McLovin’ Interview & Edit

A few months ago we asked McLovin’ if he would be interested in doing an interview for the site, not only did he take the time to answer over a dozen questions but he also put together an exclusive edit to go along with the interview which turned out really well. Make sure you check out the interview after the jump.

1) What is you name, age, and where are you from?
Cody Neiswender but everyone calls me Mclovin. Im 23 from Lebanon Pennsylvania.

2) When and how did you first become interested in riding BMX?
It was during my senior year of high school that I was at a family picnic, a friend brought their bike and he was doing 180’s and manuals and shit and he taught me how to bunnyhop and manual like two feet and I was hooked haha.

3) The edit you included with this interview came out really good, how long did it take you to film?
Thanks man! I was sitting on a few of the clips for a little bit and I wasn’t really filming for anything so I just through together some stuff I had laying around and filmed a few things here and there but I’d say the oldest clips are from around September maybe.

4) You recently moved from Lebanon to Harrisburg, how has the transition been moving to a much larger city?
Oh it’s been awesome! I’ve been coming to the burg to ride with the homie Josh Stair for a few years and we always joked about how awesome it would be to live together, then his old roommate moved out and I moved in. It’s been nice riding fresh spots and going out and experiencing a new place with all new people. I’ve met some awesome friends up here so I’d have to say it’s been a good decision so far!

5) Who are some of the regulars you have been riding with now that you have moved?
I’ve been riding Grindlab a lot since it’s been shit weather for the most part but there is a pretty regular crew that comes. Mostly I’ve been riding with Josh obviously and also Evan Smedley, Jordan Prince, Mike Fede, Tom Gorse, Will Downs Jesse Horsford and also all the Lebanon crew whenever I can get one of them to drive here.

6) You also just picked up a sponsorship with Grind Lab, how did that come to fruition?
I was going there like twice a week since it was winter time and they hired Evan to start a bike shop and also to run the trails they just opened. And I guess they were just interested in starting a BMX team to go along with the shop and Evan came up to me when I was riding there one day and basically just said “Hey your on the team.” I’m super stoked to be apart of it!

7) You’ve been filming for The Yea video along with the rest of the crew, how far along are you filming your part?
My parts been pretty much finished for awhile I think but there are still a few things I’d like to get done for my section though.

8) Any idea how much longer until the video will be finished?
Uhhh no haha. It’s been super easy for me to get clips because I we have like three cameras at my crib but some of the other dudes live farther away and don’t have any cams so pretty much everyone is trying to wrap up their sections. I’m gonna go ahead and say it should be out by the fall.

9) Where are some of your favorite spots to ride?
That’s hard to say because I’m like the least picky person when it comes to spots. I like to ride anything. The beat spots I like to ride are usually in the grimiest places though. I love Philly, there are still so many spots hidden all over that it’s always a good time. I really like Baltimore a lot too. Every trip Ive gone on there has been fun. I don’t have a lot of tricks so I’m always looking for new setups to ride wherever I’m at that maybe other people have overlooked.

10) Do you think being goofy footed works to your advantage?
Haha! I don’t even know. Riding has been a huge fucking battle for me because of it. I started out spinning to the left doing 180’s and flyout 360’s. So I’m more comfortable doing 180’s that way but I never could 360 down drops that way so I had to learn them to the right. So certain tricks like grind to 180’s came super easy where other tricks like hard 180’s and wallride 180’s were so damn hard to learn haha. I think I’ve finally learned to embrace it.

11) Now that summer is just around the cornor do you have any roadtrips or plans you are looking forward to?
I don’t really have any trips lined up as of yet but I really wanna go back to Pittsburgh and I wanna check out NYC and Atlanta so hopefully I can get to those places. Other than that I’m sure we will be going on a lot of little day trips all over the state.

12) What do you think some of the best and worst aspects of BMX are?
Fucking barspins are the worst haha. Just because I can’t do them though! The best things to me are just hanging out with your friends pedaling around not taking anything serious and just having a fun ass time everyday your on your bike.

13) Outside of BMX what takes up your time?
Just the normal stuff everyone does like work, chill, go out, shit like that.

14) Where do you see yourself in five years from now?
I have no idea where I’ll be in 5 years but hopefully still riding and still jumping into storm doors haha.

15) Is there anyone you would like to thank, any last words?
First off thanks to Purcey and Ride PA BMX for this interview and posting up my shitty little edits, to Matt Smith and the rest of The Yea crew for always filming me and be cool ass dudes, Loughead, Shilo, and Slade. Thanks to Evan, Joe, and the rest of Grindlab for hooking it up! Shoutout to all the Philly homies! The Jib, Stinkpit, and Chocolate Truck dudes for keepin’ it real. Josh, Kerri, Tom, Corey, Mike, and Austin for getting me settled in the Burg, Justin and all the other KTS dudes. Zach and Kyle for keeping me laughing all the time, All the Lebanon kids for all the fun times, Will Downs, Sam Downs, Jordan Prince, Mike Fede, Christina Capriola,A-Town Trash, Skavenger, Animal, Chase D, Randy Brown, Van Homan, Ratkid, Little Jeff, Brass-monkeys, Instagram, peer pressure, VXs and GL2s, Mom and Pops and anyone else I forgot. Love you all! RIP Aaron and Shepps.