CHRIS SMITH IN THE USA

Freerider Chris Smith recently visited the East Coast of America with Chris Akrigg, taking in some amazing rides on his Giant STP. Between the riding Chris kept a diary of his trip:

‘We flew into New Jersey home to Aaron Chase and fellow Giant rider Jeff Lenosky. These guys were our hosts for the first few days and showed us all the local spots; first up was the Diablo Freeride Park, where the park owners set us up with a sweet wooden lodge overlooking the park. The next day we were straight up on the chairlift to the top of the trailhead. We rode many of the trails including the curved wallrides both ways, the highlights of the trails being the cool hip jumps and drops.

Next morning we hit some street spots recommended by Aaron before heading up to Lenosky’s backyard. Lenosky’s Backyard was amazing with lines all over the place and some cool stuff to ride such as elevated satellite dishes; it was great to see Aaron riding again after his accident at the start of the season. We rode a cool new step up jump which booted you up really high when you hit the seven foot high kicker flat out. Lots of tricks were going down, as well as me hitting the ground following a triple barspin attempt! We wrapped up the session there and rode an old quarry, again there were tricks a plenty; 650 spins, 270 tailwhips, the list goes on!

The following day we headed into New York. We were based in Brooklyn but rode into the city every day which certainly woke you up with all the weaving in and out of traffic, the constantly beeping horns and blaring sirens, I’ve never been before and it really was an awesome sight. We met up with Anson Wellington and Adam Hauck in New York and rode all the cool spots such as Brooklyn Banks and Chinatown Banks, as well as a bit of the usual sightseeing such as The Statue of Liberty.

The next day we left for Cleveland Ohio to meet up with the guys at Ray’s Indoor MTB Park, after the thirteen hour drive we arrived at our hotel in the early hours of the morning and took some well deserved sleep. When we woke we headed straight to Ray’s and it was definitely well worth the drive down; the place is a mountain bikers dream come true! There is 100,000 square feet of riding space covering every style; street courses, foam pits, huge jumps, all within areas designed for different skill levels, there were even XC loops that wound up into roof! As well as the great riding there were decent bike rentals, workshops, accessories, storage, and tools on hand as well as chill out areas with real fires and a huge free barbecue! The riding at Ray’s really was the highlight of the trip for me. It also marked the end of our stay, all that was left was the long flight back to rainy England!’

Photograph courtesy of Robert Rebholz