Marc Boudreau

Best

1.BARCELONA!!!

By far the best experience this year, being able to see everyone was amazing. The spots, the partying, the shit talking and just all around good times. Made me really miss Ottawa, not the city, but the great people. Watching the level of riding on this trip showed that Ottawa is still training (Jay, that whip at Macba,first try, yea bud). For me, the most memorable times was definatly the partying. Playing dodge ball in that small pub, getting wasted at boulevard, smashing beers all day,everyday. So good!  Being able to spend an extra few weeks on my own was also a highlight. I met so many unique characters, some were great, some were shady as all fuck. But either way, a full on great experience, and can`t wait to do something like this again. dulait dulait dulait dulait! hahahaha

2.Marseille

Even if I only got to spend a few days in Marseille, the road  trip with Trejo (Caveman) and his good buddy Roman was amazing. Bombing around the backcountry in france, through vineyards and beautiful landscapes was great. The random canoe trip we went on was so much fun (yes, I went canoeing). Just hanging out by the beach ogling beauties, shit talking and drinking cheap wine. What more could you ask for.

3.Vegas

Jeff and I basically started our trip before christmas last year, touring from Van, through Cali, to Arizona and finally to Nevada. Were we finished our trip partying in Vegas for new years, I won`t go in great detail over it. Since what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but we had a blast. Got to meet up with some sweet dudes from Winnepeg and Niagara. Drank 180oz beers at 1030am, blacking out by 12. Gong show to say the least, it was perfect.

4.Skydiving

By far the best thing I`ve done in my life. I plan on taking the entire course next summer when my buddy Rick comes out to see me. Tandem was great, but i wanna know what it`s like to do it alone. Giddy up!

5. Sex

I figure this should be in everyones top 5, well, cuz its fun, and hard to beat. Wether it`s with a girlfriend or a random. I mean, isnt that why were all here?  Smash em

Worst

1. Barcelona!

I really shouldn`t have Barcelona as my first in my worst list, but my anus still hurts from how fucked I was on this trip. I couldn`t ride, and every spot we went to made me wanna try. Every time someone landed something, I couldn`t help but feel jealous. Man oh man did I just wanna get on that lil bike and go.  Sketchy hookers chasing me throughout my time alone was getting annoying. Getting cockblocked from a thief on the beach was also bullshit, that fine German girl was so into me, when 100 feet away her friend (wich was with a buddy from hawaii) got robbed. Cock! oh, and the food, I really expected more from spain, the only thing I enjoyed eating were durums or sandwiches I made myself.

2. Spending a month in a work camp

It`s bullshit not having a life, and I`m just not cut out for it. I love my job, and doesn`t mean I won`t have to go back. But it`s still bullshit.

3. Not seeing my Family

I`ve been in Van for a year and a half now, and have yet to make the trip back home. It`s alway in the back of my mind, but with work and taking a month off for spain, it just hasn`t happened.

4.Not living with Jeff

I lived with that asshole for over 4 years, we`ve had way to many good times. And are still obviously good buddies, but it`s still weird coming home and not having someone sitting there on the come up. Or having someone to bullshit with whenever nothings going on. Living alone has alot of benefits, but having a good buddy around all the time definatly had its advantages. We all gotta grow up at some point though.

5. Sex

I can`t say I`ve failed in this department, but always could use more. And I`m sure Jeff would strongly agree. Smash em

6. Writting this

I hate writting, and hope you didn`t enjoy reading this!

Jay Leroux

Best:

-living all winter in glorious whistler BC and truly living the ski bum lifestyle

-instantly booking barcelona upon return to ottawa

-BARCELONA and whipping that place like it was my bitch! Having better connections to the night life on a different continent then I do at home is dope too.

-Sudbury trails! Always the best spot, only wish I could make it there more often!

-Josh Bs birthday/trail jam! Can’t wait till next year, bigger tricks and longer keg stands!

-Woodward and getting to ride the mini mega ramps. Ultimate way to desensitize yourself to anything else one may ride.

- Orleans crew (tommy, crazy steve and moxley at times) always sending it!

-crazy crew Canada day shows. Riding infront of so many ppl is the greatest thing ever! Made a new friend too

Worst:

-watching most of the orleans scene die do to the confusing desire to constantly be stoned! Step your shit up kids!

-separated shoulder, first injury in a while that kept me off my bike for a little bit. Only makes riding that much more desirable after.

-Woodward causing me to want to hit everything even faster then before gets scary, BUT going is fast is gnar!

Rich Redmond

Best

-Barcelona was so good it makes riding everywhere else not as much fun. Easily the best bmx trip I have ever had. Almost all my buddies were there.

-All the non bmx activities that took place, critters movie, paintball, go karting, bon fire, etc. Plenty of laughs and memories outside of 20″ wheels.

-Josh Brose jam. Other than Barcelona, this was the second most fun I have ever had on my bike, at least in a very long time. Perfect Jam should be the name.

-Josh Brose party. Perhaps a few seconds less on the keg stand and I could have enjoyed it a bit more. But it was 100% certified fun.

