Santa Cruz X SRAM Enduro Team

The latest field report from Do'er o' Things, Whip-Off World Champion, and Sports Marketing Manager Allan Cooke. Read on for the full update and photos from the 50:01 jam.

The Jam

Last week Rat, Loose, Sam Dale, Craig Reynolds, Mark Scott, Steve Peat and myself headed to the Revolution Bike Park in Wales for a day of riding with the 50:01 crew. The idea was to get everyone together, stop at three specific locations to session on the way down, and there would be prizes for the top riders of each section selected by the crew. The top three would be chosen not only for riding ability but also for the amount of stoke they brought to the jam, how hard they were pushing their own progression and who was having the most fun.

By now most of you have seen the 50:01 videos where the guys are shredding a section of trail, one upping each other and elevating their riding to ridiculous levels fueled by pure stoke. We wanted to bring that feel and format to the masses, and what better place than Revolution Bike Park, a spot where the crew rides and digs on the regular.

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LOOSEDOG!

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The trees must be talking again.

The UK has had one of the best summers in history, I've spent a few weeks this year here and it's been warm and dry every time but with the calendar ticking over into October we knew that it could be wet but we went for it anyway. To say that the weather was a factor would be totally misleading, sure there were torrential downpours, cold wind and sideways rain but the stoke for the event would over power the less than ideal conditions. We had about 75 riders sign up for the jam on the day, everyone was hyped to get on the hill and shred with their friends and heroes. The trails were muddy as the rain persisted throughout the day but in the UK if you’re going to be an MTB rider you can’t be made of sugar.

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The Sessions

The first of three Jam Sessions were on a jump line called, “Rev It" the main jump was a step up hip to the right and from the start the kids and our crew were absolutely sending it. There were 360’s, gaps to manual’s, huge whips and even flips thrown down.

With all the rain and mud the jumps were running a bit slow but somehow riders were finding the speed to make magic happen. The energy on the hill was insane, there were huge cheers echoing through the woods, high fives and big ups the entire session. Everyone was one upping their previous runs, pushing themselves fueled by the stoke of the crew and spectators. When things peaked the whole group moved down the hill to the second jam session.

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Flip or flop?

The next session of the day was on a new section of a trail called, “Freeride” - a sick line with high speed jumps, berms, and a big hip at the bottom. This section was the perfect place for the riders to showcase their style. Huge whips and massive scrubs were getting thrown out non-stop. There were a few riders sending tricks on the big bottom hip - we saw nothings, no foot can-can’s, tuck-no-handers and a lot more.

One of the things that stuck out the most in this section was when one of the riders attempted a flip, the jump was high speed and fairly long but the lip was super mellow for a flip, on a DH bike nonetheless. It ended up being a flop rather than a flip with a huge crash, everyone held their breath but the rider got up and continued to shred harder than most the rest of the day.

Once the session started to mellow out we headed further down the hill to the third and last spot of the day, a section that would highlight the riders cornering skills. The turn section for session three was super tight, riders were blitzing through slapping turns and slashing lips. The move of the day had to be when ex-top World Cup racer and Revolution Bike Park trail builder Harry Heath gapped from one turn to another down the hill. As soon as Harry sent it three to four other riders started eyeing it up as well as other transfer lines, the hype and increasing level of riding was insane. So much noise on the hill, riders were cheering each other on, pushing it hard and even in the current conditions it was amazing.

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Harry said, “I’ve been wanting to do that gap since we built that section, I was a bit worried with how wet and muddy it was but today was the day it had to be sent.”

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Peaty gettin' pitted.

Winner, Winner

After the three sessions were done we headed back down to the bottom of the hill for some food and to warm up by the fire, our crew deliberated for a bit to decide who the winners of the sessions were as well as the overall shredder of the day. It wasn't too hard to pick the winners of the stages, the moments that put them in the top spot stood out for sure.

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For session one it was a tie, as soon as we said last jumps the next two riders sent huge flips dialed as can be. With the winner of each session getting the Alloy frame and Reserve wheelset of their choice we asked the winners if they wanted to split the winnings or go into a sudden death winner take all foot down match, there was no hesitation from either rider and it would indeed go to sudden death.

The crowd of riders quickly formed a circle and before I could give a countdown it was on, one of the two riders instantly went in for the kill, he had a few near takeouts but in the end his aggressive approach would prove to be the wrong one putting his foot down first and Charlie Flynn taking the frame, wheels and the win for session one. It was clear he was pushing himself all day and rad to see him take the win, he was the rider who flopped on session two.

The session one winner stuck out as a highlight of the whole day really, as the session was winding down we set up for last runs to be a huge train down the section. In the line there were A and B lines, while the riders were walking back up to the top of the hill I saw one rider, Grant Martin, looking extra close on the A line big final gap. It was clear he had something in mind, when I asked him he said he had been looking at that gap for months and was going to send it for the first time.

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All aboard the 50:01 train!

In the midst of a 70+ rider train, Grant sent it landing smooth like he had done it 100 times before. He was yelling and fist pumping as all the riders were stoked on his personal progression, that was enough to put him in the top spot also earning an alloy frame and Reserve wheels. When we told him that he had won he was over the moon, when we told him what he had won he was speechless. His reaction choked up more than a few of us, the whole crew agreed it was awesome to be a part of that moment. The winner of the third and final session was Ian Forsyth, he was a stand out on all three sections but made his claim on those turns slapping berms and doing more than one creative transfer line including the big one Harry Heath opened up.

There were also a load of other stand outs and prizes given for close calls, best save and other highlight moments from the day. The final award was for the overall shredder on the day, it was pretty clear to the crew who it was going to be, Jake Monk took the win and the complete Santa Cruz CC bike of his choice. Jake was boosting huge nac-nac’s and whips on session one, did the last huge gap to an endless manual during session two and was the fastest, smoothest and most stylish rider through session three. Jake was over the moon, I later found out that Jake had driven nearly five hours to get to the jam and that a few months earlier his car was broken into and his Nomad was stolen.

It's always awesome when the people that really need or deserve to win do, every rider there was stoked for Jake and agreed he was the guy to take the win.

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The 'Enduro Wet Series' is wrapped up but Marky is still out playing in the rain.

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All the lads.

A Big Thanks

Big thanks to 50:01, Royal, Peaty’s Products and Banana House for all the giveaways, every one of the riders that came out despite the weather and especially Revolution Bike Park for letting us take over the park for the day. This was the first of many events like this, the vibe and feel were such a good representation of MTB and we'd like to facilitate more of that in the future.