Video: Brayden Barrett-Hay`s Homestand
Always dope to see the lil homie Brayden come thru with new shit! I remember when he was still learning tuck no handers over spines at Le Taz years ago, it's awesome to see how strong his riding is now! Let's not forget the terrible crash he had at Crankworks Joyride a few years back, the dude is a survivor and a shredder! All filmed in his backyard, his new video is filled with bangers. Wait no longer and hit play!
Video: Unexpected Thursday 41
Before it gets too cold to ride bikes outside, we had to visit The Brose Farm for one last weekend to shred some of the finest jumps Ontario has to offer. Surrounded by a lake, fields and forests, The Brose Farm is one of the nicest place to ride bikes during the Fall season. The colder weather is perfect to hold the dirt together and the surroundings are simply beautiful to look at when you're on top of the rollin trying to catch your breath. Since out Austria team rider John New was in Canada, it was a must to bring him over there to show him how nice of a place it is. Despite having our sunday session cancelled by the rain, everyone had a bast and we can't wait to go back next year! Not too sure how to put this in words, but there's a lot of sick stuff in this one. Ben Desjardins sets the bar pretty high right off the start, followed by riding from Zach Horne, Al Faruggia, Michel Plonka and John New. Peep the video above and the pictures below. Huge shoutout to Josh Brose and the Brose family for being awesome people and always treating us like kings!
Video by Jeremy Menduni
Photos by Josh Brose & Jeremy Menduni
Griffin Paulson Destroying Kamloops
Not much info on this dude but judging by this video, he knows how to ride a bike and doesn't seem to be afraid of anything!
Video: John New Raw Dirt Clips
Fortification with Pavel Alekhin
The homie Pavel Alekhin built jumps at an abandonned facility in Russia and pulled the craziest tricks you could think of. No words to describe how crazy this is, Pavel is on top of the game right now!
Nick Clarke's African Adventure - Part 3
Earlier this spring, Nick Clarke spent a few months in South Africa riding bikes, filming his Welcome to The Rise video and helping out Matt Macduff with his Loop of Doop Project. As he signed up for this trip, little did he know that he was on board for the craziest journey of his life. His adventure was so inspiring that he had to put it down in words to share it with the world. Check out the Third Part below, and in case you missed them, check out Part 1 and Part 2.
Words by Nick Clarke
Photos by Thomas Sandell, Eric Palmer, Julien Grimard
Since the Garden Route is known for having one of the largest collection of great white sharks, the team tried multiple times to organize a cage dive with the beasts out at sea. Eventually we got our opening on the day of the attempt at 11am. We were told it would be a 2 hour trip so we planned to be back by four for the attempt, but after driving for a couple hours we arrived to learn we were given false information over the phone. What was meant to be 2 hours was in reality 4. With the 2 hour drive each way, this would become a full day adventure which would make us miss Matt’s attempt and that wasn’t an option. We were forced to cancel….plus pay full price in a cancelation fee. Matt was originally supposed to come with us, but after I forgot my passport and we had to turn around, he decided later to sleep instead and get ready for his attempt. Since we booked for 5, we had to pay for 5 which totaled around $850 Canadian with taxes. We didn’t want to tell Matt that we didn’t dive to give him any mixed feelings, so we stalled for the original 2 hours. At least there was a big motorcycle rally going on in Mossel Bay at the time so we had something to do while passing time. After the long unsatisfied drive back we tell Matt “We’ll tell you later man, you won’t believe what happened!” We told him later in the hospital that we didn’t actually get to go and it cost a fortune to say we did.
The Attempt was one of the gnarliest moments of my life. Seeing one of your best friends crash on that scale isn’t easy. It didn’t seem real. We were all fully confident he was going to make it around that loop and that there’s no way he could go too fast at a 40ft loop...boy were we ever wrong! The 70ft roll in with an added 10 ft deep slope into the loop, proved to be too much speed causing Matt to G out into a tidal wave of carnage. Fully committed to speed, Matt was already fully compressed before he got into the loop leaving no room for his body to handle the forces of gravity. This would ultimately be his downfall. Everyone ran over as fast as possible to find Matt laying on his back looking up, his phone in his jacket, and that same Metallica song from that morning playing out loud in his pocket. The lyrics of the song “look to the sky just before you die, it’s the last time you will” came through the speakers and Matt spoke up giving us all a sigh of relief that it was just his ankle and wrist it pain…it was a seriously heavy moment.
