WoodWard

Yo! Well after Colorado I spent a week chilling out with some good family friends near LA. Then headed out into the high desert to WoodWard West. Sat in Starbucks waiting for Kalin Law and Kevin Sorichetti. Met Chris From PlusSizeBmx and he gave me a lift up to Woodward Lodge. Checked in got my room had a nap and got rudely awoken by Kalin and Kevin. Jumped in the Bronco and headed down to ride. The car felt a little weird so we stopped to check only to find that the rear wheel was just about to fall off. apparently Kalin felt something funny about 100 miles before Woodward so that was a lucky escape..

We sorted the wheel and spent the day riding the indoor park. It was boiling hot the whole week. Every day was pretty much the same woke upHeaded down for breakfast, Played on the trampolines got padded up shredded the indoor park died from the heat. laid in the shade for a few hours then when it cooled down which it never did but i felt bad for not riding so we rode the outdoor park (Enterprise) and the bowl (Crater) Best thing was everything was free Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. the only thing that was different was sometimes we rode the Trails which were super dialled. We spent one afternoon at the step up which was so fun got some sweet shots and i got crazy dirty and with me sweeting i looked like a homeless person. I would have loved to ride more there but I would have passed out from the heat. I had so much fun riding and meeting new people. Was cool to be there while Camp was going on and seeing the kids progress so much in just a week. Spent some time in the bowling alley which is on site so there is not just your sport to do. I dont think you could get bored at WoodWard and if you do its because you clearly dont know what fun is. Our last day came all to quick but we made the most of it. I needed to get some GoPro footage of what I was riding so I blitz every park I liked and got footage only thing was it was 104F which is about 40C and thats damn hot. But it was so dry so not a lot of sweat was happening and if there was it evaporated instantly. Last thing we rode was the Step Up and it was sweet to see Kevin throwing down and stomping a huge flip no hands. It was a bit strange to be riding in crazy hot weather and watch a huge thunder storm roll in. Thunder and Lightning was cool. Spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool cooling off and chilling out. Had our last dinner, said our goodbyes and started our 4 hour drive down to San Diego. I had a blast at WoodWard and cant wait to go back. Big Thanks to Jake Kinney, Kalin and Kevin and to everyone there. If I was name all of them id be here for a long time, that and Im terrible with names so ya haha. Here is a load of pictures I took on my phone. The cool ones of me riding will follow later. Stay tuned for my next blog of a week in SD. Bye! Bye!

Colorado Freeride Festival

Hi Everyone, Well after Claymore challenge I flew over to Denver, Colorado for the Colorado free ride Festival. Had a bit of a wait in the airport but got there eventually. Met up with Godziek, Churchman and Yakub, managed to get to the car rental place and thats where we had some trouble. apparently the car we had booked was to big for the driver who rented it because he was under 25 so we tried everything to get a car. thankfully I had a booking that I had canceled but was still on the system so we got a free upgrade to a Kia Sorento but that was still to small. being there till 4:30am i had had enough so we booked into a hotel and I booked another car from another company in my name, since i was the only one over 25. So we now had 2 cars which legally only i was allowed to drive, luckily nothing bad happened and we got away with it.

Had an amazing drive to Winter Park where the event was. Stopped loads to take pictures and look at the scenery. Got to winter Park at around 6pm picked up our keys, got to our apartment and chilled out with a few beers.

