This Saturday (Sept. 10th), there’s going to be a flatland jam in Austin, Texas to help out Chase Gouin. If you happen to be in the area, feel free to swing by. If you’d like to help but live else where, you can donate some funds via PayPal to chasegouinrecoveryfund@gmail.com or by clicking that donate button.

Also, check out this photo gallery that Fat Tony posted on his blog featuring a batch of photos from Chase’s Costa Rica trip. Click HERE to view it.

It’ll be in the parking garage

UPDATE: The PayPal e-mail address has been updated. If you donated to the previous one, please feel free to cancel payment and transfer to the new one.

We have a bit of sad news today. Chase Gouin has been going through some serious medical conditions and could use a helping hand. If you’d like to donate and help out, you can PayPal some funds to chasegouinrecoveryfund@gmail.com (that donate button on the right should do the trick).

Please continue reading after the jump for the full letter about his situation from his good friend, Brandon Fenton. Below is a quick one from Chase.

BMX Friends,

This is Chase Gouin, I am writing quickly to say that the letter from Brandon Fenton is the truth of my situation, just in case some people think it’s a joke. This is a real and serious matter. Just for the record, I fully realize that i have not been an active/popular or relevant rider according to modern flatland, and I do not expect that the sport owes me anything. I am simply in need of help and hoping that some of you will be able to donate. Brandon is a long time friend of mine who has agreed to help me by reaching out to the BMX public. Also, my good friend Ryan Quinn from my hometown has set up a Paypal account and will transfer any donations into his bank and the money will be given directly to me for medical expenses only. I will be keeping all receipts so that I can prove my expenses to anyone who needs to know in the future. I thank you all for your time and consideration regarding my health problems.

Sincerely,
Chase Gouin

Friends,

Flatlander Chase Gouin has some medical problems that are very serious. A high-tech DNA laboratory in the U.S has diagnosed him with fungus inside his whole body (cells, tissues, bloodstream) and a parasite. He sent stool samples through the mail to be tested there. These organisms consume most of the nutrition and vitamins from his food so they cannot produce useful energy. This is called a mal absorption disease which was also diagnosed. Because of this, his immune system is very weak and now many normal substances in the environment cause him to have severe physical reactions.

Chase was exposed to toxic levels of mold in the basement apartment where he was living for over 5 years and unknowingly breathing in the mold spores has made him very sick. We know this from mold tests that were also confirmed by a scientific laboratory. The Parasite is possibly from many mosquito bites he received when he was in Panama, November 2008.

Chase has moved into a clean apartment, with an air purifier and all natural cleaning products. He eats a special diet with no yeast or sugars and takes the highest quality natural supplements designed to fight fungus and parasites and strengthen the immune system, but nothing has improved his health. He has also been tested and scanned for many other more common medical conditions and diseases, but mainstream Doctors are not educated in the types of illnesses that Chase has, so they cannot diagnose anything and therefore refuse to treat him with the proper medications. This is a problem in Canada because there are no laboratories to confirm these unusual diseases.

Chase is now in a desperate search to find what is called an Integrated Medical Doctor who has worked with these special labs and has knowledge in these areas. These doctors are not payed for by the Health Insurance Plan in Canada. Chase is in financial debt due to the costs of searching for real solutions to these rare illnesses. He has been suffering for 20 months with toxic headaches, a feeling of cracking pressure and pain in his face, many sinus issues, along with chronic fatigue and weakness leaving him unable to function normally. The pain medication he takes helps him function just enough to continue researching Doctors and possible cures, but now he must stop taking these pills because they are becoming a risk to his liver. His life is in real trouble. It is becoming impossible to sustain these levels of physical and emotional pain. He needs to find a Doctor soon who has experience in treating and curing these types of infestations, and who will take decisive action to do so. Heavy duty intravenous anti-fungal/anti-parasitic drugs may be required.

