Snapshots - Freedom 40 Trail Life

Digging and riding to let the stress of life effortlessly melt away...

25 May 2017

Cob Hyde folding a table to the max on the fourth jump of Mainline.

Mike Hernandez snapping a lookback with perfect form on the fourth set of Mainline.

Guy French dangling a foot on the third set of Headbangers Ball.

Guy, Mike and Cob recoating the Headbangers berm early in the season.

Tyler Compari flowing a tabletop on left hip of Mainline.

Brian Barnhart carving the berm in Headbangers Ball. Photo by Cob Hyde.

Guy French kicking a no-footed can-can at height on the second set of Headbangers Ball.

Guy French letting go under the Freedom Tree.

Jackson Allen dipping a toboggan on the second hip of Mainline, with Freedom Tree looming overhead.

Guy French with another no-footer cancan on the set out of the berm in Headbangers Ball.

Brian Barnhart with a bad-boy (opposite tabletop) near the end of Mainline. Photo by Cob Hyde

Cob Hyde whips out the back end while Jackson Allen follows in the background.

Guy French with a huge 360 on Thunderstruck (or Thunderdud). This was the first and last time he spun this set. Photo by Cob Hyde.

Jackson Allen flowing through Mainline.

Some of the crew watching embers fly into the air while gathered around the fire pit.

The moon rising over the trails and putting an end to the session.

Words and photos by Brian Barnhart (Unless otherwise noted)

These are a selection of photos from the 2016 trail season at Freedom 40 near Santa Cruz, California. After this season ended, heavy rains filled much of the winter months here in Santa Cruz. Due to the sandy soil, lack of tree coverage, and heavy winds blasting the tarps off, many of the jumps partially melted away. We have since started a new trail spot in a neighboring town and have been busy digging out there.

Looking back at these photos, I’m grateful that we maximized the digging and riding time that we were given last season. We put a lot of work into these jumps early in 2016. Using a technique of mixing small amounts of Portland cement with the dirt helped things hold together much better than usual. The gold mine of soil we found with perfect clay to sand content gave us all the motivation we needed to get things dialed. With both lines revamped from the previous season and a new intro run, we were hyped. New transfers were pulled, air time was at a maximum, and style was oozing out of each locals pores. I even pulled a few 360s! It’s pretty awesome what a group of “adults” can create in the extra time between all of life’s responsibilities. Equally incredible is the feeling of riding those creations, while the stress of life effortlessly melts away, and family-like connections are made with those whom you share the roll in with.

Plans of keeping this place going haven’t really materialized while we’ve been building a new set of trails, luckily we have at least one self-determined youth putting in shovel hours and getting it back in riding shape. Soon we will be sharing laps at both spots. Hopefully, some of you reading this will be doing the same at your local spot, and maybe even joining us here on your next road trip. - Brian Barnhart