“Self-filming is the most obsessive form of bike riding. When I’m riding alone with a camera, it’s all at my own pace. I’m in complete control. There are no cheers, high-fives, or anyone to say, ‘Let’s come back another day.’ When I’m self-filming, I can take as many attempts at a trick as I want. I can also film as many angles as I want. Every single detail can be fussed over. This of course has its benefits for creating a high quality product, but it can also have its downfalls.
I injured my shoulder while working on this video. My physiotherapist says I have supraspinatus tendinopathy and possibly a small labral tear. The precursor to this injury is two-fold: 1) Muscle loss and 2) Self-filming. In September 2020, I unexpectedly began losing muscle mass throughout my body. At my worst, I was down 10 pounds and significantly slimmer. I navigated the medical system with various specialist doctors, tests, and scans. No answer was found for the cause of my issues. In late spring of 2021, I started to see gradual improvement in my condition. Throughout the rest of the summer and fall, I rode hard to finish filming this video.
I’ve always thought of self-filming as a marathon, not a sprint. Capturing one trick can sometimes require multiple hours of attempts. Historically, I’ve prided myself on my ability to focus for long periods of time, manage my emotions, and push through pain to capture those 10 seconds of success on camera. I’ve since had a slight change in perspective. Now 3 months into this injury and another month or two of recovery ahead of me, I can admit that these marathon self-filming sessions were not healthy, especially because I hadn’t fully gained back the muscle I lost.
Contained in this video is 2 and a half years of footage which I’m excited to share with the world. More importantly though, this video contains a personal lesson: Pacing myself goes well beyond a single session. I want this one man show to continue for years to come.” -Justin Schwanke
Riding, filming, editing: Justin Schwanke
Locations: British Columbia, Alberta, and New Brunswick
Join Steve Woodward, Paddy Gross, and Joey Battaglia for a 6-day trip in Arizona with Colony BMX.
Filming & Editing: Justin Schwanke
Mini-documentary from the 2023 Rumble in Richmond BMX event in Virginia.
Filming & Editing: Justin Schwanke
Back in early July, I travelled to Brussels, Belgium to film a FISE / UCI World Cup contest for Our BMX. 12 days prior to departure, I tore ligaments in my right ankle while working on my next self-filmed video part. This was the exact same injury I sustained on my left ankle 11 months prior while also filming said video part.
I had to make a tough decision on whether or not to go to Brussels. With advice from my physiotherapist (who doubles as my father-in-law), I chose to stick it through. For 3 days I stood on my foot in an aircast, climbed up and down the ramps, ran across the event grounds to charge batteries, and panned a camera. Filming BMX ain't glamorous.
A memorable story usually has an arc of adversity connected to it. I find that's often the case with filming BMX. A trick that took 10 minutes for me to land on camera typically feels less rewarding than one that I battled for 3 hours. Likewise, filming a BMX event under perfect conditions feels less rewarding than one with some challenges along the way. Does this mean I enjoy physical and mental pain? Not necessarily. I guess I'm just a sucker for a good story.
Enjoy 5 minutes of professional BMX riding filmed and edited by a man in an aircast.
Behind the scenes at FISE Montpellier 2022.
Filming: Dylan Thayer & Justin Schwanke
Editing: Justin Schwanke
Additional FISE Montpellier videos here:
Women’s Park Finals
Men’s Park Qualifying
Men’s Park Finals
Women’s Flatland Finals
Men’s Flatland Finals
Men’s Spine Ramp Finals
"Vagabond Squad" is a full-length BMX video from the Weird & Revered crew. Filmed from 2016 to 2019, the project is community rooted with a strong focus on the Edmonton BMX scene. Although a majority of the clips are from the crew’s home city, the footage spans 9 countries, 8 American states, and 4 Canadian provinces and territories. Full and split sections from: Thomas Henderson, Jesse Baraniuk, Logan Kirzinger, Joe Weidman, Mark Stanway, Duke Thomson-Kurz, Andrew MacLeod, Cary Lorenz, Kyle Lafleur, Sean Tiffin, Ted Bambrick, Tyler Horness, Justin Schwanke, and Derek Bolz.
Filming and editing: Justin Schwanke
Stop #1 of the 2020 Toyota Triple Challenge hosted by Monster Energy.
Filming and editing: Ryan Fudger
Additional filming: Justin Schwanke
One of six promotional videos for Edmonton Economic Development to promote the international extreme sports festival, FISE.
Filming and editing: Justin Schwanke
Corporate video for consulting firm, ROAR Transitions created with stock footage.
Story, clip selection, and editing: Justin Schwanke