At the beginning of this year, me and my friend Lewis had been riding loads at the time and were getting rather bored of the spots in Cornwall that we’d been hitting. We’d been riding at the track, in Portreath, and had been talking to the local riders there about other spots to ride.

They had spoke of some trails in Exmouth and from what we heard they sounded pretty cool. The next free day that we had off we threw the bikes and the gear into the back of Lew’s car and went on a mission to find these trails. The directions that our friends from the track gave us were very vague so we relied on asking locals for directions when we got there.

It took us just over an hour to get in to Exmouth and we luckily managed to stop to ask for directions outside the bike shop. After asking in there we found the trails fairly easily.

We parked up in a small car park ext to the woods and set off with our bikes into the forest that were, hopefully, home to these trails we were after. After about 20 minutes of wrong turning and footpath tracking we found the trails, and were so worth coming to. The whole set up was built in a deep quarry with small tables, dirt quarters and the nicest 6 pack you’ve ever seen.

After warming up on the tables and busting some tailwhips out of the dirt quarters we kicked the dead fallen leaves of the trails and scoped out the big jumps. We were so glad to have found these trails as they were one of the nicest sets I’d ever ridden. Also you don’t have to pay to ride and are really private.

The last jump in the set was so nice to bust out backflips and flip variations. I pulled of some of the smoothest flips I’ve done and the nicest over clicked x-up flip. We plan to go down there again to film for a DVD my friend is making. Thanks for reading.

If you ever come down to Cornwall riding your bike, BMX, blades or skate board wooden waves skate park in Newquay is a spot you must check out. It is situated Right next to the Zoo, so is very easy to find. The atmosphere is great when the weather is nice and the local riders are super, super friendly.

The park has just about everything a park rider could ask for! At the back of the park there is a small fun box next to a grind ledge. This used mostly by the skaters but is cool to get started on and warmed up for you days riding!

Either side of that are two different sizes of quarter pipes up against walls so the creative riders have something to play around with. In the centre of the park there is a larger pyramid type obstacle with a grind box attached to the side of it with a smaller pyramid and grind rail on the other side. This is good for BMX street riders but is mostly used by the skate boarders and bladders.

Nearer to the entrance of the park is the more advanced part of the bark which is usually ruled by the Bikes. Consisting of a big roll in and a 6ft jump box, rolling out into a huge vertical wall ride. This is were a lot of the mountain bikers ride in the park as it has more of a jumping feel apposed to street.

Next to the jump box is a same sized spine ramp which is used for cool transfers from and to the jump box. To the left of the park there are 2 wooden mini ramps, placed at an angle to each other so creates a cool hip jump.

On the right of the park is one of the UK’s only out door vert ramps. This rarely gets used as it is for the most advanced riders out there. Definitely a must ride park if your in the area so go check it out!

Before the event started the Top 12 riders from yesterdays qualification round watched the BMX dirt finals and were super anxious to get on there big bikes and show what they could do. All the riders were a lot more used to the jumps today and were not messing up as much in the qualification rounds.

Curtis Rider Matt Scott was riding the trails for two days before every chance he got, so he looked to be a contender for a top spot. He started off well pulling of some clean flips and 360’s but didn’t do a lot else after attempting a 720 but bailing out mid-spin.

24seven rider Daryl Brown rode well with nice trails style and some cool looking and dialed tricks including tuck no handers, big no footed cans and a 360. Young DMR ripper Sam Reynolds was riding well with some nice 360’s and no footed cans but was ruled out of the competition after having and a very nasty crash.

Taking off to do a tailwhip his foot hit his front wheel and stopped the rotation of the bike and he fell from height over the front and couldn’t carry on. His cool tricks and determination earned him the Nike 6.0 killing it award.

Rory Backshell came in 3rd riding for Identiti pulling off all his tricks with no problem. Barspins, no handers, tailwhips all in consistent runs earned him 3rd place. 2nd place went to Curtis rider Danny Cas. He rode well doing the craziest Indian air seat grabs and a seat grab to tailwhip. Also a couple of attempts at a huge barrel roll earning him 2nd place. 1st place went to Chris Smith.

Chris rode solid for the whole jam pulling of runs including barspin, superman seatgrab and tailwhip. He also threw down suicide 360, a truck driver and 360 tailwhip that would have been a contender for the BMX finals. Although crashing hard towards the end of the Jam he still fully deserved the victory. Well done to all the riders that rode.

