Like I was 12 years old again, giving the big thumbs up with Bob Haro, Brian Blyther, Dave Nourie and Mike Dominguez

August 14 2010 – Ashland, OR.

Very few people in life actually get to meet their heroes. If you grew up a big Led Zeppelin fan, chances are 25 years later you still haven’t met Robert Plant. Freestyle BMX is different, especially now. In 1986 when I first got into freestyle, the only access I had to pro riders was the magazine. In the summer of 1987 our local bike shop hosted the Haro Freestle team (actually there were two teams touring that summer I think). Burbank Schwinn was the place and Ron Wilkerson, Brian Blyther and Dave Nourie were the team.

Dave Nourie wows the crowd, summer 1987.

Brian Blyther airs over the Haro ramp.

Ron Wilkerson one-handed rocket air.

That show stuck in my mind and memory as the defining freestyle show. I saw a few other shows over the next couple summers, but Ron, Brian and Dave were at the top of the game back then and that was the show everyone wanted to see. So it was pretty exciting to hear that the Haro team were doing some reunion shows to celebrate the 25th anniversary.

The first show took place at the Worlds in Germany in 2009. A pretty amazing video edit from Germany made it online. Early in 2010 I went with a few friends to an old-school BMX gathering in Albany, OR and Dave Nourie was actually there. Between riding and having a few beers (the show was at a brew pub), Dave mentioned the team would be doing another show in August, in Ashland OR. I marked it on the calendar.

I guess Dave is pretty involved in the community in Ashland and helps organize a bike event called Bike It. The Haro show was to be the highlight of the 2010 Bike It event. I arrived early, there were only a handful of people there. I saw Dave in a fluorescent green shirt with matching Vans getting things organized.

Dave Nourie, master of ceremonies

Dave in the midst of "Nourie's Story," the flatland demo

Throughout the day, there was a lot of free riding, some bike events, Dave’s Flatland Demo, a silent auction and a ton of raffle giveaways. Despite the mid 90s temperatures, it was a very cool day even before the Haro team took center stage.

Right around 5:30, Kevin Martin took over the mic, just like the old days and got the festivities started. Before the show kicked off, he pointed out guys in the crowd like Bob Haro, Scotty Freeman and few other old schoolers.  A few minutes later he directed the attention of the crowd to the back of the lot where a stretched black limo was pulling up with 4 BMX bikes hanging off the back. The driver and a girl on skates got out to open the door and let Dave, Ron, Brian and Mike Dominguez out. The old school music was cranking and the show got started proper.

The only way to arrive at a show.

The guys all took turns taking runs, Dave filling out the flatland portion and the rest hitting the ramps (though Ron did do a few slick ground moves). The heat was intense and the team was decked out in full Haro uniforms and old school helmets (complete with mouth guard). It must have been unbelievably hot but they all hit it hard and gave everything they had.

Ron W pedal picker drop in, pulled first try

Brian with a Chicken Air (video still)

Mike D fakie (video still)

This is what a 35 year old kid looks like. That silly grin was on my face the entire time

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Enjoy The Trick 2010 Summer Jam

- August 7, 2010, Creston Elementary School, Portland OR

When the rain stops in Portland, right around June I guess, momentum starts to build among the Enjoy The Trick crew to organize the annual summer flatland jam. Being new to the scene and Portland in general, this was my first chance to see first hand how a small community of flatland riders in the NW routinely pull off some of the coolest events. The 2010 Summer Jam did not disappoint.

The jam is always more of a BMX gathering than a flatland jam and the great support from Portland’s street riders as well as non-riding spectators make the jam that much better. To top it off this summer, the crew obtained product from adidas, Tips Plus, Primo, Lotek and FlatlandFuel to give away. Even Chris from Brickhouse bikes gave out DVDs and stickers to many grateful recipients. As if that’s not enough, Joe always prints jam shirts for all the riders, flat and street. Come for the jam, leave with a bunch of goods. Not a bad deal.

The weather cooperated nearly the entire day. Overcast, occasionally sunny and a little muggy, but all-in-all a fine day to ride. A few riders showed up a bit early to sweep and prep the area, around 11:30 the bulk of the ETT crew rolled in looking a bit haggard (English James, I’m looking at you). There was a little pre-jam celebrating on Friday night so the boys headed off just as quick as they showed up to eat, rehydrate and grab some groceries for the BBQ.