-Notro is always random fun.

-Snowboarding is back in style and a really fun break from just riding Taz.

-Jeff came to Ottawa. Can’t get enough of being surrounded by good people.

-Got to know a few people a bit more.

-Sudbury trails got bigger and better, once again.

-Tommy is back and shredding.

-Woodward was a great little reunion. Best part is I didn’t pee in the hot tub. Nor did I poo in the Vancouver shower (2010).

-Learning to cope and ride at different paces to make the most out of what my body has to offer.

-Almond shoes.

-DSLR is awesome for filming/photo.

-Awesome year really, I can’t list it all!

Worst

-Jorden didn’t come to Barcelona.

-DSLR kinda kills my filming vibe a bit with no zooming.

-Ottawa scene got a bit smaller again. Roland is gone, Prashant is gone, Ginger is fucked up, and Jeff/Boudreau are still not here = less friends.

-One year older and sorer.

-Didn’t get to Vancouver this year.

-Didn’t get to Tdot int he summer this year.

-Not enough Mtl street.

-Bank St. trails are a joke still (Casselman). Pray for a ramp boys.

-I will cut off my own negativity off, right here.

Jorden Guth

Worst:

1. No barcelona

2. I was Barc-a-lonely

3. Lack of cerveza

4. Not moving to Vancouver

5. Losing tricks. fuck

Best:

1. Woodward twice in one year

2. Great solo trip to Vancouver to ride with Marc and Jeff

3. Josh’s party/ dirt jam!

No serious injuries

A few people migrating back to Ottawa

Prasheel Gopal

Best:

Lots of contest traveling. 8 contests in Montreal, Toronto, Missouri, Indianapolis, Pennsylvania, Buffalo, Ottawa…and I think somewhere else I can’t remember right now.

Getting a job that pays me more than the pathetic salary I was making before.

All expense 24h trip to NYC + pay to stunt double for a chick in a music video.

Continuing to have fun on my bike and learning new tricks even after 12 years

Riding some of the biggest bars in flatland lol

Winning “best flatland” for Capital’s shoot yourself

Being in a much more centrally located position for 2012 roadtrips

Finally making podium at a North American contest (3rd place at JoMoPro 2011)

Getting 4th in the North American flatland circuit

Worst:

Leaving the Ottawa scene, and being adopted in to the “Brantford scene”, where fun and progression are much lower down on the priority list.

Getting arrested and handcuffed at Carleton U, my riding spot of a few years

Having far more ideas for new tricks than I have time to learn

Even in 4 months time, not finding a decent riding spot in Brantford

Changing jobs and losing vacation time and not being able to go to Netherlands (for Rebel jam) like I had hoped for

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

I have been trying to get to Barcelona for several years now, however each time something came up and I ended up traveling to a different destination. Finally this spring we came to a consensus that Barcelona could not wait any longer and before we knew it 10 riders had bought their tickets. Groups of riders came from Ottawa, Sudbury and Vancouver and we all met at Centre Ramblas; a hostel right in the centre of Barcelona.

Riders included Marc Boudreau and Jeff Bedard from Vancouver, Kyle Lafleur and Joel ‘Ace’ Delongchamp from Sudbury as well as Rich Redmond, Chris Bryan,

myself and rookie tripgoers Nick Stupich, Jay Leroux and Crazy Steve. As you can imagine motivating and navigating a group of 10 grimey bmxers is no easy task, but here is a breakdown of some of the highlights from the trip.

Rich’s Spot Map… Everything is near a subway stop in Barcelona.

DAY 1-

Everyone showed up to the hostel to find Jeff and Marc asleep in the room, miscommunication resulted in them showing up one day earlier than us. The room was 45 degrees at least with absolutely no air flow. The one window the room had opened up to a tiny alleyway into which people had clearly taken shits out of their hostel windows. It was brutal.

After getting all of our bikes put together, we went for a quick rip around the neighborhood just to take things in. We found several spots completely by accident, including a really tight wallride and a super famous bank/hip spot which was much tougher to ride than one would assume from watching people ride it in videos.

Kyle Lafleur with an interesting fakie wallride.

We ended day 1 at the beach, drinking beers and celebrating the beginning of what would surely be an epic adventure. After the beach we found our way down to the club district where Jay Leroux charmed a nice italian girl who put us on the guest list at BLVD club and got us free drinks all week. Thanks Giulia!

This is how Boudreau slept the whole week. On the balcony.

Day 2-

Everyone stayed up way too late and partied way too hard on Day 1 only to wake up in Saudi Arabia. The room was easily 20 degrees hotter than it was outside. The one single fan they supplied us with did nothing. After much haggling and arguing with the girl at the front desk she brought us an “air conditioner” basically a fan that you put ice in… An appliance from the Flintstones essentially. Rich found this unacceptable (as did all of us) and instantly broke into “we flew across the world for this mode” and argued with the front desk until they gave us a new room.

The Oogling perch.

The new room had a balcony and a much better air flow system. This also made it possible for us to oogle girls from above all week.

