Bend, OR-
After months of planning and four long, hot days of building the venue, the day of the Bend Bike Rodeo finally arrived. Early Saturday morning our crew arrived to finish the roll in and build the monster wall. It was a perfect blue sky day in the high desert as temps quickly warmed up to around 90 degrees. As 10 o'clock rolled around the first riders began showing up in waves. After scoping the course many of the riders jumped in and helped us put the finishing touches on the features. The monster wall needed all the man power we had to erect. After all it was 23 feet tall! Many of the riders who showed up early made the 6 hour trip down from the Seattle area, others came from Ashland and many others came from Portland.
Around noon the course was ready for the first attempts on the jumps. Guy Marchs gladly stepped up and pedaled his ass off into the first jump. After that it was on. All the riders began sessioning the jumps and slowly creeping higher on the wall. Riders of all ages and all types of bikes rolled up and sessioned the jumps. There were 12 yr olds on big DH bikes hitting the jumps with some style. These kids were so small they could not even push their bikes up the roll in ramp. One father climbed up the ramp with a rope and helped by hoisting the bikes up.
As the riders got more comfortable on the jumps, we started to see some hints of what was to come. Travis Erickson pulled the first backflip very casually, then Phil Sundbaum landed his tailwhip, and Andy Sundbaum started throwing 360s. Chris Jordan stepped up and landed a backflip and started launching on the wall ride. He came within a foot from the top of the 23 foot wall!
Desert Sun heli academy flew over nice and low as Rage films got some aerial shots of some very sick trains. The Sundbaum Bros, Guy Marchs, and Travis Erickson ran a train throwing flips, 360s and tailwhips. It was quite a sight. After the scenes were shot the halicopter landed right next to the course!
The practice session saw its fair share of carnage along with big tricks. Many riders went down and took their fair share of abrasions, but one BMXer crashed hard and broke his wrist, knocked out a tooth and scrubbed his face pretty good. Chris Jordan was not able to defend his title, he went down and broke his wrist. Stephanie Nyche took a spill and drove her bar into her thigh and started a potential hematoma that was already the size of a softball by the end of practice.
As the pro qualifing began the big tricks came out in force. Andy Sundbaum landed a double tailwhip that wowed the crowd. Phil Sundbaum was linking 360s, backflips, and tailwhips to the crowd's delight. The brothers looked like they might battle it out for champion until Andy went for a possible triple whip when things went really wrong. Halfway through the first whip he got a bit out of whack and lost the bike. With arms swinging for balance he fell from nearly 12 ft directly on his back at the bottom of the tranny. His helmet left a huge dent in the backhoe compacted landing. It made a loud crack when it contacted the dirt. The medics rushed over immediately as he struggled to regain his senses. When he left the medic tent he had both hands bandaged up and cuts and bruises all over. I am happy to hear that he had no major damage after such a crash.
The finals included Guy Marchs, Garret Sceil, Phil Sundbaum, and Travis Erickson. Each rider went big in the finals. Guy was pulling big amp and getting penthouse high on the wall ride. Travis pulled out smooth backflips including a no hander backflip and Garret was a madman on a bmx sessioning everthing he could find. He had big turndowns, 360s and supermans, as well as a 360 over the spine. Phil was smooth with tailwhips and flips but his bigtime crowd pleaser was a 360 tailwhip that he came sooo very close to riding out, but was forced to put the bike down and run out of it. The crowd went wild as the sun set over the Three Sisters Mountains. It in the hands of the Judge Kirt Voreis.
The results in the pro class:
1 Phil Sundbaum $800
2 Garret Sceil $600
3 Travis Erickson $400
4 Guy Marchs $200
The event was a great time and a good show for all the spectators who came to enjoy a great evening of high flying entertainment.
Thank you to all the riders who made the drive to Bend and show off their skills.
Special thanks to Rage films for the coordination, Chris Jordan for the crazy connections and for 11th hour problem solving, to all the course builders who spent 14hr days slinging dirt and building jumps, walls, and roll ins. With out the sponsors we could not have done it, big thanks to Bend Memorial Clinic, GI Joe's, Mt. Dew, Bend Broadband, REI, and all the other sponsors who helped the cause.