While Matt was in the hospital, I made repeated trips back and forth to Cape Town to the airport. The Clio rental was up, and Louis and I had to figure out a way to get Matt back from the hospital to CT. After searching online for the best deal, we found a 4 door Nissan buckkee, at least what we thought was a 4 door. This is where things took a crazy turn…Both Louis and I were running short on funds at this point and in order to get this buckkee, we maxxed out both of our visa cards. We actually had to raise the deposit to lower the cost of the truck to even it out, but we managed to make it happen and got a truck. Originally the plan was to hangout in town for the day with Ryan and the crew, then head back to get Matt, but this trip was freestyle so plans changed of course. Unfortunately Louis and I didn’t plan for this so all we had were the clothes on our backs. Cut off jean shorts, and a sleeveless vest was my choice for this trip, while Louis was smarter and brought a hoody. We had heard about these crazy music festivals called “Trance parties” from a bunch of locals, and that we had to experience one of these before we left. A seemingly innocent girl I was hanging out with there mentioned it one night, and after some convincing we went for it. It was on our way so why not right? We told Matt the idea and he was stoked that we were making it happen. She wanted to surprise her brother that she hasn’t seen in months, and this seemed to be the place to do it. After picking up a shipment of 36 bottles of fine wine from Chris’ mom as a favour outside of town, we hit the road for Vortex Parallel Universe.
Pulling into the venue after driving for a couple hours, we were greeted by a minimum 2 hour line. None of us wanted to sit in a hot car waiting for a long period of time, so I made a phone call from her phone to Justin Novela who was going as well. He rented a farm house down the street from the party so we decided to go have a few drinks there and go back when the line up cooled down a few hours later. This story is a bit to extreme to get right into so long story short, it ended up pouring rain on us while on the dance floor, we had very little clothing, no cell phones on us out of fear of loosing them, and the keys to the truck we needed to get Matt to the airport ended up being stolen by this very girl that I met up with while down there…we got the keys back, but it was one of the craziest adventures I’ve ever been on. Literally! That’s a completely other story though. After this insane night, we had a few hours of driving to get back. Stressed, tired, and looking forward to getting home to relax, we finally get to the house. Through the same sketchy broken window the monkeys broke in, people discovered they could fit through as well and walked away with our go pros, an Ipad, amongst other things. It was a hell of a weekend to say the least…
That same night Louis and I were sitting around the fire talking about how we could safely transport Matt with what we had. Since it was only a 2 seater truck, we had to improvise and lay him down in the bed of the truck under the cap. We took folding couches, all the pillows we could find in the house, and our luggage and stuffed it all in to make matt the most comfortable bed we could for the 6 hour journey to Cape Town. It was dialed, but it was missing a certain something, the disco ball! Since we were given this sweet disco ball we couldn’t let it go to waste, so we attached it right over his head to the roof of the cap on a gopro mount and dubbed it the freestyle ambulance!
I knew the boys were up to something with the Partymaster for a while, and knew that once it got out it was going to be a game changer. The crew had been friends for years, but after everything we had just been through together, it felt more like a family. At the time most of the guys on the team were hurt and couldn’t produce anything to market the frame, so I brought up taking Matt’s frame to Louis. He starts laughing saying “You know it’s supposed to be me telling people when we sponsor them, not the other way around”. After talking it through with the crew back in Montreal, it was official; I would be a new addition to The Rise family! The Rise is a tight family of friends sharing the passion of bike riding with the world, and to be welcomed into their new phase of the brand meant more to me then any of my past sponsorships in my career. I grabbed a can of white spray paint and customized my Partymaster to look like the Canadian winter we were missing here in paradise!
