Day 1 Photoshoot with Allen Stoddard

The first day to shoot with Allen Stoddard started out well but then the day abruptly came to a halt. While at the first spot of the day Allen clipped a root and flatted. The day ended quick. Here is what I shot today.

Allen railing the singletrack

It ended very fast

Allen Stoddard Portrait

Photos: Tony Tarumoto

Jack on Banshee

Jack Fogelquist just recently got on Banshee bikes. Here’s a little of what he told me.

“Last year around October I sent them an e-mail asking if they were sponsoring riders. They said they deal with that in August and to check back next year. When I got back from Colorado I shot over a resume and it went from there. I’d say it started around mid August, though I received the frames a couple days ago so now it’s really starting. We haven’t talked about getting to events, but I would think I would need to prove myself to them first before they start doing things like that. I’m really stoked about the sponsorship! I built up and rode the Amp yesterday and it rides like a dream! Can’t wait to get on the Rampant! I’ve got some big plans so far and I’m really looking forward to this upcoming season!”

Good job Jack!

Huh?

Thanks Subway. False hopes are always awesome

Midweek Randoms

Another few days until the Worlds festivities begin. Here’s something to hold you over.

Today was a good day.

Sooo pitted

Yes. Not much else to say

Prime.

San Jose Trip

Max, Drummond, Rory, Jared, Eli, Nate, Dustin, and myself took a trip to San Jose to ride the Lake Cunningham skatepark and Calabazas bike park. Early Sunday morning I awoke to my blaring alarm. Drowsy and half asleep I headed to Pacific Grove to pick up Dustin and Eli. In the horizon I could see a yellow glow peering through the overcast as we headed down to Monterey. After a quick stop at Peet’s for coffee the aroma from the roasted bean reminded me it was daytime. Everyone met up at the Seaside Safeway located a mile down highway 1 from PG. With the sweatshirts on us we knew we weren’t going to need them for the rest of the day once we left Monterey. We discussed plans briefly about the day ahead while we finalized our packing techniques. We all headed off to San Jose with the overcast to our backs and the sun in our faces. Max and I took separate vehicles and we pretty much followed each other from Monterey to Lake Cunningham. Rory, father of Drummond drove the van filled with Drummond, Jared and Nate, while I carried Dustin and Eli, and Max went solo.

Cruising along highway 101 with Andre Nickatina spitting lyrics to us, the cloudless yellow ambiance reflecting off the farmland in Gilroy hinted to us it would be a good day. We got to Lake Cunningham at around 8:30 just in time for the park opening time. It was a warm morning and we already knew that it was going to be a hot day in San Jose. We checked in and got our bikes and camera gear in the park. The smooth concrete glowed from the sun. Coming from Monterey most of us were on foreign ground. We never had much riding experience at concrete skateparks because the local concrete parks don’t allow any bikes. Max and Drummond quickly got acclimated to the park and began flowing around with ease. Flowing was something I soon found out was key to riding this place without getting tired. The managers circulated throughout the park on their skateboards like vultures snipping out people without the correct pads. After a while we all got comfortable on the slick concrete but the rising sun was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Nate and I took breaks from riding the park and shot some photos. Again the lighting was playing havoc on our mission to shoot photos. Before the sun baked us we got a lot of solid riding in. We rode the full pipe and the street sections.

Drummond getting sideways

Jared was happy about something not sure what though

Team base

Max throwing a 360 near the end of the session

Noon rolled around and the bike session ended. We once again loaded up and left East San Jose to West side for food and Calabazas. For some reason we’re attracted to Safeway. Like predicted we went to Safeway to get our lunch on. While the rest of the guys got deli food, Dustin solely got junk food. Cupcakes, goldfish and some other nasties fueled him for the rest of the day. Recharged to ride again we drove down to Calabazas. We rolled up to the dusty sun baked jumps of Calabazas. Warmed up from Lake Cunningham we didn’t need any introduction from the small jumps so we began hitting the larger sections right away. As usual the front section had children falling all over the place on the small jumps/pumptrack. Riddled with dust and rocky terrain, Calabazas is easy to wash out on but isn’t a place you want to fall at. After a few gos on the “big set” we sessioned the step-up for the rest of the day. Jared learned tuck no handers and Eli showed us he never forgot how to ride a hardtail. More and more riders came to the park and we had a proper step-up session with the locs. With the sun beating down on us, we rode until we could barely walk.

