Stumps, Clumps & Jumps

Ten years ago filming for the first New World Disorder movie began with a motor home trip. Riders Robbie Bourdon, Dave Swetlund and Kevin Dewar were joined by Freeride Entertainment Producer Derek Westerlund, filmmakers Alex Fostvedt, Jeff Lawrence and still photographer Matt Scholl. This collection of wild personalities headed down to the State of Utah.

“It was a rowdy trip!” says Fostvedt, who has filmed all ten movies. “We really didn’t know what the hell we were doing. We just went for it and went crazy.”

Ten years and nine movies later we loaded ourselves into a deluxe motor home parked in the Whistler Village the day after Crankworx. There was less than a month left to film and edit the tenth and final Disorder movie. The riding is different now and the bikes have evolved but one thing remains the same. There’s nothing like heading out onto the open road, with an RV crammed full of riders, filmmakers, bikes and camera gear.

The Red Bull Stumps, Clump and Jumps tour had an ambitious schedule with half a dozen stops between Whistler, B.C. and San Francisco. The riders shredded trails all the way to California and finished the trip hitting jumps built on a floating barge in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Here’s what the key players had to say about this amazing road trip that marks the end of a film franchise and a new chapter in mountain bike riding.

Lluis Lacondeguy
Downhill Riding in Ferndale, Washington

I’ve never been to a place like Ferndale before. There were great jumps and berms and it was quite different from the riding back home in Spain. It was a good experience for me and my brother. I was glad I had my big bike, not a small freeride bike. My Kona Stab Supreme is amazing and I feel comfy on that bike. I ride a lot of motocross so my downhill mountain bike feels like riding a small motocross bike. I love to ride big bikes. I was a World Cup racer and a member of the Spanish national team for the European and World Championships so I rode a lot of downhill back in the day. This was the best trip of the year for me by far. The best thing is that all the riders are really good friends and we like to ride the same things. We like to party a lot too! The worst part of the trip was the morning shoots. I’m a lazy Spaniard and I like to sleep too much.

Robbie Bourdon
The Colonnade, Seattle, Washington

The second stop on our RV trip was in the city of Seattle, Washington. The word was that we would be riding some trails under the freeway near downtown. This network of trails, called the Colonnade, had a bit of everything. There were jumps, bridges, drops and some berms. I’m from Nelson, B.C., where the bike trails wind through the forest and the only sound you hear is you and your bike. The Colonnade was quite different, lots of people and noisy. The cars drove right above us and there was the smell of exhaust. It was city riding.

There was one berm that Wayne Goss and I were hitting. It was one of the better things in the park. The dirt was super dry and had become like powder about four inches deep, making the berm harder to rail. We hit it a few times and were getting it pretty good, laying it over every time. The roll in for the berm was steep and made of concrete so you could get some good speed. Towards the end of the session I hit it perfect, laying it over further than before. The spectators cheered and clapped for me as I rode it out. That was as good as it was going to get and I knew my work was done. It felt great. The day was done and I just coasted to the truck ready for what the next stop had to bring.

Wayne Goss
New Haven Skate Park, Portland, Oregon

After Seattle we headed to the New Haven Skate Park in Portland, Oregon. It was a funny stop for us. We had some trouble finding the place but after a couple U-turns we tracked it down. We rolled up to a park that was absolutely full of kids. There were at least 100 kids in an area the size of a basketball court. Before we could even get out of the RV all the kids were flocking to the doors asking us to hook them up with Red Bull.

We took a look at the park and it had some fun lines in it. But there is no way we were going to be able to shred them on our mountain bikes with all those little kids flying around. I really like all kinds of riding including shredding a skate park from time to time. I geared up and rolled into the sea of kids. I pretty much stuck to this mini little bowl because it was the least busy area. I did a tail whip to tail tap with a few tables, manuals and spins thrown in. I had a pretty good time, the kids were hilarious and were super pumped that we were there. Especially after we told them skateboarder Ryan Sheckler was sleeping in the back of the bus. The kids at the park were so much different than the kids from my hometown of Smithers, B.C. They were all big city kids and were way cooler and had more style than I ever will.

Alex Fostvedt
Director of Photography Freeride Entertainment
Good Morning America Shoot in Hood River, Oregon

“Good Morning America!” I exhaled into the pre-dawn cold. Was this really happening? Were a group of ragtag fringe sport athletes really going to be featured in the U.S. of A’s most watched morning show? Mixed in with cooking pancakes and the latest gossip? Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be? Fringe sport? This is my life. My world revolves around freeride mountain biking. This is the center of my universe.

