WHEELS ON MEALS
Snowboarder Magazine Tour
When normal people decide they want to start a career as a writer they might apply for an internship, or start posting a blog, thankfully Ben Fee is not a normal person. No, after the Blue Lodge his path towards writing began, in typical Ben-Fee fashion, by moving in with none other than Hunter S. Thompson. I started hearing stories from Ben, over in Woody Creek, of how Hunter’s ‘Gonzo’ approach had always been to drop himself into the story as an observer, as well as participant.
Around this time Pat Bridges, editor of Snowboarder Magazine, fellow east-coaster, and all around good guy, reached out with an opportunity to write and travel for the publication, which Ben graciously accepted, something Hunter surely approved of. Right around this time the magazine was making the switch to recycled paper and soy based inks. When Pat asked Ben if he had any ideas centered around sustainability, the Wheels on Meals tour began rolling into existence.
SOY GEORGE
Having shot the Grease Brothers PSA’s with Mtv just a few months previous, I was left with a fully-converted 1984 Itasca, Phasar, a mini-motorhome, which Ben had lovingly named ‘Soy George’. George was a four-cylinder turbo-diesel, which got pretty good fuel milage, but was admittedly a bit under-powered, and had a tendency to overheat when climbing hills. So when Ben called to see if I wanted to take George across the country, stopping at high-elevation ski towns, I knew it would be a bit of a challenge, but agreed without hesitation.
At this point I was comfortable with acquiring, filtering, and running on grease, but I was nervous to bring other people along knowing there would be a fairly high risk of boiling the coolant on all those mountain passes. Soy George had an aluminum cylinder head which meant easy to warp and a blown head gasket could easily end the tour, kill the story, bum out sponsors, and ruin the vehicle. Setting what would become the standard for Grease Not Gas, Ben and I decided to throw caution to the wind and find out what adventure lay ahead anyways.
I signed up for Triple-A plus (with up to one-hundred miles per tow) and started welding a roof rack to prepare for the trip. Meanwhile, Ben and Pat mapped out the route of the tour, which riders we would pick up where, and which photographers would shoot particular sections. By mid-February we left Portland, Oregon headed for Stratton, Vermont with hopes to make it there before the US Open.
With Jesse Burtner, Sean Genovese, Luke Mathison, and Jeff Keenan aboard, we started out with Mike Yoshida documenting the journey. With the RV packed to the gills and looking pretty crazy, we pulled into Pendleton to make a stop. Unfortunately, when we returned and tried to crank Soy George back to life, we only heard the click of the starter solenoid, as opposed to the crank of the starter itself. Luckily, we found if one person bashed on the starter with a rubber mallet, while someone else cranked the key we could power through a bit of a dead spot and hope for a luckier break on the next stop.
With the intention of preserving the starter for as long as we could, we started a habit of parking on hills whenever possible. This way when it was time to start back up we would cycle the glow plugs a few times to warm the combustion chamber, then push the clutch down, release the e-brake, and coast up to about fifteen miles an hour. With second gear selected, we’d drop the clutch to pop-start the motor, no starter required.
Along the way we picked up Scott Stevens and Max Weinberger. Then in Salt Lake we brought in Amber Stackhouse, Silvia Mittermüller and Izzy. Brian Craighill and Scott Sullivan shot photos through to Denver but then came the long slog across the monotony of the midwest.
Burtner - Way up there with a crazy switch Indy
Silvia tops it off as Craighill gets the shot
Izzy, Silvia, Max, Laura & Brian hanging out at sixty-five miles an hour
Silvia Mittermüller with some Thai grease in SLC
Headed east on Interstate 80
Scott 'Sleepy' Stevens earning himself a new nickname
Luke and Max catch some Z's while I pound some coffee
Ben gets the shot as Pat Milberry shreds the gate
Luke Mathison with an air to fakie at Snoqualmie Pass
JDK partnered up with nine different artists to produce these amazing GNG t-shirts
Breakfast at the US Open with two of my favorite people and one giant mustache
I’m not sure if it was deliberately planned by Bridges, but Luke Mathison was on the cover of the Magazine the month we were on the road so we had stacks of copies for Luke to sign along the way.
This page is still coming along. I’m digitizing the old DVD right now and will post more soon.