08/21/2008

There are moments in life when you realize that you simply just are not as young as you used to be. Watching a 20 year old pound down two full Denny’s breakfasts at midnight is one of those times. Witnessing the display of aerial skill that went off at the Portland edition of the Wham Bam Thank You Jam was another. Riding bikes is cyclical. Progress comes and goes in waves, fads, trends and eventually gets labeled “retro” by the next crop of up-and-coming riders. These riders push themselves (and each other) right to the edge and then over it, unknowingly dragging the sport into its next phase in their wake. You’ve heard the whispers, but that crop of riders is here, now; and they are primed to explode.

The jam was held at Hindsight MX Park just outside of Portland, Oregon. The course consisted of a plywood roll-in ramp perched just under the roof of the building in what would normally be attic space, over the lounge and park office. This led to gap/stepdown over the railing in the spectators’ area that served as the entry to the main jumps. Following that were three smooth dirt jumps containing sizeable gaps. A curved plywood wall at the end of the straight turned riders 90° to the left and could also be tricked off of. The course finished out with a jump to a wooden platform that allowed one last flourish as riders completed their runs.

A good-sized crowd filed in Tuesday evening to watch the assembled contingent of pros and amateurs get a feel for the course and test the dirt in practice. Riders noted the course had plenty of speed, good opportunities for large tricks and that the dirt was well shaped (but very hard). A throng of media-types were also on hand to takes notes, snap photos and roll video to capture all the action of this progressive winter event. Things started right on time and refreshingly, the action kept rolling in a tightly packed sequence. There were no long delays between sessions, just lots of riding and good communication about what was happening next. This kept the crowd involved and maintained the energy level throughout the night. The organizers did their homework and it showed.

The crowd gathered in anticipation of a good show. Shooters gathered like moths around a lightbulb.

The amateur riders were divided into two heats and hit the course with reckless abandon trying not only to clear the gaps, but toss their best tricks in along the way. Atomlab upped the excitement by offering a cash prize to the “Pimp of the Heat” who notched the best trick or showed the most complete run. Chris Jordan took home the honours in heat one after several nice runs combining no-handers, a Superman and some very flat tweaked tabletops.

The undisputed early highlight of the night was provided by nsmb’s own AIRprentice, Benton “Boots” Henning. Benton had been having trouble linking tricks on the course, and in his signature no-holds-barred style decided instead to let it all hang out on the opening drop over the railing stepdown. Most riders to this point had not thrown tricks off this feature, simply concentrating on landing cleanly and setting up for the first jump. After a quick roll in, Henning took the crowds' collective breath away by attempting a backflip to enter the course! He didn’t have the rotation dialed and came up just short, resulting in a quick slide down the dirt transition. Regardless, it brought a huge cheer out of the crowd and respect from the pros in attendance including Trek’s Cam McCaul, who noted “I’ve landed a million backflips but I’ve never tried that!”It would serve as a precursor of things to come.

Benton Henning throws down with an x-up drop. Click for the full-size shot.

The break in the action following the amateur heats allowed me to share a few minutes with one of the creators of the event, Match Videozine’s Aaron Lutze. He was gracious enough to give me the inside line on how the event came in to existence, who helped make it a reality, what he hoped to accomplish with the Portland jam and where his future aspirations for the Wham Bam name lie.

The Wham Bam events started off last November as a local Portland bowl jam that Braun razors and appliances got behind to create a sponsored competition. That led Aaron and his partner in crime, Landon Holt, to enlist the help of TAOW Productions, a modern marketing firm out of Portland. People like Kris “Jaymo” Jamieson at TAOW were instrumental in ramping up the level of organization and marketing surrounding the event. Those qualities carried over in to the follow-up event that became the Wham Bam Thank You Jam.

