Wham Bam Thank You Jam ’07

There are moments in life when you realize that you simply just are not as young as you used to be. Watching a 20 year old pound down two full Denny’s breakfasts at midnight is one of those times. Witnessing the display of aerial skill that went off at the Portland edition of the Wham Bam Thank You Jam was another. Riding bikes is cyclical. Progress comes and goes in waves, fads, trends and eventually gets labeled “retro” by the next crop of up-and-coming riders. These riders push themselves (and each other) right to the edge and then over it, unknowingly dragging the sport into its next phase in their wake. You’ve heard the whispers, but that crop of riders is here, now; and they are primed to explode.

The jam was held at Hindsight MX Park just outside of Portland, Oregon. The course consisted of a plywood roll-in ramp perched just under the roof of the building in what would normally be attic space, over the lounge and park office. This led to gap/stepdown over the railing in the spectators’ area that served as the entry to the main jumps. Following that were three smooth dirt jumps containing sizeable gaps. A curved plywood wall at the end of the straight turned riders 90° to the left and could also be tricked off of. The course finished out with a jump to a wooden platform that allowed one last flourish as riders completed their runs.

 – Excerpt from NSMB.e.MAGAZINE, March, 2007