031BMX – The Interview

This saturday the Dutch BMX site 031BMX will celebrate their fifth anniversary. Again they organized a really cool jam at the Burnside skatepark which always brings the whole Dutch scene together. I was wondering how it goes with the site and what we can expect from the site in the future. This interview will answer these questions but it’s also a good read if you want to start your own BMX blog/site. 031BMX owner Lennard Gols was down to answers the questions, so here it is the 031BMX interview.

1. How are you Lennard? And congratulations on the 5th anniversairy of o31bmx.nl?

Hey Roy, i’m great but busy. I work a lot so I try to spend more time with my girl and try to ride every now and then.

Thnx for the congratulations, we are getting old.

031BMX is an Dutch BMX website were we collect all the news that has a connection with BMX in The Netherlands.

Besides that, it’s a platform to connect the Dutch scene.

Well, there were some Dutch riders before us who tried to get something together for the Dutch scene under the name of 031BMX. It didn’t work out and the site disappeared after a short time. Mark Niesink was the guy who started 031BMX as it is these days. He talked to Brendan, who had some knowledge about html and photography. I just started my journalism study and joined the guys to write and upgrade my interview skills. Together we managed to organize our first jam just three months after the launch of 031BMX. Loads of riders came to the event and bought our first tee, that was a sign for us to continue the whole project.

Well, I think it was December 2008. I joined the crew after a month and from that point we started building and expanding the site.

5. Who started the blog and who are contributing on the blog right now.
As I said we started with Mark, Brendan and myself. After two year Mark decided to leave the team, because of work and other priorities.

Than we asked Quynten, the tallest BMXer in Holland, to join the crew. Quynten focused on making post but most importantly he started the first 031BMX exclusive videos like the ”a minute with” videos (one minute session with a Dutch BMX rider). The blog was growing really fast at that time also because Brendan managed to organize a great streetjam and I was always on the move to get some sponsors or give away deals from different brands.

After our four year anniversary the site was struggling. I started working at a new job, Brendan worked full time and Quynten was busy with school.

We felt like we lost the connection with younger generation a bit. Last week Quynten decided to quit 031BMX mostly because he didnt ride that much anymore.

Brendan and I came together to discuss the future of the site. We decided that it would be a pity to drop the site so it was time for some fresh meat. We searched and screened who fitted well in our profile.
We ended up with Steijn Leijzer, a really talented rider with film/edit skills. He knows a lot of riders and shows up at a lot of contests. Next to Steijn we Added Jio. He goes overseas for BMX and shows up at the 040BMX park a lot. A perfect guy for some travelreports and updates about the progress at the 040 compound. So now it’s Me, Brendan, Jio and Steijn. Next to that we have a lot of guys who contribute by making exclusive videos, graphics and flyers.

I’m personally the most proud of the “Verre Oosten jam”. We manage to get riders from all over the country to ride together and have a good time. We always try to add something special to that jam. We had a video release, crazy contests and great parties afterwards.

Brendan organized the “zonnige zuiden” street jam 3 times already: good vibe, sun and beach what else can you aks for.

Next to that we did the “031BMX city video contest”. A video contest were you had to film a webvideo of your local bmx scene. I think a lot of riders and videographers stepped their game up with that project.  Amsterdam ended up with a really good video and took the win.

7. What kind of projects or exclusive content can we expect in the future on the site?

Well, we are working hard to get things on a roll again with the new members. Jio is working on a BMX trivia sequence and Steijn is always working on some video projects . This saturday we have our fifth “Verre Oosten jam” at burnside skatepark, so that’s going to be dope. At this moment we are talking with some possible new sponsors. This way we can keep the site alive and hopefully travel some more. We are making steps.. but suggestions for projects are always welcome.

8. Do you think that every country should have their own bmx site to keep the scene healthy? What is your experience with it?
Yes! It’s good to have a place where young talent can show their skills. We are a website by riders for riders. We always give people the possibility to contribute.

It’s great that people have a passion and we always support people who want to do more than only ride their bikes. It’s cool to see that people want to do something for their scene just to make it better. I think it’s too bad that there are always people who are complaining about projects in BMX without putting in work by themselves. Sites like TheComeUp  created a hate culture in BMX. People who started of their own project in BMX need to be respected. If you want to give them feedback do it in a right way. Don’t say that they suck but tell them what is dope about their project and what could be better. A site like 031BMX exists because people are sending in their videos without the Dutch scene the site wouldnt be interesting.

You can expect the typical eastern vibe. No pressure, loads of fun and some fresh contests. Grab some beers, Grill some bugers on the BBQ and have a blast. We have some new tees, so support 031BMX and let your parents buy one.

We can’t say to much about the contest itself. Only thing i can say is: get ya race skills on. For all the plegg boys, their will be a rail jam, just like last year.

10. You guys come out with yet another dope tee which people can buy at the jam. Can you give us more info on design, price, amount etc.
Well our good friend and really talented designer Sven Franzen made some dope stickers. We where so stoked about the design that we decided to print it on a shirt.

This year the shirts have the best shape you can wish. No american apparel, just some German brand. You can buy the shirt for only 15 euros. The money goes back into the website, so it’s for a good cause.
11. Where can people find all the ins and outs about 031bmx and the jam?
www.031bmx.nl

12. Any shout outs?

Yes! Herm from Burnside and Jeroen and Koen from Soulcycle, thnx for the support. We love you. Gerwin ,Sven, Nikos, thanx for all the free work you did for us. FatBMX for being a pathfinder as online BMX magazine. The 031BMX crew for Being awesome. Vans for the hook ups now and then. Weareorangejuice for keeping us sharp and this interview.

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