REPO: JUMP FOR JOY

DATE: March 25th, 2009
LOCATION: Hackettstown Skatepark, NJ
WORDS: Mike Kuhn
PHOTOS: Mike Kuhn and Chris Marshall

To speak about a Jump For Joy without speaking about “Hippie” Steve Wisbeski would be impossible. I am lucky enough to say that Hippie is one of my great friends, even though he is more than twice my age. Hippie is 43 years old, but has the spirit of a 20 year old. If you ever get to spend a day with the hippie, you will be in for a truly epic time. He has more stories than Borders and will keep you laughing for hours. He also kills it on a bike. His major call to fame is not his great stories, jokes or riding, but for his epic contests. Some ladies may argue his call to fame is not for his contest, but for his swagger in the sheets, but that’s a whole other story.

There have been 14 Jump For Joy contests since 1996. The Jump For Joy is more than just the normal contest with kids going ape at their local park; it is a contest with serious roots in bmx. The contests used to take place in Hippies yard. He had a gnarly set of trails and a skate park all in his yard. As the story has it, the people of Animal bikes actually met each other at one of the earlier Jump for Joys. The earlier contest had riders like Taj Mihelich, Van Homan, Garret Brynes, Ralph Sinsi and the list goes on.

The most recent contest had no shortage of talented riders. The pro class winners were Sean Ricaney taking first, Gary Nilson taking second and Ben Hittle and Hambone tied for third. Its not everyday someone who is 13 years old wins the pro class at a contest. Some of the other highlights of the day were Gary Nilson’s topside icepick on the sub box, Ben Hittles stylish maneuvers, and Andre Postell front flipping a mellow pyramid! To make the contest even more epic, Hippie had his friends from Chainsaw Trio play a set during pro warm up.  Overall, I must say the most recent Jump For Joy was a radical time and one for the Bmx history books! - Mike Kuhn