Holland goes Eurocamp! By BdJ

Aug 11, 2015

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 3642 times

Without much pre-planning a whole bunch of BMX-ers from The Netherlands and their families ended up at Eurocamp at the same time. Some came by plane, some took a 20 hour bus ride, some drove their camper or other vehicles there. If there's a will, there's a way, and who doesn't want to go to paradise? Axel Jurgens and his wife Rosario run the Eurocamp park up in Tossa de Mar in Spain on a former tennis court of Camping Pola. The place got transformed into biker's paradise with the help of the donated Nike 6.0 ramps from a freestyle comp in Barcelona a few years ago. The place now has a quarter resi, resi jump box, foam pit, street area, spine mini, pump track, some decent sized trails and three new tables and a turn which are less spectacular than the big line but a bit more demanding than the pump track. Eurocamp is constantly changing and getting better every time we pay a visit.

Tom van den Bogaard, Thomas, Pim Scheers, Arjan Ellens and Jesper Vervoort took a bus there. The cheapest way to get to the Costa Brava if you can handle 20 hours on the bus.

Pim van den Bos and his fiancée Marit paid a surprise visit. They'd told everyone they were going to Pisa, Italy but booked a return ticket Eindhoven-Girona instead. And yes, Pim's bike made it too. Jari Roggeveen had been at camp for two weeks already and booked some extra days as did the Pastor family. Jocki de Groot arrived in the camper on Saturday and is staying for a while. On arrival we even ran into Catfish and his girlfriend as well as some American Subrosa riders who are staying in BCN at the moment. Eurocamp not only has the riding facility, the campsite has a private beach only walking distance from the ramps. Between the morning sessions and the evening sessions this is the right place to be for some snorkelling, chilling or simply beach time. 30 degrees every day, so good.

Seeing Tom van den Bogaard ride at Eurocamp is a treat. Seeing Tom van den Bogaard ride anywhere is a treat. The park set-up has many lines and Tom knows how to find them. One crash resulted in a busted elbow but that didn't stop the Paul's Boutique rider at all. Single dirt sessions were on the program too and he busted that hip to the moon and back. So good. Another Dutch talent that you'll be hearing more about in a few years is Jari Roggeveen. He's slowly getting used to the 20-inch bike but uses his 18-inch BMX bike to throw the tricks. Tailwhips, lookbacks, 360-s, tables, Jari does them everywhere and doesn't show a sign of fear. He also rode the big dirt line on his 18". Much respect. Sessions were fun at Eurocamp with people pushing each other to the next level and giving props when they pulled something good.

The final night was spent with a BBQ before everyone continued with their holidays in their own way. I'm just glad I didn't have to spend 20 hours in a bus. More time in paradise for this guy.

BdJ