http://colonybmx.com.au

Common Crew Arizona Road Trip

A four day escape from CA to AZ via the magic of minimum wage

2 Feb 2015

Common crew bmx HotelRoom4 TK

Words and Video by Francis Castro Photos by Tak Kamihagi

From cramming thirteen people into two rooms meant for four, to a barrage of tinder matches, this trip was everything you would expect BMX to bring you; good times, great laughs, and memories worth talking about for a very long time. And, all of this made possible by the magic of minimum wage labor - we all saved up and eventually became stable enough to plan a trip. It was originally supposed to be San Francisco but the forty-five degrees it had to offer made us venture east instead. The drive consisted of three cars and an overwhelming sense of curiosity. Some of us had gone out of state with our bikes before but never rolling this deep and never being this lost.

https://shop.digbmx.com/collections/all-clothing

"It was a full blow abandoned town; cafe shops, gas stations, and a dozen wrecked empty houses laced together with some scattered belongings that were left behind on either side of every structure."

Common crew bmx Ghost Town Train TK

This train was first thing you would see before entering the ghost town. From what we could tell it was a tourist attraction. We believe it also served as a distraction along side the cafe to keep tourist from the neighboring meth houses half a mile down the road. I actually tried climbing this damn thing and my pants got caught and ripped on my way up. I ended up in sweatpants for he remainder of the trip.

A little over half way to AZ we spotted these home/shack/crustybox things, all lined up, equal in size and distance but covered in graffiti with an extremely run-down looking appearance - like an abandoned piece of suburbia. Being the curious kids that we are we pulled off the side of the road to check them out. It was a full blow abandoned town; cafe shops, gas stations, and a dozen wrecked empty houses laced together with some scattered belongings that were left behind on either side of every structure. We peeped through some old store windows and gas station doors and eventually made our way about a half mile deeper into the town. This is where the houses were and one by one we began to go through them, finding things like images of demonic naked women on the inside walls, trap tables covered in every kind of pill imaginable, even some closets that still had an outfit or two in them. The floors of all the homes were not visible and remained covered in personal belonging ranging from mass amounts of VHS tapes, toys, trash, and cut open mattresses. One house had some old meth cooking equipment in it and in another I noticed a note that read “I love you daddy, I love you daddy, I love you daddy.” ready to be put on the fridge for the whole family to see. Really made us think... this was actually someones home at one point. We spent a good 45 minutes looking around the town and then proceeded to reaching Tempe.

"The Motel life itself was nuts, none of us had ever woken up in a situation where all your closest friends are sleeping a foot in a half away from you with pegs and bars hitting your back."

Couldn't be anymore hyped to get another day started. 

Trying to make the most out of the space we had.

A long night ahead of us.

Bumped into Austin just in time to watch him get the ender for his latest edit. 

Common crew bmx Cruising Horizontal TK

Spot guide Austin Aughinbaugh showing us around some Arizona street after a mandatory morning skatepark session.

Super coach was more concerned about the blood on his floor. I guess losing three teeth isn’t a big deal.

“It feels like my teeth went into my head.”… That’s because they did.

I'd reserved the motel nearest to a University in the hopes that it would be packed with spots. It was, and luckily enough we happened to run into an Arizona local, Austin Aughinbaugh who became our spot guide and, by the end of the trip, a good friend. The Motel life itself was nuts, none of us had ever woken up in a situation where all your closest friends are sleeping a foot in a half away from you with pegs and bars hitting your back. It was fucking cramped, more fun than anything, but still cramped. Once everyone got ready the routine was just like back home; get into the car thats going to a breakfast spot you enjoy and go from there. After we would all eat we’d pick up Austin who lived only a few blocks away, then it was up to him to show us around. We went to a bunch of famous set ups and some we had never seen before - a productive good time all around. Later lunch would hit and we’d repeat the breakfast spot routine before going out to the next set of gems. We couldn’t get enough, but unfortunately the sun does go down in Arizona and it was way too cold to break out the lights so it was time to head back to the Motel and chill. On our second filming day Denim took a slam straight to his face which resulted in his ex girlfriend picking him up and driving him home. Aside from that extremely shitty bump in the road (understatement) the trip ran like this the whole way through.

Common crew bmx Fence Jump TK

Austin Augie leading us into unknown lands.

On the way back from everyones first house park session.

Julian Arteaga and Ethan Corriere enjoying our last dinner in AZ. This place was too good.

"Some of us had gone out of state with our bikes before but never rolling this deep and never being this lost."

Before we knew it our four day escape was over and it was time to head home. I was sitting on more than enough footage for the video and everyone was more than content with the clips they pulled. Not to mention Tak laced up this amazing gallery. The trip was a success.

Common crew bmx Drive Home TK

On our way back! Common Crew’s first out of state team trip was a success!