After a short nap we all went out riding and found a really cool spot with coping ledges, tranny benches and some amazing grinder lines. Unfortunately we got rained out super hard, it rained and hailed for about an hour. The rain was harder than anything I have ever experienced, it literally turned the streets into rivers.

We returned to the spot once everything dried to shoot some photos and chill out.

Jay Leroux, manual to barspin with Rich in hot pursuit.

Ginger with a hangover toothpick grind.

After riding we went back to BLVD club and had some pretty epic adventures. And thanks to Boudreau’s incredible tolerance for alcohol, we had beer street vendors following us more or less all night.

Unfortunately Chris Bryan was subject to some shady business that night, walking home after the club alone, he was accosted by a tranny hooker and had his iphone pick pocketed.

Day 3 -

We all woke up hung over again, however Boudreau (the last to go to bed) decided it was too much work to clean off his bed so he just slept on the balcony (a trend that would continue for the rest of the week). This being the first good sleep any of us had gotten since arriving in Barcelona, we were all ready to go out and shred. The day before we had met a couple of brothers from San Francisco (One BMXer and one Skateboarder) and they told us about some spot that had a bunch of vert spines in a row and told us the subway stop they were near. We all packed up and headed out to check this spot out only to find that it was actually a skatepark, and a really crazy one at that (and not in a good way). We rode there for a few minutes before discovering that there were some amazing metal banks, ledges and wallrides across the street.

Jay icepicking a miniature concrete vert ramp.

Ace spent a good chunk of time trying a manual to gap to double peg from a bench onto  an above bar height ledge, he managed to clock several gnarly crashes before giving up. Kyle Lafleur shut the spot down with a wallride gap to barspin over a rail into the street.

Kyle wallride to hop barspin over the rail.

Once we were finished at that spot, we had grand plans to gradually work our way back to the hostel but didn’t get more than 100 yards before finding one of the most magnificent bank spots. Hips, sub boxes, manual ledges, gaps to grass, everything… literally in view of the last incredible spot we rode. The entire group felt doomed, and that we might never get back to the hostel… but nobody really cared. Jay quickly got to work with some hop whips from the sub box into the bank, Nick Stupich broke out his signature decade 180 footjams on the bank and Rich Redmond gave us a scare with an enormous 360 running man to grass explosion.

Jay hop whipping his way to OZ down the yellow brick road.

No frog legs on this one. Kyle Lafleur downwhip.

Boudreau was hurt, but he sessioned the fuck out of every soft grassy patch he could find.

Finding food in Barcelona that 10 guys can agree on is hard. We ate Donair and Shawarmas almost exclusively for the first half of the trip.

Once we finished with the amazing bank spot, we managed to make some distance and see a bit of the city. We rode a few spots here and there before we came to some pretty crazy brick bank hips… the same ones that Mike Aitken did a crazy gap across in the old Fit Barcelona video. Everyone threw down a few tricks for the camera on what turned out to be an amazing bank to bank hip both ways. We rode there for several hours, until 11pm or so when the store across the street stopped selling us beer.

Crazy Steve jumping over Jeff and Kyle

This trip was Ginger’s first time back on his bike riding hard since knee surgery, he did pretty well considering. Big Turndown.

There was also a super cool zip line swing in the park next to the banks, and after we had all given it a go, Ginger decided to try and attach his bike to it somehow… of course the guy in the knee brace is the guy to go for this…

It started off so positive…

Ginger got dragged a good 30 feet like this before he let go.

We made it to the beach eventually where we sat and drank beers while Jeff built a toilet paper hobo fire.

DAY 4 -

Our mission for the day was to hit the metro station and head north to the famous quarter to metal wall. Rich had mapped out all the spots using google street view prior to arriving but when we got to the metro station we were unable to find the it as easily as the spots we had found the day before. The crew became frustrated and almost mutinied on Rich (the trip’s unofficial captain) but at the last second we came over a hill and found the magical quarter to wall.

Me doing fastplants. One of my 4 tricks. This is actually a street spot… really.

Crazy Steve right up at the top of the wall.

This spot was my personal favourite of the trip. It was more interesting an obstacle than I have ever ridden in a skatepark. So many different lines and possibilities. And somehow it is a street spot… it is mind boggling.

Airing out over the top of the wall.

After riding there we searched around for a while and ran into an interesting stucco quarterpipe on the side of a highway onramp.

This was an odd find indeed. Kyle with a solid stucco toothpick.

The quarter was wavey and bumpy, not really good for much but Kyle had no problem toothpick stalling it.

Clearly by this day on the trip most of the guys had gone far too long without porn and were becoming crotchety towards each other. Bickering over which way to go, and what to do… until we stumbled upon (appropriately enough) a pair of spongey nipples in a playground…. The same ones that are prominently shown in some of the Nike 6.0 barcelona videos.

Rich stretching out a nice no footed can over the second nipple.

I suffered what has been dubbed ‘one of the best crashes ever caught on video’ while riding this spot. When you’re running up to this obstacle you have to weave between two small boulders and I somehow clipped my pedal coming through and scorpion grinded all the way up the takeoff. It really sucked. I was virtually unscathed but that was the end of my session. It didn’t slow Jay, Rich or Steve though. All of whom got some pretty decent clips on these nipple jumps.

