08/21/2008

When in 'Roam'... Filming with Ryan Leech in the Czech Republic Words by Ryan Leech, Photos by Colin Jones, Darcy Wittenburg, and Jamie Houssian

So I'm in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic!! I'm traveling with the full Collective crew, Darcy Wittenburg, Jamie Houssian, Darren Mccullough, and Colin Jones. We're filming for their new flick titled 'Roam'.

Day 1

Day one was an exploratory day. We hit a few of the downtown parks, and the first thing I noticed was that they didn't clean up their doggy doo, a very important observation if you are riding street. The Second thing I noticed was a sweet tree branch that I incorporated into a line. Unfortunately, I also managed to incorporate some of that dog doo into the line as well during my landing!!

This tree was just begging to be ridden!.

It's a delicate balance riding in a city that is full of history. Most of the lines you're riding have some sort of important historical story attached to them, so you're far more likely to offend people than in our relatively young North American cities. We actually had three people tell us off today, two in Czech, and one in English. I am always sure to be respectful of the architecture and make sure nothing but rubber touches the stonework. But, with so many people around, it's a hard game to play and they don't always realize that I won't do any damage.

So opening day, we have a few shots in the bag, but lots more still to collect!

Some serious walls surround the city.

Day 2 The Czechs call their capital city Praha, meaning 'little mother Prague'. It's a beautiful city with all sorts of architectural styles, from Romanesque and Gothic, to Renaissance and Modernist. The variety should make for a great array of backgrounds in the film. I'm still getting over jet lag, which meant another late start to the day. Our first set up was in front of a bank, right in the heart of downtown. I couldn't believe we didn't get kicked out even though we were there about 25 minutes solid until I got the line. Business owners were watching, and bankers were even coming out to see what was going on, but no one stopped us. It seems that the locals have that same enjoyment of alternative sports as the rest of Europe. Next we found a pretty technical line that I tried for about 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the light changed so I had to give up - kinda sucked, but it was taking too long anyway. It's tough to walk away from a line when you've invested so much time in it. Wasn't long before I got my stoke back though.

Day 3 One of the most important years for Prague, as of late, was 1989, when the Velvet Revolution freed the city from Communism. The locals we spoke with are so happy with life and the opportunities that are now open to every citizen that it's hard to imagine the change only took place a decade and a half ago. They say that certain old habits are still evident in the population, for example, not picking up after your dog!! This was the best day yet as far as filming goes. We nailed five keeper lines that should make the film. The crew rented cruisers so we could get around a lot faster and that allowed us to cover a lot more ground. One line in particular was a challenge. It involved a train track, and I ended up getting five flat tires in the process of trying to get it just right. Funny thing was, I tried it initially to just see if it was doable and nailed it first try!

The level in train track lines.

At the end of the day, I pulled a big side gap, but I had to take a recovery hop at the end and couldn't get it perfect even after trying for half an hour. The crew said it looked great, and maybe a good-looking line with an extra hop is better than none, I hope so anyway!

Day 4

Wow, my body is sore today! Trying that big gap yesterday stretched out all my muscles and now I'm paying for it! It was a bit of a gamble coming to Prague in October since it can be pretty wet this time of year, but we've been really fortunate to have blue bird skies since day one!

I was pretty happy to go back and nail that line we gave up on a few days ago; this segment is definitely shaping up. Two days left to go and one of the best lines is yet to be ridden. It's tough and a little dangerous, but I think I've got a good shot at it.

It's such a pleasure working with these Collective guys, they're so pro. Jamie, the co-producer is mellow but he has a clear vision and the skills to back it up. Darcy, also co-producer is fast with the camera and nails the shots every time. Darren is our king fruit-booter (roller blade filming) and knows how to find the best angles, and Colin captures the best G.O.P.'s (possible Easter egg when the DVD is released), plus, he's not too bad with the lens either!! I can't wait to see how Jamie and Darcy edit this segment together; I'm so stoked to be working with them all!!

Day 5

We had an earlier start today. After missing the evening sun and sunset last night because we were in a restaurant having a long dinner, I think we all felt obliged to get a full day in, so we actually went out and nailed an anchor line first thing before breakfast.

I also went back to a line I saw the first day that had been in my dreams ever since. We had perfect light, and had walked a while to get there, so I knew the time was right. I sessioned the line for what seemed like an hour, taking some pretty hard crashes, and beating myself and my bike up pretty bad. I did finally nail the line successfully, but with a small set up hop at the beginning. I had to let it go as the line had abused me enough, and decided that it was okay because this movie is called 'Roam', not 'Manifesto'!

'Roam' tries to capture the spirit of the location, as well as the riders skills.

After that we did some unsuccessful scoping for new lines, but did manage to find an incredible Mexican meal and shot the closing scenic shot for the segment during the sunset. So all in all, it was a solid day.

Day 6

We took off first thing in the morning so the boys could rent cruiser bikes again. Since this was our last day of filming, our goal was to cover as much ground as possible. At this point, we had collected enough footage to put together a solid segment, but we still needed some connecting shots to help add flow and give the viewer a chance to really sink into the action. We found a nice line with a view that incorporated a chain. Ideally, I wanted balance along it, but there was no line in or out, so I came up with a way to hit it perpendicularly - good fun!

Toward the end of the day, we hooked up with a local magazine guy named Jan, and he took us around so we could get some driving shots of me cruising the cobblestone streets. Prague is such a beautiful city, and one of our goals of the trip was to share this beauty with the viewer.

...serious celebratory Czech rounds with the boys, Pivo!

Day 7

My last day in Prague. Our friend Petr, the local Norco distributor, hooked us up with a drive to the airport. A quick hop to London and the team parted ways. Darcy, Jamie, Darren, and CJ left to hook up with Thomas Vanderham, Matt Hunter, and Andrew Shandro in Morocco, and I caught a connecting flight back to Vancouver.

'Roam' is going to be a brilliant film, and I'm stoked and proud to be a part of it, I'm can't wait to share this trip with everyone when the film is released in April of 2006!

Stay positive, and be you….over and out ya'll!!
- Ryan

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