the loWdoWn NEWS & STUFF
a day in the life of:
claw
drew Balshaw, commonly referred to as “claW”, is always keen to ride BmX, be amongst anything BmX and drink booze. there’s pretty much never been a day when I’ve called claw for a ride and he’s turned it down. every spot would have been destroyed literally before he’d say no to riding his bike. he rides almost every day and spends his mornings helping out with the horses that his dad trains and so I thought it might be interesting to join him and see how he does it. Story and Photos by Gorak
Not being a morning person, I rocked up to his house at around 10:30am only to find out where he gets his mouth from, his Dad. They were both mouthing off at each other with no sign of it ending as they worked together to fix a horse float. From there he threw some hay bails around and fed some more horses while I snapped some photos and talked some shit. Looking at his property I was almost jealous at the size, he lives on a huge chunk of land that has its own horse track. You couldn’t ask for much more really if you wanted a bit of space to yourself. He checked his myspace, made me a coffee to ensure I was ready for the day and watched the Liam Fay-Hampton video section on his computer. It was just as that section finished and a brief encounter with some other BMX videos that we were ready to hit the parks and to wherever Claw would go. Briefly hitting Ringwood and then heading to Claw’s all time favourite skate park, Northcote, where we were greeted by the big, cold drops
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of precipitation that fell from above. Deemed un-rideable and after being met by Fink we headed to an indoor ghetto set-up that Claw had heard about. Hidden inside some deserted factories were some rad little ramps sheltered from the weather outside. It’s one thing Claw seems to always know, even though he doesn’t possess anything close to a license, but knows where everything is and how to get there. Right down to street names to the point where if I’m unsure and need directions, he’s the one I ask. After a good time there, we were all done and moved on to begin the festivities. In true Drew style, the closest bottle shop was found and drinks purchased. Drinking, shit talking, karaoke and randomness is pretty much my recollection of the final hours of that night until finding myself in a distant police station calling daddy to come get me and my car. I didn’t expect to be disappointed when deciding to spend the day with Drew and by no means was I. Never one to say no to a good time was totally proven and in good form too. So that’s a day in the life of Drew ‘CLAW’ Balshaw.