LOOKBACK: ++ Mini-FAT-JAM in Aarle-Rixtel goes big ++

Aug 03, 2011

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 5370 times

To kick off the outdoor season it is a good choice to pick the Mini-FAT-JAM in Aarle-Rixtel. I seems like the weather is always cooperating and again it was possible to ride in just a T-shirt. Global warming; bring it on! A van from Berlin and a van from Belgium made the dirt session an international event. Riders from all over Holland came over for the jam and also Olympic speed skate champion Gianni Romme showed up to watch. Word on the street is that he bought Mirko Bena's old HARO F3 and came over to watch the tricks. He enjoyed the pulled tailwhips and with his work ethic who knows if he'll make it back with his BMX bike at the 20th FAT-JAM in August. Very welcome indeed.

As you can see in the photos, the Sugar Hills trails are very sandy. It handles the rain well but the jumps get destroyed pretty quickly. With spades around and riders willing to maintain the jumps in between the sessions it was still possible to get some tricks done, find some lines or simply pull a few sets of doubles in a row.

This might be the right place to list the tricks that were done in Aarle-Rixtel but I'm not going to. It was not the point of the jam. Most important was to meet again and ride some dirt together. For a lot of the riders it is the first time of the year they ride trails. Getting some tips from a fellow rider on how to make it through a pack is just as important as getting the final tips on how to pull that tailwhip.

With the big number of riders present it meant that there was a waiting line to the top of the hill to get another run in but that time was used to chat and joke around. 3 year old Philip didn't have any problems with that line as he kept on going and going and going. He snaked everyone all day long but had the time of his life riding with so many BMX-ers.

At the end of the day people collected bruises, dirty clothes and broken parts. It's a way to start off the season right. Thanks to everyone who showed up. Hope to see you back on 18 August 2007.

BdJ