Features

JASON WATTS Wing It The Whole Way

2000 Miles, Urban Camping... A BMX Road Trip That Came Out Of Nowhere

Hanging out with Jason Watts is always a laugh. Proper Australian, drinks all day, amazing bike rider, no fucks given.

Jason does his own thing, that’s for sure. Aside from his picture perfect one footed tables, barrel roll flairs and his ability to do decades on pretty much anything, my favourite thing about Jason is his outlook on his own riding. Why? Because it’s clear that he doesn’t take himself very seriously. He knows what he’s good at, of course, but he’ll always be the first guy to mess around in a contest run and do something goofy to get a laugh from his mates. It’s all fun and games.

Jason Watts with Corey Walsh. Photo: Robin Pearson

A few months ago, Corey Walsh and I were planning a trip. The idea was to head out from the Vans BMX Pro Cup in Malaga, hit a few spots through Portugal and end up at the infamous ‘Lost Bowl.’

With that loose plan roughly in place, Jason gladly jumped on board and proceeded to shred every transition in front of him, naturally. We filmed some decent and interesting clips at pretty much every spot but, as you’ll see in the video above, things got especially impressive at the Lost Bowl.

Read on for a few insights from Jason about the trip.

Words and video by Robin Pearson

– How did this trip come about?

“This trip actually came out of nowhere!

I booked a ticket to Málaga, Spain with a return out of Barcelona a month later and had no plans… Then I heard Dustin and Corey were talking about going to The Lost Bowl and next thing I know we are all booking a hire car and driving there.

It turned out to be the greatest trip ever.”

– How many miles do you think you drove?

“All up I think we ended up driving around 2000 miles at least – huge thanks to Dustin for handling the whole drive also, he’s the man.”

– Where did you stay?

“Most of the time we were just urban camping on the side of the road and even in the bottom of The Lost Bowl for two nights, it was amazing.”

Camping in The Lost Bowl with Corey Walsh and Dustin Orem. Photo: Jason Watts

– Any lowlights?

“No bad things to say about this trip at all.”

– Any highlights… Best spots?

“Highlights of the trip… Everything. Everything about it, I was just made up as soon as I got to Málaga and met up with the dudes and just decided to wing it the whole way! Turned out more than amazing.

Best spot by far was The Lost Bowl, that thing is insane.”