Aptos in the Off Season

Riders from Around the Globe Visit Aptos in the Off Season

If you're into Dirt Jumping then this is for you! This time of year in Aptos, CA you will no doubt see many Pro Mountain Bikers from all over the world. They come in search of the good weather and awesome riding. From now until Sea Otter in April, the Santa Cruz area will be filled with riders. In town currently are riders Brandon Semenuk, Andreu Lacondeguy, Sam Pilgram, Amir Kabanni, and of course all the local pros like the McCauls', Greg watts, Ryan Howard, Jack Fogelquist, Cob, and even Guy French. The next few months should be filled with excitement!

Please look inside to read more and see some pictures of the action!The weather in California has been very wet. The weather forecasters are calling it an "El Nino Year", which means we'll be seeing an abnormally abundant amount of rain this year. The wet/muddy dirt is slowing down the riding a bit for some visitors, but overall the riding is still going down! With 20 guys that know how to dig, any set of jumps can get fixed up really quick from a gnarly storm! The first two weeks of January the riders re-built the post office jumps and were riding them. Below are a few shots I got of the sessions from early January!

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Scouting, Building and Shooting!

Then the second half of the month it was storming. Riders Jack Fogelquist and Jacob "Cob" Hyde and I went to a nice scenic spot to find something big and cool to shoot. We came up with a big hip step down. Friends/riders joined us two days after the build to hit it up for a photo shoot! Turned out good!

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More People in town from around the globe!

Yesterday, the shovels came out in the morning at the post office! The riders got the place ready to ride! The transitions needed to be dug out of all the mud and replaced with dryer dirt. A lot of the lips and landings got a new layer of dirt, basically the park went from a mud pit to rideable in matter of a few hours.





The work ethic around the dirt jumping scene in Aptos is great. Basically if you have a bike you'd better own a shovel as well. If you're stuck without a shovel you will be told to go buy one! I have seen it a ton, no matter who the rider, don't dig and you will not be liked, dig for awhile and then you are very excepted! Well after a bunch of digging the guys finally got to ride the place! Here are some pics I nailed, expect a lot more coming in the next few weeks! Enjoy!










I'll have a ton more info and riding pictures in a few weeks, stay tuned!

--Justin Brantley