Silvia - Going Big With Brad

Jun 14, 2011 at 12:44

Of all the interesting and entertaining individuals we have met along the way, Brad Stuart is in strong contention for the gnarliest of all. He has a distinct way of doing things bigger, higher, and faster than anyone we know. Constantly wired and never getting tired, Brad rides day in, day out. Riders around the world know Brad as the buck-shot blasting redneck who built a crazy backyard in Anthill's "Follow Me." Riders around Kamloops know him as the keenest bike park builder they have ever seen. And we know him as not just a builder, but also as a rider and a friend. So when Brad invited us to spend a day shredding and shooting in his world famous back yard, we pounced on the opportunity.


Brad has a passion for shredding and a love for building that is rivaled by few and admired by many. Surprisingly enough, not everyone knows him as the talented rider that he is. Perhaps his riding has always taken a shadow to his perfectly sculpted, massive stunts and his high speed technical trails. People realize the insanity of his building and the genius of his craft, but few people realize the intensity and precision that is Brad Stuart on a bike. Once asked to shoot a segment at Brad's house we all knew right away that we needed to expose the side of Brad that is often over looked. After all, who do you think takes the first hit on all his massive lines?


Shooting with Brad was one of our funnest days on our bikes and easily the wildest session of our lives. Fully pinned from sun up to sun down, we had the chance to ride the biggest jumps and the fastest trails that have ever crossed our paths. The sight of chasing Brad off a ten foot tall lip and across a trail of clouds is simply amazing, while the intensity of trying to keep up along the creek-beds and soft loamy turns of his trails is something of pure terror. By the time the sun began to tuck itself in behind the tall fury trees of the yard we had ridden for nearly ten hours, and as the cold Pilsner cracked we had realized a new perspective on riding. A new definition of shredding. Brad Stuart is an amazing guy and we can't thank him enough for the amazing ride and our funnest day on set.


BONUS ROUND
It seems like we always have a lot of extra footage after an edit, and a lot of funny stuff we wish we could squeeze in there too. After finishing the Harper edit of Karl and Matty a few weeks ago, we thought we should scrape together the extras and give everyone a bit of a behind the scenes look at a Silvia shoot.