2011 Best/Worst Lists Part 1
Posted by Landozine - 30/12/11 at 02:12:49 pm
That time has come again when Ottawa compiles the best and worst things that happened over the past year. Here are the first batch of lists, I’m sure more will pile in as New Year’s Eve gets closer. Thanks to everyone who contributed, and for those of you who haven’t sent one in yet, you still have time.
Graham Bird
best:
trucking the “skater drop” at the Kanata Park
going to taz a bunch and just learning different tricks.
worst:
a horrible sunburn in the summer that left me with hard, oozing blisters for 2 weeks, the blisters were across by back and on my shoulder
breaking parts and brusing my heels. and i broke my toe when i was halfway done building up a new bike
Chris Chitaroni
BEST
- Josh’s trail jam. A perfect BMX event : great riding, great friends, great party. Ben D’s insane first go at dirt jumping, Jorden’s giant icepick, Josh’s awesome parents, landing flairs on quarters for the first time, amazing time.
Not so Metro – partying and letting off stink bombs in the bar, then shooting fireworks at city busses on our way to a giant burrito place all while Jorden took an absurd multitude of cabs to meet up with a girl.
- Capital BMX Shoot Yourself Contest! Great turnout for that event and for a week in the middle of summer I got to see all my friends go wild on their bikes for small (or no) prizes. (Also Steve’s Flair at Rich’s was awesome)
- My Vancouver visit, riding with Jeff and Boudreau and special Vancouver guest Leland Nightengale. Going out partying and meeting some crazy Asian girl who flashed us (mostly me) hoping that one of us had coke and then she ended up sitting on the curb with Jeff talking about how much her dad likes Judas Priest until a cab showed up.
- BAR-CE-LONA, Boulevard until 6am every day, A shitty hostel full of bed bugs, Boudreau sleeping on the balcony because he’s too lazy to clean off his bed, Ginger trolling for carp, Jeff burying garbage in the ocean, Rich haggling street vendors down to nothing, beer bombing hookers from the 4th story balcony of our hostel, meeting cute girls from the netherlands, baguette fights on the street, dodgeball matches in the bar, 10 guys with aviator glasses sitting in a creepy semi circle on the beach ogling spanish princesses, Kyle Lafleur narrowly escaping a bottle induced death, Jay and Nick being absinthe fiends… I could go on forever. That week held more memories than the rest of the year combined.
- Going to Woodward twice in one year. Always a great time, the first trip we stayed in Bud’s barn which was the most epic place to stay. Pool table, indoor basketball court AND a fireman’s pole. The second time was epic for a totally different reason because there were 13 good friends riding there as well.
- Snowboard/Taz trip. Shredding on some quebec hill all day and then thinking we’d have enough energy to ride taz all night for a rental… super fun.
- Watching Tommy get back into riding.
- The Orleans talent explosion, Tommy, Steve and Jay consistently throwing down everywhere and anywhere.
- Bonfires and Parties at Rich’s house. Almost as good as a night at Zaphods…
WORST
- Sitting in the hot tub at Woodward with 6 guys for 4 hours drinking way too many beers only to realize that the only people who ever got out of the hot tub to pee were Jorden and I.
- Tommy starting to ride again and being 10x better than he was without having touched his bike in forever. Unfair.
- Roland moving away. Awesome opportunity for him and his family, however Ottawa is now left vulnerable to bear attacks.
- Jorden not coming to Barcelona
- Our riding in our metro jam heats…
- Knee injuries, Ginger re-tearing his ACL, Rich not coming to woodward the first time due to knee pains from Joyride, and my own knee blowout at Woodward in November.
The first room we got at the hostel in Barcelona. We woke up with heatstroke.
Ginger getting his iphone pickpocketed by a transexual hooker in Barcelona.
ROLAND LABRECQUE
Best
1. Got the final inspection done on “The House that Roland and Shelley Built” making that whole thing official. Also had the official house warming party and going away party at the same time.
