Wow. This trip really topped them all. Life experience, lessons learned, and an unbelievable amount of frequent flier miles! Not to mention a lot of bicycles handed out to villagers in need and naturally we came back with a heap of video footage and epic photos!

Phil and I boarded the flight to Kenya about two weeks ago, after making all of the necessary precautions: hosing down our clothes with lethal bug spray, getting shots, and stocking up on malaria pills.

We had a layover in Amsterdam, then we went straight to Nairobi, Kenya where we met up with Hans Rey and Caleb Smith. We piled into the travel company's range rover and pinned it down the interstate (seriously) to Tanzania. Our jaws were on the floor at the sight of the poverty and living conditions that we saw along the way. We got to the Kenya/Tanzania border and because we were Americans, we had to pay an extra $50 each for a travel visa. It was well worth the extra cash, though, since we were treated to some giraffes and zebra viewings right after we crossed the border. We stopped for a roadside potty break and all of a sudden these giraffes just came out of nowhere. Less than five minutes later, we spotted a mess of zebras alongside the road, so we creeped up on them for a few snapshots, too. Not a bad way to start the trip..

After about five hours in the truck, we arrived in Arusha, which is one of the larger cities in Tanzania. We picked up The Pastor, who would be our guide for the week, and then hit the market to pick up supplies for the week. Phil was psyched because we ran into a guy in the market who was repping Seattle! We changed some money while we were in Arusha, as well.

Once we got all of our food and supplies, we drove another three hours to Kivicini, which was the location of the Nyotostar Center, our home for the first two nights. It had a view of Kilimanjaro, but it was overcast every single day of the trip, and we only caught a short glimpse of it on the way back to Kenya at the end of the trip. Everyone was pretty beat and our minds were absolutely blown from all of the new experiences that came through in our first ten hours in Africa.

The next week or so of the trip consisted of checking out schools and other local zones around the Northern Pare Mountains. The food was pretty decent, although it became pretty repetitive by the third or fourth day. We all brought a bunch of Clif Bars with us, and by the end of the trip, Phil and I had both gone through two whole boxes (and a couple packs of Shot Bloks).

We found a super sick area to shoot a freeride photo, and Phil threw down for the locals. They were blown away, as most people over there haven't even seen someone bunnyhop a bike. The footage and photos are absolutely incredible from that spot, and you'll be able to see it in just a few short weeks when the Summer Of Shred DVD premieres at Interbike.

Here's a gnarly story from the trip. Ever heard of the Black Mamba snake? It was the deadly snake from the movie Kill Bill 2, and its nicknamed the "two step snake". Two steps as in--you get bit, take two steps, and die. Nasty. Anyways, we found out shortly after our arrival that we were in prime Black Mamba territory. Our guide, The Pastor, was actually attacked by a Black Mamba one night, as he was driving his motorcycle up the mountain to his home. He saw it fighting another snake in the middle of the road, and when he stopped and shined his light on it, it turned away from the other snake and started chasing him! Luckily he could avoid it, otherwise our trip would've come to a grinding halt. I was extra careful to look where I was stepping whenever we stopped to shoot anything on the trails after hearing that story!

The most rewarding part of the trip was handing out the bikes that we raised money for through the Flips 4 Life program. Thank you to all of the sponsors that helped make this happen. It was amazing to hand a bicycle to someone--something that we look at as recreation and entertainment--and watch it instantly change their lives. People cried, danced, sang and prayed when we handed over these bikes. It is incredible to have that kind of impact through something as simple as bikes. I guess we never really gave it that much thought when we set everything up and started counting backflips, but when we were there in the thick of it, experiencing the same conditions as these villagers, it really hit home. Stay tuned, we're going to keep trying to find ways to work with Hans' charity to contribute to this cause.

I guess the charity and good karma paid off for us. On our flights back home we got all exit row seats with plenty of leg room. We even got bumped to first class from Cairo to Amsterdam!

The trip was absolutely incredible, and it was honestly a dream come true for me to travel with Hans Rey. He was one of the biggest inspirations for me as a trials rider when I first started riding, and to join him on a trip was seriously a big thing to check off my list. A huge thanks to Hans for helping us organize this trip. Big thanks to Caleb for flying in from New Zealand to shoot this thing, and also to the Pastor, Joseph, Amani, and everyone else in Africa and at the Nyotostar Center that helped make this trip a success.

This sign seems to look better and better every time I see it. This time was the best so far, because we knew where we were headed as soon as we cleared customs. We had been dreaming about Crunchwraps since about day two of the trip, and we had no choice but to go directly from the airport to Taco Bell once our lengthy travel came to an end. Here's a shot to end it...our before/after photo from the plane(s).



2008.08.19 Minnaar/Africa


Greg Minnaar is officially going to appear in the Summer Of Shred DVD! We had an awesome filming session with him (and Phil) up in Whistler this past weekend, and the footage is really good. Minnaar was super cool to work with, a really chill guy, and we are stoked that he was down to be a part of the project.

Sometimes you forget when you see these racers that they spend their lives on their bikes (just as much as a freerider), so when they aren't so worried about being fastest down the mountain, they can style it up with the best of them. Case in point, this step up whip on "Crank It Up". Greg made the comment that it was cool to ride Whistler with a freerider, because they see totally different lines when they ride, and it was fun to mix it up.

Phil was doing these really good wallride sliders, where he would hit the wall and counter-steer with his front wheel as his rear wheel slid up the wall. I've seen Ruben do this on a bmx bike, but I've never seen it done on an 8" bike before. Check out Phil's new RST R-1 downhill fork, too. I rode the same fork all weekend and it was legit!

We are leaving today to meet Hans Rey and Caleb Smith in Africa. It should be a crazy trip with tons of stories and photos--although I don't know if I'll have access to the internet over there. Worst case, I'll have a MASSIVE post on September 1st. We are headed over there to shoot the final Summer Of Shred segment with Hans, and we'll also be giving away the bikes that we've raised money for through the Flips4Life/Wheels4Life project.



2008.08.16 Slopestyle Results


The slopestyle contest was relatively good. I'm not sure who was judging it, but it seemed a bit inconsistent. I know it's super hard to judge, and easy to be the guy on the sidelines, but I can't figure out why Boyko didn't make the finals. He was murdering the course, 360ing the Giro box and final drop (among other things). Ah well, nonetheless, the event was good. It was interesting to see Crankworx without Bearclaw, Paul Bas and Boyko in the finals.

Finalists were Cam McCaul, Brandon Semenuk, Lance McDermott, Jamie Goldman, Andreu Lacondeguy, Greg Watts, Cam Zink and Trond Hansen. Everyone rode really well, and we saw some crazy stuff go down. Here's what stood out: double flip (Andreu), front flip drop (McDermott), flip whip drop (Watts), superflips (McCaul), 360 drop the Giro box (Semenuk) and 360 the big drop, mid course, (it was the same size as last year's final drop) by Zink. Everyone slayed it, but those guys put down some serious heat. Both Semenuk and McCaul packed so many tricks into their runs, it was unbelievable!

