Matt came through with this dope little 5 clip joint filmed at Ellesmere skatepark. Filmed Taylor Barwick.
So last week I ventured off into DWOK country aka London Ontario to catch up and ride with the squad. Mason blessed me with a nest to crash at for the weekend and provided me with all the coffee I needed. That weekend he had just set up a brand new whip courtesy of The Make, so I had to hit him up to see what it's all about.
Frame: 21' The Make Crew Fork: Odyssey something in black w gold undertones Bar: Scerbos in black w gold undertones Photos: Parker Atkins
What's good Soy, thanks for doing this. So you just got hooked up by The Make, congrats by the way, well deserved! How did that come about?
Aye thanks dude! Some of the squad spent some time down in Texas back in November riding with Charlie & Miles crumby. Right after we had left, Orlando hit up Chuck to see if he knew anybody because he was getting stuff going in Canada, so he put in a good word. Thanks Crumby I owe u a futurecig for sure.
That's rad, Chuck's the man. So do you like changing your setup often or do you find something you like and stick with it? Definitely prefer to stick with old stuff, getting new shit takes getting used to so I try to avoid that. Shits gotta feel like ol' faithful when you step on or you're doing it wrong. What parts are you most specific about? Uhhhhh low tire pressure and having really stretched out grips are 2 necessities, bar angle fucks with me tons too. What part of your setup are you most hyped on right now? All the new stuff I got is hella clean so I'm definitely the most psyched on that shit, besides that probably the gold paint if that counts as a part. Does having a gold bike get you mad honeys? Not if you paint it as shitty as I do hahah Hahah fair enough, cool well I guess that's it, any shoutouts?
Big thanks to Orlando & The Make (@themakecrew) for hooking up everything, bike hasn't worked this well in a minute. n shoutouts to @DWOKCREW, da p-jams fam, and you (J-Bone Snortin') for hooking this up.
If you're not already, make sure to go follow all of Soy's social network endeavors, the dude is always workin'. @polejams, @pegchinks and @badv3ntures
To celebrate the 20th year anniversary of the beautiful Sony Vx1000, we filmed some Vx1 clips with Drew Bezanson at Joyride150. Just can’t fade that look and audio.
During the last few months Mike’s been coming up to Joyride on a weekly basis and we’ve been slowly piecing together this little joint for 3Ride Toronto. Mike is super good and is always mad fun to film, hyped on how this came out.
This is what’s up! FTL bossman Billy Perry has been putting in work for the last 10 months and the finished product is well worth the wait. Justin Koebele did an amazing job handling the filming and editing in between getting 100% on engineering exams . Don’t sleep on this!
The initial idea behind this mix was mostly just an excuse to film, but I also wanted to show what typically goes down during some regular sessions at Joyride. It’s amazing having such a condensed area with so many good riders rolling through at all times, as a filmer you can’t really ask for more. But what’s obvious when you ride here is that there are so many good dudes that get slept on because they stay low key, so I really wanted to get those guys involved as well. Shout out to everyone who let me bug them with the camera and took the time to get a clip for this.
Riders; Mike Varga, Ryan Eles, Jake Kavanagh, Greg Henry, Ty Dawson, Dan Ibbotson, Chris Cadot, Zach St. Clair, Ryan Ebbers, Corey Walsh, Taylor Barwick, Chijioke Okafo, Jason Kearnan, Jake Morningstar, Graham Bird, Jeremy Deme, Justin Hughes, Eric Favot, Dylan Leggett, Zack Jarvis and Brandon Webster.
Mike Gray Joyride chillin’. Photo by Joel Fortin
The first time I met Mike was at a tiny park in Elmvale Ontario. He rolled in, cruised around for a little bit and then did a huge 180 and snapped his head tube clean off. It looked pretty damn bad, but he didn’t seem too phased and instantly stood up and laughed it off. It was crazy. Since then Mike has made many moves, including getting picked up by various sponsors and making his way down to good ol’ California. For anyone who isn’t familiar with the dude, Mike is one of the best riders to have come out of Canada in the last few years, he’s made a name for himself by constantly producing ridiculous web videos, killing it at various contest, and just being a G. While he was back in the Toronto area for the holidays, I decided to hit him up to see what he’d been up to lately.
What’s good Mike, thanks for doing this interview! How you been?
Hey Joel, been good. Not totally healthy, I’ve had a pretty bad ankle injury for a couple months that is healing up well. Besides that I’ve been in good spirits and staying happy off my bike.
So first off how old are you, where are you from and where are you currently living?
22 from Newmarket, Ontario currently living in San Diego CA.
Mike Gray Toothpick. Photo by Joel Fortin
What first got you into bmx?
Riding the warehouse. A small indoor skatepark in Toronto. It was where all the local pros rode and it taught me that bike riding is all about having a good time with your friends.
You definitely have a unique style in the sense that you ride bigger setups than most people, what influenced you to start riding the way you do?
Thanks dude. I grew up riding with amazing people and I feel like we all influenced each other to go bigger. Sometimes I feel like a big drop is less gnarly than a flat rail … I guess it just depends what your used to and comfortable doing. I am stoked on anything dope.
Who did you look up to when you started riding? And who do you look up to now?
I looked up to Darren Berrecloth when I was a kid. Brandon Semenuk, Ryan Guettler, Colin Mackay, and of course everyone in Dave mirra freestyle BMX. The majority of my time on a BMX I have been looking up to Garret, Dennis, Chad, Simone, and pretty much everyone.
What is a typical day in the life in Cali for you?
If I’m healthy, it probably starts with a park session at one of the many local parks in the SD area, and throughout the day probably find me hangin’ and filming with the homies. Maybe go surf and play some ping pong and eat some delicious sandwiches.
Who do you ride with out there?
My roommate yuungfern, Dennis, Christian, Connor, Chris Martinez, Josh Rosengreen, Glen, Blake Peters, Doeby, Joey, Demarcus and all the locals! Theirs a lot of dope crews all over the city.
Mike Gray. Photo by Joel Fortin
Where did you travel to this year and what destination was your favorite?
Favorite place was Malaysia for sure. Going on a journey to the other side of the world with a few friends/riders that I look up to so much, everything about the trip was ideal and surreal.
What are you into outside of bmx?
Family, Girls, Good food, music, surfing, hanging with friends, having a good time.
Well I think that’s it! Any shout outs?
Thanks for this opportunity Joel, you’ve been killing it lately.
Shout out to everyone that supports me: Joe, John, Colin and everyone at Haro Bikes, Brian and Joey at Demolition Parts, Jerry Badders at Vans. Cam and Howie at Sensus, My Parents and all my friends.
Follow @mikegraybmx on instagram
Here’s a quick one to start your weekend. Ryan Eles, Jeremy Deme, Lee Giroux and myself (Joel Fortin) had a little morning warmup session at the Dufferin Grove skatepark in TO and this is what we came up with. Unfortunately Jeremy hurt his heel and couldn’t get any clips, but he still held it down behind the lens.