It was a long drive back to CT. We took things slow to make sure Matt had the smoothest ride possible so we made it to Cape Town late in the evening. Halfway through the trip a freak tooth ache kicked in that started driving me crazy. Might have had something to do with all the milkshakes I went through every time we ate lol. I’m not ashamed to say that easily 50 shakes were cleared on this trip. They were simply too good to say no too, and I wasn’t the only one that fell for their allure. I’m sure that I speak for a lot of people when I say the dentist is never a fun experience. Since I’ve built a few offices for dentists with my father for a few years, I know what they charge and was expecting to pay a fortune! Thankfully Brenda set me up with a great local dentist with a “student deal” to quickly address this pain. After a quick check up it turned out I needed a root canal and a specialist. Normally this procedure would cost well over $1500 Canadian, but I got in contact with a specialist and got the procedure done for just $200. I was dancing when I saw the invoice!! It’s safe to say that I’ll be taking care of my teeth in Cape Town from now on. Even working for dentists here in Canada, they’ll let you work for free to make their office look beautiful, but don’t expect them to cut you a deal on that filling…
Now that my tooth was fixed and my new Partymaster was built up, it was time to get to business! We had to wait till a certain time of the day to ride the Potato trails, so Thomas (Crim), Eric (Mr.Shin), Justin, Damion, and I got together at Crim’s local spot “Yabos”. Normally I ride with two shoulder braces due to gnarly dislocation issues, but today I felt like easing into things and that maybe I wouldn’t need them. This would turn out to be a bad decision later on...After getting creative and collecting some solid clips, we moved on to the potatoes! The light was incredible, the wind was down, and the motivation was high! While warming up on the line a few runs in, my bike got away from me on an un-turndown. I went down hard popping out my right shoulder, and tearing off a good chunk of my palm from the razor sharp rocks hidden in the dirt. A nasty scar I’ve named Australia due to its shape. I have been used to my shoulders popping out for a while so I tried everything in my power to get it to go back in, but it wasn’t going easy. After ten minutes of painful failed attempts, I felt it was time to go to the hospital. I grabbed a bottle of water, took a sip, and plunk…it popped in. Life has a funny way of reminding you why you should always wear protection if you have it. Unfortunately we would only get a few clips before the crash putting a wrap on day one of shooting.
Normally I would give my shoulder a minimum two weeks to recover after a dislocation and chill out for a while, but there was too much to do in Cape Town for me to sit on the couch and chill out. I took this as an opportunity to see more of the tourist stuff I neglected while I couldn’t ride. Drift racers Steve “Bagsy” Biagioni, and Jason Webb were in town for the Monster Drift city event, and everyone I have been hanging out was working the event, so I threw on a shirt and went to work with the crew at the event! Large crowds, hot weather, beautiful women and drift cars made for a great recovery. It was cool to see the behind the scenes to an event outside mountain biking and get a feel for an entirely different world! Let’s just say the SA fans love their energy drinks. Things got pretty crazy during product samples as people crowded around the truck pushing it and grabbing at us to get a free can. It was something out of a zombie apocalypse movie. Gnarly!
In case you missed them, check out Part 1 and Part 2.
Stay tuned for the Final Part dropping on Friday!
Nick Clarke's African Adventures - Part 1
Earlier this spring, Nick Clarke spent a few months in South Africa riding bikes, filming his Welcome to The Rise video and helping out Matt Macduff with his Loop of Doop Project. As he signed up for this trip, little did he know that he was on board for the craziest journey of his life. His adventure was so inspiring that he had to put it down in words to share it with the world. Read the first part below, and stay tuned for the rest of his story!