Results:
1. Andreu Lacondeguy 94.3
2. Lance McDermott 91.5
3. Brandon Semenuk 89.8
4. Cameron McCaul 88.0
5. Jamie Goldman 78.5
6. Cam Zink 76.5
7. Greg Watts 74.5
8. Trond Hansen 73.0



2008.08.16 Crankworx Update


Three days of updates in a row, thank goodness for good internet! Not to mention a plethora of good action around us here in Whistler, BC. The weather has been really good and everyone has been schralping up a storm. Yesterday was the Giant Slalom finals, and the night ended with DH Productions' premiere of "Latitudes".

We got some DH runs in earlier in the day, and took Ryan Denehy with us. He didn't have a bike, but we cobbled some stuff together for him to shred. He gets massive respect for riding Garbanzo on a fork with barely any travel! We sessioned "Crank It Up" quite a bit, because it's basically a downhill dirt jump trail. Super fun!

Here's something that stokes me out. The president of FSA/Gravity Components is a bike rider, not just a guy in an office. Matt Vanenkevort is already super rad, but to see him on the hill is even better. I didn't get a chance to ride with him, but just the fact that guys who run massive bike companies are up on the hill putting their own product to the test makes me happy. Gold stars for Gravity/FSA.

Speaking of putting product to the test, I'm testing out some new product as well. Grenade Gloves is working on a mountain bike glove, and we're doing a bunch of testing on their first round of prototype mtb gloves. You'd recognize Grenade Gloves from Danny Kass and their full line of snowboard gear, and now they are applying their expertise to the mountain bike world. I've been working with these guys for a bit, and I am definitely excited to continue developing the program and the product. Stay tuned..

Last night we wrapped up an epic day with the premiere of Latitudes. The Longhorn was absolutely packed with every top rider and industry person, and Don Hampton didn't disappoint. This was definitely a step up on every level, from an all HD movie to some seriously epic locations. The shooting was really solid, there were some absolutely beautiful shots in there, and naturally the riding was good. The DVD should be available at Interbike this year, and you should definitely pick it up (along with your copy of Summer Of Shred).

We met up with a bunch of our bros from New Zealand this week. The Frew Crew has been around, Kelly McGarry is riding the slopestyle, and we found Chris Beverland wandering around the village last night with a gold medal around his neck, like a New Zealand version of Michael Phelps. You may recognize Beverland from the PinkBike video that we posted after our SOS trip down there. This guy is awesome.



2008.08.15 Watts = Video Game


Greg Watts told me the other night that he was either going to win or go to the hospital. I'm certainly glad he won! A bunch of people actually decided to sit out during the best trick contest based almost solely on what Watts said. We knew the flip whip drop was coming, and Watts stomped it perfectly clean on his first attempt. Everyone went nuts...sorry for the crummy pic, I was standing about 200 feet away on the hill.

Everyone was on fire tonight. McCaul stuck a perfect superflip and pretty much every rider in the best trick was doing flips and whips down the drop. The course looks super fun and it seems like we're going to be treated to a good show this weekend.

Prior to the best trick contest, I decided to get in a couple runs with first time Whistler visitor, Don Hampton. DH is out here to promote and premiere his new movie "Latitudes" (see the trailer in my last post). He had never ridden here, so we blasted up Garbanzo for a full run. Things were going pretty good for a while, until he got four flats! We were a little bummed, but I think we'll probably head back up there again tomorrow.

After all the riding mayhem cleared, the Gravity team met up and went out for dinner. We found a teppanyaki place and the chefs were getting rowdy with the flames!! Good times with a great crew!



2008.08.14 Crankworx


What a relief to have good wireless in Whistler. For some reason, every year I come up here, I stay in one of the few hotels that doesn't have good internet. Not so this year!

Phil and I rolled up yesterday after getting our shots for Africa the day before. They wouldn't allow us to film or take photos during the vaccination, but I did some handy sniper work when the doctor had her back turned. It was gnarly, because although we only needed to get one required shot (Yellow Fever), they recommend a whole slew of other ones. They ran us down the list like "if you don't get this shot and you manage to get bit by THIS mosquito, you're going to feel like this...or you won't be able to walk again"...and so on. Pretty gnarly, so naturally we ended up getting all of the shots, just to be on the safe side. The only downside to being safe not sorry is that we blew $450 (each!) on the shots. I'm sure it will be worth it, though.

Back to Crankworx, we arrived here yesterday night and promptly hooked up with Ryan Denehy from BNQT, who has finally figured out that the west coast is the BEST coast. He's doing his thing down in Cali and by the looks of it, things are going really well. After meeting up, we all headed to Aaron Chase's Neon-White party--where pretty much every pro mountain biker on the planet was gathering. It was super fun, and I think they must've imported some talent, because there were about 100x as many girls as there normally are at a mountain bike party (The normal ratio is about 1:200, last night it almost looked like the boys were outnumbered.).

One face that I was happy to see, although it was hard to recognize at first, was Don Hampton! He's been growing out his "Old Man River" beard for a while, in order to have his driver's license photo shot. I was trying to convince him to shave it into a mustache, but I think he's going to stay strong and keep the beard going. This is Hampton's first trip to Whistler, and he'll be premiering his new movie "Latitudes", which looks SUPER dope. Check out the long trailer below:

2008.08.08 Catch up


Yikes...traveling takes it out of you. I have been fighting all year to stay motivated to keep this blog going. After a long trip, the last thing you want to do is look at your computer screen again. The good news is that I have a handful of pics to share from Saalbach that you probably won't be able to find anywhere else (unless you're my facebook friend...haha).

If you haven't already heard/read, the Summer Of Shred DVD is going to be available through Video Action Sports worldwide. We're still dialing in the packaging right now, but stay tuned for details as they become available. We have a few more trips coming up (including an African Adventure with Hans Rey), so the DVD should be jam packed with good content. The day that we come home from Africa, I have to jump directly into a "reign of terror" for four days straight in order to button up the DVD on time for Interbike. It's going to be gnarly...no sleep and a lot of Red Bull...but it will be worth it!

Maybe you saw the "hot girls" contest on Freecaster.tv from the Adidas event. I have a bunch of snapshots that I snagged during the contest. They gave me a pass to sit in the hotseat to test out one of the contestants, but I happily passed it on to Darren Pokoj...I'm pretty sure I heard him yelling out "THANK YOU LUTZE!!" when I snapped this pic, but I'm not sure.

The crowd for the adidas event was pretty solid, and there were some new faces in the mix on course. It grew throughout the day, I shot this before the event, since we were pretty pinned judging once everything got going. Judging was hard, but I feel like we did a pretty solid job of keeping it together. It was cool to see three different styles of riders on the podium this year, and the feedback we got was great. After judging such a big event with so many dope riders, I can honestly say that judges don't get the respect they deserve--and every rider who feels any different should try to judge an event so they can fully understand it. Regardless, my crew with VanDine, Vincent Saccomani and Tony Brey absolutely slayed it and made my job as the head judge easy (for the most part).

