// ARFREERIDERS.COM | HOME OF THE ARKANSAS FREERIDE SOCIETY 2008

Eh!! Im a freerider from Ontario but im moving to Arkansas in August, I would love to do anything to promote the freeride scene. I race 4x, dh and compete in slopestyle events. I will be in Arkadalphia going to school and ive already scoped the spots to start building haha, email me at dropinonanorco@hotmail.com

welcome to the dirty south homie. see you soon.

This bike just got built up and is about to be punished on the streets. Full review coming in a few weeks.

Alright everyone- first off BIG thanks to JohnTaylor for getting us some lumber this week. We broke ground this morning on the ravine section of the Argenta Freeride trail. The trail is far from being complete, but after no action had been taken for months on getting the section up and rolling, today we finally got re-motivated and began construction of the ladder section, which, when done, will have 3 separate options to choose. The first section to be completed with ladder decking was the big drop- probably 6ft to a nice transition making it more like an 8ftr or more by the time you land. The second section which should be completed next weekend will be just over handlebar height- maybe 4ft to transition. Last but not least, there will also be a descent size roller/wedge type jump, that could be ridden over by people of all skill levels but it will add a “chicken line” to anyone not quite ready for either of the drops. This is going to be AWESOME when it’s all said and done. Now without further adue, we present to you, the photos of 4 guys one ladder drop.

We also started breaking ground on getting the trail bench cut for the run-up of the jump next to the ladders. Kit came prepared for riding and broke out the Bottle Rocket for a test run on the big drop- it ended well. As always, Kit was fashionably late, so he got razed for a bit…..but he did bring donuts:). It was a good day of working- C2 and myself got there at around 8 o’clock and after being told by race officials that the XC race was going to start in about 15 minutes we got in high gear and started toting wood to the spot for construction.
We did get to see some good stuff from the XC guys- Noah and Drew( racing for Competitive Cyclist) were both racing well, and we even got to see a pretty wicked crash by Rick Sederberg (a customer of ours). I think he was so dazed that when we were asking him if he was alright(granted we were yelling from about 35 yards away through the woods)he thought that he was just hearing voices after getting his bell rung because he never answered:). As always Ryan was a building machine- that boy hammers nails straighter than a robot could- seriously. Good work today fellas and hopefully next week we can get Chris and Joel out to sweat with us and make the rest of this section of trail come together.

MIKE VALLELY - “Drive: White Hall, AR”

Pay Attention.

Short and sweet boys! Today I went out to the trail to break ground on our first ladder drop- hopefully it will be completed within a week. E2

Joel Blatnicky is a guy that I grew up riding with during the early 90’s. Joel rides 20″ flatland and street and we both have a lot of memories from back in the day. The last time we saw each other was at a paintball tournament in Chicago where he was working at Challenge Park. After a few years we got back in touch with each other and after a few months of talking Joel decided to come back to the Dirty South to ride. Asked him why he would want to leave Chicago to come here and it was basically for his friends and the scene he remembers. He just got back from New Orleans where he took third in flatland at the Voodoo Jam. Now he says he’s ready to ride some street.



We’ve been talking about his transition to mountain bikes for a bit and he’s still a little uncertain. But today I got home from work and he was doing no-footed manuals the entire length of the street… on my bike. So it looks as though when I get my new frame he might be inheriting the p-45.

1st ANNUAL AFS BIRTHDAY PARTY!

When: Who the hell knows
Where: Like we can get everyone in one place at the same time

See you there!

Last night we went out on the town. Kylie had gone to Dallas for a baby shower so it was just Dustin and me. We headed down to Brouwer’s, a Belgium Ale house where a Maredsous 10 and a rib eye kicked off the night. After that we headed over to The Dubliner. That was pretty much the beginning of the end… A long and crazy night.

We got up this morning and headed out to South Seatac. It took a bit to find the flow park but we got to ride some fun trails in the process. Once we hit the flow park it was sick. There was definitely a good scene and the riders were very courteous and friendly. The scene at the flow park was almost identical to the old push and posh trails back in the 90’s in Indiana. Everything was chill and everyone was there to enjoy themselves even if they weren’t riding. After watching for a bit I broke out my camera only to find the batteries dead, but luckily I was able to get a few shots with Dustin’s iphone.

The flow park isn’t really all that long, but the runs are cool. The outer parameters consisted of the “beginners” lines with 4ft drops, solid berms, and some decent jumps. The middle lines had the bigger jumps and one big kicker at the end. The was also some random jumps at the bottom. Basically, there wasn’t too much that wasn’t rideable. Simply put, the pictures suck compared to what the place really looks like. To sum it up: downhill, multiple lines, jumps, rollers, drops, berms, and short enough to session all day from top to bottom. The flow park really wasn’t so much of a trail system as much as it consisted of multiple lines and combinations, which in my opinion made for a better time. Kit would have absolutely loved this place. One thing cool about the jumps is that unlike steep dirt jumps, the jumps were more “flowy” allowing you to float as high as you wanted and come in to a smooth tranny only to go into a drop or berm or jump. All of the jumps were basically, logs and rocks with dirt covering them. I don’t think the park was overly planned as far as design but every part was put to good use.

After a day of riding we came back to the apartment, then headed to an awesome pizzeria. The food here is wonderful. Then we headed over to Gas Works park to check out the city and chill out. Today was the first day it didn’t rain and the weather was beautiful. Since I have been here the temp hasn’t reached 60 degrees. I could definitely live here in the summer months, not too sure about the winter. Catching a plane at 6am to head back to the dirty south. As usual the trip was over too soon but a blast. Seattle has become one of my favorite cities. Next time we are hitting Whistler. Dustin dislocated his rib last month but rode as much as he could. Sucks to go home but anyway. Thanks to Dustin and Kylie for the hospitality and the good time. I’ll be back before the end of the summer. It was good to hang out with my best friend again do some riding and just enjoy myself.

What I learned about Seattle:

• The city is very dynamic
• The people can’t drive, especially the women on the cell phones
• One minute it rains, the next its dry, one minute its cold, the next its warm
• There is a lot of cool buildings and tons of places to go, but its a lot different than other cities, big sense of community
• The pretty girls don’t come out until the weather is nice
• Someone might try to steal your teeth
• There is a lot of coffee and a lot of beer
• Everyone rides a bike
• Most of the riders are really cool nad helpful
• People really do not pay attention
• The food is good except for the Mexican
• The riding is great, but that was expected

E2, thanks again for letting me borrow the Intense. Its boxed up and ready to come home. I even left some northwest dirt on it for you.