05/11/2008

FUNN Young Rider Development Program 2004 Canada June 2004: Assessment Day 1

After having to cancel the initial Internship assessment day in late May, it became evident that we needed a dry ride option in order to make sure this deal could go off without a hitch, and one of cycling's best industry ideas would flourish. So, we chose a date, and booked in time at Woodyard.

The Internship idea came straight from the arguably corrupt and fiendish mind of Ollie Thomas, International Accounts manager for FUNN Extreme Use Components, and found momentum and backing through FUNN, Evil, Hayes, Hoots, and Flow. The idea is simple: locate 5 young guns all versed in Street/Dirt/Park riding; get them killah' gear; monitor their progress for a year with assessment days every 3 months; and based on progression and dedication to the sport, pick one to win a full ride for 2005.

All 5 candidates needed to be extremely talented riders that would already bring some serious solid skills to the Internship. Mentoring and ongoing support would be at each rider's disposal from both Hoots and Ollie, in the hopes that they would gain a clearer understanding of the ins and outs of being a responsible, sponsored rider.

Enough jive check it…

Ross Measures, Jeremy Harrison, Danny Brodie, Neil Mier and Trever Chronister were the chosen five. On June 5, 2004 they were all brought together with Jay Hoots, Dalen Stanley (Trident Sports) and guest pro riders's Geoff Gullevich (Cove/Hoots/Addidas/Sombrio) and Kyle Guay (Norco Factory Team). Oh yeah, did we forget to mention our token super youth? Young gun, Eric Lawrenuk (14), was a last minute choice to make things even more FUNN.

9:00am First things first, breakfast at Tommy's; the place is always full of locals, and for good reason. Energy was going to be key if we wanted to get through this colossal day. The chaos began under the guise of balancing salt and pepper shakers. Ah! - adolescent bonding.

10:30am Full bellies and everyone was stoked! The group retreats to the Hoots Swaggin' Waggin' where they receive their FUNN back packs stuffed with goodies from the Internship sponsors. Each of them was also handed their new FLOW frame. After that we had just enough time to load ice in the cooler, all 10 bikes in the van, and as many riders in as few vehicles as possible. Then we were off to Woodyard!

12:00pm Woodyard is the very private domain of Ron Mercer, a BMX terror and all round wicked guy. Ron has only recently opened his BMX sanctuary to MTN Bikes and the Internship crew was ready to drop in.

The three hour session was sick - trick variations, huge fuf's, and rock'em sock'em manual lines! Only a couple of the riders had ridden wood before, much less vert, but everyone slayed it. Neil boosted inverted tables off the quarter with sick style, Danny nailed the sub fufanu, and Ross showed everyone how to sprocket and pedal stall effortlessly. Honorable mention also needs to go to our Pros. Geoff rode the place as if he owned it with one- handed manuals on the 9' deck to re-entry, followed by silky no-foot cans over the mini hip. Hooty also popped some sick transfer lines and supermans, while Kyle kept finding new manual lines that only he seemed to be able to kill.

Ron came out and ripped it, 20" style, proving without a doubt, that he owned the park. He pulled out transfer lines to G-turns, big boosts everywhere, and a G-turn across the deck to tail tap fakie drop in nose manual slider out. Sick trick combo!! (and he almost landed it) That line inspired the quote of the day, "I've never done anything like that in my life, it scared the shit out of me!". This, of course, got all the guys even more stoked and out of nowhere young gun Eric landed an Abubuca barspin with x-up! Yup, the cheap foam hat went to the kid for line of the day.

3:00pm Off to Kirkstone sk8 park, a concrete park of amazement seen in several BMX vids. Crazy rain pockets kept coming through just long enough to wet half of the park and then dry up again. But the crew didn't care, wet or not, they were there to ride. Chilling with the locals, the group then started bike swapping. That made it almost impossible to know who was riding what bike, but none of this seemed to affect anyone's ability to throw down. Huge rollin' transfers from Jeremy and Ross, and large Marge hip transfers from Trever set the rest of the crew off! Danny made quick work of the grind box, while Neil X-up'd the Twinkie, pheew. Once again, the guys killed it, and yes, once again the Kid pulled a huge abubaca out of his … Dang!

5:30pm The rain starts again, time for food and Dirt jumping! A quick stop at a very un-healthy fast food joint and the crew heads to a secret jump spot. These trails are amazing! Lines through the trees, steep trannys, and some really big jumps made for another sick session. There's also a dirt quarter to wall ride graces the bottom of two of the lines. Oh yes, and don't forget, the ever present rain was still there! Not enough to soak, but just enough to make the place greasy. No matter; one handed X-up's, no-foot cans, and supermans were whipped out like butter. It was a ninja show! The trees and drainage kept the place from becoming a mad mud hole and every line in the park was sessioned until exhaustion started taking its toll.

7:30pm It's over! Dirt seems to be on as many shirts as on the ground. This crew has guaranteed, without a doubt, that the first ever Internship program is an absolute hit. Each of these riders is certainly worthy of stepping into the realm of sponsorship, not only on a street/park/DJ level, but also on a freeride/trail level as well.

What a magnificent future mountain biking is going to have! These five riders are a perfect example of the young guns striving to be their creative best. Props out to Ollie and FUNN, Hayes, Evil, Hoots, and Flow for their vision and belief. I can't wait for the next assessment day in September.

Jay Hoots