As the saying goes, "Where there is a will, there is a way..." and I can't think of anyone else whom that term most applies to, other than Nate Richter! I have been fortunate enough to have grown up along side Nate, ever since I was 15 Nate and I have been riding and traveling together nearly nonstop. Within those past 16 years of friendship there have been countless failures and triumphs in Nate's life but one dream that never seemed to cease was his ambition to own and run his own bike shop! So in September of 2019, after already living in Long Beach and LA for a solid 7 years, Nate decides to open up Golden Days Bike Shop, in Long Beach.

Needless to say, starting your own business isn't an easy task in the slightest but go ahead and add a pandemic to 6 out of your first 12 months and see what's left?! Well, fortunately for Nate and the local scene of Long Beach, Golden Days have made it to their one year anniversary and there is definitely something to celebrate! The opening of the shop has brought another sense of community to the long beach scene and this jam was truly a definition of the golden days ahead!

It's not everyday you get the chance to see a box jump make an appearance at a street jam these days but it was a sure fire way to turn up the intensity of this Saturday afternoon... Built from recycled wood, derived from the old ramp which once lived inside the shop, this box turned out solid as a rock and one hell of a great set up! Riders such as Dylan Stark, Dan Norvell, Matt Closson and many more put on a show which closed out the night and lead into the video premiere...

This wasn't your average sized flat ledge, at just about 32 inches tall, this big boy had thick coping that sat about an inch above the box and was properly built by Jeff Wescott, using repurposed wood from the old shop ramp! To spice things up a bit there was a long kicker ramp added for the gap to grind contest... Riders began to back down as the ramp was moved farther and farther back from the ledge and the full speed pedals started gearing up! As the gap grew bigger the situation became much more sketchy and it left everyone in the crowd uneasy. RATBOY, Kole Volker, Max Miller, Richard Hernandez, Dan Kruk and Emores Petty were the stand out riders who battled it out for best trick and biggest gap to grind!

The Jam consisted of a $2600 purse, which was broken up into 3 separate categories and one overall winner. First, the longest gap to grind went to Kole Volker with a huge gap smith. Second, the best trick on the grind box went to an unknown shredder with an insane 180 fakie across the ledge to fakie superman off! Lastly, the best trick on the box jump went to Dan Norvell for a huge 180 gap Ruben ride! All the madness and money earned was well deserved... You can't deny the 1st place winner of the day, Max Miller battled his way through high speed tech and straight up burliness to a cool $1400 big ones!

Big congratulations to Nate and his 1st year as a successful local BMX shop and especially to all the riders in support of Nate and the new mixtape! There are so many people behind the scenes that help and motivate this shops success and I'm glad to see Long Beach has a new BMX shop to call home!