Spent the next day checking out the course and chilling in the Hot Tub. Thursday and Friday I got to ride the course and get use to it. I was a little wary about the first drop and again it was a flat drop so my tricks were very limited on that. Still need more practice on those damn flat drops. Had an amazing time riding the last jump was to good, landed my second ever front on dirt and got my flip whips dialled in. Saturday was Qualifying and finals. It was a jam format quaili's which took the pressure off. I felt really good got some sick runs in and Qualified 2nd which i was stoked on. Unfortunately the rain came down and the finals were postponed till sunday, So that meant that the riders party was rubbish, I left at 11:30 to get some rest for finals which started at 9am. Never had a great sleep all nervous about finals. Got down there early and they were still working on the course trying to get it dry. Eventually practise started and I was feeling good. got my runs dialled in. I was 15th to drop in, thats when the nerves kicked in. I dropped in for my first run which went just as i hoped. 1 foot X the drop whip up the whale tail to flip table off, off access flip the hip, whip off the Up Box, whip the racer an flip whipped the last jump. Unfortunately they had put sand on the landing to make it softer but I caught a deep spot which sent me over the bars. I hate messing up the first run because that puts so much pressure on you to get the second run perfect. Second run came and i did the same run again, just landed a little flat on the whip off the up box which made me miss the trick on the racer and still struggling for speed I made a last minute decision to front flip the last. It worked out well landed perfect and that was my third front on dirt. Waited ages for the results but found out I came 17th which i was happy with. Obviously Brandon Semenuk took the win, Soderstrom in 2nd and Brett Reeder in 3rd. Pilgrim hurt his shoulder so was unable to ride but he was every riders super fan that day. Had an amazing time in Winter Park and I think ill definitely be back next year. Got the cars back and flew out to LA on the monday. Heading off to WoodWard west next week which I am really looking forward to. Stay tuned for more antics and the rest of my trip. Cheers for now..

Thanks to Phil Mclean For the riding photos.

Claymore Challenge

Hey Everyone, Well I'm in America, At Highland Mountain Bike Park for Claymore Challenge, Gold FMB event. I flew in on Tuesday last week, met up with a few buddies and was stoked to see the course and what was in store for us riders. Got to the bike park around 8pm so had a quick look at the HTC which is a sick indoor training facility with Foam Pit Resi and some fun box jumps. We checked into the hotel and went straight down for a swim and chill in the hot tub. Had my first day of practise on Wednesday, built up the bike then played a bit in the HTC learnt a few things then went up to check out the course. The course was amazing zigzagged down the hill with drops, Boner Logs, Berm jumps and some sender jumps. Had a good day of practise never came off which was good and managed to whip the boner log which i was stoked on. Went back to the hotel and of course straight to the pool and hot tub with a beer in hand. chilled there with a couple of the riders then headed out for dinner. Thursday was Qualifying day and I was feeling nervous with this being my first US comp. had a bit of practise in the morning then found out what heat I was in, it was the last one and I was pretty much last. it was a 2 run best 1 counts format. I dropped in for my first run and it all went to plan. flip table the step down to whip on the boner x the drop 3 table the Geax booter Whip the death jump down whip the quarter hip flip table death jump no:2 table out the wall ride to flip no hands on the last 30 footer. stoked I got my first run good and after waiting what felt like hours I was up for run 2, wind had picked up but dropped in did pretty much the same run but 3 whipped the Geax booter. second run went even better than the first. Had to wait ages for the results and out of 60 riders that were there they only took 15 so it was very tight. Results came in and unfortunately i had missed out by 2 places so i was bummed about that but still happy to have experienced the whole event. For the rest of the time there I trained in the HTC got some new stuff and learned to 360 drops so I should be good for the next event which is Colorado Freeride Festival. I had an amazing time chilling, riding, meeting new people and learning new stunts. Ill be posting loads of pictures on my Facebook and Instagram so keep checking to see what I'm up to. Just waiting in Boston airport now. got loads of time to kill before i fly to Denver for my next adventure. So until then look out for photos and updates of my trip through Facebook and Instagram.

Cheers for now

NASS Dirt Wars

Hi All, Well, NASS was on this last weekend and I was looking forward to it because not only was it Dirt Wars but it was also part of the FMB World Tour so a good opportunity to grab some points. Arrived there on Friday, set up camp and checked out the jumps which looked so good, Looked very bmx, steep landings and kicky lips. Got ready for the MTB's allocated practise. Sun was out wind was not bad so I dropped in first, they were actually really nice, it all flowed smoothly. Had a sweet ride got a few runs dialled in and felt really confident. So went for some lunch and as soon as I got back to carry on riding the heavens opened and it never stopped, rained all day saturday and night so Cliff had to call it off, much to my disappointment. But you can't do anything about the weather. English summers are getting worse and worse. I did have a walk around the festival my favourite was of course the bmx park that was insane. the tricks that the bmxers are doing now are unreal. I never stayed for the park finals as my tent got flooded and so I headed back down to the island. Wish I had stayed but I couldn't handle another night in a wet tent freezing my ass off. so this week I'm heading down to Cornwall with my Bro for a little break, surfing riding and chilling. Should be a video and blog to follow. looking forward to getting out and surfing its been a long time haha. Cheers for now...

