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

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

I know I owe a full update on Germany, but there is really just so much to say… for now you’ll have to make due with a short tidbit about our favourite bmx character… Jeff Bedard.
As many of you know, Jeff quit his job and took off to Europe for a couple of weeks in advance of his eventual move out to Vancouver. Jeff has never been overseas before, and really had no idea what to bring with him on a trip of this magnitude. Unlike the rest of us… Jeff decided he didn’t need a sleeping bag. Instead he brought two hoodies which he was convinced he would just be able to zip together to form a makeshift macguyver blanket. What he didn’t take into account was that when he gets drunk he loses things. Two days into the trip Jeff had lost both hoodies. This was just the start of Jeff’s lossful (is that a word) behaviour… in fact by the time we left him on the streets of Amsterdam he had lost

-2 hoodies.
-2 packs of smokes
-a pair of shorts
-he threw away his ogio backpack that he brought, because he bought a bigger pack at an army supply store, but its straps broke right after he put stuff in it…
-his hat, resulting in the need to use a shoe string headband to keep his fubar hair out of his eyes.
-he tore a shirt off in a drunken stupor on day 3.
-and he lost his dignity somewhere along the way as well.

Considering that was all lost on week 1 of his journey, I can only assume he’ll be flying home shoeless… if he manages to hold on to his passport that is.

Right now I’m not sure where he is… but I’m sure he’s having a great time. I sure hope he doesn’t get sold into the sex trade… he still owes me money for the Van… haha.

Check my vimeo page for the little edit I put together of my Hawaii vacation.

I just got home from a week long vacation in Honolulu. Let me tell you, going from -20 to +20 in a matter of hours is incredible. Stepping off that plane I was immersed in a very strange, yet entirely appealing culture. I’ve never really enjoyed the USA very much, they tend to have their heads up their asses and their noses in everyone’s business. Hawaii didn’t strike me that way at all, and I’m left to assume that this is a result of their geographic isolation and polynesian influence.
The only time I became angry with American ‘policies’ was when I went into a 7 eleven to buy several items; including wine, condoms and handcuffs (seriously) and the dumb lady couldn’t read my drivers license and decided to tell me that she “only accepts American I.D”. So I told her “There is a reason why the entire world hates your country” at which point she started stuttering and looked like she either pooped herself or wanted to cry. I bought the condoms and handcuffs and went next door to buy the wine.

The thing I found most interesting about Hawaii was how deep surf culture permeates their society; sort of the way Hockey rules Canadian culture. Even their sports bars have surf boards all over the walls signed by pros and surf legends, the way we have pictures of hockey greats. In fact while I was there, the Volcom Pipeline Pro competition was going on and it was on all the TV’s at the resort and bars we went to. Very cool. Obviously surrounded by all of this, I was pumped to give surfing a shot. We found a little beach on the South West shore of the island where the waves were manageable, and called ‘Hawaii Surfboard Rentals’… an interesting venture which will deliver a surfboard to you anywhere on the island within 20 minutes for 30$; and you get to use the board all day and then they come and pick it up…
Learning to surf was pretty fun, I didn’t take lessons or anything but I managed to get up all the same. I definitely recommend trying it if any of you ever find yourselves near the ocean.

The surf culture in Hawaii has resulted in a great collection of concrete parks all through the island of Oahu. Before I went there I had a really hard time finding good pictures and descriptions of the parks. And the parks that I did find weren’t as good as the parks that I actually rode. The first park that I rode, I found by accident. On the North Shore of Oahu is the most famous surf spot in the world called Pipeline, and right across the street from this beach is a well hidden little bowl park filled with salty old surfers that would put ol’ Redbeard to shame. The first time I showed up and took my bike out of the car, I knew it was a no-go. 20 or 30 skaters giving me the stink eye. So I returned the next day at 9am and gave it a quick shred. The park was built around an old pool, classic 70s kidney pool with stairs and everything you’d expect. Some of the smoothest trannies I’ve ever ridden too. I would love to ride there without worrying about having skaters murder me for falling and scraping the concrete. I did get a chance to ride a couple of other parks though. I met a bunch of locals, and had a great time riding my bike… if only for a couple of days before I came home to this frigid climate again. I have a video that I’m uploading right now, and I’ll have posted soon that will give a better idea of what those parks are like. But I do have one photo from the Pipeline skatepark below. Note the bathing suit styles with no socks. Just like it used to be in the 206 days.

The trip was great, I could have spent much more than a week on that island. Unfortunately I ran out of both time and money, but I’m coming home with memories that definitely make it worthwhile. I’d love to go back someday on a dedicated BMX trip, it would definitely be worth it.

We went whale watching one day and spotted this humpback just off the south shore in Waikiki.

Roland already posted this on the message board, but it’s a great read and I didn’t want it lost in a sea of posts in a week and bumped off the page, so I’m re-posting it here. Stay tuned for Day 2. Take the time to read some inspiring words from this Ottawa BMX veteran on his long quest to ride Woodward.