And that night we drank Absinthe…

It seemed like such a good idea at the time…

One key quote from Ginger, while waiting in line at the club, he leans in to a red headed girl who is clearly with a guy and says “hey, do you want to make more?” (implying they could make creepy red headed babies together). At which point they began to flirt. I’m not sure exactly what was said, but when it was pointed out that he was trying to pick up a girl who has a boyfriend he just said “picking up a girl who’s with someone is just like cod fishing… you just gotta troll for a couple of hours”. Ruthless.

Day 5

Recovered from Absinthe drinking.

Day 6-

We started the day at Macba… a pretty famous ledge spot. Ace took another ruthless chest to handlebars crash first run to get everything going. We then went and rode a really interesting bank setup where Kyle Lafleur got real sweaty trying a bars to manual down the bank.

Jay Leroux – Maniac.

We eventually made our way to the Sea Wall where we met up with Crazy Steve who had been solo running it for a few hours already by the time we got there. The sea wall was a lot of fun, everyone carved the doors and then we started having a quarterpipe session on the shorter area. Rich was going super high and blasting perfect tables. Jay whipped it as was expected but some of the sand from the beach got into his usually well groomed vagina and kept him from going upside down and flairing it.

Jay did alot of whips.

What a haircut… I mean table.

After the sea wall we went and rode some night time street. The most notable happening was while riding a bank to subrail spot, Kyle was trying to 180 over the rail, turn around and half cab back into the bank over the rail… well some spanish dude was yelling at us from his 10th story window, we knew he wanted us to leave but apparently we didn’t know how BADLY he wanted us to leave. On Kyle’s last try, a large bottle came hurling from the sky and missed him by inches, smashing all over the bank. It would have been devastating if it had hit him. That put a pretty big damper on the session, half the crew headed home to the hostel and the other half of us pedaled around looking at spots but didn’t ride much.

Day 7-

On day 7 some of the guys went riding, but Ginger and I went and checked out the Sagrada Familia, an insane church in Barcelona. For any fans of architecture, this place is a must. Absolutely stunning. The lineup usually takes several hours, but we just cut in line about 50 feet from the front. We’re probably terrible people.

Everyone had different flights to catch the next morning, but most of us went out and partied more or less right until we had to go to the airport. Before the party started however we all got together to get our Caricature drawn (as seen at the top of this article). The artist did a great job. He really captured the essence of the group!

Rich, Nick and I closed the club down at 6am and hopped in a cab for our 9am flight. Rich fell asleep at the airport mcdonalds and we couldn’t wake him up… I think that means we partied properly the night before.

I’ve been on a few euro trips now, and I can say positively that spending a week in Barcelona with 10 awesome dudes was definitely one of the best times of my life. We rode hard, partied harder, ate way too many donairs and oogled more women than any of us can possibly remember. This was a classic BMX road trip.

*UPDATED WITH MORE RESPONSES*

Steve Moreau

Best:
1. 39c backyard in my backyard, short lived but i loved the fact i could ride without leaving my place.
2. Attempting flairs without the use of resi like a real man on our new box jump!
3. Watching Claude flip out after bailing.
4. Living with Boudreau before he left.
5. Helping/Riding at Sir Rich’s dirt Villa.

Worst:
1. Riding with Moxley. not to say i dislike him he’s a good kid! he loves his momma!, just that you really dont want to try your crappy little trick anymore when he shows up flairing off little french kids with his Dangoo mustache and greasy hair. CUT YOUR HAIR YOU DAMN HIPPIE.
2. Girls at 39c parties asking why the quite dread guy is call crazy steve, “is he really crazy”.
3. Not able to land flair yet like a real pussy.
4. Waiting for Tommy to come back and destroy all that appose him.
5. Loosing many riders to the west and eastside.

Tommy Hains:

Best:
1. Orleans box jump getting built, thanks again to everyone who participated!
2. Building jumps at Rich’s house.
3. Getting a fancy new bike.
4. Being in recovery, getting out of the house and going back to school.
5. Firecrackers.

Worst:
1. Not being able to ride at all.
2. Still having a swelbow even after not riding for over a year.

Rich Redmond

Best:
1. house in Casselman with jumps, bonfires, and lots of privacy… loving life here.
2. back on a hockey team, Ben is on as well and it’s great fun.
3. Sudbury trails and Mtl street.
4. Chitaroni’s clown film, excellence right there.
5. Vancouver trip was exactly how I expected it, perfect.
6: Orleans box jump (death ramp) actually happened.
7: bmx is still the best fun possible.

Worst:
1. Top of the list as per usual, winter is back.
2. Another year older and stiffer.
3. I have fewer friends in the immediate area once again, please move to Casselman instead losers.
4. The price of private jet planes has not come down to a reasonable and affordable number yet.
5. Despite having no friends at all, life is pretty good.
6. Zombie apocolypse is taking too long to come into effect.
7. BMX is abusive towards me.

