chris cayford Tag

07 Jan

Posted at 20:28h in archive, features, home by

Adam Perez – Vancouver Metro Jam 2003
Adam was a young rider from Oregon that was picked up by MacNeil. Like a few others, he was blasting this hip all weekend, and to me, this shot sums up the whole vibe of that contest.

“From early 1999 until late 2003, Chase BMX Magazine was a quarterly publication focusing primarily on the Canadian scene. I was fortunate to be the editor for its four year run, and along the way I started taking photos. We had mediocre photo equipment, and possessed little of the skills cut out for it, but what I did have was a lot of talented subjects to shoot with. Chase was published by World Bicycle Sports Incorporated, who also founded Up North BMX Supply, Ten Pack Distribution, MacNeil Bikes, Metro Jam, and the Pivotal seat. At the time, the magazine served as an advertising medium promoting the brands that Ten Pack distributed, while at the same time trying to grow the sport in Canada and abroad. While we printed about 10,000 copies for Canada, 5,000 copies made their way to the US and 1,000 more to the UK. It was a great ride while it lasted. In the late summer of 2003, we decided to fold the magazine and focus our attention more on the other ventures at World Bicycle Sports. I was going to include all of my favourite shots from over the years, both during Chase and post-Chase, but we don’t have enough bandwidth for that. Instead, these shots were all taken from 2000 until early 2004. These were all shot on film, and some of them I cringe when I see the imperfections, whether it’s composition or technical. In the end, it’s a snapshot of a time that I look back upon quite fondly. We were really just a bunch of guys having the time of our lives growing and creating, whether it was history or friendships.” -Ken Paul

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26 Dec

Posted at 14:21h in archive by

My 2014 featured three major trips.

Matt Desson and the BK crew brought the Cayford Jam back to Kelowna this year for the 10 year anniversary of Chris’ passing. The weekend featured lots of swimming, camping and riding along with everyone’s annual trip to the Winfield Skatepark. Big thanks to Macneil, 1664 and Outbound Cycle for pitching in prizes for the jam and Cyclepath Kelowna for feeding everyone.

On July 4th weekend, 20 of us packed into a few vehicles and headed to Eastern Oregon. This part of Oregon has a few of the unique park designs that you get when the most progressive NW skatepark builders are coupled with small towns that don’t know anything about skateparks. It also has fireworks and professional bull riding. Tony Archibeque Jr. came along for this trip and shot most of the killer footage in this section.

Last up, I made my first trip back to Alaska in five years. Alaska is a special place with a great crew of riders. We managed a pretty good session on one of the state’s best gatherings of random old ramps and fired up the grill for an afternoon.

Next summer is right around the corner. I hope this edit encourages a few of you to get out and explore off the beaten path.

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.