This was a long time coming. I think I first saw adds for Woodward around 1989 in the BMX magazines and have been wanting to go ever since. Over the last several years I’ve tried a few times to get there without success. A few years ago my sweet wife even bought gift certificates to take me and we booked a date. Unfortunately I got injured and we had to cancel. I don’t even remember what the injury was but by the time it healed summer came around and I decided to wait until another cold season. Again though things didn’t go as planned…

That summer I got hurt pretty bad. Bad enough to not only affect my riding but my lively hood, my ability to be a good father, and a good husband. Anyone who has had a long term injury knows how tough it can be. I’ve had other injuries where I thought I may never ride again but this was worse. I was pretty sure I would never ride again and while I found that difficult I was more worried that I wouldn’t event be able to take my son to a movie. So…I put my Woodward gift certificates up for sale and I thought that dream had passed.

Thankfully, time takes care of a lot of things. I’ve since made a full  recovery and had a chance to follow some other dreams. Riding, while still a passion of mine, has a much different flavor and feel. I am still hardwired with a drive to push things and progress but I tend to direct it along different, less dangerous paths.

So when the latest call to the BMX mecca came I was shocked at my apathy. I kind of  wanted to go but it wasn’t with the same driving need I’ve had in the past. Based on tired old man thinking (long drive, away from my family, ….) I actually had decided not go. Thankfully Shelley reminded me of how we want to live. Namely, life is short, make it count, follow your dreams small or large. Ok sign me up! Even after paying though I had to choose again. The friday before we were to leave I was offered a pretty good work assignment which would have sent me to San Fransisco for the week. I chose Woodward again but this time my wife thought I was crazy to turn down a trip to California LOL. Then I got really sick and thought I might have to cancel again. Shelley even mentioned that I must have some sort of Woodward curse. For 3 days I forced myself to sleep, popped lots of cold fx and vitamin C and hoped. When Thursday finally rolled around I declared myself ready to go and hoped it was true!

Finally after a long drive, a night in hotel, an epically long wait for food at a Denny’s, and a Wal-Mart shopping spree we were at the gate. Yes Roland has arrived. I was kind of hoping for trumpets or something…oh well. We checked in (really nice digs) and got ready to ride. I forced myself to take as much time as possible to get ready. Two reasons. The first was that I knew there was a lot of riding ahead and the second and more important was that I was vibrating I was so excited and didn’t think I’d actually be able to ride that way! I rode around all the outdoor parks to check them out than walked all the indoor parks. It didn’t work. I was still vibrating but I wasn’t there to check out the PA countryside, beautiful as it is, so I joined the boys in lot 8 and dropped in. I wish I could tell you what happened next was some epic riding because it would make a better story but, well, that didn’t happen. I did find a gear I hadn’t used in a while though and managed to get a high speed wall ride thing done and worked on a high speed transfer to a small ramp on the deck of the bowl. Enough to leave me grinning and feeling 30 again!

Time for a break. Chris, Jorden, and I left Lot 8 to go find some food. I don’t remember the name of the pizza place in the little town but the food was amazing. Next mission, beer. We headed up the street to the “hole in the wall” bar. Classic. The best was watching the old surly local guy declare himself liquor inspector and take Jorden’s id. After he finally figured out the date he pronounced  “…yure lucky…”. The whole time Jorden was awkwardly smiling and bobbing his head waiting for the guy to smile and say he was kidding. Instead when asked: “…I don joke”. Too funny. My turn to buy beer. Been a while since I got carded. Once the formerly surly fellow and his friendly partner figured out how old I was they decided that I should probably be staying in the local cemetery instead of Woodward. They also added that I should have been there for Halloween because that is when the graveyard parties the hardest…

Sooo…. back to Woodward with beer in hand and stinking like smoke an stale beer.

After dinner we geared up and headed to the Playground. Weird little setups but some cool stuff to ride. Kyle was working over a multi-step sub setup, Ace slammed hard trying to log some clips, Jorden was doing lip slides and grinning ear to ear, and I jumped through a wall of foam bricks which sounds much cooler than it was. We finally decided to get out of there because we were all getting beat down by all these tiny ramps. Funny how that works. So we moved on to Cloud Nine and the LARGE foam pit/resi area. This is where the theme of the weekend really took hold with Chris and Jorden starting the quest for flairs into the end of the foam pit. By the end of the night Chris was getting them pretty decent into the foam and I was hoping Jorden wouldn’t try it on a real ramp (sorry Jorden but its true).

Other cool stuff included Chris throwing easy double flips, and other flip variations into the foam and Kyle was doing multi bar spins variations on the resi. For the most part I stayed away from the foam because it is just too exhausting but i did throw one back flip in there and also discovered that I could to front flips if I wanted too. I  landed tires on my first try…cool but not going to happen. I spent most of the night re-learning nothings and supermans on the resi and the last hour was seriously some of the most fun I’ve ever had on my bike. I’ve never charged anything like that before….so much fun. I was going way too fast (well maybe not) but if you could have still framed my face you would have seen me grinning at the thought of pedaling as fast as I have in years towards a monster 6ft lip. Time for some ice, a shower, a few beers in the hot tub. Totally satisfied. Time to get ready for day 2.

- Roland Labreque

Check back for the rest of the woodward coverage over the next couple of days.

Landozine Toronto Trip Sept 2009 from Rob Lando on Vimeo.

Chris Chitaroni put together this video he filmed and edited of his, Jorden Guth, an Andrew Grant’s trip to Toronto earlier in the month.