Timo Pritzel is the man...holy crap. He flipped the step down gap during finals and everyone was going nuts. He didn't finish out his run(s), but that was one of my highlights for the day. Timo is the man, on and off the bike, and his flip gap was just another reason why he's still the man.

Crankworx is starting up as I type this...I'll be up there on Wednesday to capture all of the action. Aaron Chase is having another big party at Garfinkels on Wednesday night, and then there is a VW Trick Showdown on Thursday (I heard that the winner gets a VW??), followed by the slopestyle on Saturday. It should be a great week--although Crankworx media is always a gong show, not to mention semi-spotty internet if you're in hotels. Wish us luck!



2008.08.02 Adidas Slopestyle Results


Wow...judging is so hard! I think we managed to sort it out to everyone's satisfaction (with maybe one exception). I'll post more later, but here's the top twelve:

1. Sam Pilgrim 23.00
2. Martin Soderstrom 22.30
3. Pierre Edouard Ferry 21.80
4. Lance McDermott 19.90
5. Christopher Hatton 19.10
6. Jakub Vencl 18.90
7. Amir Kabbani 18.20
8. Niki Leitner 18.10
9. Marius Hoppensack 17.70
10. Phil Sundbaum 16.80
11. Tomas Zejda 15.90
12. Jan Toth 11.00

Boyko had some tough luck in qualifying, I was choked that he didn't advance. He was absolutely murdering the course, he just crashed at the end, lost his momentum and wasn't able to finish his run. Expect to see an extra-hungry Boyko in Whistler for Crankworx!



2008.08.02 Adidas Slopestyle


This post is long overdue, but anyways...here goes. We're in Saalbach, Austria for the Adidas Slopestyle event. Weather is playing a little factor on the schedule, but it looks like we should be able to fire this thing out. Yesterday was practice and today is qualifying, followed by finals tomorrow. The course is absolutely massive, which is awesome. This is what slopestyle is all about...big bikes, big jumps, etc. Pretty stoked to see Boyko in his element, he was riding yesterday and is looking super strong.

There is a drop on course that is about 20 feet tall (that's Phil standing on top of it...and he's 6'6", so you have a point of reference), but everyone that has hit it says that it's not too bad. I don't know if anyone will be 360ing it, but there a few riders who might give it a shot if necessary!

Here's a shot of Boyko teeing up the "macho" gap. This jump is proving to be one of the gnarlier obstacles on the course. The run-out is actually super difficult because of a water bar near the bottom, so you have to stick this one really clean. There's another jump next to it, which is a bit more trickable.

Phil and I met some riders from Austria at the riders party the other night. Super cool guys, and we told them that we'd put their picture on the site, since they are huge supporters of our program. Here you go, guys!

I get to be head judge of the event, with Van Dine, Vincent Saccomani and Tony Brey as the judges. I think Alex Reveles might be joining us as well. He 50-50'd the "macho" jump and went OTB, so he's a little sore today. Nothing too serious, just a little shaken up. It will be cool to have a guy who's actually ridden the course up in the judges tower, I think.

Anyways, stay tuned for the event, you can watch it live right here on this website if you want!

2008.07.24 Maurice Interview


Recognize this face? If you've been to Europe for a contest you probably do. Maurice is our good friend who works at rasoulution (the company run by Tarek Rasouli and Anne Baltes, which is responsible for the Qashqai events, 26Trix, etc) and keeps us entertained and out of trouble while we're overseas.

I met Maurice (or "Mo") last year when I arrived in Newcastle for the first stop of the Qashqai series. We got along right away and ended up being roommates for about 8 weeks nonstop. I'm impressed by his level of patience with silly Americans like yours truly (and plenty of others) as well as his ability to slay it behind the scenes and on two wheels!

I arrived in Germany this week and immediately came to Munich, where I've been staying with Maurice at his flat and hanging out at the rasoulution office. Maurice has been working here for a while and has been involved with some of the best events in the world, so I figured it would be time to get some answers from him about his perspective of the world. Enjoy:

1. How did you come to work at rasoulution?
Right after finishing high school in 2006, I tried to find a place to work and maybe study. After working three months for rasoulution, we (at the time it was just Anne, Tarek, Steffi and me) moved into a new office. (January 2007) After these three months, they asked me to stay on as a freelancer, which is what I did during the Nissan Qashqai Challenge, Wheels of Speed in Willingen, 26TRIX in Leogang and the Nissan Outdoor Games, where I shared a room with Aaron most of the time.
Since October 2007, I have been doing a study/work combination with rasoulution, which means three months working, three months studying. In the end, I will be Bachelor of Digital Media by 2010.

2. What has been your best experience working at rasoulution?
To travel this much, organize awesome events like the 26TRIX and big events like the Nissan Qashqai Challenge. It's cool to hang out with all the people who make it happen and risk a lot for a good show. Not to mention working in a team like we are....

3. What is the toughest part about working at some of the best mtb events in the world?
Having to work while someone pulls of a sick run or a new trick when you're facing your computer or somewhere else that requires your attention.

4. What was it like to crush every top freerider in a bunnyhop contest last year at 26Trix (except Jamie Goldman)?
It was a good feeling of course, especially since none of them knew that I could ride a bike! [ed note: Maurice cleared 95cm at that contest, which is about 37" (only a few inches short of Lenosky's world record).]

5. Where do you see the future of mtb going with regard to the contests that Rasoulution is putting on?
I like seeing random people living a regular life in the city enjoying an adventure sport like mountain biking in the middle of their hometown. I've heard being in Whistler for Crankworx is a completely different atmosphere, but there you are just with special people who are actually interested in the sport.
That's what we bring together, taking the mountain bike to the city show what's possible and try to attract more people, to make events happen and bring the people back in the mountain, with a bike or just for watching...

6. Do you think we will see any Rasoulution contests in the USA?
I hope, I need to get a cheap way to fly over and crash at your place and somewhere in Cali for a couple of days...weeks....more....haha

7. How often do you get to ride, and are there any places online where we can see pictures or video?
WOOOW, wrong question...I would like to ride more than I currently can. I would like to write v-wc.de, but there you'll just find some news. There are some lakejump pictures on lakejump.de, and some more pictures on my best friends website: drakeimages.de

And videos:
v-wc.de/videoplayer
youtube.com/vwickedcrew

8. Who is your favorite rider to watch, and why?
Chase and Jeff Lenosky. They made me riding street and dirt...

9. Who is your favorite rider to hang out with off the bike, and why?
I feel pretty comfortable with any rider, but I like to hang out with Cam McCaul, Jamie Goldman, Andrew Taylor, Aaron Lutze, Phil Sundbaum, Fabian Scholz, and Daniel Häberle.