Words by Nick Clarke
Photos by Thomas Sandell, Eric Palmer, Julien Grimard
When the idea first came up about going to Africa, I was walking into Joyride 150 when I crossed paths my friend Matt Macduff. He was in the back room building up a new The Rise Partymaster fresh after recovering from a wrist injury, preparing for the big trip. I had just finished building up a new dental office with my Dad, and we had an opening for a few weeks between jobs, so I was stoked to have some time to ride. I hardly get to ride with Matt because I am either working steady on an office, or he is out of town, so when we do it usually gets out of hand! After catching up for a while I made a joke, “I finally have some time off to ride with my homie, and he’s leaving for a couple months to Africa. The timing is always off!” Matt turns around and says, well hey why don’t you come and hang out with me down in ZA for a while? Without hesitation I started looking for the cheapest flight I could afford, and started planning what turned out to be the most intense and freestyle trip of my life!
I’ve been a huge fan of the South African dirt jump scene for years and was super stoked to bring my bike along for the adventure. Eric Palmer’s photos have popped up on my computer screen for years scrolling through pink bike, and the spots never seemed to disappoint. It seemed to be another world with rad dirt jumps, epic sunsets and nothing but style. I never would have thought that later on in my career I would be traveling to ride these same jumps where those photos were taken, let alone get the chance to work with the man himself. I’ve been familiar with The Night Harvest for a few years through articles on The Rise and Pink Bike, and I knew Matt and the PD crew were going to be involved, so I hit him up about getting in. A few days later I get a notification from one of the main builders, Justin Novela. It was an invite to one of the raddest dirt jump contests on the planet! I already knew this wasn’t going to be an ordinary trip, but the closer it came to leaving, the more it would become a life changing experience. Those two weeks felt like a year…
After a long 36 hours worth of traveling I arrived in Cape Town. Right off the plane I had this strange feeling about the country I now stood. It felt as though I never went anywhere, like I wasn’t on a trip. It didn’t really kick in that I was really in Africa until about 3 weeks into the trip. I was mesmerized! Mountains, picturesque coastlines, wild looking trees and wildlife everywhere, and some of the friendliest people I have ever met. After fighting with the airport wifi for a couple hours, I was greeted at the airport by Tumi Mothei. It wasn’t too hard to find Tumi parked outside in the Monster Energy van. Huge decals across a black cargo van and a stoked dude in the driver’s seat! It was a weird transition sitting in the left seat with no steering wheel, not to mention being on the other side of the road. What was crazier was that people overtake on the shoulder with oncoming traffic there and it’s gnarly! After a quick little tour and short history lesson of the city while stuck in traffic, we found ourselves in the centre of town where I met up with the man in charge Ryan Franklin, and my roommate for the night, Catfish! This was already starting out to be an insane trip. Catfish is a wild dude to travel with, let alone be in Africa with him for the first time. I’ve known him for a few years so I was super stoked to start the trip off on a high note knowing someone in town that’s been there previously.
The next day Ryan picked us up in the Dodge and drove the two of us into Hout Bay to check out the set up. It was an epic drive along the coast through camps Bay to the site of the Night Harvest. Anyone who has been here will tell you that Johnty’s place is simply magical! Some of the most perfectly sculpted dirt jumps in the world, epic sunsets, and a backdrop to die for. I couldn’t stop looking in circles at the beauty that surrounded me. The drive alone was out of this world, but throw jumps into the mix and its paradise to any rider. You truly need to see it to believe it.
Ryan set us up at this fancy place called the Riverside estate down the road from the event. This place was rad! We all had our own set up, a few pools, and a huge gazebo where the crew hung out nightly and shared a few beers. Just getting to hang out with legends like Kevin Peraza, Greg Illingworth, Andreu, Sam Reynolds, and the rest of the pure darkness crew is one thing, let alone riding along side them at the legendary Potato trails! This was a dream come true.