Riders of all types began trickling in and the jam area was getting worked early with Justin, Anthony, Joe and Chris warming it up. The rest of the flat crew came back from lunch and Patrick, Mark, Brett and even James got in on the action, with Patrick especially hitting it hard, charging his combos with speed. Justin was working hard on his no-handed hithchiker link and Joe and Chris were flowing through the jam area with gliding tricks. Anthony laid down the gauntlet with a few cleanly pulled double decades, to which Mark answered back with a perverted to mega spin to perverted. Nailed. Brett brought out his unbike so that got everyone’s attention with tons of high speed hang five turbines (Jeremy would also later bring his one-wheeler out and OWN the unbike contest with all kinds of no handed turbining variations).

Rue and family rolled in to complete the Seattle delegation. The jam area was getting pretty full. We were starting to wonder where the Eugene crew was when Joe got an ominous text from Jeremy saying that they had stopped at a hospital in Albany, with Cash apparently having “heart attack” like symptoms. Long story short, Cash was OK. Apparently Jeremy’s graphic description of an injury was enough to send Cash into a spin. The doctors would say it was a sudden drop in blood pressure. Sonny showed up first, then, with a bit of surprise, Jeremy and Cash rolled in and promptly got in on the riding. The Eugene flat crew was in full representation and by the looks of it they have been practicing a lot!

By this time the school yard was pretty full with a good group of street riders and flatlanders all doing their thing in the same area. The street guys were killing it with rails, nose manuals and a few lines that were straight up crazy: bunny-hop > barspin > manual > whopper! Another cool thing to see was Plywood Hood Mike Daily coming by on his old school CW doing undertakers. Classic.

Right around mid afternoon, James fired up the BBQ and provided hamburgers and hot dogs to all who wanted, and right around this time we kicked off the bunnyhop contest. We had previously said that all riders could enter, but only flat bikes could be used. We chucked that rule out the window and the street guys went to work easily clearing 24 inches, 30 inches and 36 inches before riders started hitting the bar. Everyone cleared 3 feet, but the bump up to 3 feet 3 inches knocked everyone out. With a slight decrease down to 37.5 inches, the shootout was on and a winner was found with Nick Coughlin clearing the bar cleanly and going home with a pack of goodies.

Next up was to pass out the prize for best slam. Since everyone amazingly stayed upright and no real amounts of blood was shed, the obvious choice was to give the award to Cash for actually spending part of the day in the hospital. Best Trick went to Patrick for cleanly pulling his mega back-packer link (with speed). Hardest rider of the jam was an easy choice, and went to Bret. It happens every weekend at the church lot and it happened at the jam. He hit it hard all day. At one point I looked over and saw him wringing out his sweatband like he’d just dunked it in a bowl of water. Must be those fancy Spry parts.

The siren song of the Lucky Lab was calling so the flatlanders headed over to get their fill of hopped beverages and pizza and reflect on the day. Pints and pitchers flowed in large amounts and went straight to my head. A very kind soul drove me home, but by all reports the party was just getting started. Another story for another day. For me, it was a great end to another great Enjoy The Trick Summer Jam.

We had every kind of rider show up during the day. Flatlanders, street riders (lots of them), old schoolers and regular Portland cyclists wanting to see what NW freestyle is all about.

Quite a few people made long trips just to be there. Thank you Rue (and family), Jeremy, Mark, Sonny, Cash and Chris for making the effort. Apologies if I missed anyone.

Thank you to our sponsors adidas, Tips Plus, Primo, Lotek, FlatlandFuel, Brickhouse Bikes, Spry Bike Co and Goods BMX. We were able to hand out several prize packs and everyone who got one was stoked.

Check back soon for more updates, videos, photos and a full write up.

While you are waiting a few local blogs posted photos from the jam. Shad posted a bunch of photos on the Goods blog. You can check them out here. Jared Souney snapped a nice bunnyhop shot. Mark Rainha took the group shot below and did a write up on the day

Thanks

Photo by Mark Rainha. Thanks Mark.

Finally a very big thank you to all the locals who put so much time and effort into this jam. You know who you are.

The Enjoy the Trick Summer Jam 2010 will be on 08/07/2010 at Creston School in Portland.