Jay Leroux

Best:
1. Sudbury trails!!!! These things just get better and bigger every year, thanks to the guys for building and let us come ride!
2. Orleans Box Jump became a reality! Orleans is now without a doubt the best park in ottawa!
3. Tommy Hains still making appearances and is set to ride bikes again summer 2011!
4. Backflips! I’m a little bitch about doing them but they sure are FUN!
5. Getting to ride in a couple of shows at the EX! Super fun experience!
6. Bank Street Trails!

Worst:
1. Tommy Hains still not being to ride, but the doctors removed the bitch from his brain so he’ll have all his trick repertoire back and some!
2. Flairs, fucking trick haunts me and I just can’t make it happen.
3. People moving away and the scene getting smaller.
4. Sprained ankles, just when you think it’s healed BOOM tweaked again.

Jeff Bedard

Best:
1. Backpacking through Europe for 2 months. Going around Germany and to Amsterdam with Chris,Jorden,Andrew and Ryan. Getting to see and ride all kinds of crazy shit. Meeting all the dudes in Stutgart and partying till 8am. Hanging out in Leuven were Andrew went to school and meeting his friends. Especially Paul and Efe! Meeting and partying with people from all around the world. Drinking a million diferent kinds of beer and drinking bottles of wine for 1-2 euros! Open bar on my flight. Eating some of the best food in my life. Going to the ruins in Pompie! Going to Barcelona and meeting a bunch of cool riders……….
2. Finally making the move to Vancouver. Driving my broke ass Buick Century pulling a packed trailer across the country. My Dad painting “Vancouver or Bust” on my car. Meeting up with Ben and the Crazy Crew guys in Regina and seeing Weird Al put on an amazing performance for free. Me and Boudreau moving into a super sweet apartment with an awesome landlord who let us build a miniramp in the backyard, there’s a new park with trails being built up the street and a few blocks away is the Woodyard. Playing games of B.I.K.E. Doing handrails again. Going snowboarding again.
3. All the Ottawa guys coming down to visit. Driving around in the back of the Uhaul. Riding everyday, hanging out and having fun. Getting blind drunk and seeing Rich dying drunk like the good old 206 days! Shower Deuce. Bringing everyone swimming at Lynn Canyon!
4. Going to Heavy MTL and Blues Fest.Getting to see Slayer,Megadeth, and Iron Maiden for a second time. Getting to see Rush live I’ll never forget that. Also getting to see Alice Cooper was a real treat.
5. 6 month vacation! Not working. Waking up when ever I wanted. Doing whatever I wanted all day.Bumming around Ottawa for a few weeks. Bonfires at Rich’s house. Thanks Jim and Pascale and Rich and Brenna for places to stay! Spendiing a week home with my family, drinking beer in the garage. Getting to live “FREE”

Worst:
1. Leaving Ontario. Not getting to see my family and friends when ever I want. Missing out on the Woodward trip. Missing out on Rich’s trails and the good times that will be had there. Not going to Leland’s Farm or even getting to hang out with him much for that matter. I miss Leland!
2. Hurting my ankle a week before driving to Vancouver and not being able to ride. And hurting my shoulder again after it being good for a few years.
3. Andrew Grant getting hurt on the Germany trip.
4. Quiting my job at PVC Plus. Saying goodbye to a good paying job and the best boss ever who let me build ramps in the warehouse and would hook me up with 40′s of whiskey on my birthday and at Christmas. Lots of good times at that warehouse!
5. Last but not least The death of 39C! So many good times playing pool,drinking beer, riding the ramps, watching Seinfeld and Trailer Park Boys. Doing all the callenges. All the road trips we went on. Boudreau, Jim, J.P., Jew1 and even Jew2 and all the people who came by and made some memories Cheers!

Jeremy Deme

Best:
1. Vancouver Summer
2. 39c in Vancouver and part time resident Albert = good times
3. Macneil Western Trip/ Edmonton trip
4. Eberle, Hall and Paajarvi drafted to the Oilers/ Canada Hockey winning gold at the Olympics
5. Vegas
6. Embassy up and running

Worst:
1. Kamloops mugging
2. Vancouver Rain
3. Vegas
4. Another summer with a busted wrist
5. Vancouver Drivers

Harley Haskett

Best:
1. Montreal: Pretty much the best city in Canada for me right now. I spent a great deal of 2010 in Montreal due to the fact that my girl lives there and to ride with the 514 crew and have loved every second of it. Amazing spots to ride, pretty much the best crew in Canada (Dewey, Flag, Dillon Lloyd, Sean Cooke, Cardin, Fiz, Albert, Jo, Pasquino and everyone), great food, and there’s always a party to be had. Je t’aime la belle province.
2. Road trips: I spent even more of my summer/fall on the road this year compared to last year and although it was pretty stressful at times, it was amazing. Getting to ride some great spots with some of the raddest dudes ever was second to none. The trip through Kelowna and Penticton area with Biz, Alfredo, Rooder, Chijioke, Lazerdick, Santucci and the other special guests was the best of all. Beach, party, beach, ride, party, beach.
3. Music: Music has always been a huge part of my life but over the course of 2010 it became even more important. Playing music with some of the greatest people was such a huge inspiration and actually getting material out for the world has been so rewarding.
4. Friends and Family: So many huge things happened for a lot of important people in my life during 2010. From best friends getting married, best friends having kids and more importantly finding out I’ll be in uncle in 2011. It’s amazing seeing some of the people in your life change and grow.