The BMX community recognizes Chase as a creative, passionate and intense Rider who has contributed to the evolution of our Sport and Art. Due to extreme suffering, Chase is unable to practice and is left with a sadness and emptiness that we would all feel if unable to pursue what we love the most. As a long time friend of Chase, I now reach out to you all and kindly ask you to donate whatever amount of money you can afford so that Chase can pay for the continued search for Doctors, medicines, and treatments he needs to save his life. The Athlete Recovery Fund has agreed to financially assist Chase towards his cause, but he cannot depend on that as the only source for help, and that is why we need your support as well. Please help Chase in his mission to regain his health, quality of life, and riding that has inspired so many of us throughout the years.
Donations may be sent via paypal to the following address: chasegouinfundraiser@gmail.com

Chase’s close personal friend Ryan Quinn has set up the paypal account on Chase’s behalf since Chase doesn’t have a credit card. So don’t be alarmed if Ryan’s name shows up on your paypal receipt. All of your donations are going directly to supporting Chase’s recovery mission.

Sincerely,
Brandon Fenton

In case you missed it, here are a couple edits we put together with him in 2009. Get well soon Chase :)

We’ve received some questions here and there about what makes the Flatware Thumb Tack grip flatland-specific. While there certainly isn’t anything about it that would hold you back from using it in other genres of BMX, the design and thought process behind it is what lends it to be most suitable for Flatland. To help explain it further, Chase Gouin wrote up a detailed analysis of the grip:

My Flatware grips have a thick and sturdy inner flange. Many Flatlanders may find themselves extending and pressing their thumb against the flange on certain leaned tricks for the purpose of wrist stabilizing/support when angling their body better in relation to the trick. Traditional flimsy flanges do not offer support, but a grip with no flange at all is not good for this either. The overall length of the grip and the length of the inner flange are based on an average sized adult hand and thumb so that when the side of the palm of the hand is leaned over on the bar end, the thumb should extend approximately to the middle of the inner flange. The outer flange (near bar end) is flared up a bit to offer some cushion to the side palm of the hand. The two flanges can also serve the purpose of generally keeping the hand between the two, making for more consistent hand positioning in some cases.

As for the main body grip design, i stayed with the traditional ring pattern, as this has worked well for myself and many Riders over the years. We attempted to achieve a hard enough compound and durometer so the Rider has a firm hold, (as opposed to flexy or mushy) but not too hard, so that it still has a grippy or “tacky” feel. The wall thickness of the main body is not excessively thick or thin. The thick inner flange will wear down evenly when the bars scrape the ground, unlike ripping apart like traditional flanges. The grip can be rotated if the flange wears down, so that it continues to protect the levers. Brakeless riders may also like the inner flange in the case that they don’t have grip rings (replacing levers) to protect the bars when they scrape/slam the ground. The total length of this grip is about 130-132 mm. The design of my grip is such that it is not intended to be cut shorter.

Thumb press support flange plus tacky feel equals the name Thumb Tack.

Jared Souney just digitized a hefty 10,000 word interview with Chase Gouin. The interview touches on numerous topics and Chase’s answers were definitely in depth. It’s entirety never made it to print but thanks to Jared, you can now check out the full interview online. Grab a comfy chair, click the photo above and read away.

Here’s part two of the Chase Gouin edits. If you missed part one, you can watch it here. A huge thanks goes out to Dave Todon (filmer) and Chase Gouin for making this footage happen.

Chase Gouin sent us a DVD a few weeks ago and it was filled with enough clips for a couple edits. What you see above is part one and part two will be hitting the internet sometime next week. Below is a little message from Chase regarding the clips:

Here are just a few little combos to give an example of what I’ve been up to lately at my local practice spot. They are obviously much older style tricks/variations, with brakes and kicking and scuffing and all that crap… haha. Basically early-mid 90′s type stuff that I was messing around with. I hope you enjoy it for what it’s worth. Either way, I was on my bike and putting in a bit of effort, making some small progress. All the best to everyone in your personal riding sessions. This footage was filmed by my friend Dave Todon, who was cool enough to give me three days of his time to help me out. -Chase Gouin

Chase Gouin’s part in Electronical is located in the bonus DVD so a lot of people may have missed it. Now, through the powers of the internet, you can watch it above.