When I asked who the major forces behind the scenes were, Aaron’s response reflected the grassroots nature of the organizing: “Essentially everyone who walked through the door was a big supporter of what we're doing in one way or another. From the riders to the media and spectators to the sponsors, everyone is here to make this thing happen.” He went on to single out the course builders, who due to scheduling restrictions had to show up at the venue at 5 a.m. (on the day that practice was set to start) to build the course from scratch. They created an amazing playground that was visually dynamic and allowed the riders to showcase their skills.

As amazing as the builders were, no event makes it off the napkin it’s designed on without a lineup of quality people and companies willing to ante up the money and prizes that make events like these possible. The assembled sponsor list was as solid and diverse with Nike 6.0, RST Suspension, Yakima, Dakine, Gravity, Atomlab, Black Market Bikes, Diamondback, EVS Protection, Oregon Sports Authority and Tonic Fabrication all stepping up to help create an evening neither the riders or the spectators would soon forget. The main goal of the Portland event was to get the word out and set the standard for future Wham Bam events. They certainly got the attention of the riders in attendance and are sure that the word will spread.

The logo that holds it all together - Portland's Wham Bam Thank You Jam

Looking towards the future, Lutze’s ultimate goal is to create a North American slopestyle series that allows up-and-coming amateur riders a chance to hone their skills and gain experience in the format. “As amazing as the European events are, not that many people can take off work for a week or two and fly over there to compete on a regular basis,” said Lutze. Aaron was very pleased with the way things were progressing at the Portland event and finished off our conversation by noting, “Everyone that I’ve talked to is psyched for our next event, so I'd say we accomplished our goal. I can't wait to take it to the mountain.” Here’s hoping he gets the chance to make that vision a reality.

As the first pro heat was announced, the energy rise in the arena was noticeable. The crowd pressed closer to the ropes, the track was cleared and photographers took up stations to get shots of the coming madness from the best possible angle. The crowd began to buzz and you could just feel the event was about to break wide open. It was like waiting for the first bolt of lightning to kick off a monster storm. Even though the pros took it easy in their practice runs, saving their best tricks for when the title was on the line, the difference was immediately evident. Tricks the amateurs struggled to complete were finished off easily while the pros maintained a relaxed, almost carefree posture. Landings were clean and overjumping the backside transitions was a much greater worry than not clearing the gaps.

There wasn’t any waiting for the storm to break once the pros got rolling. Jamie Goldman brought the thunder with a clean 360 off the opening drop and it was on from there. Another rider that really stuck out in the opening stanza was Alex Reveles. This relative newcomer was flinging huge, smooth motowhips over the first jump that had amateurs and fellow pros alike commenting on his amplitude and at-the-limit approach. Within minutes, the first backflip runs were out of the box and the intensity was pinned as the pros vied for a spot in the final. Goldman snagged the “Pimp of the Heat” award for his linked 360/backflip/360/tailwhip run.

Heat number two saw Guy Marsh, Cam McCaul and Trond Hansen take turns upping the limit. Trond was making it look easy but his soft landings almost served to hide the difficulty of his tricks. The elder McCaul (his younger brother Tyler was also riding in the pro class) came charging out with big tricks featuring huge extension, and he sewed them all together run after run. His experience in big-pressure competitions around the world was readily visible. Seattle’s Guy Marsh stood out by cranking sharp tricks with lots of double moves in the air.

Cam McCaul showing his trademark style with a no-foot can.

The third heat featured more big guns including Aaron Chase, Greg Watts and North West ripper Phil Sundbaum. Chase came out of the gate looking slightly loose but began dialing it in with his signature tech/street style later in the heat. Watts pulled one of the first 360-whips and Phil tallied some of the most complete runs yet with his burly, stomping style.

Phil Sundbaum scopes his landing zone in the middle of his 360.

The final pro heat had more names and plenty of energy. The one-upsmanship had reached the brink, and if you were going to get noticed you needed a run that would set the place on fire. Kirt Voreis, Kyle Strait and Rian Meyer all hammered the course looking for the spark that would propel them to the finals. However, Joe Perrizo and John Jesme waged a battle for supremacy that saw them reel off some of the best runs of the night.

