freestyle Motocross. Even Cycle World with a more mature audience reported about Manny’s Yard. But it was the magazines that emerged from the core scene that were truly able to communicate the spirit and the lifestyle of FMX. MXMachine was such a magazine.

This scan shows the first issue of the core-to-the-bone mag from the hearts and minds of legendary photographers @kirkbender and @nciotti — displaying @briandeegan38 with his signature „Mandatory Suicide“ at Winter X ’02. Every time I go back to one of these mags to look up an information, I find myself gazing at the images and written texts for much longer than planned, just because they are so unique and on point. Kirk and Ciotti truly mastered the „power of the pen“ — no fluff, no cringeworthy 90s vocabulary, just straight forwarded writing mixed with philosophical approaches, thought-provoking statements and the kind of storytelling that spoke directly to the core type of reader.

Not only do I scan the hundreds of magazines that are taking up a lot of my already too tiny office room, and not only do I restore images from them because the original photographer never got the slides back or simply lost them, I also study the sh*t out of them. From the tone of voice to the layout up to the different departments or sections, I try to look at them from many different angles. And man, I could talk all day long about these core magazines that I prefer calling „cultural goods“. Never forget the printed words and images that made you ride more and send it harder than anyone!