Author: Aaron Gates

26 Jun

Posted at 01:51h in archive by

Oregon Coast
Photo: Caleb Ruecker

Interview by Aaron Gates

Dave Butler has seen a lot of BMX in his day. At 35, he has more energy and enthusiasm for riding than kids half his age. Dave grew up as part of a quietly thriving Williams Lake scene that included Travis Fontaine and Chad Baba (a local legend to all who saw him ride back then). These days, he bounces back and forth between the Vancouver and Whistler scenes. He’s still exploring, riding new places and learning new tricks at an age when most people have hung the bike up for good.

READ THE INTERVIEW

17 May

Posted at 02:57h in archive by

BAPTISTS hail from Vancouver and play a crushing brand of hardcore that has them headed to the upper echelon of the genre – there’s a lot about the band to get excited about. After landing a deal with iconic metal label Southern Lord on the strength of a few songs released online, Baptists released Bushcraft (listen here) and hit the ground running.

Like most heavy bands, the proof is in the live show. Most of their press is riddled with Converge comparisons and references to Dave Grohl being stoked on their drummer but to really get a feel for them, check out the KEXP session above or their Rain City session from a while back.

11 May

Posted at 10:26h in archive by

Cayford Poster B&W Final
After a few years off, The Cayford Jam is returning to commemorate the ten year anniversary of Chris’ passing. Chris used to host a jam at the Winfield skatepark every year and it was always an awesome time – the Cayford jams are an effort to continue that tradition.

Expect a laid back day of riding at an awesome park. The sessions usually continue through the weekend at some of the other parks around the Okanagan. Macneil and 1664 are sending some goods and Cyclepath Kelowna will have a barbecue running.

28 Apr

Posted at 01:08h in archive by

streetdome 2

Photos found here

Through the years, I’ve seen a lot of wild skatepark designs. This one might be the most intersting. The Street Dome in Haderslev, Denmark is a massive indoor/outdoor project headed up by the design firm of legendary Danish vert skater Rune Glifberg and built by Seattle concrete masters, Grindline.

The defining feature of the park, the dome, is built to house a bunch of bowls. It’s also incorporated into the design of the outdoor section, with giant banks and quarterpipes running up the side. Usually, I’m interested in skatepark design for cool new shapes – clam shells, cradle variations, etc. This is different. Although there is nothing new about the transitions in this park, the dome is both aesthetically and functionally awesome. It keeps some of the park out of the rain, and allows for some cool features up the outside of it.

With a budget of 3.6 million Euros ($5.5 million CAD), it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see a project like this on our side of the Atlantic, but it sure is fun to look at.

Check out more at the following links:

Official Site
Glifberg-Lykke
Skate and Annoy

street dome 3

19 Mar

Posted at 15:29h in archive by


Video by Tony Archibeque Jr., lifted from Ride BMX

Burlington Bike Park has been open for a few months now and they’ve started to develop some regular events and jams. The park is super fun (see above) and they are constantly tweaking the existing jumps and building new lines.

The first Marysville Bike Shop Jam will take place this Friday night (5-10 pm). The shop is a big supporter of the BMX scene in Northern Washington and they have rounded up some product from S&M and Shadow to give away at what should be a relatively informal jam night. They plan to hold jams like this fairly regularly (we will try to keep up on these types of things, but follow the park on facebook if you want all of the details).

The bike park has also started holding a BMX night on Wednesday nights. The park is open until 10:00 p.m. and is offering a reduced price of $12 for the evening for anyone on a 20″.

15 Feb

Posted at 00:20h in archive by

The Hinterland from Least Most on Vimeo.

It’s February, and most of us have been buried by snow or have battled grey skies and rain for months. At this point, with spring just around the corner, I wanted to share this video that a few friends and I made years ago in Alaska.

In Alaska, snow hits in late September and melts in April leaving only a short period for riding and other summer activities. In a way, the winter defines the entire year. I’ve never seen a group of people live life as aggressively as Alaskans do in June and July. Walking around a neighborhood at 10 pm is different there. There is often a surprising number of kids out playing, there might be people out doing yardwork and if you want to, you can ride all night in semi-daylight.

I hope that some of you will watch this and be able to relate to it. Alaska is an extreme example, but there are lots of places in Canada with the same long winters and the same necessity to get out there and make things happen in the summer.

02 Feb

Posted at 19:30h in archive by

chrisC_xup

Ten years ago today, the Okanagan scene lost one of its prominent figures. Chris Cayford was the BMX guy at the local bike shop and was well known for putting on the Winfield bowl jams. He rode everything, including flatland, and brought the Whitehorse tradition of shoveling skateparks in the winter time with him to Kelowna.

For years, the BK crew (Mat Ridgeway, Matt Desson etc.) continued putting on the Winfield bowl jams in Chris’ memory. The jam was always held in March and was usually the first jam of the year in BC. The jams had some memorable moments, including Brett Craig (RIP) driving from Saskatchewan to ride the jam only to have to turn around right afterwards and drive 20+ hours home, and Dom Mach doing this crazy over double peg out of the bowl. The jam hasn’t happened for a few years, but there are talks of a ten year jam happening this year.

For all of us who knew Chris, he’s remembered fondly.