The Fam Jam in Folsom was last weekend and it was sick! As soon as we got out of the car we were blasted by heat. Hearing different guesses about how hot it was, I saw a thermometer and it said 104 F!?! I got all signed up and started riding. The heat wasn’t bad, thanks to all the ice cold free drinks everywhere! The course started with a roll-in to full sprint into a wooden lip with a step-up/left hip landing. Then there was a roller to big straight jump to another roller to a steep left hip. The first wood jump was closed for most of practice so I got all my tricks on the other stuff out of the way and dialed in. Once qualifying came around, I did the run I had been doing in practice, which was a bermslider over the 1st jump, t-whip on the 2nd, and a 270 on the 3rd. They announced the results and I ended up qualifying 2nd, so I was pumped on that! We got some more practice as the clouds rolled in and it cooled down a little. I got tons of questions about how I like the Amp frame, and with only good things to say, people seemed stoked on it! Some even asked me if I had other Banshee frames and how those rode, so I told them all about the Rampant! The sun began to go down, and the lights came on! All of the clouds made for one of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen! Of course, Justin was on it, getting the sickest shots of the 2nd jump with the epic lighting. As it got to be time for finals, we got ready on the roll-in. The format was best run of 2 counts, so I planned on doing a somewhat conservative run for the first, and then trying some gnarlier stuff on the second. My first run went perfectly as planned with a 1-foot x-up on the 1st, a t-whip over the 2nd, and a 270 1-foot x-up on the 3rd. For my second run, the plan was a no-foot-can on the 1st, a flip on the 2nd, and a 270 tailwhip on the 3rd. I was nervous about the 270 tailwhip, as I’d just learned 3-whips at the step-up, and haven’t taken them to dirt yet. It was time to drop in, so I sprinted into the wood jump, nailed the no-foot-can, and realized I hadn’t flipped the 2nd jump from the 1st (only from the roll-in mound in practice). I thought I would take 2 pedals like I did from the roll-in, but ended up overclearing and sliding out. Oh well, guess that’s how it goes. I watched Cam do his run and it was time for the podium! I ended up getting 4th place, so that was cool! My friend got everyone’s best run on film, so I put the clips in order from 5th place to 1st. I’m the one with the red shirt.
And of course, some insane shots from Justin, with a flip from practice and a tailwhip from my first run.
After the comp, the park was still open, so I did a redeemer flip! I rode until the park closed trying some new things on the jumps like flip 1-foot x-ups, super-seaters, and downside whips. All in all it was a long, but awesome day! We began the long journey home, making the necessary stop at In’n Out, running out of gas, sitting through road work traffic, and finally getting home at 3:30AM! It was well worth it though!
-Jack
Photo Credit: Justin Brantley