10. If you had to have a job similar to your job at Rasoulution, but for a different sport, what would it be?
MX...Travis Pastrana inspires me any time I see him riding, slipsliding or something else :)



2008.07.23 Adidas


I just got back over to Europe...just getting some stuff dialed in before the big Adidas Slopestyle event next weekend (of which I'll be the head judge). I'm pretty stoked to be involved with such a huge event, and it'll be good to see everyone again. I've been so busy with race stuff lately that I missed out on some cool freeride events.

Speaking of, if you haven't already heard about it, the Claymore Challenge is going down this weekend at Highland Mtn Bike Park. The majority of the Gravity team is already out there doing a big photo shoot, and you can expect to see a sick video segment on the Gravity site soon, too. We brought in Highland's resident video champ to film with the crew, so it should be dope! They are going to be sending over some pics and stuff today, so hopefully I can post their updates from the week so everyone can have a sneak peak at the action.

Like I said earlier, I'm already over in Europe. I'm typing this from the Rasoulution office in Munich, and as soon as I post this, I'm going to roll down the street to an awesome all-you-can-eat sushi joint with Maurice.

This trip marks the first trip this year where I didn't pack my adidas shoes. I had to retire them after the World Champs in Italy...but not after an incredible year of absolute punishment. I was thinking back to all the abuse they endured: soaking wet and covered in mud countless times, being mashed against pedals repeatedly, and climbing up and down mountains all over the world (Pyrenees, Dolomites and Alps). I bought them for $25 at a massive adidas sale in Portland last November, and they kept me moving in the following countries this year: USA (duh), New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Spain, Andorra, England, Scotland, and Switzerland. Not bad for a $25 pair of shoes! I guess I feel a little weird about writing an ode to a pair of shoes, but what can I say...after all that abuse, I guess they earned it (plus I went through two iPods in the time that those shoes were around...talk about staying power).



2008.07.09 Flips4Life x Wheels4Life


Summer Of Shred partners with Wheels4Life to Create "Flips4Life"
Wheels4Life, the charity started by mountain biking legend Hans Rey, has joined forces with Phil Sundbaum and the Summer Of Shred. Hans will be joining Phil for a Summer Of Shred tour stop in Tanzania at the end of August. The two riders will ride together through the Pare Mountains and safari through some of Africa's most epic terrain.

In preparation for the trip, Summer Of Shred has developed a program to support Wheels4Life, which will be called "Flips4Life". Companies and individuals can support the project by pledging money for each backflip that Phil Sundbaum does during the months of July and August. A counter of Phil's backflips will be posted on the Summer Of Shred website and will be updated with his progress through the month.

The money that is raised through "Flips4Life" will be donated directly to Hans' charity Wheels4Life, which delivers bicycles to Africa. Phil and Hans will then hand-deliver the bicycles to villagers during their Summer Of Shred tour through Tanzania.

Flips4Life would like to recognize the companies who have already pledged support to the project: Haro Bikes, Gravity, Adidas, Oakley, RST, and Deity Components. If you would like to support this project, send an e-mail to flips4life@summerofshred.com with your name, e-mail and contact information. Please also indicate if your pledge amount is per backflip or if it will be a one-time contribution. Pledges of any size will be accepted and appreciated.

About Wheels4Life:
Wheels4Life is a non-profit charity (501c(3)), that provides free bicycles for people in need of transportation in Third World countries. We partner with local individuals, organizations and other groups to help us identify persons who sincerely need a bike to be able to go to school or to work. Often these people live in very primitive and remote areas with no access or means to public transportation. The closest school, doctor or work-place might be 10 or 20 miles away. Having a bike can make all the difference in somebody's life and can give them a chance to break out of the vicious poverty cycle. The gift of mobility, in form of a bicycles, can do miracles.



2008.07.06 Tonic Fab Jam


Today Landon and the crew at Tonic Fab threw down a trail jam at Aaron and Charlie's trails. This spot is dialed in and everyone had an absolute blast flowing through the jumps. Billy Lewis came down from Seattle and gave us all a treat. He is one of my favorite riders to watch -- he has some of the best style I've seen on two wheels. Aaron Nachtrab, one of the trails builders, is up there too. There are some serious style cats in the NW. There should be plenty of pics and stuff up on the Tonic site relatively soon. Read through that blog if you haven't already--Landon posts up some really good content on there!

Phil was at the jam running his new Haro Steel Reserve frame. This is Haro's new steel dirt jumper. They are selling it as a complete bike and there are two different models. Phil says it feels just like the aluminum dirt jump bike (the Thread), and judging by this photo, I'd have to agree that he was having no trouble adjusting to it.

Speaking of new stuff, there were a few new Deity shirts floating around this week, here's one shirt that was spotted at the trails.

Our Japanese visitor, Yu, is embracing American life like a champ! He had a great fourth of July weekend with us, then checked out the jump jam and wrapped it all up with a massive dinner of tots and buffalo wings. After dinner he broke out this English slang book that he bought in Japan. It's absolutely ridiculous! It is pretty entertaining to go through it and see what the author thinks is proper English slang. To be honest, I can't really repeat anything from the book--it's THAT bad.



2008.07.02 Yu. Ess. Eh.


Last post, I was proclaiming how happy I was to be back in the USA. At the time of this post, we have received a special guest from Japan, named "Yu". I met Yu when I was in Japan earlier this year through my good friend Kenichi, and he's over in the USA for a month to hang out, ride bikes, and learn everything there is to know about American life.

Let's see...his first meal was Taco Bell, followed by his first ever PBR, into a pumptrack session, then a healthy BBQ spread. Naturally, we wrapped the night up with a Guitar Hero session. I'd say we're off to a good start...next up is the 4th of July, which should be quite epic!

Bikes...there is a big Tonic Fab jam going down on Sunday here in Portland, and if you go to the Adidas Slopestyle website, you can check out pics of the course. Also, there is a Thrash Bike event going down in NYC, I'll post info about that shortly.



2008.06.26 AMERICA, #@(*$ YEAH!!


Words cannot describe how happy I am to be home in the states...four weeks on the road away from the comforts of home like an ice cold PBR in your hand and a healthy pumptrack session. It was so good to finally land on home soil and get back on track.

Don't get me wrong, the World Cups and World Championships were awesome, but you can only eat prosciutto and rock hard bread for so long. I had a great time otherwise, and if you haven't checked out all of our hard work on Freecaster, now's the time to do it. Rob Warner is an absolute maniac in front of the camera and behind the mic, which definitely made the events even more fun. This guy is a legend, he even has an appreciation society boasting over 200 members on Facebook!

The Boxxer World Championships were a highlight...my face hurt from laughing after shooting this segment.

