Text by Louis Orth. Photo credit: Terry Adams.

Yesterday we had a pre-jam at the Pit here in York to warm up for the 4th stop of the Am Flat Series. A lot of riders were out there killing it. In that field we had top leader of the expert class Joe Cicman, we had the edit king, Frank Macchio, and even Kevin Jones was out there busting out. A lot of older guys were out there and some young dudes as well. This contest is going to be interesting and I’m excited to see what’s going to happen. Tomorrow we will have the beginners, veterans, and expert classes. It should be a good time.

Who’s more stoked here, Terry or the one and only Kevin Jones?

Today, we had three different classes competing against each other. We had Jay-Rod from the Freestyle BMX Shows announcing the event. For the beginners there only four guys in their class, but every single one of them killed it, all rode without any brakes. The next class was the vet class and they all did really good and they were only four guys in that class as well. Their bikes were setup completely opposite from the beginners. They all had front and back brakes.
After the vets had finished everyone had assumed that the expert class would begin. We found out that they got pushed back to 3 PM. I don’t think many people were happy about that. After two and a half hours of practice the expert class finally got underway. There were 15 riders in this class and only 8 would qualify. Somehow, I qualified with seven other riders. During the finals, everyone went off throwing their best stuff down. Joe Cicman again had a flawless run.
After the finals we all headed to the infamous Pit. Terry Adams, Matt Wilhelm, Stephan Cerra, the Gangi dudes, and even a true underground rider Mark Harris were there ripping it up. Even Kevin Jones was riding and talking with everyone. Definitely something you did not want to miss.
Today is going to be the masters and pro contest. It is going to be completely wild.

Text by Effraim, Photos provided by Armin Batoumeni.

As I reflect on Phil Dolan’s 40th birthday jam weekend, it brings a smile to my face.
Jams are 100 percent positive for the scene, and with the mix of the older and newer generation we began to see some positive light for the future in the UK, which believe me, has been lacking for years.
The plans were loose, day 1 riding at TGM, and Day 2 at Phil’s riding spot in Camden, see what happens, see who turns up? Easy right?

Armin Batoumeni made his way from Paris by eurostar, on his bike for the first time in 7 years! And within an hour he was killing it! What a natural rider!
Phil decided to come out on his birthday weekend holding hands with Armin mid cliffhanger (see photo above), nuff banter followed, well actually all weekend!!
Besides the surprise of Armin being there, it was also a surprise to see James White later in the day, who’s had a lengthy amount of time off (since groundtactics finals).
Towards the end of the first day, a jam circle formed at the mile (as it always seems to do), there were some great moments that can only bring a smile to your face, Armin’s super fast death trucks that had us all scared! Phil nose manualling the mile, followed by James coasting down the mile no handed hang five (jones style), the sessions like this seem to be lost in contests, but happen naturally in jams.
Funny moment at end of the day when myself, James, Phil and Armen were chatting and Jason Forde started spinning a hitch right in front of us. (see photo)
The session went on till late evening, till myself, Phil, Armin and Johann headed back to Phil’s place for the night. Thank you to Sharlene and Phil for being amazing hosts..

Day 2, at Phil’s Camden riding spot, infamous for Phil and Viki videos recently posted online, around 15 people showed up. As if yesterdays guests were surprises, it’s been also maybe ten years since we have seen Amos Burke at a UK flatland event! It had been quite a weekend for surprise turnouts!
Needless to say Phil was on hometurf and shredding, rolling from one end of the court to the other like only he does, Johann was on hand filming Phil’s combos for an up and coming Emer edit, complete with D lock to steady the camera shot, so look out for that.
Chris Massey brought down up and comer Ashley Adams all the way from Bolton, it was great to see both Ashley and Yinka progressing in their riding, sessioning together. (check the last two photos)
By day 2 Armin was feeling the bike a lot more, multiple jumps crackpacker to steam, cliff kickflips, and even much to my amusement learning how to pump rolling tricks, not that he needed to!
As Phil headed to a local pub, I stayed at the jam to offer some trick advice to a few of the remaining riders, jams are awesome for this, and was a great feeling to give something back, and see the riders progressing as a result!
The vibes were laidback, the sessions at times were amazing, the whole weekend was fun! Amos is already hard at work at organising a flatland jam in hastings, so keep an eye right here for the news on that!
Thanks to everyone who came and supported the jam!