Related Video

DIG EXCLUSIVE: Common Crew In Arizona

Rolling deep and lost in AZ... - More Info

Previous

Re Print: Getting Creative With Cameron Wood

"People can call it what they want. We're not really skiing; we're bike riding"

Next

The Bikes of Bone Deth

Rock N Roll Freestyle Machines

Related Content

BMX videos vhs

Where's The Love? The Disposable Age of BMX

Stuart Fenton talks of fickle times in BMX and dreams of a VHS resurrection

17 Feb 2015
Stephan-August-DIG-BMX-Youth-Of-Today-Lifestyle-1-DF

Youth Of Today - Stephan August Interview

Fuck a Super Bowl. Let's ride...

10 Feb 2015
Common-Crew-TheCommonDays-Vol-3
Play Button

Common Crew - TheCommonDays Vol. 3

Behind the scenes of Day 2 in Arizona...

6 Feb 2015
common-crew
Play Button

DIG EXCLUSIVE: Common Crew In Arizona

Rolling deep and lost in AZ...

2 Feb 2015
https://bmxdirect.asia/

Latest Content

V T C Ne6v1f Mhqdefault
Play Button

JACK HENNICKE - WELCOME TO MERRITT PRO

Making it super official

7 Nov 2025
T5e5830z OQ Mhqdefault
Play Button

23 YEARS OF UNIT23 JAM

Get Spooky!

7 Nov 2025
Z Yj6axo8wo Ehqdefault
Play Button

YEAH, NAARM! feat. JIMMAH and TERMITE

Jimmah and Jon go Ham

7 Nov 2025
R Xp4 R Kr A5 Qhqdefault
Play Button

31000 - LARUEROSE

South of France stand up

7 Nov 2025
EQ1x P qo Yrghqdefault
Play Button

DANIEL ALVES BMX - FÉ NO CORRE

Brazilian savagery

6 Nov 2025
Df K qu57 J Bkhqdefault
Play Button

JOE FOLEY - PROJECT Xtras

A few broken parts. A few broken hearts.

6 Nov 2025
F94h Q Flh K Ushqdefault
Play Button

Checking out the archives- Live Fast Die!

The story behind an epic FBM video

6 Nov 2025
Y SRYH75bc Wkhqdefault
Play Button

Clint Millar - Still Having Fun

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

5 Nov 2025
Subrosa rail tournament thumb
Play Button

Subrosa Street Rail Shop Tournament

Six shops do battle!

5 Nov 2025
Bc7duihuh R Qhqdefault
Play Button
Baa MZ V79r Ehqdefault
Play Button

AGUANTELABICI - mALBiaje EU - 001

DIG LOCALS

4 Nov 2025
O V0 Gq Giy X78hqdefault
Play Button

BONE DETH - Web Slinger

Lock up your roof

4 Nov 2025

DIG Partner stores

More Dig This

Battleinthe Streets 92

REPO: Battle In The Streets Jam - Vancouver

"one rider walked away with the $1000 cash prize"

27 Oct 2025
IMG 2986

Inside KHE Bikes - 44 years of BMX history with Thomas Göring

“I didn’t have a proper cutting machine at the time, so I hand-cut each peg. They all ended up different lengths.”

24 Oct 2025
Dig motobunka collection square Recovered

THE DIG X MOTO-BUNKA COLLECTION

An all new collaboration with Japan's finest

22 Oct 2025
VANS ODYSSEY 2025 COLLECTION FF RAMP 003

"The inspiration was right in front of our eyes" The story behind the Vans X Odyssey 40 Year Collab

An interview with Nuno Oliveira (Odyssey) and Justin Villano (Vans)

25 Sep 2025
07 2025 Huffy Sledgehammer Launch Project 132

Product Drop: HUFFY Sledgehammer frame

Huffy returns to BMX...

22 Sep 2025
Team kevin peraza boh winner 2025

BATTLE OF HASTING 2025 - TEAM PERAZA TAKES THE WIN

Results, Livestream re-runs, DIG Highlights & more

27 Aug 2025
Dig book cover mock better CROP

DIG - THIS BIKE COULD BE YOUR LIFE - "DOCUMENTING OVER 30 YEARS of D.I.Y. BMX CULTURE" PRE-ORDER NOW OPEN

An all new photo book from DIG focusing on our magazine history and the rise of the mid-school

1 Aug 2025
Thumbnail 2

Product Drop - ODYSSEY '85 Splatter kit

Nord, Walsh stems and Hazard lite rims

29 Jul 2025
Shirt swell k0150m back

Product Drop - KINK 2025 APPAREL

For Fall/Winter

23 Jul 2025
Big boyd black

Product Drop - ODYSSEY BIG BOYD RIMS

Boyd Hilder signature BIG BOYD rims in Black and Coffee.

11 Jun 2025
LOW Street station Saturday Jarvis 1 copy

MONSTER ENERGY 'CASH UP' 2025 - EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Another Year - New Locations - Even More Jams!

26 May 2025
Street station graphic

STREET STATION RETURNS for 2025

"Not your average BMX jam"

26 May 2025