Now that I'm back in the USA, I'm firing out a bunch of videos for Summer Of Shred, wrapping up that Brumotti trials clip, working on some new projects for 2009 and preparing for the upcoming Gravity trip to Highland Mountain Bike park, where they are having a contest on July 25-26. Doug Smith sent me a few pics of the build out, which is being designed by Dave Smutok. Here is the info for the contest they are organizing over there if you're interested in going!

More updates coming soon...Phil was supposed to be in Italy this week, but his truck got broken on his way to the airport and the theives stole his passport, laptop and his OGIO bag that has all of the clothes that he owns. So...yeah...he's not going to Italy this week. I think we're going to meet up and shoot some stuff around PDX instead. We'll also be announcing a collaboration for the final 2008 SOS trip very soon.



2008.06.15 Pila + World Championships


Since the last update, we spent a week in Pila, Italy at the bike park with Sam Hill, his crew, and the IronHorse/Playbiker team. The weather was good, the food was good, and the view was epic.

I did quite a bit of shooting this week with everyone that was around. I also met up with Vittorio Brumotti, who is a super famous trials rider. Actually, he's super famous off the bike, but he also has a bunch of world titles and Guiness Records on the bike, so I guess you could call it even. We did some shooting and he was being swarmed the whole time by fans who had seen him on tv or saw his spread in the Italian Maxim (which he is autographing in this photo for some random girl in the cafe while we were eating lunch). Check out his website, and stay tuned for the video segment!

Big thanks to Simon Cittati for hooking us up with a place to stay in Pila in between events, we had a blast! Simon was also wise enough to bring a copy of Guitar Hero with him to the mountain, so we had regular sessions in the hotel! We even taught Romano (Italian Iron Horse distributor) how to shred the plastic axe.

If you haven't seen this already, this is probably one of the best things to come out of Pila this week. Sam Hill was testing out his new bike for Worlds, and this is the ONLY video of it. Sam and the rest of the Monster Energy/Iron Horse crew set up a special filming session for me and Fraser on the track in Pila. ENJOY!

We're in Valle Di Sole now for the World Championships...stay tuned, and check out Freecaster.tv for all of the live event coverage!



2008.06.11 Fort William + Italy


Sorry for the lack of updates, it has been extra hard to find decent internet in my spare time. I've had a whirlwind tour of the UK, with all kinds of excitement, like lost baggage, roadtrips and of course, world cup racing action! If you want to check out what I've been doing behind the lens, go to Freecaster and check out all the clips from Fort William.

Before heading up to Scotland last week, I spent a bit of time in Manchester, England with my good friend Chris Ratcliff. I hadn't seen him in ages, and I had a day off, so we hung out and wandered around town all day. We found some pretty cool stuff, including this store that sells "American" imports, like Lucky Charms for $15 and A1 Steak Sauce for $12!! We also found a phone that costs roughly $85,000. I think I might get one..

After my time in Manchester, I met up with Pete Drew (Silverfish/e.13 distributor) and we pinned it up to Fort William together. I had done this route once before and was able to spot a few things from the road, like the William Wallace Memorial, French Castle from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and of course...my favorite hardware store of all time. This drive is epic, if you ever get the chance to do it (it's the road to Loch Ness for all you fishermen), you should definitely go for it.

Fort William was rad, I ate fish and chips four nights in a row and edited up a storm with Justin Schroth. It was Justin's first time to Europe, and he got to get a glimpse of what I'm doing over here behind the scenes. Justin had his first taste of Irn Bru, to which Clay Porter added, "Welcome to the second half of your life!"

After Fort William, we headed back down to the airport, and then over to Milan. We got a rental car and headed to Pila, which is a mountain resort outside of Aosta. Simon Cittati from the Iron Horse/Playbiker team is here with the full team, and we're going to do some bike riding and video/photo shoots. Internet is only a little less sketchy over here, so I might get a chance to post a few more updates this week.



2008.06.01 UCI Andorra Wrap-Up + Goat Style


Its been quite the experience over here in Andorra...not exactly what I expected, but still good. The World Cup wrapped up it's second stop today, with the Atherton family bringing home three gold medals. Watching Gee take the gold in DH was amazing, and definitely a great ending to the weekend.

As you've probably noticed by the lack of updates, the internet in Andorra is WEAK! I guess my lack of e-mail and web access has given me some extra time to fire out video clips, because there are over twenty video clips on the Freecaster page from Andorra. I'm putting in some serious work over here!

It could be worse, though...most people's offices don't look like this.

Then again, you can probably drink the tap water in your office. Yikes..

Cedric's "Podium Cafe" is right down the street from our hotel, and like any fine establishment, they have Guitar Hero. I made sure to make my presence known and put my name on the top of a couple high score lists. No big whoop.

Tomorrow I'm headed to England for a couple days, then up to Scotland for the Fort William World Cup. I'll be meeting up with Justin Schroth of Lucent Productions, so I'm looking forward to that.

Phil is on a roadtrip to Canada for the Goat Style contest. Here's a little pre-event report from him:
Me, Crappis, Wilson and Pedro met at Andy's house on Thursday night... Yes Andy [Phil's Brother]-- he is coming out of retirement, or the closet, for the trip. We had a big BBQ since it was my dad's birthday, then we all slept there and left in the morning. There was a lot of new stuff for Pedro -- for starters, he has never had a s'more so we got him sick on those.

We drove through the pass and Pedro was amazed at the great Northwest views. He has never played in the snow or made a snowball... so we pulled over and had a snowball fight. We stopped at the Gorge at some scenic view area and found a bunch of 10ft tall metal horses.

Then Pedro fell asleep and we scared the crap out of him -- on the count of three, we all started screaming and made him think we were gonna die.

Andy tagged the truck...

We were on the most deadly road for car-to-animal kills once we got into Canada. They said there were deer and elk and bear that got killed all the time and we were lookin all over but didn't see anything.

The course looks fun and if you are lucky you might get some pics later...



2008.05.28 Andorra World Cup


Yo from Andorra! Fraser Britton and I just arrived here last night and it looks like a full weekend of rain for the World Cup crew. Good thing we got a rain jacket for the new Sony EX-1 that we're shooting with for Freecaster.

Here's some awesome news: Freecaster.tv just secured the rights to play the live broadcasts of the World Championships and World Cups in the USA!! Up until now, there was some weird media company that had the rights to it, so we couldn't watch the UCI races at all in the states. Well, no more! As of this weekend, we're good to go. We'll be running the live feed as well as a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff (I'm shooting a CRIBS segment with Cedric later today). Stay tuned!

Check this out, our buddy Caleb Smith (who shot all of the New Zealand Summer Of Shred photos) just launched his own website. Caleb is super awesome, and he'll be joining us in Africa later this year when we head there with Hans Rey in August.

We're posting from Cedric's "Podium Cafe" right now. It's pretty cool, and there is going to be a massive Freecaster party here this weekend after the race is over. Check it out...



