Warriors of Wood 2011

I had a late start heading off to Warriors. I left Marin at 1:45 and had to back track to Proof Lab in Mill Valley to pick up something that I left at the ramp earlier in the morning. I figured I'd be real late getting to the event and probably miss the qualifiers. I cruised highway 280 all the way and arrived at the event after 3:00. I got a good free parking spot, grabbed my press pass and went in. The event hadn't even started so it was all good.

The first person I saw was Joel Hulsey. He was stoked on the course setup and pumped to be riding, as usual. Warriors is always a good laid back event. It seemed a lot less crowded this year than in past years though. I know there was another contest going on down south so I'm sure that affected turnout. I walked around and shot a few images to find some good pov's as practice started. In between practice sessions I met Jeremy Pavia of BMX Plus. We talked about photography, photojournalism and our old school BMX roots. He's a cool dude, check out his website at www.jeremypavia.com.

I saw local rider Mark Blackwell who I'd met at Calibazas bike park a few years ago. He was going for it and riding good which was cool to see. Joel is always a favorite to watch and shoot because he absolutely kills it. He had some trouble getting his run together early on in the qualifiers but put it down when he needed to on his last run. I quickly noticed a rider with great style, I could tell he had skills and would be a factor if he put a run together. I'd never seen him ride before, turned out to be Jason Lopez from the Bay area and he qualified first. Another rider that caught my eye was on a green bike, showing mad style and going big. I learned he's from Kansas and his name is Tom Dugan. Shea Nyquist was riding good too and he qualified fifth. Chad Bautista was flowing and throwing some epic lookdowns. Other notables were Nick Noble, Diogo Canina from Brazil, Rob Darden, Omar Romero and a few others I met but have momentarily forgotten their names.

Thanks to Ryan and crew for putting on another fun event. Here are a few of my shots:

Joel Hulsey

Jason Lopez

Tom Dugan

                              Mark Blackwell

Chad Bautista

Diogo Canina           

Shea Nyquist                                                              Mike Atkin showed up.

Nick Nobel                                                   Omar Romero

***I'll Post MORE tomorrow. I'm tired, It's almost 4:00am.***

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Results:

1st - Jason Lopez

2nd - Rob Darden

3rd - Diogo Canina

Best Trick - Nick Nobel

Congrats Jason Lopez 1st place.

 

Rob Darden 2nd and Diogo Canina 3rd.

Best Trick winner Nick Nobel earned it in more ways than one. First with a truckdriver to no footed one hander. He then took a hard slam at the end which included hitting his face on hard pack dirt. He handled it, got up, walked away and now he gets to eat Chipotle free for a year!

 

Tom, Joel and Shea.

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Mark Wightman Interview

F.Y.I. - Wade Lajlar Interview

I met Wade nearly 2 years ago at a park in Vancouver. He kills it on a BMX. Here's his FYI.

FC: Wade, where are you from and where do you live?
I’m from a small town just north of Vancouver; it’s called the sunshine coast. I’m currently living back there for the moment, planning on getting back to Van city soon.
FC: When did you get your first BMX and how long have you been riding?
I got my first BMX when I was about 11, the local high school has a skate park so pretty much ever since then I’ve been riding. I guess 12 years then.
FC: Do you do any Downhill Mountain Biking or other forms of biking?
Not really, I’ll go shred a DH bike once'n'a while but pretty rare. I’m a big fan of just cruising the sea wall in Vancouver, great scenery...
FC: Who or what influenced you to start riding BMX and who are your favourite riders today?
This guy Ron Murcer came to my elementary school and did a flat land demo, I was super stoked on BMX but didn’t get one for a few years. I ended up moving to a new school and one of my long time friends rode and got me right into shredding. Jason Enns, Dave Osato, Dustin Guenther, Chase Hawk, Dan Lacey, Mark Webb, Harry Main, pretty much anyone that's killin' it.

FC: Who are your sponsors?I’m repin' for L-R-G, Etnies, Dragon, Ogio, and Timebomb trading.FC: What are some of your favourite places to ride?Vancouver in the summer and Mexico in the winter.
FC: Name one place you want to ride that you have never ridden before.
Cali or Austin, never been and would love to go... South Africa would be rad too.
FC: What’s been playing in your mp3 player most often?
Blueprint 3.
FC: What’s one of your goals over the next 2 years?
To be reppin' for another bike company and bring L-R-G more into bmx, basically keep shredding and putting out edits.