The Art of Rail Revolver goes oFF! MAIN Brock Olive tuck in the midst of a massive night. Photo Mitch Morison BELOW Jay Wilson threw down all night, his three to crooks attempt simply gnar on all levels. How he walked away form it 3 times we’ll never know... Photo Cooper Brownlee
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THE ART OF RAIL... SLAY THE RAIL V2 WAS ALWAYS GOING TO ROCK. LIKE EVOLUTION ITSELF, YOU CAN’T STOP IT OR EVEN TRY AND DENY IT. AND LIKE OUR FIRM BELIEF IN EVOLUTION AROUND THE 2020 HQ, SO IS OUR BELIEF THAT RIDER RUN EVENTS ARE THE PURITY THAT BMX IS FOUNDED UPON AND COMPLETELY RELIANT ON. THE EQUATION WAS SIMPLE; BUILD A RAIL, PUT IT IN A NIGHT CLUB, ADD LOTS OF BMX HEADS AND BOOM. PRETTY MUCH THE FORMULA FOR A RIDICULOUSLY GOOD TIME EVEN BEFORE EVERYONE GETS LIQUORED UP AND LOOSE.. FROM THE CROWD.... I arrived at Slay the Rails just after it had started and it was already going off. It was the loosest event I’ve ever been to in terms of how hard people were going for it. I don’t like it when people are salty about riding in comps and there was definitely no salt here. Everybody wore their hearts on their sleeves and just went for it. When the only option is a rail it’s basically do or die and I really liked that aspect of the contest. There sure was a lot of doing and a fair bit of dying along the way but nobody got more than bruised. And the free drink vouchers for riders upon getting knocked-out took care of that until the morning. Jay Wilson somehow got knocked-out of the event twice (thanks to Minty offering his spot up!) but he pulled one of the best grinds of the day and tried one of the craziest lines (3 to crooks? So loose I wasn’t even 100% sure what it was). The crashes that ensued were so gnarly and totally befitting the legend that he is swiftly carving. The dude outside brawling kind of sucked, but it wasn’t flatland after all and when I woke up in the morning and remembered the event through my headache, I was stoked to have been a spectator. The only thing I would have liked to see was Jack Kelly pull the hang 10 tooth. I’m sure he did it in practice. I’ll get there early next year. Paul Chamberlain
“THE LEVEL OF RIDING WAS SO FAR ABOVE AND BEYOND THE FIRST EVENT IT WASN’T FUNNY�
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“WHEN THE ONLY OPTION IS A RAIL IT’S BASICALLY DO OR DIE” FROM THE ORGANZIERS... Running an event like this is pretty simple. Step one is to get motivated. For me it comes from hearing a lot of people say that there should be more events, more jams, and more stuff going on. And then, when something is going on, a lot of the same crew can be quick to add that there should’ve been better ramps, more prize money etc. Over the years I’ve come to terms with it and usually don’t give a rats arse, but if you want the truth, they are pretty selfish remarks and are 100% disrespecting the very scene they claim to be a part of. That said, talk is f’n cheap, so if you want to see events happening near you, get off your arse and make it happen. (This will be continued in a How To run an event next issue) Anyway, enough rambling on trying to get you motivated, I got my motivate on and decided taking Slay the Rail to the next level was the deal. Last years gig rocked and was run blind in a lot of ways. Not blind drunk, but blind in way that we had no idea if it would even work. With space limitations, over 18 door, legal stuff, weeknight, damn, it almost seemed like an impossibility. But this is motivation in itself. So with last years rad night firmly in Dre and my heads, a little polishing up of every aspect of the event was in order, it didn’t need much, but the results were more than worth the effort.The whole night was off the hook, I learnt a new word and had an amazing time. Dramas? Sweet FA. Between getting underage riders into a licensed premises, letting people get waaaay too liquored up and in general have an event that was bound to create mayhem, it all went surprisingly to plan, mainly thanks to having as little plan in place as possible.... Being that I was in total sketch mode all night as the facilitator of anything slightly related to the event, my actual memory of the happenings is, well sketchy. Kinda along the lines of a few hundred