Nass 08 was upon us this weekend and held the national King of Dirt series Round 3. 30 riders turned up to ride in the qualification rounds on Saturday 14th of June but a lot of them were disappointed when they started riding the jumps.

A lot of them arrived and thought the jumps looked cool. While padding up and getting ready were eyeing up the tricks they reckoned they could pull off on each jump. For most of the riders that changed as soon as they hit the first jump.

The roll in was ridiculously small for the size of the first jump and the riders had to use every grain of dirt they could to pedal and pump over the first double. Some of the top riders adjust well to the jumps and we saw some good tricks from some of the UK’s top names. Chris Smith showed up and was pulling, barspins and tailwhips.

Young DMR rider Sam Reynolds rode well after winning a couple of weeks before at the Wisley King of Dirt. Ricky Crompton pulled of the craziest flat spin 360 over the first jump so smoothly.

Only 12 of the 30 riders that turned up progressed in to the final as the rest of the riders pulled out either due to injury or not being able to ride the jumps the way they like to. Other riders going through include Charge bikes rider Mike Smith, 24sevn rider Daryl Brown and Curtis rider Danny Cas.

The backflip is a trick to be learnt in a foam pit and for only the advanced and experienced rider. Before you start thinking about trying this trick you should have a good number of smaller tricks.

360 is a good trick to know you can do because it means you have the bike control and ability to rotate the bike a full revolution. And most of all NEVER try or do this trick with out wearing a helmet.

I learnt this trick when I was 16 in a foam pit at a skate park. Almost every rider will hit the ramp and through the bike away from them thinking ‘how the hell do people do that.’ When you’re learning its better to hit the ramp with a touch more speed that you would for a usual jump.

It will take several hits to get your head around going upside down, but you will soon get the feel. Some people take weeks of practicing the backflip until they get the feel and the full rotation.

As you take off look forward as if you were doing a normal jump but let the bike float upwards starting the rotation. The longer you look forwards for the higher a further you will go. If you start to pull back on the bars as soon as you hit the jump you will rotate really quickly and be at risk of hitting your head on the ramp.

You have to stay relaxed while mid-flip, as if you tense up it will extend your body and will slow the flip down. You will probably under rotate and land on your front wheel. Doing this is probably one of the scariest things you’ll come across while riding.

Once you happy with the pump and the height of your bike, look backwards and try and look for the landing. The first time you’ll look back and do this, it will seem very strange, but the landing will come round. Just spot the landing, extend your arms and slow the rotation and land smoothly and ride away. Perfect!

Once you have this dialed on all kinds of ramps you can add variations into the trick. Things like tables, X-ups and tuck no-handers are common variations for backflip tricks.

Be safe and ALWAYS wear your helmet!

Mt Hawke is a tiny village in Cornwall, a few miles from Red Ruth, and has one of the few indoor skate parks in the UK. This skate park has been around for a few years now, originally being a set up of ramps outdoors and has developed into one of the best skate parks in Cornwall. This place is vital for a lot of Cornish riders as we use it a lot over the winter months, when the dirt jump, trails or outdoor bowls or parks are too wet to ride.

The new set up of the park is great as it has created a lot more variation and so many more lines for people to ride. The main mid-section of the park has had a complete make over in October 2007 and has made the whole park much more interesting to ride. It used to be just a few obstacles put in places without much thought or any ideas how to ride it.

Now with the new set up you can link different parts of the park together and can flow around the park for minutes on end without cranking it at all. It has a small street section which is great for beginners or just for people to warm up on and get ready for their days riding. It has three mini ramps, each different size’s for the new skate riders or BMXers, right up to a big six-foot spine mini ramp equipped with a step up and great wall ride.

The main section of the park has hips, grind boxes, a stair set and a wall ride with quarter pipes and flat banks set up at all angles so you can hit it from any side of the park. The far section has a small jump box and a new volcano spine set up.

The park is great on those wet and rainy day when you can’t be outside, and is vital to your riding over the winter. Defiantly worth checking out if you are in the area!

The tailwhip is probably one of the hardest tricks you will come across to dial and add to your trick bag. I have been riding for about four years and have only landed my first one this May. There are so many techniques you will find for doing the tailwhip, but I think almost every riders first attempt, you will jump of the bike, give it a good old boot, and land on your feet right off the back of the bike.

The worst thing you can do while learning the tailwhip is getting into your head just to get you outside leg over the bike. It is the worst habit to get into as it will never work and is extremely hard to stop yourself doing it.

