Wednesday, 26 May 2010

TGM jam


Pics by Effraim, Penny Ledbury, Marcia Alleyne.

Rather than you tell you a who did what kind of report, I’m going to take a different stance and tell you ten reasons why I think jams are so good for flatland.
1. They are free of charge. No hiring costs, that can sometimes apply, e.g Level Vibes cost James White a whole wodge of cash…
2. No pressure, that right there puts a whole different slant on the riding that goes down, the attitude of the riders, whole vibe.
3. Seeing new faces, TGM this weekend saw a few new riders on the scene. A few guys made it from Norwich, Birmingham, Brighton. Was awesome to see riders from different scenes sessioning together.

4.Seeing Old faces. Always good to catch up with Phil Dolan and James White, and the TGM locals, good sessions and banter throughout the day!
5. More sessions go down at a jam than they do at a contest, contests in the 90’s used to breed heavy sessions, this sadly seems to be a thing of the past in contests, throughout the day at the mile, there were pockets of people sessioning hard.

6. Pros mingle with Ams and Novice riders a lot more than at a contest, generally  it’s more socialable. Which in turn is good for the future of flatland. Guys like Yinka and Salvador, are the future, Salvador was so close to backwards wheelie to decade. Keep it up guys!!
7. There’s no bitching after a jam, unlike after almost every contest, riders are stoked to ride with other riders, this I believe helps the scene grow.
8. Jams for the most part are so easy to organise especially at a spot like the Green Mile, Phil Dolan set a date, and asked me to promote it on the blog, that was it. The weather could not have been any better!!, it’s fair to say we got fried.

9. Someone always brings a ghettoblaster, this adds to that relaxed vibe. And the sessions.
10. Always good times. TGM jam was no exception, everyone went away stoked on riding, wondering when the next jam is?? Phil?? James?? Me???  Anyone else stepping up??? Much respect to Phil for putting this on, getting everyone together. Summer vibes!!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nicely put Effraim.
It's all good!
The last couple of UK events have brought along alot of new riders.
Very motivating in its self!

Safe bmxism

flatmatters said...

Phils suspender belt is nice!! :) Great jam! Long may this hot weather continue!!!

phil dolan said...

next jam will be bondage gear blue wigs and who can can still ride in high heels!thanks to everyone who came and made it a great afternoon of riding.I think you summed it up big E enjoying the riding no stress.will be setting a date soon for next one.

flatmatters said...

That'll be awesome Phil! The next logical step i believe would maybe give out a few prizes to beginner guys, get a few sponsors on board, encouragement for the younger riders, most improved rider since last jam, best trick, things like that.

Anonymous said...

dolike^

flatmatters said...

Whilst retaining that jam feel, nothing would change, just the prizes at the end of it...

Chris Carter said...

Had a brilliant time, totally exhausted when I got home!

I really agree with 'pockets of sessions' thing, never really been relaxed enough to session with riders of similar level and feed off it like I did that day - the atmosphere of the group really helped me pull some new stuff!

Really Motivating! Can't wait for the next jam!

flatmatters said...

That's great Carter, thanks for sharing that feedback! News of an allnighter jam coming soon across London...

A said...

Great day ,weather was awesome,riding was sick,had a blast roll on the next one (pun not intended? ha ha may have to dig out my bondage gear for that.

Unknown said...

Great write-up, captures the feel of a good jam perfectly.
I sure hope I can manage to come down and session that mile one day!
How much are eurostar tickets these days? :)