On the night of the finals I was feeling awesome! Surrounded by positive energy and new faces, I was ready to showcase everything I had been working on over the last few months at Joyride 150. The weather was perfect, the crowd was loud, and the atmosphere was incredible! I’ve been to many events in my lifetime, but none of them had the same feel to it that the NH had. There’s something about a night time contest that stands out from the rest. It might have something to do with the VIP bar set up, and the trails braii that got the crowd extra wild, but riding under lights just makes things that much more appetizing. Everyone was riding incredible and the trails were running pristine which made for a neck and neck contest! Between high fives with the fans I rode my hardest and threw down all that I could for the SA crowd. It was a close contest! Sam Reynolds was riding with a wrist injury from a crash just days before the contest, but it didn’t seem to slow him down! With his consistent runs and big tricks I thought for sure the contest was his. I was stoked on how I rode and that was enough for me! I got to ride in an epic contest with riders I grew up idoizing, and proved that I could ride as well. Prepared to walk away with a respectable third place finish, I was pleasantly surprised when I heard Matt’s name called up in 3rd, followed by Sam in 2nd. I knew at that point I had won my first international contest and I couldn’t believe it! Its one thing to be sprayed with champagne after winning an event, but its another when the people spraying you with it are the gorgeous Monster Energy girls! I was a happy man let me tell you!
After getting the party out of my system for a couple days in Cape Town, we dropped the PD crew off at the airport and started making our way to the Garden Route Trail Park. Thanks to Ryan’s help, we picked up a small rental Renault Clio and stuffed everything we could into the limited space we had. This thing was small but it did the trick! On the drive to Knysna we nick named it the red eagle as it soared down the left side of the African highways. We left pretty late, so when we arrived to the farm it was dark and vision was limited. Before going to sleep at Robs for the night, Matt took us up to the Pure Darkness course up the dirt road. Marshall and I couldn’t stop laughing when we saw the set up the boys made for the 3rd PD in the moonlight. It was unlike anything we had ever seen before and it was so insane that you couldn’t help but laugh at how huge the silhouettes of the beasts were! Those dudes moved a lot of dirt to make that video happen, and that set up is not for the faint of heart. We had a few days before Julien and Louis joined us, so Matt and I went to work on the beasts. After a few days of digging in the heat and piercing sun to get the line dialed in, the boys made it in from Canada, and we were ready to shred! Besides the size of the roll in and massive jumps, one of the gnarliest things about these jumps is the fact you need to be on the roll in by 6 am sharp to ride them. With the jumps being in an open field up in the mountains, it was the only time the wind would be calm enough to ride the set up. One big gust and you’re toast! It’s difficult to be awake that early in the morning, let alone be awake enough to drop into the biggest line of jumps in the world on a hard tail.
After getting some coaching and motivation from Matt while feeling out the smaller roll in, it was time to face the great white shark fin. This thing has got some sharp teeth and its bite is no joke. I rode slightly under the ride line and took off the top corner spitting me out far to the left of the landing….front wheel first.
After cart wheeling across the grass I stood up, gave the boys the rock and roll and looked at the taco the shark now made my front wheel. I was in one piece and my wheel was all that was damaged in the crash. Luckily enough I was smart enough to bring a spare 36 hole Mavic 729 with me on the trip. It’s hard enough to find this style of rim in Canada let alone in Knysna, South Africa. I got in contact with Tyrone from Bespoked bike shop, and he hooked me up with a build to keep me going a few days later! Unfortunately this would be the only time we would get to ride these jumps! After heavy rain came through and washed away the jumps, we were simply too busy with the loop to get them running again. Something’s gotta bring you back.
After we were joined by the boys, Rob set us up in one of his rental houses on the property named The Backwoods Cottage. After buying a set of speakers from a local shop in Sedgefield and making some personal changes to the layout, we dubbed it the super loop house! The house was awesome! Two double bed rooms, a shower, bath, a large open yard overlooking the loop site in the background, and a fire pit where Julien cooked up “Spalta’s Famous chicken” almost nightly. Marshall was the only one daring enough to take a bath in the house though. You can ask why... With the heavy rain coming down a couple days a week, we bounced back and forth between the fire pit at the front of the house, and a secondary location under an awning beside the garage to cook. Man’s gotta eat. The front yard was also common to have a couple hundred cows hanging out on the lawn from time to time. I swear Rob made his guys move the cows to the front yard whenever he was upset with us about something to get even with us. There were multiple land mines you had to avoid getting to the vehicles all the time.
