Enjoy the Trick Jam 2010

Words by Anthony. Video by Justin.

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.

The Morning After The Day Before

A big thank you to all the people that came out to the jam on Saturday. It was an amazing day and the level of support from local and out of town riders really made me appreciate what a thriving and diverse scene we have here in the NW.

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

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.

Portland Flatland Jam Today

Just in case you forgot the jam is today. Here’s a repost of the detail and directions. Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

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

View Larger Map

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.

PDX Summer Flat Report Card

It has been a great Summer here in Portland so far. It took a while for the sun to come out and play but it is here in full force now.

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

Eugene Jam

Words and photos by Jeremy

I’m not sure when, exactly, the idea was put forth that Sonny and I should put on a jam of our own, but I think Joe planted the seed. Over a period of a few weeks, Sonny and I decided that we would. We had the perfect spot, too. The 105 bridge crossing the Willamette River covers a basketball court where Eugene old-schoolers such as Cash Reynolds and Jesse Puente rolled back in the mid to late 80′s. With the forecast predicting 30% chance of rain, it was perfect.

Except for the fact, which we discovered Friday, that a Gay/Lesbian organization reserved it for festivities lasting the duration of the day. Fuck is right!

So we moved to the courts at Chucrchill Sports Park, where the Churchill skatepark is, attached to a highschool. Justin was first on the scene and had his bike out of his european wagon and spinning jugglers and steams instantly, with the occasional J-stall thrown in to work the abs. Cash Reynolds actually came out, lured by the promise of a bike to ride. The bike in question was my park bike which needed some chain work. Cash worked on it the entire time we were at the courts.

Anthony and James showed up with the shirts and a couple of very dialed bikes next. James had an S&M LTF which was chrome-plated. Drool, you know you want to.

Brett showed next and I got hooked up with two pairs of his ti-ended pegs for a very good price. They even had cheeta print grip-tape. He proceeded to flow around the courts, non-stop. Every time I looked over, he was rolling, switching and smoothying.

He also brought the most sano un-bike I have ever seen.
Sarge (Paul Miller) was next sporting large guns, facial hair, sun glass tan and the Tank, his ghetto ride. I have to admit, I was really stoked to see him. The level of positive energy was off the scale and we took turns making tire marks in the gritty, yet fast, surface. But, as Sonny fired up the BBQ, the rain made good on earlier threats and sprinkles and opened up for real.

We moved to a covered spot at the high school entrance and it turned out to be a great spot. While steaks and burgers BBQ’d riders shared the tiny spot as cameras caught the action. Cash had the bike going and seemed to feel right at home breaking out rolling tricks like butter. The vibe was at an all-time high. Steaks and burgers were passed out, thanks to Sonny’s set-up. It was a medium sized BBQ/smoker strapped down to a low trailer made from a pickup bed and it was dialed.

He takes his BBQ’ing seriously, using cherry wood to add natural flavor and never uses gas. The meat tasted great.

Which was about the time security rolled up. The fucker. Ok, we have been at this for twenty years and have come to realize what it means to have a job to do. We get it, security has to make us leave, but be human about it. As we rolled out, I offered him a bribe of a steak, trying to be cool and joke with the guy. He was a straight up ass about it. Fuck him.

The vibe would not be stopped as the crew, minus Anthony, moved to the Creswell spot which Sonny and I have been loving since I moved in October. The general consensus seemed to be that the spot was all I had foretold it to be and worth driving to as the session continued.

As the session wound down I realized just how great all the guys are and how much this jam meant to Sonny and I. It was kind of giving back, though I wish Joe could have made it. He busted his ass providing the t-shirts which turned out great and deserves a good steak.

Thanks to everyone who made it out and contributed to the awesome vibe. Thanks to Sonny for the eats and motivation. We’re gonna do a little jam again, possibly in the winter, since our spot is lit and covered year-round.

It was a good fuckin time.
~J

Eugene Jam: June 19th, 2010

Looks like Jeremy and Sonny are organizing a Eugene Jam for June 19th. I am stoked to see another NW jam being put together. Here’s the latest on the jam from Sonny:

“We’ve got the location narrowed down to 2 locations (both are more than adequate). I just checked out the second one today. lit, indoors, flat, and big! It’s attached to an indoor sk8park on tennis court surface. a bit slow, but consistent. the 1st choice is a big, lit asphalt area under a bridge. probably less rules, but definitely more bums. I’m gonna call on Monday to see what I’ll have to pay for the indoor facility — -We’ll try to keep everyone posted”

Check back here or join the Pacific NW Riders group on Elephant Glide for more info.

And don’t forget the Seattle Jam is on May 8th. Go to Global-Flat for details and updates.