Shot with a GoPro Hero 7
Event: 2019 Jam
Location: Skateland Rotterdam, Netherlands
Sponsors: Paulsboutique BMX, KASKON it, Skateland Rotterdam and DTX13
Participants: BMX and MTB
Lost of things are happening in the BMX scene right now and, as always, everybody has an opinion about what direction BMX Freestyle has to go…. Well this story will stay away from that discussion and will focus on why we (people with passion for the sport) wanted to start 2019 with a Bang and a Jam! Our beloved sport is coming from an all-time low and we noticed new faces popping up at the locals and commercial parks. Also it was time to get the scene together as a whole, no more politics but sharing the passion we all have for 16” up till 26”wheels, as one! We needed an indoor location where all types of riding could take place (except Dirt, but another JunkieJam will happen this year). Not only park rats needed to come out but also street riders needed to be attracted. Skateland Rotterdam has for all these riders obstacles they like to shred so we got in touch with them and without hesitation they agreed to open up their park for this event and even stepped up to the plate to make the entry free for all the riders. Because time and budget was limited we needed people to people to help us for free…
Stuart Gibson, Desmond Tessemaker and myself (Albert Moonen) went to our personal friends to
Music playing in the background, smoke from the BBQ is drifting around. A single dirt jump with a make shift quarter pipe at the end, a bunch of BMX riders hucking tricks and enjoying each others company without a trace of competitiveness. When I hear stories about jams like these, it’s always from riders talking about the good old times. When the scene was small and you were just happy to be able to ride BMX with other people.
However the situation just described is not from the good ‘old’ days but June 9th 2018. Many years ago Albert Moonen and his riding buddies created a spot they called the Junk trails. The name inspired by nearby homeless people that took residence under a bridge next to the spot. It has changed a lot but
It was around 1999, we were diggin’ hard at our trails in Capelle aan den IJssel (RIP) and I was having another knee operation. Thinking a lot about my comeback and the winter that was coming I was searching, within the Rotterdam area, for a new location for trials that would be dry and rideable all winter. We did build some jumps under the “Brienenoord”bridge, but this place was terrible for side wind blowing under the bridge. The big pro was that it was dry all the time. Looking around on crutches I stumbled into the bushes under the flyover for the tram near the Sint Franciscus hospital. There was a perfect place hidden between bushes, covered by a flyover but…. There were bums living there, hence the name, JunkTrails.
Gerrit Koornwinder, Rene Hofman, Jeroen Hoogaerts (RIP) and more people started building. The dirt was actually so dry the water would just run off and would not penetrate the dirt. We got pumps in and at the end and made a starting hill, three doubles and a bank to wallride. All dirt. Fast-forward to December 2014, by now the reader understands that this is an oldschool rider talking, so old that I rode bmx before “bmx freestyle” was invented.
Our old crew with new additions, Paul Lemson and Sven den Toom, likes jumping but we are very
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.