Stay tuned for Part 2 coming up in a few days!
Bikecheck: Nick Clarke's Partymaster
Since we introduced Nick Clarke with his Welcome to The Rise video last week, let's have a look at what kind of setup he uses on his Partymaster. After riding brakeless for a long time, Nick now uses brakes, and a Gyro on a custom painted white Partymaster. Nick's setup is super dialed and judging by his welcome video and his recent 2nd place at The Brosefarm Jam, looks like he managed to build the perfect Dirt Jumping Bike. Keep on reading to see what Nick has to say about his whip, and check out the full bikecheck below!
"When I first heard about The Rise and the Partymaster I was so stoked! The boys have always had a big reputation in the Park\Street\Dirt field, and I knew that this was going to turn some heads! I have been a friend of the crew for years, but after going through so much together in South Africa for the super loop project, it felt like more of a family and I'm pumped to grow with them! I hopped on Matt's Partymaster, gave it a personal paint job and the rest is History! This is the bike for me! Between the name, the feel of the bike, and the beautiful welding and fab work by Gabo, this frame is a winner and I'm super pumped for what the future holds! From the first ride, you could feel that this bike is made by riders for riders! The long top tube and short chainstays are a perfect combination for barspins and combo tricks, not to mention spins! From the streets to the Dirt Jumps, the Partymaster keeps you in full control and leaves you feeling no limitations to the tricks you've been dreaming up! The ladies love the partymaster as well! At least the South African ladies!"
Specs
Frame: The Rise Partymaster
Fork: Fox 34 831
Handlebar: Chromag fu40
Stem: Deity Cavity 35mm
Grips: ODI Longneck soft ED
Bar ends: Deity LifesaversAvid BB7 Road
Lever: Odyssey Trigger
Seat post: Deity pivotal
Seat: Macneil Fat Cap
Pedals: Deity Bladerunner
Cranks: Profile Racing race cranks 19mm
Sprocket: Profile Racing spline drive 28T
Chain: KMC Kool chain
Rims: Mavic 729 36H
Hubs: Profile Elite 36H
Tires: Bontrager G-Zero for dirt, KHE Mac2 park for Park/Street
Riding Shoe: Five10 Freerider High top
Modifications:
Running a dual pull shifter cable system top to bottom for a perfect gyro set up! Thanks Spoke-O-Motion! Custom the rise/Fox/Tricky Nicky fork decals thanks to Roland Timleck! A rubber crank stopper called a "Ball Cock Shank washer" No joke, costs 2 bucks and your cranks don't move!! Custom white South African spray can paint job!
Nick Clarke - Welcome to The Rise !
Today, we're super stoked to welcome the homie Nick Clarke to the team! Nick is a good friend of ours that kills it on the bike and shares our vision of the sport, so it was only a matter of time before we put him on board. In case you're not too familiar with Nick Clarke yet, the dude is from the Toronto area, and he can often be found shredding Joyride, fixing his backyard ramps, drinking beers and enjoying life. For his welcome video, he spent some time in South Africa riding his freshly built Partymaster and came back with a killer dirt jump video! Wait no longer and hit play to watch Nick as he dives with sharks, wins contests and destroys some jumps!
Make sure to check out his Team Profile Page and stay tuned for Nick Clarke's Partymaster bikecheck, and a serie of articles about his insane time in South Africa Coming soon. Welcome to the team Nick!
The Rise at Brose Farm Jam 2016
Video: Thomas Lemoine 2016
French slopestyle rider rides the infamous Marseille bowl and then takes it to dirt jumping, killing it the whole way through. Always nice to see a top slopestyle rider show their abilities on different kind of terrain!
Matt Macduff on Azonic/O'Neal !
There is no words to describe how much work Matt Macduff has put in the sport over the last few years and despite recently taking a huge slam attempting his 40 Ft. loop, he shows no sign of slowing down. We are extremely happy to see him get support from Azonic and O'Neal for some fresh components and clothing! Watch the short video above for more info and a glimpse or a pretty interesting frame design. What do you think?
