Jed gets introduced to one of the locals.

I flew into LAX airport on 10th July with no plan but to ride sick jumps. I found myself a little lost, but contacted two Kiwi boys - Mark Russell from Taupo and Kane O'Hagen from Waikanai – who were staying on Hollywood Boulevard. It took ages to find them, but after a walk down the infamous boulevard I returned to the Banana Bungalow to find the guys here with another Kiwi, Ken, drinking Bud Light.


High-rollin' son!

The next morning we hired a brand new 2009 Chev Landcruiser then drove out to Riverside to meet up with Parslow and TJ who were both at Stephen Murray's house having a BBQ with all the Riverside crew. It was nice to turn up there in that sort of situation and catch up with all my old friends again. After the session ended Luke invited us three out to his house for a Jam. We rode until it was dark, then Luke was kind enough to let us stay for the week. In that week we had a few crazy sessions go down with Parslow double flipping every other day. NUTS.

10 days later I jumped on a plane to Chicago, had a two-hour stopover in Vegas and lost $20 on the damn pokies thinking I was going to hit the $3,000,000 jackpot.


Jed reckons Chicago is the best city he's ever been to for quality street riding.

I landed in Chicago at 5am in the morning with f-all sleep, then spent the next four hours trying to find my hotel (and stumbled across the filming of Transformers 3!) at the Hyatt, then met up with Kiw Paul Langlands and we went on a full-day big mission around Chicago, hitting parts and street spots. I still hadn’t had any sleep but the riding was amazing and kept me amped.


Jed, right, hangin' with fellow Unit rider Nate Berkheimer and nutcase Dennis Enarson post Dew Tour.

The Dew Tour Open qualifier was the next day, but unfortunately none of us did too well and I finished 17th. The Pilgrim and Unit boys all rode well thoughout the whole weekend and done us all proud. After those personal results and the teams results it only seemed right to drink the next three nights away and have a ball. During the week in Chicago we watched as much as we could handle of the Dew Tour and continued the filming quest in one of the best street-riding cities I have ever come across in my life.


Drunk hobos are great entertainment.

I flew back into LAX, and after spending the night crashed in the airport I trained out to Riverside to Luke's house where I spent the remainder of my trip. In that time I did a non-stop 27-hour truck drive with my mate Moses to San Fransisco and back....what a mission! Luke and I watched the X Games on his TV and rode his jumps well into the evenings for the last 3 days of the trip. Huge congratulations to the Pilgrim and Unit guys who rode X Games and were successful – Stevie McCann, you’re the man!

I'm back home in Tauppo now and am a man on a mission. I'd like to say a huge thank you to Unit, Grab A Seat, Rollercoaster, Finn McCuhals Irish Pub, Pilgrim, BMX.CO.NZ, Kicker, Vans, my awesome family and girlfriend for helping make my American trip possible. These last three weeks couldn’t have happened without your ongoing support!

• By Simon M