2006 Mini-FAT-JAM, we told you so!

Apr 03, 2006

Written by Bart de Jong

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Ha, the FAT-JAM on 1 April. We promised sunshine and that's what we got. But we also had hard rain, and lots of it. So much in fact that at some point we thought we'd leave the place to go watch some videos on a big screen at OJA. Fortunately, the sun did come back again and we could continue riding the Sugar Hills. Even the barbeque came out at the end of the session. After all, it's the start of the outdoor BMX season.

The Mini-FAT-JAM is a good excuse to get the trails back in shape. The place got a little bit bigger compared to last year because some of the "Jeu de Boules" fields are now part of the trails. A fence surrounds the trails now which is great to put the banners up from the sponsors of the event (HARO/Vans/Eastpak/Paul's Boutique). The FATBMX flags were posted right next to the high-jump set-up but the carbon fishing rods were taken down as soon as lightning came out to keep things safe.

The bigger lines remained the same but there were little additions to make things fresh. After all the rain on Saturday, some of these lines were destroyed in favor of making the big lines rideable. The Dutch showed again that they can build some dams and dikes as the water got d-routed to less disturbing places.

Despite the rainy conditions all week, the turn out was very good. Locals were there of course but also riders from Deventer, the Rotterdam area and later in the afternoon Barry Kohne showed up with some riders from A'dam. The waiting line to get a run in was big, but everyone took their turns. There was no rush anyway, just people riding all afternoon. Basically that's what the jam is about anyway.

The kids join the session on the jumps that are not crazy big. They love the FAT-JAM and are looking forward to it for weeks. People who do not ride dirt on a regular basis can give it a go too. No pressure.

The High-air comp was cancelled because of the strong head wind. It would have been impossible to get enough speed to go high. Instead a "Best trick" comp was held. 30 minutes were available to show what you got and in fact, it was quite a bit. The judging was quite loose but after the session it was Pim van den Bos in first with a pulled 3-whip. Keep an eye on Pim because he’s learning new tricks every week. The Simple rider pulled his first flip on dirt last Saturday too. For Daniel Wijsmuller it’s harder to clear a jump straight than put in a barspin, or one one-handed x-up.

When the best trick came around he put an extra crank in to clear a rad no-footed cancan whip over the first set for second. Kruimel got third with a flip over the second table and later started pulling tailwhips and came very close to 3-whips. Bas 360-d the first set and did some very stretched superman jumps for fourth. He also came very close to doing opposite 360-s. His white shirt wasn’t too white any more after the session was over. Michael van de Lee did 360-s in the rhythm section and everyone else just rode and tried their best. Late arrivals Barry Kohne and the A’dam crew missed out on the box of HARO and Eastpak prizes that were divided among all riders there.

Once again it was good to see young riders at the trails. It shows that there is a future. The next generation is coming so they can keep the Sugar Hills alive. We’ve been pushing our luck regarding the weather but we didn’t lie when we said the sun would be out for the Mini FAT-JAM. The outdoor season is opened and everyone is welcome for another session at the trails. Bring the barbeque.

BdJ