Dusty's Yard:  A Freerider's Version of the American Dream

Half an hour from the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, lies a town called Cave Junction. Known for its proximity to the Oregon Caves, Cave Junction may well be popping up in the Freeride Mountain bike scene, for hidden out here in the sticks, a local named Dusty has been building up what has adequately been described as a mini Crankworx course.

While Dusty has been living out in the boonies for several years, he's only been riding bikes about a year and a half. You would never guess this watching him ride his bike around the yard. When I was heading out there, the guys called me on my phone several times, as both of Dusty's bikes were down, and required new parts to be ridable. Since Dusty lives about an hour out in the middle of nowhere, its not exactly convenient to acquire fresh bike parts. I was now on a mission to pick up small parts, so I stopped by the bike shop in the Medford mall, where I ran into some of my old Bmx riding buddies, Jay and Curtis. After chatting with the boys and picking up the supplies, I was once again underway. When I reached Grants Pass, I received another call- a Hayes adapter was required for another bike. Unfortunately, none of the local shops had the part, so I was off the hook. Back to driving. After another half  hour of driving, I had finally reached my destination. To the right of the driveway were three very big dirt jumps- It was clear that this was the place.

Dusty is a bit of an oddity, in that his only exposure to the mountain bike scene is through freeride videos. He actually began cutting a downhill trail behind his house before he even own a bike of his own. After acquiring his first bike, the trail was followed up with three large dirt jumps, and a network of skinnys ladders. He then began constructing wood stunts, and jumps. I guess he never thought to start small, as the only smallish jumps at his place are fairly new. (some friends have been helping dig a technical rhythm section) He began riding on full blown downhill bikes from the start, and in his limited time riding, he's gone through several bikes already, due to the harsh learning curve big riding entails.

I had heard stories from various locals (including my brother Izaak) about the site, as well as testimony from my buddy Rocker Dave in Portland. Stories of large wooden stunts, drops, ladders, and X-games sized dirt jumps have been floating around, along with the comparison to the Crankworx course.

Rocker Dave and Dusty- moving some dirt

When I rolled up, the boys were reworking the lip on a new smaller sized dirt jump line. Dusty just recently started building up a hard tail dirt jump bike for the smaller stuff. Everyone present was packing two bikes; a dh bike, and a dj/ urban set up. The Portland Crew has been telling me about all the digging they've been working on in Oregon City. (They have been working on a city sanctioned DJ park at Meldrom Bar, close to the Oregon City Skatepark- check it if you get the chance, the jumps sound sweet) They definitely have their technique dialed. The lip for the step down was perfectly sculpted and packed in less than half an hour. Dave jumped right on it, and flowed through, and after a few times was throwing tricks in. It looked fun, so I unpacked my bikes and joined him. I felt pretty good through them, thanks to all the recent dj sessions with Kevin and Drew. (I'm ready to take on 101!)

While we were hitting the jumps, Cedar and Scott began warming up on the big bikes on this drop. The approach was a little tricky, but it didn't require that much speed. The path down led you by the pond, around a turn and into the bus line.

riding on the bus

Next: Big Wood Ramps

After seeing it, it was clear that the setup lived up to the rep.  It was big.  A bit scary as well- not only are the jumps made of wood, but the landings are as well.  Bailing doesn't seem to be an option on these stunts.  I was given details of a nasty crash a rider had recently on the 30 foot wood double.  Bouncing down planks didn't sound very appealing. While the stunts appeared sturdy and well made, I had to think twice before I decided to put off doing the big line for another day when I had my full face helmet with me.