With the release of the riding only version of  Reed Stark's 'Safari Forever' video, we thought we'd re-visit some photos from those epic trips.

"A bike rider and their filmer can become a very powerful and effective combination, and we all know what it looks and feels like when it happens. Reed Stark and Tony Malouf have made a lot of magic together over the years, trailing all the way back to Reed's earliest days on BSD, and the days of Malouf's Gully Factory influence. 'Safari Forever' is just one piece of the pie to the entirety of the Grime Safari Tour. Resulting in two video parts, Denim's signature Grime frame video and Reed's more extensive video part, Safari Forever; birthing 'The Grime Safari Tour! All of the footage was captured by Tony Malouf with a small bag full of only a few manual focus lenses and about one and a half fully operational camera bodies. Four friends, three months and one van, in the name of BMX. I can truly say this was a trip for the soul and all of us were able to taste and live that BMX dream, once again." - Wes McGrath

Reed Stark, Tony Malouf, Denim Cox and myself all came together to embark on the Grime Safari Tour back in the Fall of 2020. From the chilly winds of Midwest Milwaukee to the warm sunshine in the south of Austin, we bobbed and wove ourselves around the open highways of Covid Country USA...

Taking our time, state after state, city after city, we found ourselves fully reliant on Delilah, (Reeds big white van) calling her home for nearly 3 months. And of course I can't forget to mention Denim's handy auto skills all along the way! Starting off the trip in Chicago, we stopped through multiple cities and found friends nearly everywhere we went. In Chi-Town we met up with Brian Kachinsky, Timmy Theus, Let's Roast bike shop, Andrew Brady and even caught up with Dirty Dan Bogard for some real deal Chicago goodness!

The City of Milwaukee has a nickname known as "Cream City", oddly enough, and with a motto of "Proud Past. Promising Future.", which roughly sums up our trip to Milwaukee, in so many words... We were certainly proud of how the trip was moving along thus far and it felt very promising throughout the few days we spent with Jeff Klugiewicz and Jeff Dowhen riding around the city... until we got creamed with 'VAN'dalism!?

The Jeff's of Wisconsin hosted us just as family and Jeff K. opened his house to us for a few days to crash, as we got in touch with our Best Milwaukee selves. BBQ's, Halloween season and endless Midwest BMX history around the campfire, this backtracking venture North from Chicago was shaping up to be an easy exit... Until the catalytic converter was stolen from underneath the van on our last night in town! The next day we took advantage of Jeff K.'s driveway and Denim's handy mechanical skills to re-weld and install a new catalytic converter on Delilah. While Denim was hard at work putting the team on his back, the rest of us dug through Jeff's boxes of old photographs and BMX memories and before you knew it we were on our way back South, onwards to St. Louis, Missouri.

As we hit the road on our way to St. Louis, Missouri, we felt a sense of relief knowing the van was fixed and we are headed towards the sunshine and warmer weather in the midst of early November. After a long night of libations and laughter, we set our sights onto another helping hand of BMX brotherhood, Billy Woodfin and his hospitality. 

Per usual, we arrive late in the night to Billy's place and went quickly to bed... Little did I know that we would wake up to a home-cooked breakfast by Billy and a full size mini-ramp in the backyard! We spent some good down time in the yard and caught up with ourselves a bit before we dove back into a new city to explore.

Nashville, known for its country music, good food and for being one of the most popular cities in the United States for Bachelorette parties! So it's easy to see why the living legend, Corey Martinez himself called Tennessee home for so long. So we felt inclined to visit Corey and see what all the goodness was about, let's not forget this was right in the middle of Covid 2020 but Nashville partied on... No mask needed!

This trip to Nashville was a bit of a dream come true. I never expected to be here at Corey's house with 3 of the best, Reed, Denim and Tony. When I was in middle school I used to rewind VHS tapes of Corey's video parts to watch him ride over and over again, so needless to say this leg of the trip was most epic!

As we pause for the cause for Reed's 28th birthday in the middle of nowhere Tennessee, we stumbled upon an amazing place brought to you by the circumstances of Covid and the very kind person of Buffalo Bud's River Retreat. 

Between Nashville and Austin, we sought to camp for a few days and soak up what we've done so far and give our bodies a break and to celebrate Reed Stark. We pull into a shut down / closed for Covid river rafting campsite, with no one in sight... Until one man pops out from the trailer and says, "we're closed, only friends and family right now!" Without hesitation, Reed looks around the inside of the van and replies, "we're family... right?!" and the rest is history! The owner of the property gave us 3 days for free including all the kayaks and firewood we could use! Needless to say we had a very relaxing time on the river...

Clearing our minds in the Buffalo River gave us a real break from the road but still we could't see what was ahead... Our plan for Austin didn't really play out as we might have thought; as we drove through the abyss that is east Texas, we chatted about a few more cities on the list West of Austin. Little did the boys know, that this would be the last leg of the trip and how much their lives would change, Forever!

I ended up back in Long Beach as planned. Reed met the love of his life, Kosh, and now they live together in New Orleans and are set to be married this year. Tony didn't return to LBC with me but decided to stay in Austin and called it home for 4 years! And of course, Denim was unaffected but now has finally moved down to Austin...

Reed Stark is supported by Official DIGBMX partner: BSD FOREVER