Video: Dan Atherton's New Dirt Merchant Inspired Jump Line at DyFi Bike Park
 | I wanted to create a jumpline that raises the bar for UK riding. It was inspiring to see what Vero and James achieved with Vision Line at Revs, and of course Dirt Merchant in Whistler; I knew that we had to go hard to create something as special at Dyfi. We’ve worked with Oakley pretty much our entire careers and they’re a super-cool brand that we’ve always wanted to collaborate more closely with so they were the perfect partner to help me bring that vision to life. I’ve been racing and riding all over the world for more than 20 years and in that time I’ve experienced a lot of amazing trails; this track was about bringing together all the coolest things that I’ve ridden. I’ve always wanted an upliftable jumpline, pure surfaced, smooth… I’m definitely showing my BMX roots. In fact, it’s like a cross between a slopestyle course, a DH track and a BMX track. It combines wood drops and bridges with tall BMX lips and hips, all thrown together in an upliftable DH track. The lower section of the Dyfi mountain is the perfect site, the uplift is really fast and the trail is just over a km. Everything that I build here is designed for progression, once you’ve got 50 Hits dialled, step up to the next level. This track is aimed at the experienced rider but even the best in the world need to work on their jumps and push their comfort zone. The speeds are high and the jumps are massive but Icon Way offers riders the opportunity to start moderate and work up with different sized lips and hips all the way down. You can ride it on a BMX, a hardtail, a DH bike; anything you want to bring – it’s sick to have a fully surfaced track that you can stay clean on all day. Icon Way has been a year in the making, it’s a shared vision with Oakley, especially brand manager Scott McMorris who has been awesome, totally buying into our plans, understanding the visual cues we were trying to create and bearing with us when things inevitably didn’t go smoothly! The track is named for the street where Oakley HQ is found in Foothill Ranch, California. Most of the early digging work was achieved by the hugely talented Jamie Cable who put in some serious hours in the digger to help me lay out the fundamental shape of the course and sculpted most of the kickers. Jamie’s precision and attention to detail, his endless patience in sculpting the lips has elevated this track to something really special. The dig crew have been on the tools in all weathers as usual, constantly prepping, Alf and Sam on the woodwork…it’s such a huge undertaking with such different elements that at times it seemed endless but all of them were totally committed |
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One thing that stuck out me me is that Oakley “partnered” on this. Genuinely curious, what did Oakley bring to the table besides some logos? Construction $$?
Also, keep right on the deck of that big drop!
With my body. Most likely not on my bike. Or in control. Rad. \m/