Boyd's Big Birthday Boarding Bash

Move over Shannon Noll because in the world of Aussie ATB there is only one person that can live up to the mantle of Aussie Idol. Whether or not not you have met the man, if you are involved in Australian mountain boarding you'll know his name. Boyd McMillan, long time ATB enthusiast and driving force behind the construction of San Remo All Terrain Dirt Park has been flying the flag for Aussie boarders at every chance. That being said, it is little wonder why so many boarders from the east coast of Australia were willing to make the trek to Budgewoi as part of a surprise birthday bash!

I was fortunate enough to be able to travel up with John Morton, along with Eddie and Ollie. If there was an endurance event for travel, riding and partying 'Chainsaw' John Morton would win by a mile. An absolutely Herculean effort on his behalf! The excitement I felt before we took off was comparable to Christmas mornings as a young fella waiting to opening up some presents.

Upon arrival at the caravan park we were met with a plethora of families camping, oldies holidaying and bogans playing cricket. Needless to say when the crew della Mexicana roll up people take notice! As the pink and brown tent was raised the locals trembled. They ran, they screamed and they ran some more because it was apparent that the Vic ATB crew were (to quote your dime a dozen African American rapper) "All up in this biznitch."

To escape all the excitement of the local tourist park Ryan, Jarrad, Sam, Waffles, John, Ollie and Eddie descended upon the San Remo dirt park. It was heaven, like nothing I'd ever seen before. A dirty golden palace of perpetual boarding pleasure. If ever the motto "Go Hard or Go Home" rang true it was then, after so much anticipation, so much time spent traveling the pure relief to finally grace the grounds of the park was amazing. Time to ride!

Saturday was the major event on the Australia Day weekend calendar, the plan had everyone gathering at San Remo for a ride only to have Boyd rock up and be totally surprised to see faces from all over together for a ride. The plan, laid out and executed in a magnificent effort from Jacquie McMillan went off without a hitch. The atmosphere at the park was electric, be that from the massive airs Jarrad, Ryan and Sam were pulling from early in the day or simply because of the sense of occasion and Boyd's reaction; its hard to tell. Regardless of the reason why, everyone was going super hard and having a great time getting down and dirty.

Most of the crew that travelled from Victoria hit the park from 10am in the morning right through to late afternoon when rain began to affect proceedings. It was an intense day or riding in unusual weather. With all due respect to our Northern brothers and sisters the only thing that would make San Remo better is if it was located in Flemington! I'd hate to think of how much water was consumed throughout the course of the day. All the local riders put in the hard yards, Paul Carey pulling some massive slo-mo 3's, Brock slashing a few ripper carves, Boyd showing us all how its done etc. Everyone had a ball. Especially the wall at the end of the big air, my great buddy.

Later on in the day everyone was invited back to the McMillan's to celebrate Boyd's 50th in a more traditional sense. The hospitality shown by all the McMillan's and Co was second to none, it was very much appreciated.

Sunday was wet, very wet! (Well not quite as wet as Friday night as my tent fell to pieces but that's a whole different kettle of fish) But since when has a little, or a lot of rain ever stopped anyone from going for a ride. So up into the hills we went, Preston's was the the first stop which had it not been rain affected would have seen a great days riding. Fortunately there were other places to ride which provided just as much thrills and probably a few more spills than some were expecting. That day in the bush brought out a bit of my heritage I think, its a great part of the world to spend some time in! Afterwards, when we'd all dried out a tad some of the crew hit up San Remo in somewhat of a farewell session.

We left Monday morning, traveling along down the Hume gave plenty of opportunity to reflect on an awesome weekend. I am sure at some stage in my life I'll refer to the good old days and I could just about guarantee that those were it.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS