Wednesday, July 25

Taj Mihelich Beyond Thunderdome

By Josh Root
EXPN

Taj Mihelich isn't a name many people outside of the BMX world know. But if you ask most serious riders who has most influenced them (and BMX in general) the past few years, Taj's name would be near the top of every list. He is a great artist, an amazing rider, and an all around interesting guy. In an "extreme" world where egos can get stroked to a gigantic size, Taj is flat out one of the nicest people I've met.

Welcome to the THUNDERDOME!

Sometime last year, news spread through the BMX world that Taj was moving to Olympia, Washington. I've lived in Washington most of my life and in Olympia itself for two years, and there is just one word for this part of the country for eight months of the year, RAIN. So I was a little surprised that a street/trails rider like Taj would want to live there. Not long after I heard the news, I ended up at dinner with him and a bunch of other riders up in Vancouver. When I asked about the move, he said that his girlfriend was going to be attending Evergreen State College and he spoke a little about wanting to move away from the hustle of the BMX world in Austin, TX where he had been living.

Not long after Taj moved, rumors sprang up that he was building an indoor skatepark somewhere in Olympia. That somewhere ended up being the old American Legion building, and the park was called Thunderdome. The first time I visited there, Woodward ramp genius, Nate Wessel, was directing a crew of local riders, friends, and assorted hangers-on in the creation of a nice set of ramps. Sadly, the February 28, 2001 earthquake caused some serious damage to the town of Olympia and to Thunderdome. Just as it was about to open to the public, the building was closed by the city until engineers could assess the damage. That was 5 months ago, and only last week did the engineers finally get around to checking the building out.

I talked with Taj the other day about the park and what's going to happen with it in the future.

Josh: How did Thunderdome come to happen?

Taj: Basically I needed a place to ride. I started working on a way to make it happen, met with a lot of friends and managed to get it built relatively easily thanks to sponsors and Min (my partner who has a skatepark in a nearby city already).

J: Why Olympia?

T: Well, I'd like to say its because of how bad Olympia desperately needs something for the youth of the town to do, but its really more selfish; I'm living here and wanted a park.

Taj. Can-Can.

J: Who designed and built it?

T: Nate Wessel and I designed it, and he and Pat Schreader built it (I just carried wood around).

J: Ever see those guys who dress up like knights and have swordfights in that park by the Westside Olympia police station? Think you'd like to try that if the bike thing doesn't pan out?

T: You know what's funny about that? There is a group of guys who do the same thing right next to the 9th street jumps in Austin, TX. I think they are following me. Maybe after I see the Lord of the Rings movies I'll be all excited and pick up a sword.

J: After living in a dry place like Austin, didn't the rain up here bother you?

T: I grew up in Michigan so the rain wasn't to bad, however, the I can't handle the cold too well. I try to travel during the winter as much as a I can.

J: What's the best thing about the Northwest that you've found?

T: The summers and the trees.

Mark Sager, mini ramp tailwhip.

J: How's the riding up here?

T: Its good. You have to be willing to drive a bit, but there is really good stuff to ride if you can handle that.

J: Have you stepped on a slug in your bare feet yet? Because you can't be a real Washingtonian until you have.

T: No, I'm horrified of those little things.

J: What happened to the skatepark building when the earthquake hit?

T: Its not too bad, but part of the ceiling fell down in a part of the building we're not using, and one of the main walls is now leaned out over a street. The repair is pretty serious.

J: Have any interesting earthquake stories?

T: No, I managed to be out of town for this one, and the city taking 4 months to inspect our building is not funny at all.

J: I heard that you were conveniently out of town when it hit, that sounds a little suspicious to me.

T: Perhaps the earthquake is a direct result of me casing the hell out of some dirt jumps the day before.

J: Ever had any thoughts (before the ceiling fell) about running some sort of contest up here?

T: Yeah, I've been waiting to get some kind of idea how many people we would be allowed to have inside and plan from there. It would be a cool location, and most of the crowd would be real high above the riders so it really would be like the Thunderdome (from Mad Max).

J: So what's the future of Thunderdome?

T: We have to find a new building now. We're not sure where since the city of Olympia has been so dreadfully unhelpful. The more we learn about how this city works the more discouraging it is. You'd think since its the state capitol it would have its departments pretty dialed, but it has a reputation as being the hardest city to work with in Washington. We're looking pretty much all over the northwest now for a new location.