Worst:
1. Knees: My right knee took a shot in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and it’s still not 100%. Definitely not stoked but it could be a lot worse, everything should be good well before next season.
2. Driving: The major downside to being the TM and trip organizer and having a girlfriend who lives almost 6 hours away is the absurd amount of driving that has to be done. Even though van wars between Winnipeg and Regina made it a lot more tolerable, it still sucks being the responsible one behind the wheel for the majority of my time in the summer.

Prashant Gopal

Best:
1. Vancouver. I have wanted to visit Vancouver for a long time now, and going on a trip this past fall with six of your friends, to meet up with two more friends, was amazing. We drove around in the back of a van, ate poorly, I slept in a hallway, fell in freezing cold glacier water, but wouldn’t have changed a thing. Vancouver has so many amazing parks and street to ride that we barely tapped the surface in a one week stay. The city and scenery was beautiful, and all the locals (riding or otherwise) were extremely friendly and hospitable.
2. Zines. Making more and more zines, more and more drawings, and more and more pictures than the year before. I’ve traded zines to people around the world, set up and sold at zine and craft fairs, thrown parties, all because of some printed, folded, and cut pieces of paper stuffed in to an envelope. I’ve also had some good opportunities come my way, largely because of people seeing, or noticing my zines. They are fun to make, and even more fun to share with people, so I look forward to doing more things with Yo Sick Zine next year.

Worst:
1. Back injuries. A bad back kept me from doing much of anything for a large chunk of the summer months. In July I visited massage therapists and began more rigorous yoga and stretching routine in the morning just to be able to pedal to work and sit in a chair all day. While I have to confess that I haven’t been as faithful to that same routine since, my back has been stronger and in better shape since, allowing me to still do the things I love to do. Never underestimate the importance of stretching.
2. Moving. While I look forward to moving and all the fun things that it brings, it is also a bummer to leave behind Ottawa, where I have called home all my life. The friends I have made here, and the involvement within the community and change we have created over the last ten years is something that I will miss. Goodbye Ottawa.

Roland Labrecque

Best:
1. Getting to be with my family when my nephew received a new kidney from his mom. Lise and Cory you guys both rock!
2. Watching Rev pedal as fast as he can at stuff.
3. Getting to do a BMX road trip with my son for father’s day.
4. Cool places, month in Dublin, month in Mexico, Kiev, Boston, Seattle, Cape Cod, North Carolina, San Francisco (Alcatraz is a mazing!). Got to see some heavy’s session Jaycee Park in Greenville.
5) Surfing in Mexico and North Carolina and seeing Rev man up and enter the “Guppy” class of a major surf contest even though he’s a land-locked Canadian.
6. Inventing new tricks post 40th birthday apocalypse.
7. New box jump, lobbied for and built, without me being really involved. Yeah boys!
8. Entering first pro contest and not totally embarassing myself.
9. New bike. Love it, love it, love it.
10. Job stuff is going good.

Worst:
1. Having to ditch my planned 40th birthday weekend at Woodward.
2. Not seeing everyone as much.
3. Actually feeling old some days.
4. Winter sucks.

Chris Chitaroni

Best:
1. Getting fired from Best Buy, living off my severance all summer while I travelled to Germany and Vancouver and riding a tonne.
2. Tommy Hains had his brain parasite removed.
3. Finally building trails out at Rich’s place.
4. Riding a completely empty and amazing skatepark on the north shore of hawaii in the morning and then going surfing in the afternoon.
5. Finding poop in the shower while in Vancouver.
6. Riding the park in the woods that the ‘man’ built outside of Munich Germany
7. Vancouver trip, Marc and Jeff being great hosts.
8. Seeing the Orleans box jump finally get built.
9. Pretty much everything about Stuttgart. Good food, good drink, great people. Those two days of riding and partying with strangers reminded me why BMX roadtrips are unbeatable.
10. Wandering through amsterdam with Andrew Grant while he explored the dark side of his psyche. Wonder Park.

Worst:
1. UAB closing down.
2. Crashing on a lookback in Vancouver and physically not being able to get out of bed the next morning.
3. Everyone moving away.
4. Losing my bar end and almost cutting my finger off handplanting the CP spine.
5. Not being able to build a proper sling for Andrew when he separated his shoulder in Munich.
6. Watching Jeff scratch his dick constantly in Vancouver
7. Ben melting his helmet crashing on the hitching post at not so metro.
8. Seeing Rich’s dick 2 more times. Bringing the sighting count up to 7.
9. Not knowing who pooped in the shower.
10. 39c disbands.