2008.05.19 Summer = Awesome


It's been nice to take a little breather between all these events and stuff. We've had time to enjoy the nice weather and throw a couple BBQs, ride some bikes, and finally hang all of the frames from our travel so far this year. I made a quick run back to Wisconsin to wish my Mom a surprise happy birthday, and it was a total ambush. The look on her face when I showed up in her 2nd grade classroom was priceless!

Pablo Tafoya made his way through Portland this past week, and took a few guys from our crew out to test the new Corsair Crown. Everyone that rode it was going off about how dialed it was, and this is just the FIRST working prototype.

Summer Of Shred hooked up with a program called Splashcast, which allows you to put the Summer Of Shred videos and photos onto your Facebook and Myspace pages, and basically anywhere else that you want to embed the SOS content. It's one-stop shopping for all of the content, and when new videos are released, it updates right into the player, so that's sweet. Plus, you can add your own pics, comments and videos on the player as well, and everyone can see it. Give it a test, and then add it to your Facebook/Myspace pages!




2008.05.12 Maribor + Qashqai Munich Finals


The Maribor, Slovenia world cup is over. It was pretty cool to watch the other side of mountain bike competition, I must say. I actually got chills when I was filming the qualifying round...Sam Hill blasted by me on the rock garden section and it was like nothing I had ever seen. If you think he looks fast on video, you should see him on World Cup race pace in person. Whoa!

During the finals, Brian Lopes and I went around with the camera and shot a bunch of interviews for Freecaster. You can watch them now if you click the image on the bar above this post. Some of the videos were a little slow if you tried to watch them this past weekend because they had over 50,000 people logging on to Freecaster to watch the event live!

Four hours away, the Qashqai event was going down in Munich! I got back to the hotel just in time to watch the last few runs. When I turned it on, Phil was actually in the lead...he was riding really well and if he would've landed that 720 on his last run, I suspect that he might've been on the podium. Either way, it looked like everyone was killing it super hard, even though it was apparently really windy in Munich this weekend.

Oh yeah, here's a pic of the new Blackbox fork that everyone has been drooling over. Minnaar, Peaty, Rennie and Sam all have these on their bikes.



2008.05.09 Maribor World Cup


Slovenia is turning out to be really cool, the World Cup track here is dialed and today was the first day of DH practice. I got to see all of the world's best riders in full force, shredding to their heart's content at the first big event of the year.

I just snapped a bunch of pics today while I was shooting video (which should be uploaded on Freecaster shortly):
-The chairlift doesn't work, so we had to walk down from the top of the mountain. At least the view was good!
-Kathy Pruitt slaying the rock garden
-Steve Smith's Cove is eye-searing orange!
-Justin Leov was going so fast that it blurred my picture..
-Thank you Red Bull for helping me ditch my jetlag!
-Intense has an "intense" staging area...this is the setup which took almost a full day to build

Tomorrow is 4X finals and more DH practice. The Qashqai event in Munich starts tomorrow as well. Stay tuned!



2008.05.06 Madrid Qashqai + Maribor, Slovenia


Phil sent me a handful of pics from the Madrid Qashqai. The results went like this:
1. Andreu Lacondeguy
2. Greg Watts
3. Benny Korthaus
4. Kyle Strait

Phil crashed pretty hard during practice and sat out during qualifying and finals. I haven't seen any pics, but it sounded gnarly. Get well soon, Phil!

Meanwhile, I zipped back to the states for a week to catch up on paperwork and video editing stuff. I hopped a plane to Slovenia for the first World Cup. We'll be shooting footage for Freecaster, which you can also watch live on Freecaster.tv.

Today we arrived in Maribor and found our hotel, which was located at the top of the mountain. The fastest way down is the gondola, which is super crazy. To top it off, Fraser let me know that it's the oldest "working" gondola in Eastern Europe. Greaaaaaat...



2008.05.01 Qashqai Spain


Phil is in Madrid at the next Qashqai event while I'm back in the states editing all of the stuff we shot in Germany and Italy over the past few weeks. The next event in Madrid is set to start this weekend, and you'll be able to watch it live on Freecaster.

I got an e-mail from Phil with some photos and updates from Madrid. Here goes:

The course is looking pretty sick..
There is a big roll-in to a large first set, then you roll right into a berm to the left with a roller at the end. Right into a big lip, off the lip, and then you jump up to an elevated landing with a berm to the right and a lip/kicker into a landing, THEN you just have to keep speed from the drop to clear the final two sets.

That's how the course is setup and its looking to be a lot of fun! Its real dirt, so that's a good start.

Also there is a shot of me and AT doin a "back-to-back Lutze"...you'll like it.

---

So that's the update from Phil. Stay tuned, I should hopefully have some edits done before I leave for Europe on Monday.



2008.04.27 Qashqai Results


The first Qashqai is in the books and it went off with a bang! It was cool to see everyone again, and the riders are back in full form. Here are the results from the finals--it was best two runs out of three, so a few people had good runs but had trouble putting two solid ones together, hence a few lower scores. Martin Soderstrom qualified first but ended up hurting his shoulder in practice...Phil over-rotated a big 360 on the second jump twice in a row, but came back in the third run with the second-highest run score of the day.

Darren Pokoj had been sidelined since Crankworx, having multiple surgeries to fix the wrist that he shattered off the jumbotron drop. He started riding again last week with limited movement in his wrist, but judging by his results and this 360, I don't think he lost anything over the last six months...

Trond was in top form and absolutely slayed it. He did some massive tricks--even 360-ing the first jump and front flipping the last jump. It was awesome to see Trond throwing down so hard, he was killing it at the Milan event last year, so it was great to watch him lock it down this year.

If I understand it correctly, the top five riders from this event will join the 15 invited riders for the rest of the tour, so that means that Trond, Mischa, Sam Pilgrim, Kurt Sorge and Damjan Siriski have got spots in the Munich and London Qashqai events. (Adam Hauck and Darren Pokoj were already part of the top 15.)

There was one heck of a party last night, and today we've just been chilling and walking around town. Phil's girlfriend Amanda even caught a bird in Piazza Duomo!

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Portland and Phil is going to be heading to Madrid for the next stop of the Qashqai tour.



2008.04.25 Qashqai Qualifiers


Top three from the first round of qualifying:
1. Martin Soderstrom
2. Phil Sundbaum
3. Alex Reveles

Forty riders went through their first round of qualifying today...a couple unknowns were throwing down hard, a few bigger names got balled up on their way through the jumps, but will be coming back stronger tomorrow for sure.

Tomorrow's schedule starts around noon with the second round of qualifying, then the finals start around 6pm with the top 15 riders. The top five riders from Milan who aren't already pre-qualified will be invited to ride in the entire series, so that should mix things up a bit. I'd put money on Marius Hoppensack and Martin Soderstrom, for sure. Hopefully we'll get some more Americans like Andrew Taylor and A-Rev into the mix as well. Tyler McCaul was riding pretty well today and so was Ryan Howard. Super impressed by all these guys...America was well represented today!