2. Accidently bought a house and moved to Kure Beach, North Carolina. Awesome beach town! Sand, sharks, parks, surfing, …. lots of new friends.
3. We gave Rev the choice of finishing grade 2 in his Canadian school or doing the last month in his new school….”I think I’ll go start making my new friends…”
So proud of my 8yr old son Rev for this and so many other reasons!
4. Notro Toronto – Hacked around in a heat with good friends and a Canadian legend. Even among pros some guys are just at another level. Heaton ruled!
5. Riding bikes with Rev to school most mornings.
6. Surfing. 1 block walk to waves … awesome! Still mostly paddling around but I’m starting to get it sorted out.
7. 10yr Aniversary. Hard to believe someone could put up with me for that long. Thanks Shell!
8. Riding a ton. Fun skatepark a mile from the house. My job took me to Portland for a few weeks and several weeks in Philly. Burnside and FDR … epic parks!
9. BMX is a small world. I rode at a benefit jam for Mike Tag in Portland and was recognized by fellow canuck Greg Flag. Also ran into a dude from Minnesota that I rode with in Seattle the year before.
10. Seeing my boxer Moose run on the beach after getting a bionic leg.
11. No injuries. I crash less than I used too.
12. TransJam – Greenville, NC – Rev rode in beginner and I rode in “Veteran”. Great day with my family and met a lot of new people. Every contest should have a Veterans class.
13. Woodward Trip – Very cool getting to reconnect with a large chunk of the Ottawa scene in Amish country. Lots of highlights including a few new tricks for an old dog.
14. Survived our first hurricane…actuallly I suppose that should read “Avoided our first hurricane” since after boarding up the house we got the hell out of Dodge.
15. Working on Revelin VS The North Carolinan Abominable Snow Cone Monster with Rev.
16. Caught a ball game at Fenway park.
Worst
1. Missing friends and family in Canada. Especially feeling too far away to help when times are tough for them … too many tough times for my family in Alberta.
2. Saying no (sometimes) to Rev when he asks to go the skatepark…used to be the other way around … sometimes I act like a grown up.
3. Regularly getting kicked out of my local skatepark by the police.
4. Another year without doing much filming.
5. Too many planes and airports. Philly airport sucks…nothing is ever on time there.
6. U.S. Kraft Dinner and Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup suck!
Still can’t do tailwhips with any kind of consistency.
CRAZY STEVE
Best :
3. Brose farm, the bday party for Mr Josh. An amazing time had by all. Waiting for next year’s.
2. Woodward Finally, fucking paradise! Riding that park helped tone in old and new tricks. Can’t wait for next year
1.First international trip, went to Barcelona with 10 fellow riders and had the time of my life.
Worst:
3. Listening to tommy’s excuses about why he didn’t go all the way.
2. After riding WoodWard, taz and cp don’t seem big at all.
Leaving Barcelona and coming back to this shitty 9-5 bullshit. Where’s the ocean, hot chicks, amazing spots, and fresh coconut !?! Take me back. I want to be a gyspy and roam the land
KYLE LAFLEUR
1 – We all got on the final plane to Barcelona together and once we landed we got our gear and bikes and just let the good times roll for the next week and a bit
2 – Barcelona had so many random spots and I really liked this one and would have rode it longer but most people weren’t having as much fun so on to the next amazing spot
3 – Jumping through a hole in the ground and landing in a cave full of water makes for some amazing swimming, there was a zip line and a swing rope once you were in the cave
4 – Water slides can get boring after going down enough times but when there on you resort and the bar is open you just need a drink and couple shots then your good for a few more slides.
5 – Buds barn was a treat to stay in….Pool table, big screen tv (Left corner) and fire man pole made for lots of fun and not being in the main lodge pretty much meant no quite time after 11
6 – Basketball definitely occupied a couple hours a day that could of been spent riding but the shots from everywhere were endless. He Zack try’s a easy one from up top.