Wisley Dirt Wars RD1

Yo, So this last weekend was the first round of Dirt Wars UK, After it had to be moved three times due to crappy weather it finally happened. I travelled up there on Saturday and had an amazing day flowing through the trails with the Welsh massive Danny and Adam as well as riding with Jimmy and Ollie which was so good, weather was amazing and trails were running smooth. Digs and the boys did an amazing job of getting them running because we have had such bad weather lately. Rode till I couldn't hold on anymore then chilled before heading to James's for a comfy night sleep. After turning up a little late on Sunday. Everyone was there and everything set up, riders killing it on the trails, I got padded up payed the entry and had a few runs through then the heavens opened and it rained not so stoked on that. After battling with the rain and trying to get the open and pro comp going there was finally a break in the weather and it all went down. Open riders were smashing it such a jump in skill its crazy the progression these days. Pro comp went well I made the finals and had two decent runs not quite what i had planned but worked out good and I took home 3rd. Team mate Clintdons took 2nd and so stoked for Marcel Hunt taking the win with such smooth, flawless and crazy stunts, Well deserved win. Amazing weekend and now looking forward to NASS this weekend. Ill be praying to the rain Gods to give us a break. Thanks to Cliff, Rob and everyone that made the weekend a GREAY SUCCESS!! haha PEACE!!

FISE First FMB Gold Event

Hi all, So just had the first Gold event of the FMB World Tour, FISE which was down in Montpellier France. I arrived there on Tuesday, off loaded our stuff in the hotel and went to check out the course. It was so good to be somewhere where it was sunny and warm, made a change from the rubbish weather in the UK. The course looked sweet apart from the roll in for the mega ramp which to be honest looked like you were going to G out so bad at the bottom and fly off into the river. the mega ramp was bigger this year and after climbing up the stairs and looking over the edge down the roll in I was not Loving it. The rest of the course looked good pretty much same set up as last year and I couldn't wait to ride it. So I built up my bike and went to practise, the mega ramp wasn't open so we had to start from the Amateur tower which was good because i wasn't ready to tackle the mega just yet. Met up with some of the guys who we riding a few American and Canadian riders, Cam Mccaul, Bass, Messere and Chubey. Was good to see them there. First run through went well the course felt good and we just sessioned that till it got dark getting a few bit dialled in. Wednesday and day of Qualifying, I got up around 9 so I could get in some more practise and Cam was already on course and had jumped the mega which was sweet because now I could ask how it was. I had a few warm up runs and then went up to give it a go it took me a while and seeing some french guy almost die as he G'd out at the bottom and his bike flying off into the river never helped my confidence but eventually dropped in and did it. It wasn't to bad a little tight at the bottom of the roll in but ok. Second run and because straight jumping it you could feel the wind I just flipped it and it felt much easier. Got my qualifying run dialled in and when it came to qualifying it was so windy that we decided not to do the mega and instead do the qualies from the AM line. I did a good first run which put me in 14th and my second run I stepped it up but had a bit of a over rotate on my three whip on the last and slid out so that was that. I ended up in 19th and top 18 qualified so i was a bit unhappy, the judging was a little off as Cam did a sweet run and came 20th so not sure what happened there. Anyway went out and enjoyed the FISE night life, went to the Strength In Numbers Premier which was so good that is a must see film. Thursday and finals started late due to the wind and rain but eventually got underway and the mega ramp was running good, was super fun to watch but I would rather have been riding. Some sick runs went down and in the end Pilgrim won with Sodastrom and Graneri 2nd and 3rd. Most of the riders left that night to RedBull Berg Line on the over night coach and I flew back to the UK on Friday morning. Had a good time, rode a sweet course, enjoyed the sun and got sun burnt so all good haha.. Ill try get a vid up when i find one. Peace