The easiest way I find to do it, and also the way I learnt it, is to firstly approach a ramp at a decent speed as if you were to get around three to four foot air. I think it’s also better to learn out of a quarter pipe, on to the top of a deck or flat land rather than over a gap or jump box.

I try to stay on the bike and both feet on the pedals until both wheels are clearly off the ramp. Once your up and the bike is level I take my right foot off and let it drift behind me and give the bike a slight nudge with my left foot. (when I tailwhip I rotate the bike anti clockwise, so if you find you natural rotation is the other way, just reverse these instructions).

You’ll find the harder your kick the bike, yes the quicker the bike will rotate, but it is a lot harder to control and stay on top off, and will also be a lot harder to find both pedals. I try and keep most of the body movement in my arms and shoulders. This way the bike stays underneath you and a lot more in your control. The bike will rotate a lot slower but it gives you more time to watch the pedals and place your feet on to them with control.

This trick is great once you have it dialed. You can throw in variations like clicking your feet together, mid-whip, or scissor kicking them giving it an Indian air look. You can also adapt it to other tricks you already have like 360’s or back flip’s.

Saturday the 17th of May, Adrenaline Alley Skate Park in Corby played host to this year’s first round of the 24seven Filthy 48 Tour. The day started of good as I had only ever ridden this skate park once before. It was the day after a tiring photo shoot, so I was pretty knackered.

This time I had a few days rest before so got there nice and early to work out what I was going to do for the competition later on in the day. Over the winter I had been riding an indoor skate park, as the weather had been bad I couldn’t ride my usual dirt jumps.

This really helped in the event as a lot of the obstacles were similar to my local indoor park. I’ve also grown up riding skate parks and learnt a lot of my tricks this way so that helped me to.

Riders of all abilities turned up to ride the event. It attracted a lot of riders around the area as it is one of few events that allow mountain bike riders and BMX riders to compete in the same event for the same prize.

The competition was split into four rounds of five riders. They rode in a ten minute jam session throwing all there tricks, trying to show the judges why they should be picked for the final. Loads of big tricks were thrown down including 360 double tailwhip, 720 and a barrel roll x-up over the jump box. The final round again showed some great riding including backflip tailwhips and 360 whips.

Make sure to be at the next stop of the 24seven Filthy 48 tour: Chicksands June 28th

On the scorching day of May 10th The Track in Portreath held the first of many of this year’s Tonkin’s Backyard Jam. We were extremely lucky with the weather as it was just perfect conditions for a good ride. The trails were looking crisp perfect and with no wind what so ever it looked like it was going to be a great day.

Practice got under way at around 11 o’clock letting the riders arrive and get ready and used to the jumps. At around 3.30 the competitions got underway starting with the under 12’s. These youngsters are the next generation of the tracks big riders!

1st: Tom Novis
2nd: Dan Shurmer
3rd: Paul Bragg

These guys winning some cool prizes from Plain Lazy.

Next was the Under 16’s. These guys riding just as good as most of the Open round showing some great trail style and some pretty good looking tricks including tuck no handers and 360’s.

1st: Sean Herman
2nd: Liam Smitheram
3rd: Ben Clarkson

The open category showed that a lot of riders have been training over the winter. The increase in standard for this category from last year has step up a lot. Tricks like Backflip X-ups, Backflip No-handers, Superman seat grabs and Barrel roll X-ups were some of the big tricks being thrown down in the open competition.

1st: Clinton Johns
2nd: Jack Gear
3rd: Jamie Taylor

This was an all-round a great days riding full of big tricks, some bad crashes but an amazing atmosphere for this kind of event. The crowed showed up and gave some tones of support to the riders competing. Well done to everyone who rode and we can’t wait for the next one.

Tonkin’s Backyard Jam - 21st June 2008, The Track in Portreath.

Progression in mountain bike freeride at the moment is actually insane. Two years ago, throwing down a backflip, a 360 and a tailwhip in a competition, and you were always sure to be pushing into the top ranks in the podium. This year it’s hard to even get noticed if you can’t do these kinds of tricks.

Last year there was usually only one person throwing down the frontflip or the 720. This year I’ve seen riders doing both in the same competition. Lance McDermott was the only rider to pull the frontflip consistently last year and now when he turns up at a competition people expect him just to do it. Words around that he’s been working on a no-handed frontflip for this year to stay ahead of the game. It seems the only way to fully grab the attention of the crowd or judges is to do something wild or never done before.

