Berlin Dirt 1 and 2: Is Dirt Jumping Being Forgotten? - Video
Coming from Berlin, it was a no-brainer that I wanted to show the sweet dirt jumping spots that haven't been in the spotlight yet. Berlin is big and we have many spots! What sometimes amazes me is that often good riders haven't seen the other spot that is just 40 minutes away. I guess people these days just spend too much time on social media instead of taking small road trips with bike buddies. It's about having fun riding your bike with your buddies. This is exactly what I wanted to show with this video from the Propain Team. Speaking of spotlight… it seems that the bike industry has forgotten about dirt jumpers a bit, so that also motivated us to do a trails video.
I'd rather watch a flat spin from Patrick Schweika than those new tricks.
But... maybe I should do a double flip on my 40th birthday? The double flip I didn't make back in New World Disorder 4 in 2003… Seriously, there is a strong fighter side in me that really would do it, but my "being a father" and Yoga side is thankfully stronger now!
The Team
A bunch of good guys
Philipp Baum. Pro BMXer and good Moto X guy. Amazing trail builder as well. He works hard for his spots. He's new to MTB, but stay tuned for more. He wants to use his Moto X skills and BMX background to jump some big Jumps. He's not afraid of speed and is quite a stuntman, but with a brain and style.
Trail Boss'n
Patrick Schweika, the king of flat spins. Even on a big bike on 22-meter jumps (Nine Knights).
Patrick Schweika
Nicest World Champ ever, Aiko Goehler
Aiko Goehler, 4x World Champion 2015
Racing Style from Aiko Goehler
Patrick Schweika
Philipp Baum at work
The old team manager health nut and yoga teacher who is happy to still ride with the boys and do some tables, still living his childhood bike dream.
Around 2004 I was on a trails trip on the east coast with Aaron Chase, Kyle Ebett, Adam Hauck, Jeff Lenowsky, Aaron Lutze plus more, and it was an eye opener to see those amazing spots. I knew them from BMX videos and mags—some of those spots are 20 years old!
BMX legend, Fuzzy Hall, once said to me on the subject of trails/dirt jumps:
 | "They are totally different, two forms of riding. Contest jumps to me are like instant potatoes. You make them in a week. Good trails are like wine, it takes years and years of building, that's how it comes together." |
It's so much work to have a good dirt spot!
I am lucky that I have a BMX background because in the beginning when I switched over to MTB (in 2000) the image from mountain biking was not the best. BMXers just had a shaved legs spandex image of MTB.
MTBers were sometimes messing up the trails with a full-suspension and big nobby tires in the wet, not digging or showing respect to the locals, but like it is for walkers and bikers in the mountains, there are big egos and people who don't get it on both sides. So just talk to the locals. See if they need help, often its just to show the good will and that's enough. Take your trash with you. Respect the work that went into those trails.
Philipp Baum front flip tuck-no-hander at his own spot.
One friend in Berlin once said to me, those jumps mean a lot to him, he had spent 10 years slapping and building them, and there was a time where he was not feeling well personally so the trails fell apart as well. Now he always keeps them spot on.
Some kids that just show up at spots just don't get how much work it is to have a really good dirt spot. It's almost a way of meditation and therapy. You don't feel good, so you go out in the woods and dig some jumps and forget the negative thoughts—slap some anger out at the jumps.
Speaking of nature, did you know that your immune system is getting recharged and kept healthy for weeks when you go deep into a natural environment, breathing in all that healing oxygen? We need to take a break from the rush of our daily lives. It's so important. Switch that phone off!
Health Benefits From Forests
• Boosts immune system
• Lowers blood pressure
• Reduces stress
• Improves mood
• Increases ability to focus, even in children with ADHD
• Accelerates recovery from surgery or illness
• Increases energy level
• Improves sleep
There is also a joke between trail builders; "why go to the gym when you can slap some dirt and get really buff." Buff BMX street riders were especially mocked if they did not help dig but went to the gym instead, even when the sun was shining. But you have to master the technique of using the shovel left and right handed, your back will need the balance.
I have to admit, to my shame I have never been a huge digger. Here I am typing about trail bosses & diggers, but not myself. I'm showing my respect for them!
Trails Boss: there is always a local that is totally ruling a set of jumps and is a boss at building and keeping the spot clean and fun.
