Stickied: Ray's MTB 2012 Roadtrip video
Here is the video of our trip to Ray's MTB a couple weeks ago. You can also check out the Trip Report for pictures and a little read about the trip! This post is stickied so check below for new posts.
Ray's MTB Roadtrip report
When you live in Canada, harsh winters are something you have to deal with 5 months a year. Sure, we have a few indoor places that we can ride all year long, but more is needed. For the last five years, we have been going nowhere else than Ray's Mountain Bike Park. If you want to meet nice people, ride awesome stuff from huge jumps to rock gardens, Ray's is definitly the place to go. After all, RideBMX ranked the place as America's best wood park. When we first started doing this, we were a small group of 6 friends, willing to escape the winter for a week. Time went by, and this year, we ended up with a group of 13 good friends heading to Cleveland together. There is no words to describe how fun it is to spend a week riding and partying with 13 of your best homies. Fortunately, we had Julien Grimard with us, and as usual, he snapped some photos. Hit the read more link for a short read mixed with some photos of the trip.
Above photo is Samuel Croteau. He always makes it sound like he has no clue how it's going to work or simply doesn't care, but always makes it look super easy. 360 transfer from the grey Oakley jump to the blue one. This line of jumps (with the legendary RedBull berm) is one of the most important features of the park. Not only is it super fun to ride, but its there since the very start. So many transfers are possible on it, and it is just so fun to make trains on that thing.
Michel Plonka - Tailwhip
This is Etienne Piatek. He is from France and has this laid back riding style and is always stoked on having a good time. Stress is not in his dictionnary at all, but party is printed on every single page. That's all you need to know about him.
Above photo is Stéphane Bélanger clicking a nice tabletop on the Rythm section's hip. Stéphane is not the guy that has the most tricks in his pocket but it's always a treat to watch him ride good jumps.
Etienne Piatek - Backflip
Michel Plonka - Toboggan
Julien Sylvestre - Turndown
Louis Lhomel - Toboggan
This is Joel Marchand. This kid has just so much control on his bike its crazy. This is a transfer from The bern jump to the smaller one right beside it. Joel's arm was honestly like an inch from the neon light and he was a bit scared to go this high because he was blinded by the lights while doing the trick. Definitly an awesome photo.
To be honest, Cleveland definitly isn't the nicest place to be at, but they are lucky enough to have Chenga 2 just minutes away from Ray's and our hotel. If you go to Ray's, we strongly recommand the Howard Johnson hotel, its about 3 minutes from Chenga 2, 10 minutes from Ray's, super cheap, and they let you have a lot of fun. On our last day in Cleveland, we had the chance to have a late night private session at Chenga 2. Despite being really tired, we still had an awesome time and managed to snap some photos:
Stéphane Bélanger - boostin'
Samuel Croteau - Tabletop
Overall, this trip was a success. Lots of good times were had with all the homies and our good friends Pabst and fourloko. Big thanks to all the boys for coming on this trip, to Ray@Ray's for making this cyclist's paradise possible, to Keith@Ray's for making sure we have a great time every year and to Bob Delaat for being so awesome. This trip was awesome, can't wait for next year to go back! All the photos above were shot by Julien Grimard, and a video will also be released really soon!
Dukes of Hazard video contest
Another contest quite like odd couples but only for bmx bikes will be happening at Ray's MTB in Cleveland. This time its not invite only, anyone can submit a video for a chance to get in. Click here for more informations.
Rays MTB now open in Milwaukee!
We just got back from the original facility in Cleveland, Ohio which is definitly one of the best indoor places ever to ride a bike, but this post is about the new Ray's that just opened in Milwaukee! There isnt much pictures of the place available yet and the video above only shows some XC stuff, but Im guessing that the place will be really good! Hit the read more link for some photos and for more infos, hit their webiste!
Rays MTB announces new location!
Just stole this from the vitalmtb news, stoked to hear that!
Greetings fellow riders!
