Five Finger Discount

May 12

December 10th, 2022 came and went; the party had been planned, the posters were already made, but the weather unfortunately had other ideas.

Dirt jumps aren’t as robust as one might assume for being a large pile of earth. They have to be shaped and packed and constantly maintained and this requires proper moisture content. Too much means you have mud, too little and the jump crumbles into a soft and unremarkable mound of dirt. It takes a ton of work to build a spot, keep it in good shape, and even more to plan a party there.

Best Side Trails is a community bike park in every sense. It sits on land donated by a local rider, built by hired machines paid for with donations, as well as volunteer hand labor. All of this was conceived and lead by the amazing Garett and Breanna Gray who have been scheming to bring more bike infrastructure to East Austin.

I’ve seen Best Side Trails go through a few transformations to become the place it is now. Things really began to take shape when Will Blount of Alpine Bike Parks started pushing things around with his skid steer. The centerpiece of the park is a trio of step-up tables on the big line. There is also a beginner and intermediate line splitting from the front side of the roll in structure. Going the other way there are two trick booters and another line with a whale tail, a wall ride, and a few wood jumps to dirt landings. There is a hitching post, a quarter pipe, a treecano, and a couple of other fun things to jib around on.

With so much potential for fun, the jam had to be revived. A new date was scheduled for May 6th; sponsors were assembled, shirts were made, posters printed, and the work began to get everything spruced up. This would be called the “Five Finger Discount” jam, with five prize categories planned out, each with a minimum $500 cash prize. There was just one small problem…

Rain was forecast for Friday night. Any rain would have cancelled the party, again. It was a hard thing to accept for anyone excited about Saturday’s event, but for Garett? Well, I imagined he was nervously glued to the radar and hoping nature would spare it.

I’m not a meteorologist - and to be honest I don’t think our meteorologists are either - but I think it is possible that weather patterns are altered by the power of hope and good vibes, because that shit barely missed Best Side. Literally, a mile north on Johnny Morris, it poured. The reason the venue was spared must have been sheer willpower. Steezus Christ demanded a jam.

The radar Friday Night, and the location of Best Side Trails. Things looked pretty grim.

I arrived a bit early to help with some last-minute prep and had a chance to drive the golf cart packing machine which was a ton of fun. It’s just a golf cart – nothing fancy about it – but it makes packing a lip or landing much easier and the result is buttery smoove. There were a bunch of folks there early putting in work, like Derek who was busy adding a few last-minute features, and Geoff, who we can thank for the rope lighting that kept the party going into the evening.

The turnout was massive, both riders and spectators showed up with coolers and chairs for a busy day. It was packed enough that offsite parking proved to be a good plan. GoodPop and Rambler were there with free popsicles and water, Bad Larry was flippin’ the ‘burgs and Oddwood Brewing brought some beer.

After a bit of open jam, the high air contest kicked off and the bar was raised quickly by Stone Kepler and Tallon Pemberton. Tallon would ultimately win but Stone kept him honest and was also on a DJ which I thought was impressive. Best Trick was up next, and this went to Eli Kravetz with an alley-oop 360 tailwhip. Ryan Smith won Best Tabletop, and I am stoked on how that photo came out. I am also happy to say MTBATX contributed $500 to that cash prize thanks to support from y’all!

The CX race was organized by Chris Tolley and Driveway Series and began at 7pm. I had a chance to ride the course earlier in the week, so I set up to take photos at the sand trap halfway through the course and was happy to hear the music loud enough at my spot, which was a total vibe. The sand trap was hilarious and had a bypass option which was a skinny that ended with a small drop over a tire filled with empty cans of Modelo. There were a few crashes here, but nothing serious. This was the last event of the evening, but the party continued on well after this under the lights.

Best Side will continue to grow, in fact there will soon be an airbag lander installed for folks to learn tricks on. To that end, there is a collection going for funds to get this project done, and Garett actually wound up footing a significant portion of the bill for the Five Finger Discount jam, so if you are able to contribute funds it would be very much appreciated. A bike park like Best Side is a place to grow as a rider, but more than anything it is a place to connect with the community and celebrate our love of riding together in a safe and welcoming environment.

Folks who helped with jam (there are way more than this and totally sorry if I left anyone out):

Breanna, Gavin, and Garett Gray; Will Blount; Derek Heyn; Angel and Abel Jaramillo; Richie Fischbach; Chris Tolley; Cassel and Cullen Inmon; Gabe and Geoff Hargreaves; Josh Congleton; Ford Chilton; Connor Oates; Brent Fannin; Isaiah, Lucas, and Brian Ender; Derek Hansen; John Wiley; Cody Landers; Corey Walters; Trey Sayles; John Dasta; Eric Bones; Miguel Esparza; Stew Johnson; Paul Smith; GoodPop; FIA Homes Austin; Cycleast; Empire BMX; Burn Slow Entertainment; Driveway Series; Profile Racing; GT BMX; Rambler; Oddwood Brewing; Rodeo MTB; Bad Larry Burger Club; everyone who donated, and so many more…