The first ever NSFYC X DUB BMX Jam took place on the 3rd of June and even though the weather was a bit of a damper on the situation, everyone kept a smile and dealt with the rain in a typical North-East fashion.

When the heavens open it’s usually a problem for street riders but us Northerners are used to a bit of the wet stuff, so when the elements were against us event organiser – Harry Dyson had a cunning back-up plan in place which saved the day and meant that the jam would go ahead…

“The Wasteland” was the original starting point for the jam, but the forecast looked pretty grim on the way through so everyone was worried that the jam would be called off. We rolled up (a bit late admittedly) and it was pissing down with rain, cars were flooding out from the car park next to our destination and one of the riders doing a U-turn told us there was a change of plan. I then found myself following a huge convoy of BMXers on the way to the new starting spot – ‘5 Bridges’.

If you’ve ever been riding in Newcastle, you’ll know of this place. It’s a haven for riders when the weather takes a turn for the worst as the majority of this DIY/Council skatepark is virtually bone-dry and rideable 90% of the time.

“The crazy thing about the location of the skatepark is; you have to quickly park ON A ROUNDABOUT which is located at one of the busiest roads leading into Gateshead.”

It’s a bit of a ‘hope for the best’ kind of situation, especially when there’s a convoy of 100+ BMXers trying to park in the same place. Nevertheless we managed to get a decent spot and began unloading the bikes.

Jack & Dan Lacey pulled up just after we did with a few of the DUB crew in support. Next to arrive was Harry, who had a bunch of portable flat rails and a sweet grind box packed into the back of his work van. This set the tone, and the stoke was high!

As time went on; more and more riders flooded into 5 Bridges. A few late arrivals who didn’t receive the news about the location change until last minute turned up looking pretty beat after a lengthy pedal through town. It took no time for shit to get poppin’ – It was a chilled vibe at first, but then Danny Heron dropped the first banger; a manny to 180 down the sketchiest rail-to-rail setup I’ve ever seen. Pulled clean as a whistle!

Lacey was shutting down the DIY uprail setup, and wasted no time dialling in ridiculous lines up and down the skatepark. It’s fair to say the local lads were on fire too! People started messing with new setups including the boxes and rails, most notably was Jonny Dobson going warp speed and sending ridiculous tricks over the grindbox gap.

Rob Annis was also going OFF with no chain on a ghetto looking setup and absolutely bamboozling everyone with combos which shouldn’t technically be possible.

The rain cleared up after a few hours then everyone took to the streets, I’ll not bang on too much about it all. Just hit up the video below and enjoy…

Shout out to Harry & Jack for sorting this day out again, had a blast and was nice to see some old faces and make some new friends too. That’s what BMX is all about, right?

Props to Ryan Lilburn for putting this video together and filming it all too.