Assuming time schedules with bmx riders doesn't work. I shouldn't have made another appointment with the assumption that 1,5hrs would be enough to shoot some pics. With the music blasting and only 15 minutes left on my clock the guys were going off on one of the few free banks in the park.
Franky has got his stuff dialled; and as if his huge tailwhip tailtaps were not enough, he pushed himself to make a barspin back in. Unfortunately the rest of the park was packed with kids, skaters and a huge crowd, because I would have loved to see Franky use the whole park, including the pool and the cradle.
Another guys who is progressing like he's from another planet is Tim Stijnz from Hattem. He already impressed during this years BOK Series in Deventer , where he came really close to pulling a bike flip. In Zutphen he (ab)used the steep rail down the stairs with his cool pedalgrinds. He's also one of those guys who whip their bike wherever they want and making it look so easy...
Then unfortunately it was time for me to pack things up and leave the jam, which was about to get better and better, since also a few other bmxers were still "on their way". They probably had a cool session until late that evening.
I noticed one of the driving forces behind the project: Niels "de Bouwer" Naber: "The Skatepark Zutphen project started in the beginning of 2005, because of the lack of skating possibilities in the area. After many meetings and discussions, in May 2005 the project was presented to the neighbourhood council. Almost a full year after the first meetings, the project was officially approved during a council meeting in October 2005. Only a few weeks later the final design was ready and building the park started in April 2006 and took about 6 months. But now we have a cool skatepark and invite everybody to come over and have a session with us." If you want to contact Niels, call Burnside in Deventer and ask for Niels de Bouwer.
And with Dave from Zutphen as one of the local BMX riders, there will probably be a BMX only jam somewhere in the near future at Skatepark "The Caynon" in Zutphen.
-Jos Wissink
Pics/Words: Jos Wissink