Philip Baum is a Trail Boss
He has his own spot and to help understand how much energy he puts into it; the location is on a Moto X Track. In exchange for having this land and his spot there called "The Backyard", he spends 250 hours a season fixing the Moto X Race Track with a machine. That's some dedication right there. He is a pro working with wood and big excavators as well.
Some of My Own BMX Trails History
As a Racer I loved finding new lines at the local race track in Berln, jumping it from all sides and building new things. I was always the kid that was good at jumping. I started doing shows with local BMX stars when I was 12. In 1989, when the Berlin wall "came down" we were booked to do many shows at car dealers because many East German's were happy to trade their Trabby for a western car.
In Berlin, we also had BMX spots that were a mix of trails and race tracks from early on. As far back as 1983!
In 1994 I was in Las Vegas for one year, living as an exchange student with an American family (found through a BMX magazine where I asked for a family through a letter) and living my BMX dream, racing all over the states. It was during this time that I got to ride really technical, flowing dirt jump spots that I knew from the magazines.
For example the famous California spot “Sheep Hills“ (Ed: which recently flooded) and riding with my idols that I knew from the magazines—people like Brian Foster and Todd Lyons.
I was a buff racer and pretty stiff! (I quit math in high school and had weight training and sport class every day instead. The American school system is pretty funny.)
Plus I did not ride the school bus, rather, I rode my BMX 10 miles a day.
It was a big eye opener. Actually Brian Foster laughed at me and said he knew it when I cased a jump at Sheep Hills and I broke my frame. But he was so nice he took me to the S&M ( hardcore BMX Brand from California) Factory where I did get a Frame cheaper! Casing in front of my Idol… I took this as motivation to get better.
So after Sheep Hills and seeing Brian Foster with so much flow and style, I knew this is what I wanted to learn, and when I went back to Las Vegas with my friend TJ Lavin (who was just beginning his dirt jump career) it motivated me a lot to see TJ and what was possible on a bike. When I came back to Berlin I quit racing and started dirt jumping.
There is quite a dirt jump trails scene out there, it's just that the industry doesn't really take notice too much. It's been like that for many, many years and it doesn't matter if the industry likes Enduro and E-bikes more. We're still out in the woods digging and riding trails.
Also check out canyoudigit a web Page dedicated to Trails.
I love that it will always be fun to watch a rider with bike control and style flow through the trails even when in more recent years video game tricks came into reality.
Many companies don't even have dirt jump bikes anymore as part of their program, but I see so many good dirt jumpers & freeriders out there going for their dream of being a pro rider! I also see their press books in my email inbox. I understand both sides, the company side and the one from the riders… so being a Team Manager isn't so easy sometimes, making both sides happy and not taking it personally when riders get treated as an "Excel budget row" that gets deleted.
It's not about the Money and there are far bigger things happening in the world than dirt jumpers & freeriders risking their bones. Boys, I hate to say it but there is something coming! You have to do your homework and treat your body well so it can heal and deal with all those crashes that are stored in your body! This is something you don't realize when you are in your early 20's. I know what I'm talking about here and I will be able to help soon with a yogaforbikers video!
Again, big props to all the trail builders out there.
Thanks to Viktor Strasse for the pics and 20ZollMedia for the Videos! So cool to work with friends and that are bikers as well!
Lukas Schaefer
MENTIONS: @PritzelTimo
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89 Comments
1. dirt jumping has always been a bit underground
2. those annual vids used to always show heaps of dj (sprungm earthed etc) but they dont get made anymore
3. dirt jumps are hard, so less people do them and there are less trails
I was a die hard trails rider (read DJer) and i cant name a single person that also raced 4x. I agree its pretty spectator friendly, i just think its separate from trails.
Dude, have you ever heard about fmbworldtour? Yes, MTB freestyle evolve to slopestyle, but it's still many dj contest.
End result, I'm less inspired to watch dj videos as they don't bear any relation to my own reality. So what am I trying to say? If mtb seems to have forgotten about dj it may be because the sports are just very different.
DJ is way above my skill set, and mentality, i don't even know anyone who does it.
I'd like to see a Industry sales chart of bikes sold, i bet the DJ percentage would be under 0.25%
So yeah, DJ is an Underground Sport and receives the appropriate coverage, but it is f*cking awesome !