7 – Baked potatoes, beer, sausage’s and step ups. Early spring BBQ at the trails while trying to get them back into shape after the winter did its thing to them
8 – Today we eat….and we eat good! Not a whole lot beats this!
9 – The downside to a DSLR is that you need to choose between video or photos and I usually opt for video. This is the only pic I have of myself riding the dirt this year. Lookbacks will never get old though!
10 – The jumps actually “worked” for Chitaroni and he made 3 or 4 trips up here to ride them. Its funny that he lives in Ottawa and rode the trails more times then most Sudbury locals. Ride dirt pussies!
11 – This has to be my new favorite at the dirt. That berm is so much fun. Ace rode the dirt with us and jumped some big jumps….not bad for a street dawg. Here he takes the lower line while Zack flys over him.
12 – This picture doesn’t do justice for this rock. Its smooth, perfect run in that doesn’t even require a board and its pretty damn big.
13 – Once again chose to shoot way more video at this spot. The only picture I got was Jump Monkey and a quick table out of it.
14 – Rolled ankles are never good
15 – Spending the day on the beach drinking, laughing and swimming was just as much fun as riding which pushes me more to believe that its not what your doing its who your doing it with….Friends!
16 – A few post dirt session beers were always good after dark and we definitely never left the trails until a hour after dark. Who wants to go home when you can hang out here!
17 – Jump Monkey rode lots this year and definitely got dirty. I suggest you all do the same in 2012.
TOMMY HAINS
Best:
- Finally being able to ride again.
- Brose farm dirt jam, thanks for having us Josh.
- Filling my turndown quota whenever a camera was brought out.
- Crazy Steve’s prop for the Shoot Yourself video contest.
- Being back at school full-time.
- Getting to ride the Crazee-Crew box jump a few times.
- Going to play paintball was a blast.
Worst:
- Shoulder injury at Aylmer trails that took me out for a few weeks and still kinda bothers me.
- My swelbow is still there, even after almost 2 years off.
Crazy Steve’s passion for dildos making everyone uncomfortable at the skatepark and even being a distraction at work.
JOSE BRAY
Best Of 2011
-Night one of Toronto BMX Jam
-Verde trip to Ottawa
-Fulfilling boyhood dream of riding motorcycle in desert (600kms/24hrs)
-More riders than ever in Ottawa/Ontario/Canada
-Winning 4 Best bike shop awards! (3 of which were not even our area!)
-Solid Crew at shop yet again!
-Best of list is longer than worst list!
Worst Of 2011
-Bank St construction
-Night 2 of Toronto BMX Jam
-Getting busted everywhere with Verde Team
-Bank St construction
3 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Ottawa being vulnerable to bear attacks hahaha
Comment by Boudreau — December 30, 2011 #
Best of 2011
- getting to come home and ride with everyone alot!
- Having fun on my bike
- riding the ramps on canada day
- finally having some good dirt jump sessions (thanks Rich)
- not having elbow tennis this summer
- working at Joe Mamma
- finally getting to ride the orleans box jump
- orleans jams with music were so fun
- bar spinning a lot
- seeing potential in new ottawa riders
- Jays cottage
- Shoot your self contest was a blast, lots of good riding went down in so little time.
- not being seriously injured
- good parties and nights at the bars
Worst of 2011
- not doing any handrails
- still being to sissy to land tail whips
- School
- horrible sunburn after jays cottage
- people not riding that I used to enjoy riding with
- not filming any TFA edits..
- missing out on events like the farm dirt jump jam
- kids with bad attitudes
- vegetables
- not having Pabst, Beaus, Labatt 50, or black Label in nova scotia scotia
- not being able to see people when
I’m home for short breaks.
Over all its been a great year thanks guys!
Comment by colin — December 31, 2011 #
OH and
Worst
- NOT BEING IN BARCELONA
Comment by colin — December 31, 2011 #