Rocket Air Switzerland

Hi everyone,

Well had a fun weekend and a freezing one. Been out to the 2nd stop of the FMB World Tour Rocket Air in Thun, Switzerland. Definitely one of the hardest if not the hardest comp i have been to.
Arrived on thursday checked out the course which looked sweet, its been the same course for the last three years and every year they tweak it a bit to make it better. This year the down ramps were not so steep which made for a much better comp. Unfortunately the weather was wet and cold but luckily it was all undercover so the rain never affected us just the freezing temperature. Spent Friday practising and watched the prequalis which looked hard the level of riding is like finals a few years ago it cray how fast the sport and tricks have progressed.
Saturday came and we had qualification and finals to do. The qualification went ok managed to do a clean run and just made finals in 14th place.
Finals and they only started at 8:30 in the evening so i was getting pretty tired from riding all day but thankfully i managed to hold it together and put a good run together ended up with 12th so was happy with that considering how good everyone was riding.

Stoked on being ranked 10th on the FMB World Tour so I pray I can stay there throughout the year.

Now going to train my ass off for the next comp and hopefully do well.

Here is a few highlight videos:

http://www.freestyletv.ch/rocket-air-slopestyle-2012/

Last of our Cali Trip

Hi everyone,

Well I'm back from Cali now, had an amazing time riding, chilling and making new friends. We spent 4 days at Woodward shredding the step up, learning and dialling in new tricks. Getting ready for the start of the season. Had an Amazing time thanks to Jake Kinney for sorting it out. After we rode woodward we basically chilled out down in San Diego plus I have broken my Toe so I couldn't really ride.
Partied a bit chilled at the beach and watched the guys ride a local spot.

Thanks to Mike, Lobes, Kevin, Chris and Jake for helping us out and sorting places to ride. Cant wait to get back there soon.

Here is the last video and link to some pics from our last days in Cali.
http://sam-davies.pinkbike.com/blog/Californication-Part-3.html

Californication - Part 3 on pinkbike.com

Part 2 Californiacation

Hey,
Second part of our super cool amazing road trip video and blog is up check it out.
Basically we have been riding a lot of trails and thanks to Kalin Law aka Lobes we have been able to hit up some sweet trails. not to mention giving us a shower to use cooking us tasty BBQ's and letting us chill in the hot tub.
I am now up in Tehachipi riding Woodward, this place is so sick rode with so many BMX pro's today, met Steven Murray which was so good and to top it off Nasty invited us to a jam at his trails tomorrow. This week is going to be Epic...

Stay tuned for the next video its going to be interesting haha

Cheers Yaaall........ http://sam-davies.pinkbike.com/blog/Californication-Part-2.html

Californication - Part 2 on pinkbike.com

California Road Trippin'

Hi All,

I have been in Cali for a week now and its amazing if i could i would spend the UK winters here and summer in the UK. Rode Woodward the first few days we were here which was amazing, basically rode foam pit and learnt a bunch of new tricks. then headed down to San Diego with Mike Montgomery and have been down here since. The RV we are in got destroyed the first day we got it haha Blake was driving and some 18 wheeler on the Freeway scraped the side was not that bad but still not a great start haha.
Rode some sweet trails in SD, Rode Mikes training spot which is sweet but was super hot. Rode with the Sorchetti Bro's Kevin and Chris, they took us to there spot in a canyon which was fun got some good shots there.
Heading off to ride some more trails today then up to Woodward all next week can't wait this trip is Epic.

Californication - Part 1 on pinkbike.com

Stay Tuned for more visual antics

Cheers.....

NEW VIDEO!!!!!!!!

HI,

Went up to Woburn Sands yesterday with Harry Steele, met up with Nico Turner to do a bit of filming for our new clothing sponsor Morvelo.
Was a sweet day apart from having a bit of a disagreement with a tree which of course the tree won and now feel like i have been hit by a bus.
Such a busy day trying to get as much filming done while the sun was up, managed it just and got some cool footage so check out the video..

Cheers for now.

Happy New Years from Morvelo riders Ray Samson & Harry Steele from Nico Turner on Vimeo.