Take the Qashqai challenge last year in Milan. Andreu Lacondeguy won throwing down one of the craziest superman backflips in competition. And Lance McDermott won the Park round in Cologne with a 360 handplant over the spine. Lance also won the best trick award in Milan with a backflip Indian air superman. This year there is a handful of riders pulling off backflip supermans.

When I first heard of Lance McDermott, it was in an MBUK magazine article, where he was talking about how he had just changed from riding BMX and transferred his skills to a mountain bike. He had only been riding that bike for a few weeks and was already doing flairs and backflip turndowns.

An issue or two later he was in another article doing frontflips. I remember thinking to myself ‘doing a backflip variation is hard enough. Frontflip ones must be impossible’ I just never thought it could be done.

If you search on youtube you can see the amazing Scotty Cranmer totally prove me wrong. He has been doing no handed frontflips for a while now but has recently been pulling the frontflip tailwhip in the AST Dew Tour in the BMX park course.

Can you imagine what tricks are going to be done in years to come?

Portreath is a small sea-side town in the south west and is home to ‘the-track’. The UK’s premier out door mountain bike facilities. It is set out on a 5 acre floodlit site and had challenges for every level of BMX or Mountain bike rider.

It firstly has a beginners section. This is suitable for all abilities and a good place to get into your days riding. It also has new small dirt humps for the small and younger riders. It has a great BMX race track with concrete start gate. Staff there are still working on this but at the moment you can still ride the first part of the track, so you have the head start you need on competitions for this year.

One of the main features to the track is one of the only out door multi ramp foam pits in the country. Measuring up at around 12 foot wide, 18 foot long and with a good depth of foam it is the perfect place for the serious riders to practice their tricks into before taking it to the hard ground. For the rest of you its there to always have fun.

Next to the foam pit is a new feature, the Resi Ramp. This is made from a five foot wooden kicker ramp, similar to the foam pit ramp. The landing is in the shape of a dirt jump landing but with no gap. The landing is made from wood, with layers of soft sponge and foam, to make it soft, and with a layer of hard plastic on the top.

This is so you can ride it with the same feel as a dirt jump, or jump box, but with less impact on landing. This is usually used for the riders to practice their tricks on, after they have tricks dialed in the foam pit. It’s the step before going for your tricks on solid landings.

My favorite part of the track is the pro line of dirt jumps. This has been there since the track started up in 2004. They have been knocked down and changed each year as the progression of UK dirt jumping has gone through the roof. It has a main line at the top of the park consisting of 6 dirt doubles the are great for any type of dirt riding, weather your into tricks or just having fun a flowing through with trail style.

To the left of the Pro line, there is a smaller set of more technical dirt jumps with hips and berms. The more experienced rider can combine the two sets of jumps and you can ride endless lines of fun transfers and flow. At the end of the top set you have a choice. Turn round and go back to the top for another run, or to proceed on to the bottom jumps.

These are built only for the experienced riders as they jumps are up to seven foot high kickers, boosting you up to 10 foot in the air and higher. Also with gaps around 16 feet long they are great for holding competitions and for showing of your big tricks.

For more pictures and info about the track go to www.the-track.co.uk. They are host to many events this year so be sure you check them out as the atmosphere is great and the riding is unreal.

On Sunday April 6th, the first round of the UK King of Dirt series kicked off at Chicksands. A lot of people woke up that morning to find everywhere covered in snow, but this didn’t stop the riders from doing their thing!

The open category saw some great riding and some new faces. Tricks are being thrown down in the open, which would have probably won the pro category a couple of years back. Tricks like tailwhips and backflips are a common thing in UK dirt jumping contests now. The best run of the open category going to stinky Pete earning him the Open Nike 6.0 killing it award.

The pro competition saw 14 of the UK’s best dirt jumpers compete for the cash prize. Although some big name riders could not attend due to international commitments, the level of riding was still as good as we’ve seen this year.

Diamondback rider, Sam Pilgrim rode in a league of his own throwing down several backflip variations, double tailwhips and his first frontflip over dirt, and well deserving of first place. In second place came DMR rider Sam Reynolds, Guy Raymond Samson would round out the top three, he rides for Last bikes.

The Pro Nike 6.0 killing it award went to Ricky Crompton. Riding his full suspension bike and still nailing so many big tricks, he showed the judges why he deserved the prize.

Here is a link to a trailer of the first round at Chicksands.

To find out about the coming King of Dirt events check out www.kingofdirt08.com or www.myspace.com/kingofdirt08