Jorden Guth

Best:
1. Rich’s Trails getting started / Rich Moving into a house.
2. Germany, Amsterdam / Vancouver trips! Amazing times!
3. Tommy’s on the road to recovery.
4. Almost everyone going upside down. More Flairs than in the 70s
5. Orleans box jump finally getting done.

Worst:
1. People moving out of Ottawa. Beadreau and Jeff Bedard moving to Vancouver, Rich moving out to Casselman (close, but far enough away to make daily sessions harder).
2. No Indoor park for winter 2010/2011 in Ottawa.
3. Tommy not being able to ride. Emil getting super broke off. people getting hurt sucks.
4. Everyone on different schedules and living busy lives. Its harder to get big sessions organized now that people actually have responsibilities.
5. UAB closing down. One of my favourite places to ride and chill.

Colin Smith

Best:
1. Riding and filming fun tfa edits
2. Meeting new riders from all over
3. Going back to school for business. Yeah i got business socks
4. Trying to invent new tricks and trying new ones
5. Moving out east, i miss everyone but I love it out here
6. Having a cab company return my iphone 2 months after I lost it while I was intoxicated.
7. Finally learning to catch hop bars
8. Winning an iPad, only to sell it and buy a pool table (pool table benefits out weigh those of an iPad)
9. All the good nights at wally’s, downing multiple “slys” (Peach schnapps, tequilla, jd)
10. Having time to actually ride after getting fired

Worst:
1. Getting fired from my job at bel-air (b.s)
2. Missing out on things like the box jump, rich’s dirt jumps, flair offs, Ted visiting etc.
3. Having elbow tennis in one arm then the other right before i left
4. Bruising my heel and not being able to walk for a week
5. Not being able to put together a new edit from Nova Scotia.
6. Farmer’s dairy discontinuing my favorite drink “beep”. (fruit drink in Nova Scotia)
7. Getting kicked out of one of two of the bars in the town Im in
8. Having to budget myself
9. Not landing tailwhips… my stupid legs
10. Losing friends because they compulsively lie and steal not saying any names but you know who you are.

Ted Bambrick

Best:
1. My friend Ron giving me a Cadillac
2. Having my son Ricky
3. Not breaking a single bike part this year
4. One handed manuals are on the comeback
5. Riding the 20 some cement parks in edmonton
6. Learning flairs on quarter to banks like a real bitch
7. Ninja dropping everything
8. I think I’m finally old enough to not get hassled over bitch cranks
9. Visiting friends and family
10. Changing jobs and finding something I love
11. I only actually crashed once this year on my bike.
12. Got drunk and went street riding then played a game of bike while riding around in a full wading pool doing sick stunts… in November

Worst:
1. Not getting to ride in ottawa even once this year
2. Getting stranded in Kenora with a dead car
3. Coming to Ottawa for reasons other than pleasure
4. Not riding enough to break any bike parts
5. Only i think one handed manuals are on the comeback
6. Every year I grow farther and farther apart from the people I grew up with
7. Knowing I’ll be lucky to ride a few times a month for the rest of my life
8. Another year goes by and I’m still renting…
9. Knowing I’m about to spend my second birthday in a row driving cross country
10. Only riding street once and crashing first trick

* UPDATE: contest is closed – Philip O. is the winner *

Last month a number of members of the Animal team were in town on the Ten Pack Tour. While here they made a quick visit to Joe Mamma’s, rode a few spots in town, and had a BBQ before having to head back out to Quebec. They were also generous enough to send some goods through to us, and here’s your chance to win a free copy of the the new Animal Cuts DVD by answering a few Animal related questions that any die hard fan might know (or spend a little time on Youtube and Google to find the answers). Click below to read the full details.

To win a copy of the video you have to correctly answer the following 4 questions:
What song does Butcher ride to in Can I Eat?
Name the line that Bob Scerbo does as his third last trick in All Day.
Who had the last part in Don’t Quit Your Day Job 2?
How many times does Steven Hamilton do a curved wallride in his Can I Eat part?

Email answers to prashantgopal@gmail.com
Contest is open until the first correct set of answers comes in
Unlimited entries per person allowed
Open to Canadian residents with a 613 area code only

A Fathers Day BMX Road Trip
Napanee, SandBanks, Trenton and Belleville

Hey Everyone! I’m calling in favours here. My girlfriend Melanie is in a contest right now where she could win an all expense paid trip to go and volunteer in Africa for a week with Red Rose Tea. This is a super cool opportunity, once in a life time, but she needs our help to make this happen. Please go and follow this link and vote for her. I know I’ve already asked alot of you to do this, but the voting round was re-set and so everyone can vote once again. Please go and do this. I have a vested interest in it of course, as she said she’d bring me back a monkey from Africa. Hopefully one of the delicious ones too…

It seriously takes 2 seconds. Vote from every e-mail address you have. And make sure to click the confirmation email they send you afterwards or it doesn’t count.

Click to vote.

Last night saw the celebration of over half a decade of DIY BMX. After years of leading the hardcore BMX scene in Montreal, Ugly Assed Bikes is closing their doors. Liam Mulrooney, the park’s owner/operator and general all around badass explained that UAB was not closing because he had tired of working 24/7 and sinking thousands of his own dollars into the park; instead the park is closing because the building has changed hands and the new landlords have upped the rent to an impossible figure.