Chase also has a Flatware frame in the works and if this 2008 bike check is any indication of how it’s going to turn out, you know it’s going to be one of the most dialed and thought out frames ever created. Also, while trying to hunt down that bike check, I came across this 2005 interview of Chase at BMX Freestyler. Though it’s over 3 years old, it still stands as a fascinating read.

EDIT: I accidentally put up the wrong link for the interview. The right one is up now.

Fat Tony just posted a flatland gallery over at the Ride site. In it, you can catch a few flicks of Chase Gouin and Terry Adams riding in places around the globe.

Hit up the read more link for Chase’s video part from our 2003 video and if you haven’t done so already, make sure to watch Terry Adam’s crackpacker jump from yesterday. It’s a wild one.

Terry Adams sent over a couple new photos and a t-shirt graphic to us recently. He’s been rocking a lot of Flatware goodies on his bike and we’ll have a bike check for him soon. In the mean time, check out these pics.

Photos by Robby Klein.

Terry will also be flying to Indianapolis later this month for a couple top secret photo shoots. If you live in the area and happen to see him, snap some paparazzi style photos and post it up in the Odyssey Flickr Group.

Raising Canes is one of Terry’s sponsors and above is a shirt they have in the works. If the thread pattern on those tire marks look familiar, it’s because they’re from Chase Gouin’s Frequency G!

Here are some random team updates, including a couple old video parts. From left to right (full photos and videos after the jump):

• Jim Cielencki’s physical therapy is going much better than expected! He’s also been on a Twittering like crazy.
• Taj Mihelich’s section in Until Monkeys Fly. He has also posted a bikeography (?) on his blog. He runs through a list of a bunch of bikes he’s had from past to present. You can check that out HERE.
• Adam Banton has some sick, creative lines in the new Inside/Out video.
• Chase Gouin’s video part in Happy Days has made its way online in Krt Schmidt’s blog. In case you missed it, his signature tire (Frequency G) will now be available in Tanwall!

“Just left physical therapy and I’m doing better than I realize! Stoked!”

Sweet Adam Banton clips in the latest Inside/Out edit from Eastern Bikes

Taj Mihelich in Until Monkeys Fly

Chase Gouin in Happy Days from Krt Schmidt’s blog

In other flatland news, here’s a handful of photos from Fat Tony of Chase Gouin in Panama. There are more photos after the jump and leave palindromes in the comments.

We went to a tiny island of the north coast of Panama and Chase found a spot to shred. A bunch of village kids watched and Chase gave them Odyssey stickers. He even helped a kid in the jungle after the kid cut his foot on a broken Coke bottle. – Fat Tony

“I have had such a great experience having Odyssey as a sponsor this year. Working with them on all the new flatland products has seriously been a dream for me. I have always wanted to work with a company to help the future of flatland by providing great products. Having Odyssey by my side is truly an honor. With that said, they have asked me to come on board to represent their new series of products, Flatware. I was more than excited to accept the offer and work with Odyssey on the Flatware Series that will include a frame, forks, bars, cranks, pedals, pegs and much more! Look forward to some great products to come. Let the Flatware begin!” – Terry Adams

“Odyssey has always been an excellent sponsor and has never failed to support me and my riding. I have been patiently persisting to push the idea of more flatland specific products from Odyssey, so when they told me about Flatware, I knew that they had committed to take a dedicated approach to flatland. This was great news in general, but also to me personally, since I look forward to being able to use even more of their products. Everyone involved will be working hard to make sure that riders around the world will be thoroughly satisfied with the function and dependability of the new Flatware line. I’m happy to be a part of it.” – Chase Gouin