by Mitch Cheek

Canadian soil. I receive a call from each rider and they wanted to ride! Not only do they want to ride, but they all want to ride together! They needed some time to recuperate from the Rampage. This bought me some time to find out how and where I could take four of the world's top mountain bikers to ride. There are two places that come to mind, Kamloops or Williams Lake,(aka the puddle). Being a local of both cities, I know I can get it done. The timing could not have been better! An organization called the Cariboo Mountain Bike Consortium contacted me that very day. They heard about my work and were eager to have me help spread the word on the world class mountain biking that the Cariboo has to offer.

I made a call to a Lindsey Gasparini, a good friend and the owner of the Overlander Hotel, which is soon to be the Ramada. He supports mountain biking 100 percent and went out of his way to help bring these riders to Williams Lake. I quickly make a group text to the boys” SOLOS PRODUCTIONS IS ABOUT TO ROCK THE CARIBOO!” I send another text out ”Anybody else you would like to ride with?” Matt Hunter and Geoff Gulevich were the names that came back. Unfortunately Hunter was already on a shoot in Utah, but Gulevich changed his schedule so that he could make it up for a few days.

I headed to the puddle early to meet up with Williams Lake local, James Doerfling, and put some thought into, where and how was I going to film all these riders. Something I'd not fully planned since receiving the call from the boys. Williams Lake is the place to be, I would go as far as to say that it has the most diverse Mountain Biking terrain in the world. From BIG mountain lines, to grasslands, to sandy chutes, to endless gullies within forests and even rainforest! You have to be a local to find these places, but if you are nice to the people at Red Shred's Bike and Board Shed, they will gladly point you in the right direction.

The boys rolled into town and we all met at the Overlander Pub, enjoyed a delicious burger and then straight to the trails! Williams Lake is one of those places that no matter how little time you have, there is a trail to ride. I am pretty stoked on this too cause I can put down the camera and replace it with my bike for even a quick lap. Being a filmer/photographer, I don’t get to ride as much as I would like to. The stoke level was at a serious high at the end of our first rips! As we all enjoyed a nice fresh Cariboo beer, it was apparent how the next week was going to unfold….

Within a day of touching

To get a feeling of what this trip was about here are some words from each of the riders:

"What a way to close out the 2010 season! Red Bull Rampage was as rowdy as ever and I had lots of fun. I was looking forward to getting home and catching the last bit of Fall riding. There was talk of warmer weather than usual. I texted Mitch and told him that the weather was good up here, in hopes to ride and film with him. Before you know it an all-star team was coming to my hometown! We had always talked of riding and filming together and now it was on! Riding with this crew is what Mountain Biking is all about for me. We were having so much fun that sometimes you would forget that you were riding gnarly lines. Good way to end it, 2011 is going to be good!"

JAMES DOERFLING

GARETT BUEHLER"On the way home from the Red Bull Rampage all I could think about was going to ride and hang with my buddies. James Doerfling, Kurt Sorge, Graham Agassiz and I have been wanting to work with Solos Productions for quite sometime now and what better place than in the Puddle. Hanging out in Williams Lake this Fall was so rad! We found some real good zones with big lines, and tons of potential to build whatever your little heart desires. The prebuilt trails in Willie’s Puddle were so fun! We ended up just sessioning the local favorites for days! This trip was all about having fun, and fun we had!"

"After the Red Bull Rampage I was excited to get back home from the long, exhausting and stressful summer of contests, and ride the beautiful loamy Autumn trails of B.C. I have always dreamed of tapping into the Cariboo, so when Mitch lined up a film trip to Williams Lake along with Kurt Sorge, James Doerfling and Garett Buehler, I was stoked! A trip like this gives us four friends the chance to ride together again. Due to our busy Summer schedules it is hard to have all four of us in one spot at a time. I love riding with this crew, we all push each other, and get along so well. It is easy to see in our sessions how much fun we are actually having together. Our visions are so similar, and I think it shows in our edit. We're all just a bunch of rockers, ripping and slashing the forest floor, like Misfits."

Graham Agassiz

Kurt Sorge

Geoff Gulevich"I received a call from Mitch at Solos Productions and he wondered if I wanted to ride up in the puddle with all my friends. This never happens, with plans already made, so I quickly found a way to make it happen. I rolled into Williams Lake on Friday afternoon. After driving through fog, rain, snow and a thunderstorm. I was so excited to get on my bike immediately at the new town jumps where the crew was riding. Right away, spirits were up when I saw the crew, we got right to riding... Like there would be any other way. We just rode until the light was gone. Wake up and repeat. All in all it was a productive and awesome trip to the Puddle. I'm sure there is much more to come from Solos Productions!"

As a Filmer I could not have asked for a better crew to work with. Not only are they my good friends, these guys are as real as they get. Never a dull moment, I find myself on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens next. Make sure to follow what we are up to at www.solosproductions.com and find out how you can win a chance to meet or ride with the pros!

www.solosproductions.comCARY OLSON PHOTOGRAPHY