Kyle Strait flys through the air with the greatest of ease. This move is familiar to Crankworx attendees.
Click for the full-size shot.

Spokane’s Perrizo ignited the crowd when he followed Benton Henning’s lead from earlier in the night and slammed home a solid backfilp off the opening drop. Not to be outdone, Jesme crafted a huge follow-up run that featured a backflip/backflip/360 combination over the three main hits and earned one of the loudest cheers of the night. The pro heats ended in a fever pitch and it was up to the judges to set the finals

Joe Perrizo was the semi-local who made good with moves like this backflip. Click for the full-size shot.

With announcement of the pro finals lineup came the only small disappointment of the night. Joe Perrizo was left out, despite being the first off the entry drop with a backfilp and tacking together a group of nice runs. He ended up with a handful of sponsor cash at the end of the night for being the guinea pig, so it wasn’t all bad. As those left in the competition started to rip off bigger tricks, the urgency in the building was vaulted up another notch. It literally hit the breaking point when Jamie Goldman pulled a backflip off the opening drop and tried to link a frontflip over the first gap. There was an audible gasp and the resulting crash was just plain scary. He completed about three-quarters of the rotation and landed right on the lip of the transition with small of his back, nearly bending himself in half for a split second. After a few minutes on the track, he was helped off to try and recover. The rest of the pros did their best to ignore the risks and pin it wide open.

Goldman's front flip, moments before it went bad. Really bad.

Alex Reveles continued to astound with his style, but it quickly became clear that in terms of the overall title it would come down to a select handful or riders. These were the guys linking tricks during all their runs and showing a wide variety of the biggest moves in doing so. As the final began to shake out, the top riders were Phil Sundbaum, Cam McCaul, John Jesme, Aaron Chase and Trond Hansen.

Aaron Chase's one-foot x-up is super clean.

All of them made the judges' life hard as the time in the pro final wound down. Out of nowhere, a limping Jamie Goldman hauled his bike to the launch platform and to the amazement of everyone present, launched another backflip off the opening drop followed by a tailwhip and a pair of 360s. Considering that he’d been laying in a heap not 15 minutes before, it was a sensational turn of events and a true credit to the toughness displayed by these riders.

Sundbaum ripped off a 360 on the opening drop followed by 360 x-up/Superman/one-handed can can and then a tailwhip off the last platform. Not to be outdone, McCaul closed out the finals with an amazing 360 off the drop, to backflip/tailwhip/360 whip/drop 360. It brought the house down and the riding at this amazing event to a close. With that, the judges were left to decide just who had thrown down the hardest, most consistent runs of the night. Hoarse from cheering for all the amazing performances, I wasn’t envious of their task.

Phil Sundbaum's no-foot can, with tons of room left to get it all back together for the landing. Click for the full-size shot.

In the end the riders that earned spots on the podium were: 3rd place: Trond Hansen - for his wide array of tricks and effortless style; 2 nd place: Phil Sundbaum – tons of consistently linked runs and a charging style that kept the crowd roaring; and the winner of the Jam: Cam McCaul – all the biggest tricks, pulled at the limit of extension and in a row… all night long.

Norweigan Trond Hansen with an awesome tail whip and an even cooler set matching blue rims and cranks. Click for the full-size shot.

It was a tremendous opening event. Riders, sponsors and spectators alike came away impressed with the level of organization, camaraderie and riding that made this all-for-one, grassroots spectacle at a motocross barn in Oregon a night to remember. We can only hope it is the first of many great things brought to life by the Wham Bam crew in the years to come.

Trond, Cam and Phil on the podium / dirt pile with the spoils of victory

And a few more shots from nsmb photog extraordinaire Jay Sinclair...

Mitch Chubey with a really clean tuck, a million miles off the jump. He finished 3rd in the amateur comp.

Not to be outdone by his big brother, Tyler McCaul threw a cork flip

Greg Watts spotting his landing on this very clean backflip. Click for the full-size shot.


Vancouver local Evan Holmgren with a one-foot table. Click for the full-size shot.