The Journey to York Jam 2013

Two weeks ago I (Louis) took a trip to York, PA to experience my first official York Jam. As a flatlander it is one of the things you're supposed (unofficially) to do, go to a York Jam. Why is the York Jam important? Well for one thing it's where the Dorkin' In York series originated back in 1988. Kevin Jones and Mark Eaton came up with the idea to make a BMX video with the DIY sense of style. There are ten videos all together. They were a mixture of flatland/street/vert/park/dirt, you know name it, it was in there. I'm only 24 and I have watched these videos almost religiously. I was introduced to Dorkin' In York by my friend Rodney Moreweiser when I was 17 and I've been hooked ever since.

Kevin Jones is basically the guy who invented modern flatland. He was away ahead of his time and still is to this day. A lot of flatlanders have gone to York ever since they started having the York Jam back in 1991 and I felt like it was time for me to finally go to an official York Jam. I've been to a fall York Jam, but it just wasn't the same.
My girlfriend and I left New Rochelle, NY at 7:30AM on Saturday and drove the rest of the morning to York, PA. We arrived around 11AM and a lot people were already there riding and talking. When we arrived it was cloudy and looked like it was going to pour any second. Luckily enough it cleared up, the sun came out and it turned out to be a nice day.

I'm very quiet when it comes to riding with people so I spent most of the day riding by myself and learning new tricks. However, I did get to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time. Which is always nice, especially when you were unaware that they were psyched to see you. There were a lot of pros riding as well, such as James McGraw, Bryan Huffman, Dane Beardsley, Lachlan Cameron, Percy Marshall, Stephen Cerra, Leif Valin and a few others. Brett Downs was there selling Plywood Hood T-shirts and Mark Eaton was there providing music for the whole jam.

T-shirt design for the Plywood Hoods.

Mark Eaton providing the music for everyone.

For me, the coolest part about the York Jam was getting to see Kevin Jones ride in person. He's 46 years old and still doing tricks that make no sense to me whatsoever. It's been said that it's really rare to see Kevin riding at the jams, but I was lucky enough to watch him ride for a little.

After riding for six or seven hours we decided to call it a day and head back to New Rochelle. Was the seven hours total in a car ride worth it? Yes, yes it was and I would do it again if I had the chance.

Check out the video below from Dane Beardsley for some of the tricks that were captured and the vibe that was going on in York, PA.


If you ever get the chance, I strongly advise you to go to a York Jam and experience the vibe. I had a great time and I hope to make it back to another jam next year.

-Louis