people stoked on the whole gig yelling indecipherable stuff at me and me getting stoked on their stoke and yelling indecipherable stuff back. But I do recall the hectic practice session, holy crap. With only a 45 minute window for practice on the set up, to say that that session was intense is the most ridiculous understatement of the year. This intense little snapshot of the future of street heavy hitters on these shores more than intimidated a few invited riders, including a few of what I thought would have been contenders.. Damn kids was the word in play by them! The level of riding was so far above and beyond the first event it wasn’t funny. One year is a long time when progression is in effect obviously. Add to this a stack of new faces not scared to unload in front of a rowdy crew. What else? Jay Wilsons three to crooks attempt, three times even. Jack Kelly’s limitless confidence and bag of tricks. Zac Miner’s whip to ice attempt, damn son. The Hills chicks in satin and heels. DJ’s power riding. Jack Elkins pop, wtf? And a truckload more that you’ll see on these pages and dropped on the upcoming webclip. Somehow I kept my head clear of too many drinks, passed on a stack of drink cards and almost saw it through to the end somewhere around half three in the AM. I was due back there at 8 to pull it all down, then drive the mighty Hume back to Sydney.... Regardless of my red eye mission, I couldn’t have asked for a better night. Good times. Definitely couldn’t have done STR2 without Dre, the crew at MegaDeck, Marc at Strictly, James at Dishonour, the Etnies Aus connection, F-it Bike Co and Derek at Cinema Wheels. Of course, none of this would’ve even made it in the door without Lucie and Hesh from Revolver, you guys rule! We got some little plans brewing to step it up again, so rest assured, it’ll be going down again in the land of Revolver. Holy crap, BMX is fun. Holmes
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MAIN Marnold has consistency and a truckload of bangers on tap. Over smith. Photo Cooper Brownlee
The Art of Rail Revolver goes oFF!
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The Art of Rail Revolver goes oFF! MAIN Jack Kelly blew minds with his all round rail ability, but his hang 5 hangers were ridiculous. Photo Cooper Brownlee BELOW DJ came off a win at King of the Jibs hungry to throw down. A well deseved best trick win wasn’t even for this rail ride. Photo Mitch Morison
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RIDERS EYE VIEW.... First up Jack, congrats on the win! Did you come into the event feeling like you’d be in for a chance of the $ Jack Kelly: Thanks! No not at all, I was just happy to be invited to ride. Can you sum up Slay the Rail 2 in a nutshell? Jack Kelly: Slay The Rails is the most fun and awesome BMX event you could ever possibly attend. Marnold: Rail comp in a night club? Off the hook. Need more. The pre-event practice was intense, with a few invited crew getting vibed out by the level of riding thrown down long before the actual comp started, did you expect to the skills to be up that high? Marnold: Yeah I did. Big names doing their thing! Shit was bound to go down and everyone killed it. Jack Kelly: I knew they all shredded from seeing them in web videos and pictures before hand, but its nothing compared to watching them all shred right in front of you, its awesome! The format of two riders up against each other, you dig it or was it too stressful? Marnold: It was so good. Proved who had the skills and how dialed your riding was. Jack Kelly: The format was sweet, it lets you feed off the other rider getting you more stoked to do something cool, and in the end having more fun. What was your highlight for the night? Jack Kelly: Meeting all the dudes that I look up to in the Aussie scene. Marnold: Just everyone shutting down the rail and everyone getting along and havin’ a good time. And who do you think threw down the biggest move? Jack Kelly: DJ’s tooth to over pegs was nuts! Marnold: Was out of DJ with his over to x-up pegs, or Jack trying hang 10 tooth was fucked up. Whats your take on a BMX event in a club? Jack Kelly: Awesome, should be done as often as possible. Marnold: Need more! Soooo good!
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