Yo Hoots Jay!
Light my Dreads... Not my 'O' Torch!

Not being a racer or regular competitor, I never know from year to year when the true start of my riding season is. While it is true that there are some significant events like good weather (rain that stops pouring inside of 30 days at a time) and spring cycling shows (including Sea Otter) that generally point toward the appropriate time to ride, I generally have to wait for just the right message from my universe to get charged up for some serious saddle time. 2006 has started with a bang. In fact, I fear for the solitude of winter dread because by all indicators this season is going to kick Bike Hippy Butt!

For the last two years, I have been accosted in Las Vegas by an unruly pair of bike freaks, Tom and Ben. It seems that the bike shop they work for is highly involved with trails and they have a yearly fundraising event. This year I made the choice to go and visit them, check things out and hit some hot spots on the way. Fionn Griffiths had been in touch with me about checking out some other riding scenes, packed on last minutes notice. Norco spotted us a clean modern-day vehicle that fit bikes and gear, and we were off for four days of absolute riding heaven.
Would you travel with these guys?

Leaving on a Tuesday afternoon, Fionn and I hit the border for one of the smoothest crossings into America ever, dare I say we even shared some laughs. Who would think a saucy Brit, a stink hair Canadian and several of America's finest could find humour in planted microchips and rogue pineapple. (A story unto itself?) After a quick briefing at the nearest shoe outlet, Fionn and I met up with some great friends at an indoor ramp facility in Tacoma, Washington. The session started out slow but started getting super fun and inspirational with the likes of Travis Erikson and Phil Sunbaum elevating the stoke factor.


Hoots blasting off

The foam pit soon became our new friend. Man, after twelve years of crashing hard, eating every type of dirt, rock, gravel and occasional tree bark out there, it was nice to learn some fresh tricks while only suffering minor eye irritation, 'goo' throat and a deep cut in a very strange area. As it turns out, the pit wasn't as kind to us as we thought and everyone walked away in some sort of pain or threat of a hospital visit. Our good buddy Steve C. antied up sleeping solutions and we all went coma until the next morning, where some serious local breakfast grill challenged our combined daily calorie intake.


Fionn Griffiths riding like a girl

Hump day inspired several quick decisions and the vehicles were loaded and on their way to Salem, Oregon, where we were going to visit Tom and Ben at Santiam Bike Shop and then take part in the fundraiser that evening. The drive was quite un-eventful and Fionn and I made it with plenty of time to spare. As always, I really like to impress the local shop guys by working on my bike the whole time I am there and managed to overhaul a brake caliper, repack two pedals, replace two sets of brake pads, replace a broken seat post and re-bend seat arms, adjust a headset, re-set chain line, bend a couple of teeth back on the crank and pump a couple of tires up after tensioning a rear wheel, all between two bikes! We left the shop and went to the local theatre that donated the facility for the event.


Some people call this "stunt biking"

The non-profit organization that works with the Oregon Department of Forestry is called the BlackRock FreeRide Association and has been in existence for three years. The evening scene was about watching a local movie with locals ripping on their trails (Black Rock) in Fall City and having a huge raffle. Tons of sponsors stepped up and I mean TONS of sponsors supported - you must visit their web page and check it out. In fact, go buy something from these companies because they kicked down, Large Marge! After the 30 minutes or so of giving out product to ticket holders the shop opened for a product/prize swap and locals hang out. I am blown away with how far this organization has progressed and the true passion of this community in such a short time - nothing short of inspirational.


We could use more signs like this

Thursday morning came early and we all packed as much as we could into as few vehicles as possible and made our way to the BlackRock trails in Fall City, Oregon. Riding with trail builders and locals is the best! At BlackRock, you start low and ride up service road with a very detailed map to get to the trails. At about one third the way you come across an amazing collection of trail features called 'Basic Training', which provides a training ground for what you will come upon on the trail.

Being a sucker for 'skills parks' I did have difficulty leaving the area to go ride trail, but thank the handlebars I did. The lay out of the land here is much like the North Shore except there is very little rock and a ton of really nice clay-based dirt. The tour of the day consisted mainly of the intermediate to advance trails that had a really great cross of flowing dirt jump and skinny riding, even a cliff to contemplate. What next?

We sessioned some of the XC trail and got a really good idea of the flow and feel of the area. Dang, it is worth driving 12 hours in any direction right this minute to go ride Black Rock before the secret is out - unreal, prime trail that is built technically sound and with a tremendous amount of love and flow. After a good solid day of riding, we made our way for some food and back to the bike shop when we got the call that there was a local indoor skate/BMX park that was close to opening and we could get a preview. Fionn, Tom and I ditched the dirties and dawned some fresh wear while waiting in a dodgy parking lot until a service loading door opened revealing an absolute epic park!

The place was still being built; in fact, they were building while we were riding. This park when opened is going to change the face of what indoor parks should be. Some fun smaller tech ramps but the rest of the park was full on walls, bowled corners and 'flow rocking' box jumps with huge wall rides everywhere. I want this stuff in my backyard now! Ben showed up BMX in hand and we all enjoyed the company of the owner and builders for a couple of hours while we rode lines and watched the locals kill it until it was time to go.


Mixing work with play.

At around nine o'clock, we headed for Portland to hook up for a recovery evening with Aaron Lutze from DH productions and our good buddy Steve C. At about the half way mark to Portland, the cell phone rang. Our friend Landon from Tonic Cycle had the keys to the local indoor ABA bmx track and they were looking to rip well into the night. The look on Fionn's face when I told her we could hit a racetrack! (Oh yeah, Fionn was the designated driver as ol Hooty is all about the right side chill whenever possible.)

One hour later and being a little lost we pull up to a industrial building that once inside reveals a 'full-on' ABA indoor BMX track and a complete ramp complex including huge box jump, spines, bowled corners and wall rides. The locals KILLED, SLICED and DICED it while the hours slipped away, and we are dragged out of the place late into the morning to catch some seriously needed rest.

Friday morning met with a lovely hot shower, some serious dread cleaning and a breakfast before heading over to RideThis.com bike shop to go visit Clark, Victor and Aaron. Cool store and great to see the DH productions boys hard at it - the latest Match VideoZine is going to blow your socks off!

The option of hitting the local dirt jumps quickly met opposition, as Fionn and I are ready to fight over extra socks and gloves due to the cold weather front and wind. We packed 'off and running' and headed back to Tacoma in Friday afternoon traffic for another foam-filled fun adventure.
Behind the scenes with DH Productions

It is apparent that the more time we spend at the indoor park, the more comfortable we get on the bikes. Fionn is really starting to blast off, but sadly our bodies are demanding some time off and we pack up shop and head home to yet another easy border crossing, home and in bed for eleven, sweet.

Regardless of weather, I can tell you with complete assuredness that the season has begun and with a hell of a bang. Go grab your steed, new or used, and I will look for you on the trails, jumps and skate parks. Get your sweet single track in, I heard the resorts are just about to open…

Props to everyone who made this happen:
Block Rock Trail Association
Santiam Bike Shop (Tom, Troy, Graham, Chris)
Hucker Steve C.
Aaron and Nina
Ben and Aaron, you too Brutus
Our wicked cool sponsors Norco Performance Bikes, Funn, Ryders, Marzochi, Hoots

Jay Hoots