These thoughts raced through my brain as I readied myself for the first shot of the morning. I set up next to their hired cameraman and producer from New York. Damn, this cameraman keeps stealing my angle! Okay Axl, get it together, this shot is for national television, people are watching, the sport hangs in the balance, this is for all the gravy and biscuits, or whatever they say on TV. Paul, Robbie, and Andreu nail the line in sequence. Nice! You make my job so easy!

“Craft Service!” I yell. A breakfast sandwich and coffee are promptly handed to my greedy mitts. We are big time. Mainstream even. Reality sets in, There is no one to carry my camera. I chuckle to myself, still a long way from the bottom of the trail.

Andreu Lacondeguy
Blackrock Mountain Bike Park, Oregon

Blackrock was amazing. It was great to ride with all the boys, man! It’s a good place to ride and chill with your mates and its even better that the trails flow good. We did some downhill runs with all the riders on the team. I decided to do a flat spin 360 off one of the big jumps. It wasn’t a normal dirt jump so it made it more fun and crazy. I have this trick dialed so I just did one warm up run and then I just sent it. I crashed a few times and my shoe flew off but I ended up landing it! It was my best trick of the day!

After Blackrock we headed to San Francisco to ride the barge. I got an idea from watching freestyle motocross rider Nate Adams and decided I wanted to do a flat spin 360 nac nac. I’ve been doing flat spins every day and they are the best trick ever. This trip I started to do the flat spin with the nac nac and it was even way more fun. The trick works good and the Freeride photographers got some amazing shots.

Paul Basagoitia
The Barge, San Francisco, California

When Derek Westerlund from Freeride Entertainment called me and told me that The Barge was going to happen this year I didn’t believe him. It’s been in the making for the last five years and every time those plans have fallen through at the last second. So I didn’t really get my hopes up on it. When we showed up to San Francisco and saw the barge we were shocked! I couldn’t believe that this was actually going down.

I was thinking this to myself, “If we pull this off it will be one of the most insane film shoots ever.” After a couple hours of just zoning out on the Barge we decided to ride the damn thing. The jumps were amazing! For being on a flat surface and using dirt that was scraped from the bottom of the ocean, it worked out great. I thought it was going to be awkward riding on the barge at first, but it felt like I was at my local jumps – minus being on the ocean. After a few runs of practice Brandon and I decided that it would be cool to coordinate a double run. It took us a few tries before getting it down right. It was a lot harder than it looked!

Brandon Semenuk
The Barge, San Francisco, California

We had been riding on the barge for a few days, but one of our goals of this project was to pull the barge up to the San Francisco Giants baseball game and ride while they were playing. Their stadium is right next to the ocean. We weren’t sure if we were gonna be able to ride because the wind had picked up. It was a bit of a gamble. We decided this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so we went for it.

We had a police escort as we were towed up to the stadium and we could hear the roar of the crowd getting louder and louder. It got my adrenaline pumping. We geared up and adjusted the barge in the right direction so we didn’t get blown around. I remember the three loud blasts of the tug boat horn before we dropped in. People were turning around at the game to face us and see what was happening. Even the people on their boats were trying to get close. For John Cowan, Paul Basagoitia and myself it was the end of a stressful film shoot. It went by super fast because we were only out there for 30 minutes or so but it was for sure worth it. We just rode together and had fun with it, just like we would ride back at home with our buddies.

NWD Producer Derek Westerlund
Dreaming of The Barge

Johnny Cowan and I have been talking about putting jumps on a barge for God knows how long. It’s always been a vision. We ended up finding a barge in San Francisco and it was about 290 feet long and 70 feet wide. We used 1800 cubic yards of dirt. As I sat in the helicopter watching it all happen, I felt triumphant that it came together magically, which never happens.

We’ve done ten mountain bike movies now and we’ve had a good crew of people. There’s been some ups and downs and it’s been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. We gave the mountain bike industry some attitude and brought people’s eyes towards mountain biking. We even had Tour de France winner Alberto Contador come to our movie premiere in Las Vegas two years ago.

It was hard in the beginning and I had to tell people to f-off because they would not support what we were doing. Now those same people have become our allies and friends. When we were busting out the emergence of freeride, mountain bike movies were just starting to happen. Now there’s a demand for content. And pulling off shoots like the barge project might have once seemed grandiose. Now it’s just another day at the office.

Photos by John Gibson courtersy of Red Bull Photofiles.
Story courtersy of Red Bull Photofiles.
www.redbull-photofiles.com