After an extensive search, the location for a second Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park has been secured and Milwaukee-area mountain bikers can now rejoice! The 110,000 square foot former Menards Home Improvement Center is currently undergoing the transformation from empty warehouse to the most exciting indoor mountain bike park the world has yet to behold.
Building upon the success of the our original Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park of Cleveland, Ohio, Ray’s of Milwaukee will provide cyclists from across the Midwest an unrivaled place to ride, train, and develop their skills throughout the long winter months when local trails are closed or often unridable.
Ray Petro, founder and namesake of Ray’s Indoor MTB Park, had quietly planned the opening of a second Ray’s Milwaukee locale for the past few years. When financing stalled at the last minute, Trek Bicycle stepped in to purchase the business and ensure the continued expansion of Petro’s indoor MTB park vision.
“Without Trek, Ray’s Milwaukee could not have happened,” explained Petro, “I’m very grateful for involvement and excited about the work that’s already going on at our second park. I’ve have been really excited about all the great new bikes that Trek has put out over the past few years and I’ve ridden the world class private trails they’ve built, so I know their dedication to mountain biking and riders everywhere. The most exciting thing for me about this partnership is that I can now focus all of my time and energy on the design and creative direction of the parks.”
“Bringing Ray’s to the Midwest has been a dream I have participated in with Ray for some time,” explained Joe Vadeboncoeur, Vice President of Product Development and Marketing at Trek.
While Ray’s new Milwaukee location is currently under construction, with opening ceremonies scheduled for November of 2010, as riders of the original have come to anticipate, Ray’s in Cleveland will be renovated throughout the summer. Wait until you see what we have in store for you this coming winter.
“I’ve loved riding at Ray’s in Cleveland since it opened,” continued Vadeboncoeur, “With Milwaukee, Ray will be able to implement the things he has learned over the past five years and have them in place from day one. The new Ray’s is going to be unlike anything anybody’s ever seen before.”
Greetings fellow riders!
After an extensive search, the location for a second Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park has been secured and Milwaukee-area mountain bikers can now rejoice! The 110,000 square foot former Menards Home Improvement Center is currently undergoing the transformation from empty warehouse to the most exciting indoor mountain bike park the world has yet to behold.
Building upon the success of the our original Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park of Cleveland, Ohio, Ray’s of Milwaukee will provide cyclists from across the Midwest an unrivaled place to ride, train, and develop their skills throughout the long winter months when local trails are closed or often unridable.
Ray Petro, founder and namesake of Ray’s Indoor MTB Park, had quietly planned the opening of a second Ray’s Milwaukee locale for the past few years. When financing stalled at the last minute, Trek Bicycle stepped in to purchase the business and ensure the continued expansion of Petro’s indoor MTB park vision.
“Without Trek, Ray’s Milwaukee could not have happened,” explained Petro, “I’m very grateful for
“Bringing Ray’s to the Midwest has been a dream I have participated in with Ray for some time,” explained Joe Vadeboncoeur, Vice President of Product Development and Marketing at Trek.
While Ray’s new Milwaukee location is currently under construction, with opening ceremonies scheduled for November of 2010, as riders of the original have come to anticipate, Ray’s in Cleveland will be renovated throughout the summer. Wait until you see what we have in store for you this coming winter.
“I’ve loved riding at Ray’s in Cleveland since it opened,” continued Vadeboncoeur, “With Milwaukee, Ray will be able to implement the things he has learned over the past five years and have them in place from day one. The new Ray’s is going to be unlike anything anybody’s ever seen before.”
Rays odd couples
The odd couples contest is going on this week at rays mtb, heres the official flyer for it. But theres probably a lot more teams than this since Vincent Allard goes as a filmer with Dillon Lloyd and Matt Macduff, so wish them good luck! The guys from Dobermann bikes will also be there with bikes for you to test!
Rays roadtrip
The guys @ pinkbike posted this today, pretty stoked on that!! Hit the picture to see what im talking about!
Peter Mills at Rays mtb
Cool video of Peter Mills riding rays mtb. It gives a really good idea of how sick that place is.
