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WEEKENDER: Sheet Trails Jam

A Right-on Queue

Words and Photographs: Dunk

We’re big fans of this place and the Ride UK crew spend quite a bit of time there riding and digging. The locals are rad and there’s a good range of jumps, the whole scene is just everything that’s good about BMX. These guys aren’t territorial, they’re welcoming and friendly but as always with these things, they do demand the utmost respect of their setup, and when it’s as good as this place is, you can understand why. Towards the end of summer they put on a true word-of-mouth Sheet trails jam, the news spread like wildfire and the place was heaving from the get go. Here’s what Dunk had to say about it.

Since moving to Bristol from the South East of England, I hadn’t had the opportunity to revisit the awesome Sheet Trails until now. It had been so long in fact, I had forgotten just how good they are, with seemingly endless lines and quality, yet forgiving soil. With the time that had past, a good few extra lines had appeared and one or two new lines on each visit in.

My strongest memory of this place though isn’t about the jumps themselves, but the overall atmosphere of the place, and just how down to earth all the locals were, and still are – a real respite from skatepark mentality and whatever else is ‘cool’ at the time.

It’s all about trains and tables, pure and simple.

Ant Barber: Toes down, seat grabbed, styled out.

I was stoked to hear about them putting on a Jam, so made my way two hours south, primarily to ride for a change, but of course to shoot a photo or two. The moment I arrived, I was greeted by a load familiar faces. It appeared the whole south of England trails scene had made the journey and it was hard to fit in the riding around catching up with old friends. It was rad to see just how many guys were stoked to be riding trails, hanging out, shooting the shit and getting a bit messy. As I’ve always found at Sheet, the vibe was super laid back; there were no prizes, no best trick, no shout outs, and generally no fucks given! Simply a day of BMX in its purest form with good times aplenty.

We got super lucky with the weather – we all know it can be a bit dicey planning something in September where a downpour is never far away. In fact the guys had done a sterling job getting the place dry having spent a solid week leading up to the event sorting out drainage. One of the unique things about Sheet in fact is that the dirt there almost prefers damp weather, because I’m sure that most other trails would have been written off that weekend. The sunshine and good vibes lead to some great riding, with the large right hand hip down the bottom seeing plenty of action. Mario and Luigi had a day off of plumbing to get some over-under action in and everyone was shredding – loads of kickouts and tables, all the good stuff without too many bells and whistles.

X-up's don't get much better than this. Clicked as you like, by Merlin Mason.

Who said BMX got too serious? The Mario Bro’s were shredding all day with huge grins on their faces the whole time. They jumped the queue every run, but everyone loves to see an over-under so it’s all good!

In an age where BMX riders are dictated to by media companies and sponsors, it’s little wonder that many choose to retreat back to the woods and occasionally come together for days like these. Jams like this really bring people out of the woodwork, and proved that although sometimes it feels long-gone, BMX still has a deep sense of community. It really doesn’t get much better.