With all the traveling we've been doing for the Summer Of Shred this year, Phil and I decided to cash in some frequent flyer miles to bring some lovely ladies over to Milan to hang out for the weekend. It's funny to watch their reactions to all the stuff that we take for granted (like straight airs over massive dirt jumps). Good times.

I'll try to post up pics and results before we meet up with everyone for the afterparty tomorrow. If not, I'll get them up on Sunday morning!



2008.04.24 Qashqai Milan


We walked to the site for the first Qashqai event in Milan today to scope it out. People are just rolling into town, a lot of the riders are just arriving in Europe for the first time, so it's cool to watch their reactions and stuff. I can't wait to see them again tomorrow after trying to sleep for their first night with crazy jetlag. I'm sure we are going to see some tired faces at the qualifiers tomorrow!

There are a bunch of posters for the event around town. We walked by a bunch of them on our way to the venue, so hopefully there will be a ton of spectators at the event. Last year I saw a kid wearing a "In Kyle Strait We Trust" handmade t-shirt, but since Kyle isn't here this year, the Italian kid is going to have to make a different shirt.

I got my first taste of Red Bull Cola today...it's not an energy drink, it's all-natural cola with no additives or preservatives. I only got a sip of it, and I'm not really a big fan of cola in the first place, but it seemed pretty good.

Of all the places to eat Burger King, everyone picked Italy to do it! Thankfully I'm filling up on pasta and all of the fine Italian food. Stuff like this just makes me nervous...at least with pasta you know that it's not going to eat your insides!

Alright, now to the info that everyone is really after. What does the course look like for the first Qashqai event? Here you go...the first jump is huge, the next one is average size, then a big speed jump into a big booter. The bmxers that built the jumps rode it a little bit today and it looks like it's going to be a fun course to ride. All the riders who were hanging out today look excited to throw down on it.

Tomorrow is the first round of qualifying and best trick contest, so stay tuned for that. We're also importing some lovely American girls tomorrow to join the party, so it should be a great weekend no matter what.

Also...check this out, I'm famous! Now you can download a wallpaper of me (third photo, in the red) from the Diamondback site to go on your computer! haha



2008.04.23 Thanks Timo!


We left Berlin today after an amazing last few days there with Timo Pritzel. It was awesome hanging out with him in the city and riding Mellowpark. The wind finally died down today, so we had a proper session. Phil and Timo were throwing down on both the dirt and the park, so look for a segment in the near future.

Phil and I arrived in Milan this evening and got settled in at the hotel, which is within walking distance of Piazza Duomo. It's a super epic zone with lots of beautiful buildings, plus an awesome place to get gelato! haha

Here's a pic for my dad, who just had a procedure done on his heart today. I'm drinking some red wine to your health!



2008.04.22 Mellowpark + The Wall


Berlin is sweet, for sure...Timo is a great tour guide and he took us to Mellowpark today to check out the park and dirt jumps. It was great to finally see it in person, although it was pretty windy, so we basically just looked at the jumps and crossed our fingers that we would be able to hit them up tomorrow before we get on our flight to Milan for the first Qashqai event.

After the Mellowpark viewing, we headed over to the pumptrack that was built by all the Blackbox Labs guys (Carlo, Timo, Joscha, etc) and had a proper session. It was really fun and super fast. Some of the locals were tricking one of the rollers, so Phil got in on that.

The sun started to set, so we drove a couple minutes to the Berlin Wall and snapped a bunch of photos. The upside to all of this traveling is being close to historical bits and getting little history lessons on every trip. It was really cool to hear more about the Berlin Wall and the effect on everything over here.

Tomorrow we're going to try Mellowpark again, then catch a flight to Milan. Stay tuned!



2008.04.22 Berlin with Timo


We rented a car and drove to Berlin to meet up with Timo yesterday. We stopped a couple times along the way to take siestas, since we celebrated the night before and were up a bit late. We eventually made it to town around 9pm and settled in.

Timo showed us the Atmosfair stockroom today and we checked out some of his new gear. We were super psyched on everything we saw, and if you live in Europe, you can order it directly from Timo's website.

We rode around town a little bit today on some commuter bikes, and now we're getting ready to go check out the famous Mellowpark jumps. Phil and I have both been dying to see these jumps in person, because they look so incredible in photos and stuff, so today should be awesome. Stay tuned for another update later today!



2008.04.20 T-Mobile Results


Maybe you watched it live, or maybe you can tell by the image above, but the results of the T-Mobile event are as follows:
1. Paul Basagoitia
2. Lance McDermott
3. Phil Sundbaum

It was awesome to see Phil do well at this contest, especially after all of the riding and traveling that we've been doing already so far this year. I'd say it's made a difference in his riding--he absolutely slayed it today. He had some bad luck in the semi-final against Paul Bas, but made up for it earlier in the day by knocking two of Europe's best dirt jumpers out of the contest (it was elimination format): Timo and Chopper. Everyone was riding really well, so it was a fun contest to watch.

It came down to Paul and Lance for the mountain bike contest, and they were both in top form. Paul was throwing down just as hard as usual, and he even 360'd the first drop, which no one was really tricking at all. Lance front flipped the last jump and was throwing out some monster tuck-no handers over the first jump. The jumps here were massive, but it was cool to see the mtb crew rise to the challenge and put on a good show.

There was also a huge show with Millencolin and a couple other bands playing in between the heats. The bmxers put on quite a show, and Haro Bikes represented strongly, taking third in mtb (Phil) and first in bmx (Nyquist).

European contests are always fun, if not for the weird quirks, like the amount of accreditation that I needed to get on the course to film. The crowds over here are awesome, too. Everyone had their hands full signing autographs! Phil and Timo got selected to sign autographs in the T-Mobile booth, and there was a serious line for them!

All in all, a great contest. Tomorrow, Phil and I are loading up a rental car and heading up to Berlin, where we'll hit up Mellowpark and some other Berlin sights with Timo Pritzel for the next stop of Summer Of Shred. After that, it's Milan for the first stop of the Qashqai series. Good times!



2008.04.19 T-Mobile Extreme Playgrounds


The T-Mobile Extreme Playgrounds event is set to go off tomorrow, and everyone seems pretty fired up for it. There are ads for the contest everywhere, and it should be rad. The course is getting dialed in, and everyone was riding well in practice today. The event is going to be featured live on MTV over here, so that's cool. It will also be live on the internet (Freecaster), so if you want to watch it, click below to check it out. I think the event starts around 8pm in Europe, which is 9 hours ahead of the west coast of the USA.

My good friend Damjan Siriski is one of the ten invited riders at the contest, so I'm psyched to see him again. He was riding really well today during the practice session.

The format of this event is kind of like a bike battle in that it's head-to-head, with the best rider advancing to the next round. I guess they have to kick it up a notch for the tv stuff, so that'll make things interesting. I'll post results and some pics tomorrow when it becomes available.



