ABOVE BELOW - LA Photo Gallery

Killing the classics in La-La Land...

17 Dec 2014

It's no secret that LA is busy as fuck, but this spot took the biscuit. First of all we had to join the queue for riding this rail setup due to the skaters who were there before us and the rollerbooters who showed up shortly after us. Get your clips while you can! Dan Lacey, ice to turndown.

The LA river has to be one of the most recognisable landscapes in Los Angeles and we ended up hanging around in that area for a while. Benny L checking the coast is clear...

Sometimes it's hard to watch your friends throwing themselves down rails, even though they happen to be some of the best in the world at that past time. Ben Lewis was finding it especially difficult this day, with Dan taking a few heavy slams to the back on this backwards pegs to over-tooth. If you look closely i think Ben is actually averting his eyes to the madness. Elvis and Laurence Fishburne didn't care and watched the whole thing.

Ben has a wide selection of ambidextrous tricks, and this was no different. Switch crook 360 before getting the crook switch 3 in the bag.

It was beyond hot this day... Lacey even had his head in the freezer before we left the apartment. Over pegs to nose manual, like nutthin'!

Ahh, the classic Ford Eco van. I can't even remember how many hours we sat in this thing...

Post ankle roll...

Ben got worked pretty hard on this rail at Hollywood High but luckily he's one of the toughest dudes out there when it comes to human body meeting concrete. Pegs hard 180 to close out his section...

Shooting photos with Lacey never gets old, especially with power moves like this ice to hanger.

Street riding has so many factors that make it so interesting, including the characters you encounter in various locations. Benny was feeling out this rail for the pegs hard when this guy came dancing down the street, clocking Ben and his intentions. Without a moment of thought, the guy had $20 in his hand reaching through the fence to where Ben would end up after the pegs, shouting "I got dubs on that!" One casual double peg warm-up later and $20 better off; not bad!

The stories this rail could tell... Lacey whispering sweet nothings.

Packing up without the clip sucks...

Relief...

'That moment' when a rider checks your filming. Needless to say, Dan was hyped how this one came out.

Ben and Rich at work inside a classic LA school setup...

Dan wanted this clip so badly we went back a few hours before our flight back to the UK. That's dedication for you.

Words and photos by Fred Murray

The City Of Angels or La-La Land... it's a strange place. Love it or hate it, you can't deny that it has had a huge impact on BMX's formation and history. We decided on LA as one of the destinations for Above Below filming due to the fact that Lacey and Benny L wanted to go to some of its classic spots. Sometimes meeting your heroes can be a let-down but when we showed up to some of the spots that i'd seen in videos throughout my childhood and teens, it all seemed to make sense. With the number of inhabitants tipping over 10 million though, Los Angeles can be a fucking drag... some days sitting in a van for hours, going nowhere fast, but I guess you take the good and the bad with every city. Either way, while they were in Cali Ben and Dan got a bunch of heavy clips in the bag for Above Below sections - here's some photos from their time there.

You can buy Above Below now on iTunes! While you're at it, catch the Nashville gallery here.