See Photos of the event at
http://westsidefreeride.com/v-web/gallery/albums.php
Ian
After months of planning and four long, hot days of building the venue, the day of the Bend Bike Rodeo finally arrived. Early Saturday morning our crew arrived to finish the roll in and build the monster wall. It was a perfect blue sky day in the high desert as temps quickly warmed up to around 90 degrees. As 10 o'clock rolled around the first riders began showing up in waves. After scoping the course many of the riders jumped in and helped us put the finishing touches on the features. The monster wall needed all the man power we had to erect. After all it was 23 feet tall! Many of the riders who showed up early made the 6 hour trip down from the Seattle area, others came from Ashland and many others came from Portland.
Around noon the course was ready for the first attempts on the jumps. Guy Marchs gladly stepped up and pedaled his ass off into the first jump. After that it was on. All the riders began sessioning the jumps and slowly creeping higher on the wall. Riders of all ages and all types of bikes rolled up and sessioned the jumps. There were 12 yr olds on big DH bikes hitting the jumps with some style. These kids were so small they could not even push their bikes up the roll in ramp. One father climbed up the ramp with a rope and helped by hoisting the bikes up.
As the riders got more comfortable on the jumps, we started to see some hints of what was to come. Travis Erickson pulled the first backflip very casually, then Phil Sundbaum landed his tailwhip, and Andy Sundbaum started throwing 360s. Chris Jordan stepped up and landed a backflip and started launching on the wall ride. He came within a foot from the top of the 23 foot wall!
Desert Sun heli academy flew over nice and low as Rage films got some aerial shots of some very sick trains. The Sundbaum Bros, Guy Marchs, and Travis Erickson ran a train throwing flips, 360s and tailwhips. It was quite a sight. After the scenes were shot the halicopter landed right next to the course!
The practice session saw its fair share of carnage along with big tricks. Many riders went down and took their fair share of abrasions, but one BMXer crashed hard and broke his wrist, knocked out a tooth and scrubbed his face pretty good. Chris Jordan was not able to defend his title, he went down and broke his wrist. Stephanie Nyche took a spill and drove her bar into her thigh and started a potential hematoma that was already the size of a softball by the end of practice.
As the pro qualifing began the big tricks came out in force. Andy Sundbaum landed a double tailwhip that wowed the crowd. Phil Sundbaum was linking 360s, backflips, and tailwhips to the crowd's delight. The brothers looked like they might battle it out for champion until Andy went for a possible triple whip when things went really wrong. Halfway through the first whip he got a bit out of whack and lost the bike. With arms swinging for balance he fell from nearly 12 ft directly on his back at the bottom of the tranny. His helmet left a huge dent in the backhoe compacted landing. It made a loud crack when it contacted the dirt. The medics rushed over immediately as he struggled to regain his senses. When he left the medic tent he had both hands bandaged up and cuts and bruises all over. I am happy to hear that he had no major damage after such a crash.
The finals included Guy Marchs, Garret Sceil, Phil Sundbaum, and Travis Erickson. Each rider went big in the finals. Guy was pulling big amp and getting penthouse high on the wall ride. Travis pulled out smooth backflips including a no hander backflip and Garret was a madman on a bmx sessioning everthing he could find. He had big turndowns, 360s and supermans, as well as a 360 over the spine. Phil was smooth with tailwhips and flips but his bigtime crowd pleaser was a 360 tailwhip that he came sooo very close to riding out, but was forced to put the bike down and run out of it. The crowd went wild as the sun set over the Three Sisters Mountains. It in the hands of the Judge Kirt Voreis.
The results in the pro class:
1 Phil Sundbaum $800
2 Garret Sceil $600
3 Travis Erickson $400
4 Guy Marchs $200
The event was a great time and a good show for all the spectators who came to enjoy a great evening of high flying entertainment.
Thank you to all the riders who made the drive to Bend and show off their skills.
Special thanks to Rage films for the coordination, Chris Jordan for the crazy connections and for 11th hour problem solving, to all the course builders who spent 14hr days slinging dirt and building jumps, walls, and roll ins. With out the sponsors we could not have done it, big thanks to Bend Memorial Clinic, GI Joe's, Mt. Dew, Bend Broadband, REI, and all the other sponsors who helped the cause.
See Photos of the event at
http://westsidefreeride.com/v-web/gallery/albums.php
Ian
