I study in the Netherlands and after a long semester I had the need to do something awesome. I had the idea to go back to Kamloops, Canada. Probably the origin of mountain bike freeride as we know it today. I spend 11 month of 2010 in Kamloops sneaking into the amazing local scene and shooting photos for Lone Wolf Productions. If you are interrested in this story you should check out the Pinkbike article about my time there: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/lone-wolf-productions-florian-feise-slide-show-2011.html
But back to this year: I caught a cheap flight and simply flew back to Kamloops.
I didn't tell anybody about my arrival, except my ex-roommate Matt Brooks (owner of Lonewolf Productions). His mother was that kind to provide me a room. People were really surprised to see the “german-exchange-rider” being back in Kamloops.
Kamloops is famous for it's dust and clay that you probably know from Matt Hunter's or Graham Agassiz's segments in all the big movies. But there is more than that! The region is covered in fast and gnarly trails, which are my favourite in the world.
I spend three weeks of riding in the Kamloops area and it felt like I haven't left. I simply put the “Kamloops disc” into my brain and I remembered every single rock and root of every trail I was on. However, it is still pretty scary to hit big gaps without looking at them, in the pure hope that nothing has changed while I was gone.
Riding went really good and I also had the amazing opportunity to photograph Mike Kinrade for his 2011 Lonewolf Production segment. Which turned out to be a great success!
For the shots and the video, check out http://lonewolfproductions.ca.
It was a fun trip and I was also excited to go back to Europe and ride my downhill bike there. Unfortunately it got lost at the Frankfurt airport, so I simply grabbed my little bike and went to Holland a little bit early to get some dirt jump riding in.
Riding at a home spot after you have been gone for a while is always a blast, everything fells familiar but new to a certain degree. I am very happy to have the “Pedal Park” which is a great dirt jump park in Groningen. Without this spot as a counterweight I would probably not survive university.
Another highlight in this season was the “Big Air Bag” event in Harderwijk, Netherlands.
I wouldn't consider myself as a trick oriented rider, but it was a lot of fun to do all kinds of tricks that I have been working on for a while without actually hurting yourself. From the training point of view I can really recommend riding an air bag, it is a very safe and fun way to try new things. In my opinion it is a lot better then a foam pit!
For 2012 I hope to get more pictures that will get people excited to ride their bikes, it is simply what I love to do!
Big thank you to Local Outerwear for their great support!
Also I would like to thank the photographers:
Benjamin Glahe
Orlando Haak
Arno van Schaik
Now go and ride you bike, it might be the last day of this season!
Flo
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