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Creston School‎
4701 SE Bush St,
Portland, OR‎ 97206

From noon to 7pm

There will be free water, we’ll be cooking some hot dogs, and a t-shirt for everyone who rides. Well I say that but if a 100 of you show there won’t be enough shirts to go round. After riding we will find a nice bar, get some grub and grab a few beers.

Everyone is welcome.

Bike Specs:

Frame: SickChild Metropolitan/ 18.75″ TT
Forks: Odyssey Flat Forks
Stem: Camacura 26
Bars: Odyssey Chase 7.5”
Grips: Odyssey Thumb Tacks / Black
Bar Ends: Odyssey Plastic
Cranks: Odyssey Polished Phat widows 165mm
Pedals: Odyssey Twisted PC / White
Sprocket: Unknown 26t
Chain: KMC Lime Green
Seatpost: Thompson Elite / Black
Seat: KHE Plastic / White
Seatclamp: S&M
Rims (front/back): Odyssey Hazard Light White / Alienation Skylark White
Rear Hub: KHE Geisha Light
Front Hub: Odyssey Vanderos 2
Pegs: Spry Ti
Tires: Odyssey Freq G’s
Front Brake: Gold DiaTech
Levers: DiaComp Tech77

Rider of the Jam – This award will go to the rider who rode the hardest, pulled something amazing, kept the vibe alive and generally kicked ass on all levels. An adidas sack pack will be stuff with goods from Primo, Lotek, FlatlandFuel and more adidas.

Trick of the Jam – This award will go to the rider who pulled something amazing. Basically, if a trick got everyone cheering, that’s a good indication it was the Trick of the Jam. Another adidas sack pack will be stuff with goods from Primo, Lotek, FlatlandFuel and more adidas.

Slam of the Jam - Been riding hard all day but just couldn’t hot that trick? Fear not, your slams, especially a spectacular one, will go rewarded. More adidas, Primo, Lotek and FlatlandFuel gear to the bloodiest rider.

Bunnyhop Contest - A specially devised, technologically advanced measuring devise (see photo) was built to measure the heights of bunnyhops. Really, it’s just a few sticks of wood and a classic bunnyhop contest. The catch? Any type of rider can enter, but only a flat bike can be used! The rider with the most hops will ride away with, yes, you guessed it, more gear from Primo, Lotek, FlatlandFuel and adidas.

Only five days until the jam!

I rode a chrome frame as a kid and have wanted one ever since I got back into riding. After much drooling over other people’s LTFs I pulled the trigger and ordered one from Shad at Goods.

The photos really do not do this bike justice. It is a beautiful thing. I can honestly say I now own three of the nicest bikes I have ever ridden. So stoked.

Frame: S&M LTF / 19.5″ TT
Forks: Odyssey Flat Forks
Stem: Dragonfly Doozer
Bars: Fit Inman’s
Grips: Odyssey Thumb Tacks
Bar Ends: Bizhouse
Cranks: Profile Flatland Cranks (150mm) / FSA Ti Spindle / Ti Hardware
Pedals: Ares 88 Plastic Pedal
Sprocket: RNC 28t Titanium (Custom machined)
Chain: KMC
Seatpost: MacNeil
Seat: MacNeil Pivitol
Seatclamp: S&M
Rims (front/back): Odyssey Duralecta Rims (48H)
Rear Hub: Nankai Technolite Freecoaster (11t with Quamen Cap)
Front Hub: DK
Pegs: Spry
Tires: Odyssey Freq G’s
Front Brake: Odyssey Evo
Rear Brake: Hombre
Levers: Odyssey MonoLevers (medium)
Gyro: Snafu

Shad and a bunch of street riders came out to hang at the lot as well. Chico the dog was chillin’ on the sidelines.

We did some riding, stood around chatting and then went for a few brews. It was a fun night and I really can’t wait to see how the photos turned out. Now we just have to get a photo of Joe in Ride and Cream.

Here are some photos I took. I apologize for the quality I was messing with my camera and turned on some weird color setting.

Anthony posted a sneak peak of the gear on his blog. Check it out. A big thanks to Anthony and our sponsors for making this happen.

For more info on the jam and directions click here.

Jam Gear!

Anthony put together this great video of what’s been going down here this Summer. Nice one Anthony it really captures the good times we have riding here in Portland.

Now go ride.

A little summer footage from Eugene, Mt. Tabor and the Church Lot. Enjoy The Trick