Not sure about mtb but the bmx trails scene is alive and kicking.
1) Dirt jumping isnt dead, there is a thriving scene out there, its just all mostly on IG and other platforms. Go search of @Canyoudigit, @warsofflow, @PlussizeBMX or my stuff @fjtrails. Also if you are in the UK look up Brockham trails and the stuff Jimmy Pratt and Ralph still dig. South London and Surrey is prime UK trails country, still to this day!
2) There arent as many sets of trails because kids can go ride decent skate parks within 10 miles of their house (most of them anyway). Back init day this wasnt the case so kids would grab a spade and go dig some jumps in some woods, with little fear of consequence. Nowadays they dont have to bother
3) Everyone has gone trail bike crazy, nowadays you can go in pretty much every woodland with a hill and find single track cause people have bikes that are good at going both up and down.
4) This has nothing to do with 4x, although I do wish the cool kids would stop hating on 4x and it would be of benefit to the jump bike industry to have 4x as a sport on the UCI stage
5) Digging dirt jumps is hard, its much easier to go roach the skate park on your brakeless bmx or skid some loam between trees, people like to take the easier option with the exception of a small group who take as much fun out of piling clay and riding it
You want riding some bmx trails?Grab your bmx and forget word "mtb". What's your problem?
Since getting into cycling properly I've never had to buy a new bike, second hand is the way to go when you can't justify spending all your expendable income but want higher end gear.
Having said that, dirt jumps for life. It's where I started and I'll never sell my DJ. It's how I learned all my bike handling skills and got my hops.
now of course the BMX scene is the same way however thats a lot more popular. and of course, BMXs are cheap and easy and strong, who would want a bigger, heavier and less playful bike unless you never rode a BMX and always fall off the back of them.
that doesnt mean that BMX is killing off DJ or enduro is killing off DJ it just means that DJ is a smaller field and even then its not that small, y'know what with the FMB world tour being half slopestyle which is just big (or more downhill) DJ. if DJ was dying why are there always many DJ videos in movies for your monday? dirt jumping wont die we jsut have to dream of going to new zealand for gorge road instead of california for post office these days
I don't quite think the industry is forgetting about dirtjumping, they are just also releasing more full suspension options. And especially now that the Specialized FSR patent has expired loads of German brands (which for some reason typically use a four bar linkage suspension design) are busy entering the North American market. So that may give you this perception. But dirtjumping doesn't need that much from the industry, does it? The gear is pretty good as it is. Media attention would be good though. Attention in Dirt magazine used to be good back in the day but even they dropped it a bit in the last couple of years before they went out of print. Still I expect chances are better in paid media (magazines, dvds) than in media that thrives on sponsored content exclusively.
And yes as far as phones go I have an acceptance-hate relation with them (not love-hate, not even close).
In my local area (melb) we have 160 person strong riding community dj page with about 30 active members who dig/ride/contribute daily.
It's the same in Sydney, Adelaide and Canberra.
It would be amazing if 4x was brought back, but so don't think it would solve the issue that it's a niche sport.
DJ bikes are my favourite sort of bike!
Jetzt hilft dir nur Mut und Zuversicht...wer die richtige Technik hat.,kann mit jedem bike große Sprünge nehmen
I'm going to err on the side of saying the *lack* "Dirt Jumping" is the cause of OVER specialization in one individual sport, called MTB. While BMX has its quirky specialization (flatland) it's just bikes - an "all around" rider still rides the same bike.
The push for Enduro infused, downhill specific retro neon carbon barends ensures anything to do with MTB has to be in a category. You can blame companies for convincing you that you need 10 bikes for each size "bump" your front tire sees. Truth is, jumps made from dirt ain't hurting for attendees. If you're thinking they might be, take a look see and present day BMX (digbmx.com).
I'd DEFINITELY like to see more big wheel bikes at the trails. Shit, learn to roll in on a Vert ramp so I have someone to talk to between runs
wtf pinkbike with the clickbait titles, I've really cut back my time on pinkbike and titles like this make me not want to come back
Respekt für die gute Arbeit
Bin ende März beruflich in Berlin. Gibts ne Chance bei Euch für ein Wochenende zu shredden!?
Gruß us Kölle