2008.04.18 SOS New Zealand (part two)


Check it out, the second half of our New Zealand trip! Big thanks to Caleb Smith, Justin Leov, Eddie Parker, Brett Frew, Dan Frew, Kelly McGarry, Chris Beverland, and everyone else that hooked us up while we were over there. We had a blast and hopefully we'll be back again soon!

2008.04.17 Instant Karma


Today (or yesterday) I got on a direct flight from Portland to Amsterdam. I was psyched because I had the whole row to myself, so I stretched out and fell asleep after watching a couple flicks. Halfway through the "night", a flight attendant shakes me and asks if I would give up my row for a sick passenger. I obliged, and after they sorted out the passenger, they led me to the front of the plane and dropped me off in first class! How's that for karma, you even get real mugs for tea up there!

Once I got to Amsterdam (check out the cargo ship migration), I hopped a tiny plane to Cologne, then got picked up and headed to Duisburg, where the T-Mobile Extreme Playgrounds contest is going down. They were still building the course today, but it looks like it's going to be super sick. Millencollin and a couple other bands are playing on the stage at the end of the dirt jumps. It seems like there is going to be a MASSIVE crowd here in Germany.

Mossy from TAOW put together a little inspirational poster for me. What do you think?



2008.04.15 Mom, Don't Watch This..


We're back in Portland after that beast of a drive from Woodward West. We got home just in time for Phil's girlfriend Amanda's birthday party, and we celebrated in style. Good times...happy birthday Amanda!

The next morning we woke up to the news of a third pumptrack within two miles of my house! Our buddy Pat put together a HUGE pumptrack in his backyard with lines going everywhere. It has a heart shape, and there is an inside line, which you can hop in and out of. Rocker Dave put it best: "North Portland is now being renamed Pumptrack City"...

Tomorrow we're headed over to Germany for the T-Mobile Xtreme Playgrounds event in Cologne. Stay tuned for pics and a live feed on Freecaster.

The second half of the New Zealand segment is almost done. I took a short break from my NZ editing to pull together a couple clips from the Woodward trip. This is my attempt at learning backflips on resi. Mom, don't watch this clip!




2008.04.11 Woodward to PDX


Today was our last day at Woodward, followed by a looooong drive back to Portland. We needed to be back by Friday for some stuff, so we sessioned until 11pm. After the session, we packed up and showered, then hopped in the truck and started driving.

Around 2am we stopped for gas, and for some reason the truck wouldn't start back up. Phil worked on it for about two hours (I'm basically useless when it comes to car stuff) until he remembered something that his younger brother Sam told him about the battery. Phil scraped off some stuff on the battery and the car fired up as strong as ever, and we were back on the road by 4am! THANKS SAM!!

We made it home around 6pm, and immediately jumped into my pumptrack to get our blood flowing again! It was a great trip and everyone pushed their riding level a few notches higher (including myself). Good times...good crew..



2008.04.09 Day 2 Woodward


Just another day riding the best training facility for bikes in the world, no big whoop. I took my flips to the resi today, with varying levels of success. I did get it around, but my feet blew off the pedals when I landed. Whatever, it was still better than landing it perfect in the foam.

Phil is killing it, dialing in a few things here and there. Porter's buddy Blake just learned tuck no-handers in a couple tries and is already throwing them down on the box.

We scoped out the slopestyle course here at Woodward, they have been working really hard on it lately with some heavy machinery. It looks like a lot of fun! We will probably shoot a couple lines on it tomorrow.

We are in the presence of greatness...pick up the new copy of Mens Journal and flip to page 200-something and you'll see the face of our lovely Canadian friend and fellow roadtripper/shredder, Darcy Turenne. Niiiiice...



2008.04.08 Let the sessions begin...


Today was our first full day of riding at Woodward West. We slept in a bit, grabbed a mellow lunch, and then wandered around the area looking at all of the stuff that we can ride this week.

The foam pit got some serious action today, and even I got in on the session. I started un-penciling my flips. Phil was 3-whipping and double-360ing the resi ramp as well. Darcy was boosting as well, and she is headed towards 360s by the end of the week.

Speaking of Darcy, we had a good laugh at the grocery store tonight--she was in rare form! She grabbed one of those swimming noodles and started chasing Phil around the store. It was like watching someone poke a bear in a cage at the zoo with a stick!

Here are two vids from today...me and phil...



2008.04.07 Roadtrip to Woodward


The other day Phil and I loaded up the truck with our bikes and our favorite Canadian girl ripper, Darcy Turenne, and headed down toward Woodward West. With all of the flying we've been doing, it was refreshing to do a nice, long roadtrip!

I think we all needed a little extra sleep, and the truck was a great place for that...even for the driver! We made it a point to hit up In-N-Out on our way down, too. Darcy is a vegetarian (or at least she was until she saw our double-doubles) so she wasn't super psyched at first, but she was still amazed to see the wonder that is In-N-Out.

We stopped in San Francisco at Monika and Michael's house last night. We had a great breakfast and a chill morning with them, then we scoped out the view from the roof before hopping back into the truck for one last stretch of highway. We got to Woodward around 9pm tonight and had a chill session just flowing around and getting used to the park. It seems to be empty right now, so we've got the whole park to ourselves.

We met Eric Porter and one of his bros out here, they'll be hanging out and shredding all week, too. I'm looking forward to a super fun and relatively relaxing week of riding and progression!

We ended our night with a little Office session. Right before I left for this trip, I got a little package in the mail with season one (THANK YOU KARA!) so we are making good use of it. I don't even know if our tv works in the room here, but at this point, it really doesn't matter. Lastly, check out the first half of the New Zealand segment for the Summer Of Shred. The second half has even more bangers, so sit tight. I'll be finalizing that edit as soon as I get back from Woodward West. Also, go to PinkBike and leave us a bunch of comments and favorite it so we can get V.O.D. on this clip!

2008.04.03 The Official Beginning Of Summer


I'd say that we had kind of a 'soft opening' for the pumptrack over the last couple weeks, but last night was the grand opening, and we had everyone over for a monster bbq and shred session. Everyone brought their bikes and we broke in the track properly!

Phil got the grill going with a little extra flair, then watched me ride for a bit. Dave Hemming was on hand to man the grill and he held down the spot of token English guy all night!

Landon Holt of Tonic Fab made a surprise appearance and I couldn't have been happier to see him and ride with him. He broke his leg almost exactly a year ago and was on crutches for five months, but you wouldn't know it if you saw him riding the track. He was the first person to manual through the rollers (it's a lot harder than it sounds, trust me) and he generally slayed it all night. He snapped a ton of pics, too, so I suspect you'll be able to find those on the Tonic Fab blog.

Good times.. Tonight Darcy Turenne, Geoff Gulevich, Tyler Maine and Yukon James are going to be at the house. I promise that this blog isn't just going to be pumptrack photos from now on...I swear we are going down to Cali in a couple days! After that we'll be in Europe for T-Mobile and Qashqai, so sit tight!