Back
Back

Homeless Trash - Under Your Influence

Stew Johnson on a classic Austin video and his favourite section of all time…

16 Oct 2014

LEE SULTEMEIER BMX EMPIRE

Words By Stew Johnson Photo By Rob Dolecki Video By Dave Parrick 

The Importance of Dave Parrick's 1993 video classic 'Homeless Trash' can not be underestimated...

Before there was Chase Hawk, Aaron Ross, and Tommy Dugan, there was Kevin Gutierrez, Lee Sultemeier, and James Shepherd. Austin, Texas was a BMX mecca a decade before Road Fools 1 and the Church Gap. With Austin as the home of Trend Bike Source and Homeless Bikes, it has always had an exceptional riding scene. In the early 90’s, many of the Homeless riders were on the forefront of street riding progression, especially handrails, and the University of Texas was their playground. Sheps, Ed Koenning, Lee Sultemeier, and the Gute had begun to fire down every rail they could find. Although the whole Homeless crew came through in this video, I'm going to highlight my two favorite parts, Lee Sultemeier, and Kevin Gutierrez.

trash2

​Lee Sultemeier's part in Trash is my all time favorite video part. This dude was out to raise some hell, and his bike was the tool he used to do it.

Lee Sultemeier's part in Trash is my all time favorite video part. This dude was out to raise some hell, and his bike was the tool he used to do it. His style was about as raw as you could get, usually riding without the aid of sleeves or a matching wheelset. Lee grinded every rail in sight, no matter how bad the kink was. He also hit massive stair gaps and wallrides, and the landing didn’t matter, in fact, the heavier on the front wheel, the better. This part includes the first up-rail that I’d ever seen and wallrides up stairs. Lee’s part uses a lot of slow motion and the loud crunchy riding audio gives it a really heavy feel. Lee rode with an aggression that I feel is unmatched to this day, BMX could use a few more riders with Lee’s “don’t give a fuck” attitude.

Videos

Video Vault: Homeless Trash - Lee Sultemeier - 1993

Read More

I had never seen anyone like Kevin Gutierrez before, with his wild eyes and unruly afro, he rode like a man possessed. This dude was the very definition of freestyle, snake seatpost and all, sometimes spontaneously making up tricks as he was doing them. The Gute did tricks in 1993 that I’ve still never seen anyone do, one of them being the mind-boggling abubaca to no hander back in, equally as confusing were his handrails to turndowns. I had heard rumors that the Gute had filmed some of his clips while under the influence of LSD, and while I have never heard that claim confirmed, I can tell you that back in ‘93, no sane man would have thought you could tire ride up a round handrail. Just saying. Austin’s slogan is “keep Austin weird” and The Gute has been doing just that since the early 90’s. God Bless Texas.

Videos

Video Vault: Homeless Trash - Kevin Gutierrez - 1993

Read More