Where shall I start, when I am talking about Chester Blacksmith? Shall I start with what kind of dedication he rides bikes? Shall I start with what dedication he parties? Or shall I start with the great friendships that Chester fosters all over the world? Well, I guess you probably already know most of it. Chet is a mad man! He kills it! You can have the best nights with him and the best conversations about anything. He is the friend you might need someday, telling you „Ahhh man, screw that!“ He is also the dude you sometimes need to have a good laugh at the bar, the other day he might be the dude who brings you goosebumps while you witness one of his massive stunts. Chet had to take it pretty hard at the Team Sharlp Pool Party earlier this summer. He hurt his shoulder and was off the bike for quite a bit. I asked him a couple of questions what he is up to lately and a bunch of other questions...

Yo Chet, what’s up?
Not much man just chilling in Grants Pass, house sitting for my brother this week. Trying to get my shoulder better.

What have you been up to lately?
Just hanging out in Portland living life, working random jobs to save money for my trip to Australia. I plan on going for a year. It's gonna be a good time!

You hurt your shoulder pretty bad at the Pool Party in L.A. how was the recovery road?
Yeah I separated my AC ligament at the Team Sharlp Pool party this last may. I didn't think it was gonna take more than 3 weeks to heal but now it's been just over 2 months. I've started Physical Therapy this month and it's slowly getting better. I still can't bunny hop or even take more than a few runs pumping around the skate park. It's been getting me down not being able to ride this summer. But I have dealt with this kind of stuff before and all it takes is time and working it out.

When will you be back in full effect?
I hope to be riding street by mid August. Sucks right now cause like I said I can hardly hop up a curb.

You spent a lot of time on the road over the last years. Can you name a favorite trip so far?
Yeah the last two years have been crazy! I’ve seen so much and been to so many cool places it's unreal! I still feel like I gotta keep going at this point, Just cause there is so much more to see in this crazy world. I can't really think of a certain part of the trips that was my favorite. I guess it would be cities that I visited and certain moments of last couple years of being on the road. I love Liverpool And Spain, Germany and Israel. New York and Louisville Kentucky Vancouver BC are all amazing places. Each city is different and has good and bad things about them but all have good stuff to ride and rad locals to hang out with during the nightlife. So many good times I can't pick one as my Favorite.

What bums you out on a trip?
Getting hurt is the main one. When you’re on a trip and everyone is riding and having fun, your stuck limping around while everyone feels sorry for you. That sucks! Also it's really easy to lose motivation on riding some times when your trip go's over 2 or 3 months. It can be tiring being gone for so long trying to get clips sleeping in random places. So i try to take a week or so with out my bike for site seeing and checking out different places that's not really good for riding, but good for the eye and the tongue

What do you think about the Bmx scene nowadays?
I think it's going in a good direction! People are prospering more and more form Bmx every year. More companies are started and more kids pick up Bmx Bikes. It's crazy to think that i have been riding for about 17 years now and it's come so far in every aspect. I do think that kids these days have a different mind set that 10 years ago. Not all but, lots of kids worry about getting sponsored way too much. And don't really go ride unless they are trying to film. In a way it kind of takes the fun out of it. but that's just how it is these days. Like i said not all Kids are like this but a lot are. I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to have a sponsor. If you just ride and have fun traveling with your friends or on your own, being respectful and have a good attitude it will happen. You don't really have to put out a web video of your self every week. It's all in who you meet traveling around.

What’s your opinion to the big contests?
They sure are fun to watch. The after party's are great! It's good for people that like the competitive side of BMX. They work hard on learning those tricks, so my hats off to them. Big time corporate sponsors make way more money off those guys than they can imagine. I can't really say too much cause I'm not in those contests. But I don't really care if right guard or Mt Dew have contests. I mean, if you can draw enough media attention and crowds to a dog shit throwing contest then they would sponsor it. Just money. I like money though I'm not gonna lie, it's nice to have when you have it and if you can earn it doing something you love more than life then hell yeah! Great!

Where are you heading next any plans?
Like I said after my shoulder heals up and I can ride street again, I plan on getting stuff done in the Northwest. Then heading to Western Australia for a year. See what happens riding and traveling around the land down under. Really excited. Oh and if your Australian and you read this don't tell Mike Cernotta I'm heading down there. Thanks!