With the recent addition of  ’Le Taz’ to Montreal’s indoor skatepark scene, UAB has come up against some stiff competition. Montreal already saw the demise of Orkus, one of the other local indoor parks last year and now with UAB going out of business Taz stands to be the only game in town. Liam didn’t seem too phased by the loss, in fact he planted several cryptic seeds about future projects and even slight glimmers of hope that the building may remain rentable, at least for the short term. Although Taz is a larger park with many more ramps and obstacles to offer it will never compare to Liam’s underground BMX paradise, a place where there are few (if any) rules, beers are welcome and encouraged, and once in a while you might find yourself shredding in front of a live band.

The funeral Jam was on all day, but we didn’t show up until after dark. We rode street all day in Montreal and for once actually rode spots instead of riding around like chickens with our heads cut off. Our first stop was the wallride school where Prashant was so psyched to ride that he took a cheese grater crash right out of the car.

Later on, we visited the red brick trannies downtown, made famous by Greg Flag in his last video edit. We expected a fun spot to session and instead found one of the gnarliest/most challenging spots ever. Greg is a machine. We had some fun and oogled some french girls before heading out once more to a sponge pyramid.

After riding street, we made it to UAB in time for the best trick contest. We had the pleasure of watching Louis Pepin do enormous 360 to fakies on the lip of the box jump, ridiculous 180s over the spine, and an ultra precise footjam on the top of the new quarter to wall.
It is a very sad thing that a place as awesome as UAB won’t be there next time its raining and we want to ride, the next time we’re stuck inside in december with our hands down our pants, the next time we want to have a session that goes until 3am… heck I have no idea what to do for new years 2010. But regardless of all this, I’m glad we had UAB and offer my thanks to Liam for the enormous amount of effort and commitment he has shown over all the years. UAB, much like Narnia will live on forever in our hearts and minds.

Canon Rebel T2i

Sweetness….

They were sold out   Bummed.

I really wanted to shoot a little video while I was in Seattle (apparently there are sasquatch around…)  so I did what I always do…get creative. Here is what I came up with.

Start with:

Play"Homer Says"

Mix the colors:

Pink goes in the middle.

Mix some more:

Mix some more.

Shape:

Might be too much pink.

Add:

Result:

FilmKit 2010

I know the quality isn’t good but there is something to be said for traveling light. This actually worked pretty awesome for a little self filming and I will definitely use it again.

Now I just have to learn how to edit clips.

Cheers,
Roland

Magic Golf Bag - elapsed 00:00:00

Golf bags have magical airport powers. They repel airport check-in scales and baggage fees.

Airlines just can’t piss-off business travelers. As a result golf bags go right on the conveyor. They already know they are overweight and they aren’t going to do anything about it so they don’t bother.

Golf Clubs? - elapsed 00:00:30

I don’t think so…it smells like a hockey bag.

Surprise! It kind of looks like bike parts... - elapsed 00:00:45

… there may even be enough to build an entire bike.

Zip Ties - Keep it from rattling - elapsed 00:01:00

Don’t take the zip tie thing to far though…a few reasons.
1) Golf clubs rattle
2) If you don’t bring a knife to cut them all it really slows things down at build time…if you do bring a knife it slows things down at airport security. Tough Call.

Keep the headset together - elapsed 00:02:00

You don’t want to leave parts at home and you don’t want to get grease on everything else.

Layed out - Now insert "Tab A" into "Slot B" - elapsed 00:03:00

Its a good policy to try to keep grease off the carpet.

Fork, Headset, Bars - Check, Check, Check - elapsed 00:09:00

The stem, bars, levers, gyro plate and upper gyro cable were left assembled in their preferred positions. The stem was just removed from the forks.

The gyro, bottom cable and brake were also untouched. Just the top gyro cable was released from the gyro by getting some slack in the to barrel adjusters.

Saves time and your set-up doesn’t get screwed up.

Seat - Check - elapsed 00:11:00

Seat goes on. I scored lines on the post and seat tube before taking it off. This way I can set it up exactly like I want it without any swearing.

New Front Cable - Sweetness - elapsed 00:13:00

Because of the tight bends I never re-use a front cable. It’s just not worth it. Fortunately there doesn’t seem to be any advantage to using a linear cable and “regular” slick cables are pretty cheap now.

I also always carry an extra set of pre-cut cables for both the front and back.

Pedals, Front Wheel, and Air - elapsed 00:15:00

Pedals, Front Wheel, and Air

ShredKit 2010 - elapsed 00:18:00

Connect/Adjust the front brake cable.
Connect/Adjust top gyro cables.
Align fork/stem.

Shred.

I got to my hotel in Seattle, WA at 1:30pm Monday. I hit my first curb to wall ride at 2:00pm.

The street here is amazing but it rains a lot. I’ve also ridden the http://www.skatebarn2.com/indoor park.

My next target is:

Green Lake Skate Park - Arial shot