David Paul Vanderspek founded "CURB DOGS TRICK TEAM", a bicycle freestyle stunt group in the early 1980's. To me, he was a good friend. Vander was very popular in many magazines, and in the media. He lived, and passed in San Leandro, California.
If BMX Freestyle was born in the 70's, it definitely hit puberty in the early 80's. What had been the sideshow curiosity at the BMX races with only mentions or a few pages here and there in the magazines came to have its own bikes, contests and magazines. At the time, there were a handfull of well known riders mainly from the southern California area. But there were other riders out there and as the sport took off, this new crop of riders came on the scene. One of the new stars of the 80's era was Dave Vanderspek. Also know as Vander, Radner and The Flying Dutchman (due to his Dutch heritage.) He was an all-around rider who raced pro, competed in skateparks, ramps, ground and street. The first to do so. He also organized the first BMX half-pipe contests and promoted his bike/skate team the Curb Dogs to international recognition.
To the shock of the BMX Freestyle world, Dave died in 1988 at 24 years of age.
When Dave passed away there was a ripple through the BMX Freestyle community. The entire sport was suddenly calm in disbelief. Strange things were happening with the boom ending. The demise of the AFA and uniforms among other things. But this was huge. It seemed like the whole sport just stopped for a moment of silence and things fell into perspective. The kind of things where that trick you were working on didn't matter and whatever drama might have been floating around was all of the sudden inconsequential. Everyone looked for ways to express their respects.
Vander passed on October 29th 1988, by suicide. The media noted it was from Autoerotic Asphyxiation, which was untrue.
Vander wanted to be free from crack.
Memorials were done in the BMX magazines. This one from Freestylin' included a picture from what was probably Dave's last photo shoot and a wall bombed by local freestyler turned grafitti legend Norman Chuck aka "Vogue". Norman also painted the TOL ramp at Wizard Pubs way back in the day.
If BMX Freestyle was born in the 70's, it definitely hit puberty in the early 80's. What had been the sideshow curiosity at the BMX races with only mentions or a few pages here and there in the magazines came to have its own bikes, contests and magazines. At the time, there were a handfull of well known riders mainly from the southern California area. But there were other riders out there and as the sport took off, this new crop of riders came on the scene. One of the new stars of the 80's era was Dave Vanderspek. Also know as Vander, Radner and The Flying Dutchman (due to his Dutch heritage.) He was an all-around rider who raced pro, competed in skateparks, ramps, ground and street. The first to do so. He also organized the first BMX half-pipe contests and promoted his bike/skate team the Curb Dogs to international recognition.
To the shock of the BMX Freestyle world, Dave died in 1988 at 24 years of age.
When Dave passed away there was a ripple through the BMX Freestyle community. The entire sport was suddenly calm in disbelief. Strange things were happening with the boom ending. The demise of the AFA and uniforms among other things. But this was huge. It seemed like the whole sport just stopped for a moment of silence and things fell into perspective. The kind of things where that trick you were working on didn't matter and whatever drama might have been floating around was all of the sudden inconsequential. Everyone looked for ways to express their respects.
Vander passed on October 29th 1988, by suicide. The media noted it was from Autoerotic Asphyxiation, which was untrue.
Vander wanted to be free from crack.
Memorials were done in the BMX magazines. This one from Freestylin' included a picture from what was probably Dave's last photo shoot and a wall bombed by local freestyler turned grafitti legend Norman Chuck aka "Vogue". Norman also painted the TOL ramp at Wizard Pubs way back in the day.
David Paul Vanderspek founded "CURB DOGS TRICK TEAM", a bicycle freestyle stunt group in the early 1980's. To me, he was a good friend. Vander was very popular in many magazines, and in the media. He lived, and passed in San Leandro, California.
If BMX Freestyle was born in the 70's, it definitely hit puberty in the early 80's. What had been the sideshow curiosity at the BMX races with only mentions or a few pages here and there in the magazines came to have its own bikes, contests and magazines. At the time, there were a handfull of well known riders mainly from the southern California area. But there were other riders out there and as the sport took off, this new crop of riders came on the scene. One of the new stars of the 80's era was Dave Vanderspek. Also know as Vander, Radner and The Flying Dutchman (due to his Dutch heritage.) He was an all-around rider who raced pro, competed in skateparks, ramps, ground and street. The first to do so. He also organized the first BMX half-pipe contests and promoted his bike/skate team the Curb Dogs to international recognition.
To the shock of the BMX Freestyle world, Dave died in 1988 at 24 years of age.
When Dave passed away there was a ripple through the BMX Freestyle community. The entire sport was suddenly calm in disbelief. Strange things were happening with the boom ending. The demise of the AFA and uniforms among other things. But this was huge. It seemed like the whole sport just stopped for a moment of silence and things fell into perspective. The kind of things where that trick you were working on didn't matter and whatever drama might have been floating around was all of the sudden inconsequential. Everyone looked for ways to express their respects.
Vander passed on October 29th 1988, by suicide. The media noted it was from Autoerotic Asphyxiation, which was untrue.
Vander wanted to be free from crack.
Memorials were done in the BMX magazines. This one from Freestylin' included a picture from what was probably Dave's last photo shoot and a wall bombed by local freestyler turned grafitti legend Norman Chuck aka "Vogue". Norman also painted the TOL ramp at Wizard Pubs way back in the day.
If BMX Freestyle was born in the 70's, it definitely hit puberty in the early 80's. What had been the sideshow curiosity at the BMX races with only mentions or a few pages here and there in the magazines came to have its own bikes, contests and magazines. At the time, there were a handfull of well known riders mainly from the southern California area. But there were other riders out there and as the sport took off, this new crop of riders came on the scene. One of the new stars of the 80's era was Dave Vanderspek. Also know as Vander, Radner and The Flying Dutchman (due to his Dutch heritage.) He was an all-around rider who raced pro, competed in skateparks, ramps, ground and street. The first to do so. He also organized the first BMX half-pipe contests and promoted his bike/skate team the Curb Dogs to international recognition.
To the shock of the BMX Freestyle world, Dave died in 1988 at 24 years of age.
When Dave passed away there was a ripple through the BMX Freestyle community. The entire sport was suddenly calm in disbelief. Strange things were happening with the boom ending. The demise of the AFA and uniforms among other things. But this was huge. It seemed like the whole sport just stopped for a moment of silence and things fell into perspective. The kind of things where that trick you were working on didn't matter and whatever drama might have been floating around was all of the sudden inconsequential. Everyone looked for ways to express their respects.
Vander passed on October 29th 1988, by suicide. The media noted it was from Autoerotic Asphyxiation, which was untrue.
Vander wanted to be free from crack.
Memorials were done in the BMX magazines. This one from Freestylin' included a picture from what was probably Dave's last photo shoot and a wall bombed by local freestyler turned grafitti legend Norman Chuck aka "Vogue". Norman also painted the TOL ramp at Wizard Pubs way back in the day.
Gravesite Details
There is a memorial page for Vander as such: http://www.mauricemeyer.com/curb_dogs/vander_rip.html
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
