FARM JAM
hailstorms rolling through. Event day was overcast
and calm, but the rain had already done some hefty
damage, soaking both the FMX and pushy courses
and turning the transitions into goop.
But this is where the community spirit of the riders
shone when the sun couldn’t. Levi Sherwood
promptly jumped into a Bobcat and began scraping
the top layer of muck off the FMX dirt kickers and
landings, while other riders grabbed cement bags
and scattered the dust over the run-ups to absorb
the remaining moisture.
Meanwhile at the bike jumps, things got more
spectacular as US BMX legend Mike “Hucker” Clark
led a small army to scatter hay and diesel over the
trails, then lit them on fire. It looked like a scene out
of Apocalypse Now, but the move was effective; the
jumps dried and hardened perfectly, allowing the
Farm Jam to proceed with all guns blazing.
The locals
The 2000-strong Southland crowd is an eclectic
mix of weathered-faced, stoic farmers, mulletgraced bogans shouldering boxes of Speights and
Double Brown beer, hip and borderline metrosexual
teenagers, frumpy mums and pot-bellied dads with
two or three ankle-biters in tow. With high-profile
events in Southland as rare as the Spotted Kiwi itself,
the locals turn up in droves to throw their support
behind a homegrown success story, and to witness
some of the world’s best riders throw everything at
the course. u
“
there’s a
TANGIBLE AURA of
mutual respect and
camaraderie
”
Nick Franklin sends a
floaty Superman Flip
FreestyleXtreme | 19