I grew up just south of Byron and surfing the perfect wave is all I would ever dream about. At school I would draw waves any where I could. At home I had posters of the perfect wave all over my bedroom wall. Every morning I would wake before dawn for the perfect wave. I had plenty of perfect early morning sessions getting barrelled before school but more often then not I would wake to less then perfect waves. When I moved to Noosa after finishing school the waves were even more fickle and I started mountain biking on some local trails for something to do. One day when riding I got some air off a water bar. It felt so sick I turned around and did it again and again and again!!! It wasn't like a wave. I didn't have to wait for a set or offshore winds. I could do it when ever I wanted and it felt as good as getting barrelled.
Pretty quickly I worked out that I could get air however and whenever I wanted by just building what I wanted to ride. I didn't have wait: if I could dream it, I could build it. Just as I was with the perfect wave I became addicted to creating features in my mind and then going out and building them. My creations started off small but as time went on my dreams would grow and grow.
When I moved to Adelaide, City Dirt was a lot closer that any of the mountain bike trails and I was interested in learning how to jump "properly". At the time the place was really run down, but that didn't matter to me. All I saw was a blank slate where I could dream up ideas and build to my hearts content. It wasn't long before I started to get to know some of the local kids and realised someone else was digging out their dreams as well; Callum. Finding a rider as obsessed with building as you are is rare thing and it wasn't long before we were feeding off each others ideas, getting other people stoked and literally building our dreams from the ground up.
One of my favourite things to do is reflect on how far City Dirt, and the scene that surrounds it, has come and it never fails to get me stoked on what we can continue to create. We've come a long way from just a couple of guys with shovels in the middle of the Parklands and we are working on the next stage of our dreams with the Trail Collective and the Adelaide City Council. While the Council have always been supportive of what we do, they are now coming to the table to actively help us improve the park for the long term. This includes bulking out the start hill, improving tool storage facilities and upping the landscaping game around the trails.
These are all things that both the Council and we want but we would like to know: what do you think could be improved or added to make City Dirt a better place? Dream big and let us know your thoughts via the comments section below or via the links below (email, FB or Instagram).
Testing out one of my dreams in 2013. First of fiskars so fresh she is still moist.