JunkieJam 1.0 last 27th May 2017. By Albert Moonen

Jun 14, 2017

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 4707 times

It was around 1999, we were diggin’ hard at our trails in Capelle aan den IJssel (RIP) and I was having another knee operation. Thinking a lot about my comeback and the winter that was coming I was searching, within the Rotterdam area, for a new location for trials that would be dry and rideable all winter. We did build some jumps under the “Brienenoord”bridge, but this place was terrible for side wind blowing under the bridge. The big pro was that it was dry all the time. Looking around on crutches I stumbled into the bushes under the flyover for the tram near the Sint Franciscus hospital. There was a perfect place hidden between bushes, covered by a flyover but…. There were bums living there, hence the name, JunkTrails.

Gerrit Koornwinder, Rene Hofman, Jeroen Hoogaerts (RIP) and more people started building. The dirt was actually so dry the water would just run off and would not penetrate the dirt. We got pumps in and at the end and made a starting hill, three doubles and a bank to wallride. All dirt. Fast-forward to December 2014, by now the reader understands that this is an oldschool rider talking, so old that I rode bmx before “bmx freestyle” was invented.

Our old crew with new additions, Paul Lemson and Sven den Toom, likes jumping but we are very

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fragile with old bones. We wanted a trickjump with a soft landing and when working on that we also decided to build an old school quarterpipe 8 feet high, 8 feet radius) so we would not run into the pillar of the flyover. Experience tells you that a jump inside the city of Rotterdam made of dirt will not survive for a very long time. We opted to make a wooden jump and a soft dirt landing. We had some fun but the jump was not so good so time went by and we did not visit the spot for a long time.

Talking with my good (new school) friend Desmond Tessemaker, owner of DTX13, I mentioned that one of my subjects on my bucket list was a jam at “our” spot. One time we were together and I showed him the spot. At that moment the special ambiance of the Junk Trails also hit him and plans were immediately made and wheels started turning.

With the help of a lot of people, old and new crew, special mention, Wouter Krapels we built a new kicker, this time with the input of people who know what’s up, 6 feet high, 10,5 feet radius. Our man Paul came through two days before the planned jam with a digger so we could do most of the digging within 4-5 hours. The day before the Junkie Jam 1.0 the complete DTX13 crew came in to put the last bit of work in and test the jump and music!

The morning of 27th of May 2017 everything was ready and people started showing up. The jump was liked by all. The roller coming into the jump was giving some people a bit of a problem but in true bmx spirit people were helped and coached so at the end everybody was having a good time. Music was played, free beers were shared and the thing that made it most special for me was that there were no complaints at all and I saw people push their limits without injuries… Even Sem Kok went home with some new tires out of my own stock as price for the highest air on the quarter.

Memories were made. A lot of people worked hard and spent their own money to make this happen but I do want to thank one more time, Desmond Tessemaker, DTX13, for making this happen! Plans are made for a JunkieJam 2.0 coming very soon, stay tuned!

Albert Moonen
Pics by DJ Winchester

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JunkieJam 1.0 last 27th May 2017. By Albert Moonen

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