Showdown Roadtrip MegaPost
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
*Clyde Teamrider Craig Beaulieu goes HUGE and stomps the 10 unlike anyone else.
Last Thursday Mike Dunlop, Ryan Hall, Eric Lauzon, and myself departed on what became one of the sickest and most fun roadtrips we’ve had in years (if ever).
Let’s see, where should I begin? Originally the plan was to take an RV from Calgary to Vancouver, but we decided at the last minute to take Dunny’s rig out instead. The drive itself was ridiculously fun as we made the 10 hour commute spotting rails and switching between everyone’s iPods. We spotted this nasty beast while making a beer stop in Kamloops…
We checked into the glorious Holiday Inn in North Vancouver around 5pm and made a B-Line straight for Cactus Club for dinner and drinks. After a stint in another bar and the hotel hot tub (and more drinks) we got some rest for riding the next day.
I grew up in North Vancouver so it was super fun to cruise my old hood and show the guys around, not to mention taking them to Grouse Mountain, the hill where I learned to ride back in 1988 and where I spent the majority of my teen years.
I have to give a BIG thank you to my old friend Jeff Silcock from Grouse for setting us up for the weekend.
So Friday was the railjam, Saturday was the Big Air and Sunday was the Alterna shoot. Friday was socked in…Saturday was a blizzard, and Sunday was bluebird.
*Eric poses with Ryan Hall as he rests up for the event. The guy can sleep anywhere.
…all that rest paid off as Ryan killed it in the railjam finals. One of my favorite moments of the day was when Clyde Team Manager Mike Dunlop literally took the shirt off his back for rider Craig Beaulieu as he was overheating from all the hiking….
…more partying…more fun…more riding. The Clyde team slayed the Coors Light patio and we were not only the first people on the mountain each day be we were always the last ones to leave.
On Saturday, the big air was on the agenda so Ryan once again rested up and passed out during breakfast. lol. That a boy. Here is Matt Muns of Calgary right after he snapped the tail of his board clean-off (has anyone ever seen that happen before???)…don’t worry, it’s not a Clyde. The day before he took a snowboard to the face, went for stitches at the hospital an returned to win the railjam.
Nevermind the big air event, the real good times went down on Saturday night for the event afterparty at Tonic downtown. Right before leaving a local pub we get a call from Jeff inviting us on the Coors Light party bus. To think we actually considered not going. Coors girls greeted us with beers as (again) the Clyde team was the first to arrive. The bus itself was sooooo sick….crazy sound system, big screen TV’s everywhere….it was like a giant limo inside. By the time everyone was on board, there was 85 people in a 25 person bus. lol. Andrew Geeves got the crowd pumped and the rest was a blur.
The club went off but we lost a lot of good men to the bouncers throughout the night. Even our friend Todd Williamson from Calgary joined us for the chaos.
The next morning we witnessed something that we never thought possible at a Holiday Inn. In the lobby we passed a pretty girl wearing sweatpants holding a wheely-bag. In the courtyard we also noticed a photographer setting up for what appeared to be a photoshoot. The pretty girl walked outside, took off her clothes to reveal a super small bikini and they proceeded to get into all sorts of crazy poses. WTF??? At a Holiday Inn??? It was pretty epic.
Anyway…with hangovers and all, the Clyde team once again showed up at Grouse first for park laps and fun in the sun.
The jump was massive, the sun was out, and my head was splitting. I took so many sick shots of Ryan and Craig that I wish I could share with you, but I need to save those for the new site. The Alterna crew was shooting all day for their new flick and they couldn’t have picked a better one for it.
That night we all headed to my parents house right at the bottom of the hill for BBQ and more beer (make it stop…please make it stop). I got to show the boys the open-air carport where I built my first boards in 1995 which was really cool.
*Ryan Hall gap to tail on the down-flat-down
The next morning we got up at the crack of dawn and slowly made our way home. It was a quiet drive…we had pushed our bodies to the limit and lived to tell about it, so we were glad to make it home on one-piece. Until next time boys….
