Team Ok - First Short Film

Words by Harrison Mendel

This summer I broke my foot in Whistler and was wondering what I was going to do to stay in the biking scene. I was lucky enough not to get a cast, but end up in a "Robo Boot". I decided that if I couldn't ride, I would film. I knew that there was a lot of competitions and big jams coming up that would be great for filming. That's where the idea for Team OK came up, it was kind of a spur of the moment idea and it turned out way bigger than I thought with over 3000 views on the teaser! I couldn't of asked for more.

Inside are pictures and the movie, enjoy!Events
When I started filming for the movie the main thing was a Red Bull Sugga shoot and our local riding location called "The Spot". This location is amazing for trick jumps and is well known because of all the PODs it was gotten in recent months. When I first heard about the shoot I heard that it was just a small shoot with Casey Groves, Benton Leong and Dustin Greenall. It was way bigger than that. The Red Bull truck was handing out drinks, music was blasting. It was a super fun Jam and about 30 people showed up. I wish I could have been riding but the atmosphere was really fun.


The next event was Steve Romaniuk's (Mongoose) "Center of Gravity". This is the only biking competition in Kelowna. With an Invite Only format, the crowd was ready for a stunning performance including Casey Groves, Dustin Greenall, Justin Wyper (Specialized) and Kelowna's Best talents. The course had been built the previous week and has looking really fun. The first day was "Best Trick" and James Doerfling ended up taking the win with a crazy Super Seat Indian Air. All of the riders had a good time, crazy tricks like 360 inward tables, super flips and flip whips were being thrown down. Second Day was best line. Casey Groves ended up taking the win with a superman off the first jump, 360 the second and tuck to tail whip the last (seen in the video). Another super successful day.


Riders
After filming the movie and watching over all the clips I realized that I was working with an amazing rider's list; Casey Groves (Transition), Dustin Greenall (Banshee), Benton Leong (Kona), Brandon Hayward (Banshee) and Noah Brousseau (Rocky MTN). I was stoked to edit the movie and get it done since many riders had been begging me for months. I would have to say that my favorite rider to film with was Benton Leong. He was constantly giving me tips on editing and different angles to film from. Thanks Bento! My favorite rider to watch was probably Aubrey Lietz, the kid will try anything, he's crazy. It's gotten him really far as after trying the trick for ages, he lands it, then becomes consistent.


There were no riders that I would never film with again. They were all simply fun to film with and they all brought a different riding style and tricks to the table. Riders like Brandon Hayward and Aeron Learmonth (Banshee) always try crazy combos and you can never get fed up with these two as they're such comedians! Also the biggest name in the movie, Casey Groves, is always doing something crazy. He will be acting calm and the next second he will be pedaling in to the jump and doing a flip whip, or 360 topside no-can. There is never just a down day with Casey. There is also the riders like Brian Meuller and Garrett Robertson who aren't recognized that much but are simply amazing riders, super dialed and never in a bad mood. It's awesome!


Locations:

The Spot
Kelowna has 2 spots to dirt jump, next year there will be one more as the bike park is opening. I was asked to test the jumps and let me tell you, they're insanely fun. Major props to MTBco and John Cowan (Kona). Anyway, back to The Spot. This is one of the most fun trick jump spots I have been to as there is always something fun to ride, especially if you want to try some new tricks! This summer Kelowna went for about 2-3 months with no rain, it was horrible. Unfortunately "The Spot" is up in a gravel pit and there is no water hose, so the jumps dried out and became dust, and was unrideable. If you were to go to the Spot now, there is nothing really to ride. It's really sad because this location is amazing because Benton Leong's dad owns the gravel pit and we get to use the loaders. If we get a lot of rain next year we will hopefully rebuild everything.


Kicking Dirt
Kicking Dirt happens to be the only rideable jumps in Kelowna at the moment and it just so happens that these jumps are in my front yard. It is a single line that is slope style orientated. It starts with 3 rollers and a small step down, set up jump - nothing major. That leads right into a big wooden lip double with a nice steep dirt landing. The next feature is a wooden Step Down which leads right into a 15' set up jump and then a nice trick jump. There have been many fun jams here and the size of the jumps this year have easily tripled. Thanks to everyone! Hopefully next year we can get some new features in!


The Movie
I am extremely stoked on how well this movie turned out. It was Kicking Productions first movie. Many of you have probably seen some of "The Spot" videos, with over 5500 views. This was the first year of Kicking Productions and I couldn't of asked for more, all the videos turned out amazing.

Here it is! Check it out!

Team OK - Full Length Movie

by hmendel

Add to Favorites Added to Favorites Views: 21,189    Faves: 476    Comments: 117

Photo Credit:
Kai Wendt
Casey Groves
Stirling Grassick
Harrison Mendel

Thanks for all the support!

Cheers,
Casey Groves
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