“HOME”
With Greg Jolliffe
This is Greg.
Greg is a close friend of mine. We first met in 2013. We were at college together, studying the BASE (Borders Academy of Sporting Excellence) Mountain Biking Diploma in sport. Back then, we were commonly mistaken for brothers, as our stick-like figures and questionable facial hair was strangely similar. We worked along side each other in the well renowned No.1 Peebles Road Cafe for a while. When we were’t out riding in our spare time, we’d most likely be drinking cups of tea and smashing laps of MX vs ATV at each others small flats in the small town of Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders.
After finishing college, Greg began an apprenticeship as a joiner. Basing himself back home in Glasgow. Greg worked on a huge variety of projects and accumulated a vast array of skills that unknown to him at the time, would see him part of the team responsible for building RedBull Joyride courses and other world famous obstacles within the Freeride mountain biking world.
This is a collection of images I shot over a couple of days I spent at his trails. Sleeping in a hammock, cooking over an open fire and catching up on five years worth of stories.
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did shooting and writing it.
Arriving late afternoon and walking up to meet Greg, i’m greeted by one fo the best sights I’ve seen in weeks. A set of five, perfectly sculpted dirt jumps standing 6 foot tall, dust floating in the warm air and Greg waving at me. Beer in one hand and fish and chips in the other. This is already too good to be true!
What better way to celebrate catching up with an old mate than dusty dirt jumps, a beer and a fish and chips?
Q: When you were at college, did you have a plan to get out to Canada?
A: I had no idea I would end up in Canada, never mind building trails out there. It was only a distant dream of mine at that stage!
Q: What did it take to go from an idea, to booking flights and sorting work for yourself over in Whistler?
A: It all started with a spontaneous Instagram DM To PK at Joyride Bike Parks. A little over a month later, I was on a flight to Vancouver, BC.
Q: You were doing some pretty crazy builds over there and in contact with some big names, how was that?
A: It was wild. Working for Joyride and Ario Construction was an epic experience and something I will cherish for the rest of my life. I made friends with riders I had only heard about or seen in the media, riding with them became pretty normal after a while.
Seeing some of the projects and builds Greg has worked on is seriously rad. It’s so easy to take the trails we ride for granted. I urge you to to stop and think about the hands behind every turn or jump you ride on the regular.
Q: Since returning home, you’ve managed to get a lot done to your jumps. Did your time in Canada give you any extra motivation or knowledge to do all this work?
A: Working along side people like Phill, Dawson and Wyper and seeing the spots they created inspired me. That gave me the motivation to build something for myself. The idea was in my mind long before I travelled home.
An estimated 400 hours has gone into this. Home Sweet Home, am I right?
It took me a couple of runs following Greg to get the speed right and feel comfy on the full set. In hindsight, my brakeless bmx with four pegs and 30psi in my tires maybe wasn’t the ideal bike but we made it happen! There’s not many feelings that can top off riding trails with an old mate and listening to tunes at full volume!
After an hour or two of sessioning, we put the bikes down and cracked another can of Glasgow’s finest (Tennents Lager) and chatted about all things life until the early hours...
Not long after falling asleep, I was woken by birds chirping and slivers of beautiful morning light peeping through the trees. I couldn’t resist myself and jumped out of my hammock, grabbed my bike, helmet and camera and pushed to the start of the line. Feeling slightly rough from one too many beers the night before and being curled up in a hammock, the warm sun was a very welcome feeling.
As Greg slept off the alcohol, I grabbed an unforgettable solo session at 6am on what was going to turn out to be one of the hottest days I could remember.
Slowly, hints of life emerged from Greg’s hammock. It was apparent that we were on very different vibes at this point. As any bro would, I forced him to get some food down, before shouting “I’ve been up for hours, let’s start riding!”
Trails running prime, hangovers fully sweated out. Time for lunch and an afternoon of riding.
Glasgow local and fellow Radon Bikes ambassador, Mark Ducat pops in for a few laps. It only takes Mark a handful of runs through the jumps till Greg and I put our bikes down to sit back and watch the show.
Q: What’s it been like seeing the jumps put to good use after all the hours you’ve been putting in?
A: The feeling is incomparable, I’ve spent six days camping in my hammock cooking on the fire and riding. Absolutely unreal. The funny thing is that the jumps are only a hundred meters away from my house, I just havnt’t left them!
Slowly, darkness draws in and bikes are replaced by beers, and we turn the music off. Blowing on the embers to start up the fire again, ready to cook dinner and fall asleep.
Q:What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt in the last few years since travelling and returning home?
A: Home will always be home.
Q: Any last words?
A: Get on that plane… haha! Nope, not really! Just a big thanks to Neil, Akib and anyone else who has chipped in on dig days etc. Big up.
