All Dry’d up.

Published on: 27th April, 2010

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Winter has gone, fine weather is on the way and the UK scene is gearing up for it usual summer antics.

The first of many went down at Swadlincote this past weekend, offering a taste of what is to come for the UK’s infamous domestic scene over the brighter months.

Another one of the Swad crews “jam” events was kicking off, to again celebrate the end of another winter season. Slap the features out on the hill, pay yer money and go get rad.

4 hours, plenty of sweat and a bit of free loot later and your done. Only available in the UK.

It’s a tried and tested method of getting riders out on the hill to bust out some moves, easy going, loads of fun and it’s better than crap Saturday TV.

In the pleasant spring sunshine, with abundant blue sky and a quantity of riders turning up to shred,  Swad displayed its toys for all to see. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual carpet covered kickers and home made rails laid out over the plastic hill for the keen-as-mustard riders to hit up.

We’re not too sure what the appeal is about hitting up a box that’s made up from bits of old road signs, but from past experience, we do know it’s good fun. It might not be striking a chord with those of us who prefer quality, but despite their rustic appearance, the features were sound and presented a cracking opportunity to show off new moves that have been honed with the hours riding at local hills over the winter.

A round robin approach to each hit got most riders involved, giving the intrepid few a chance to pop up a few 50-50’s and boardslides,  as the more experience names amongst them stepped up the technicality and showmanship. Always good to the newbies getting involved, Elly Redmore being one of the lesser know faces making most of the opportunity with some smooth backside jibs.

Ollie Waters was getting well in, ripping up the loops as he made his return from injury with technicality and style that we became accustomed to at last years Scrap Metal. He’s got some big tricks in his bag; backside 450 on down the gas pipe deserved the huge shouts.

The other features also saw their fair share of action as the light faded. Simon Evans utilised the big Swad kicker to full effect, styling his air time before soaking up the landing with hydraulic legs, as the folk sat on the side lines got active, dodging the odd wild landing, between winces as laid out back flips didn’t quite make it round.

Face vs Permasnow often only results in one clear winner.

Despite the heavy stacks, the riders kept on, finishing up with a mighty session on the flat down, Tom Walker and Doug Johnson adding some balls out flair over a rusty looking beast. Smooth, style and big gap-to-down over this dryslope monster for some loot.

Summer is coming, it’s getting warmer and the British dryslopes are about to enter their prime and Swadlincote got the ball rolling last Saturday. Images by Mark Harris – www.markharrisphotography.biz

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