Nate shooting photos on the big set of Tyler Paget

Drummond gets serious when he rides

“If Max never biked he’d be fat”

Eli having a go on the step-up

Late day session

We packed up from a great day of riding but we had to take one last stop at Safeway. We laughed and talked about the day over pints of ice cream. Tried and dirty we left the sun and cloudless skies of the Bay Area. As we arrived into the Monterey Peninsula we were welcomed by the usual overcast. We had fun and smiles were seen all around. See you guys next time.

Editor’s note: Sorry for the limited riding photos this time. I was riding more than photographing. My bad.

Midweek Randoms

The weekly dose of randoms to keep you sane.

Uh, wow. Not bad for someone not even in high school yet.

Yeow.

Fixed in Paris

Ouch.

Pretty cool

Oh Baby

Once again the Monterey crew took a trip to Santa Cruz to ride at the Funspot bike park that was just recently opened to the public. In the early morning we loaded up in the vehicle dubbed the “Pedo-Van” having similar qualities as a creeper van. We were a little concerned going to Santa Cruz because of the current fires burning in the upper boonies and wondering if the air quality was breathable. After a 45 minute drive from Monterey to Santa Cruz we finally made it to the Funspot bike park.

Free Candy children?

Max needed a new brake to be installed so Jared lent him a hand.

Drummond showed us how he handles the big box.

Minutes after we started our day at Funspot a grom crashed hard on the small boxes cutting his lip and scrapping his face a little. Put a grim tone to the beginning of the day but we quickly got passed that. Poor guy was on the ground for a while but he manned up and came back later in the day to ride again.

A fixed gear rider showed up for a while and showed us a thing or two.

Lunch break at the Mexican joint “Las Palmas.” Chow down on burritos.

We got back to riding soon enough but to our surprise there weren’t very many people riding in Funspot. We figured people didn’t want to ride when the smoke was present. The smoke was not very strong with the help of the ocean breezes. It was a nice change having an almost empty park to ourselves. We rode at the park for a few more hours then headed to Aptos to fill up on ice cream then back home to Monterey.

Max doing the usual.

Nick airing out the quarter.

Max doing the usual from a different angle.

Smiles were present from another successful trip to the Funspot bike park.

Perhaps the Last One

Perhaps this will be our last Bonfire for the great 2009 Summer. If you’ve experienced our events before you won’t be disappointed in this bonfire. This bonfire will be bigger and better than all the other events we’ve thrown. Expect a rather large fire. We only ask for you to bring yourselves, some drinks and items for smores. Please join us in one last get together with food, drinks, friends, fire, most importantly good times.

Date: Monday, August 17th 2009

Location: Carmel Beach @ 11th

Time: 4:00pm-11:30pm

Contact: 831.915.0818.

Midweek Randoms

World Championships isn’t for another 3 weeks. Here’s something to hold you over till then. Probably won’t be enough but I take what you get.

Oops

Wut. Not exactly what your grade school teachers taught you eh? Lies.

What the shit.

Found some old footage of Andrew Neethling

http://vimeo.com/1654340

The ‘72 Dream

For the past few months I’ve been piecing together a fixed gear bike for commute and fun during college. After hours of research to identify the road bike I had salvaged from the dump, it was revealed it was a 1972 Peugeot A08. Imported from France during the booming era of cycling in the United States, this bike showed that it had never left the Monterey Peninsula from local bicycle shop Joselyn’s sticker was placed on the seat tube. Now the dream is becoming a reality. After being involved in mountain biking after so many years I felt it would be nice to try out road biking and fixed gear riding for a change in atmosphere. Some may think that I’m jumping on the fixed gear movement band wagon because it’s cool, and they’re right. I’m jumping on because I think it’s cool but not because everyone has one, but because I have such a strong love for all forms of bicycles. Here’s a taste of the new bike.

Gotta represent

Free Tibet

Weinmann DP18 wheels

This bike should be done by next week. Hope you guys enjoyed this short post.

No worries, I’m not quitting mountain biking.