This weekend on the outer edge of the California & Mexico border longboarders from all over gathered for the Barrett Junction Outlaw event that took place today Jan. 26. It was the first year attending, I watched some videos online but had no idea what the fuck to expect. The first person we saw was Rayne team rider Andrew Schumaker mobbing it with the dirt bike, up the hill. Thats when I knew we made it to Barrett Motha Fucking Junction!

2014 Barrett Junction Outlaw Event

As soon as we parked, we grabbed the Coronas, some gear, and made some new friends. Everyone was nice and friendly, we met street lugers, longboarders, dirt bike riders. Marcus Bandy from Wheelbase & Max Capps were some of the first people we ran into. There was a chill vibe in the air, the sun was shining bright, yet there was still a slight breeze traveling up the hill; enough upwind force that riders could stand up, to help shave off some speed coming around the final corner and onto the straightaway.

First thing we did after that long drive down was cracked open some brews, and watched wave after wave of riders take that final turn and shoot down the straight away. (Big props to the guys at Muir for bringing the shuttle and taking riders to the top.) Throughout the day riders would stack their decks & pile into the shuttle, couple minutes later we would see the shuttle knowing shortly after the fastest guys would be shooting around the corner power sliding before the road runs out.

Throughout the day we chilled, laughed, and spent a good amount shooting some sweet pics with 1904 photography’s Phillip Baker AKA Stretch. He takes some legit pics of action sports such as paintballing, motorcycling, and longboarding. We started at the bottom of the mountain, and started to make our way up as the shadow of the cliffs behind us started closing in.

Once all the shots were taken, Max Capps and some of the guys were talking about the course & gave me enough courage to take a crack at it. I mean I respect the hell out of what they do. These guys are the absolute best, shooting down the roads at 40 miles per hour. Barrett is like a road I’ve never seen before. There are sections of the road a fucking foot wide missing! I don’t have leathers, so I was wearing my Motocross gear and Joe Marshall explained the road in the perfect analogy. He said it’s like when riding your dirt bike over whoops, just on a longboard instead. My friend Shant & I were the last two into the shuttle, with all the advice we got it was now or never.

Inside the shuttle we were doing our best not to go flying around like a skit from Jackass. Once at the top we got out and all we see are giant mountains, cliffs, and the road in front of us disappear behind a mountain. We let everyone go ahead, while we took our sweet time going down the mountain. Shit becomes real sketchy when there are potholes as big as my size 12 shoe, a couple feet away from a cliff. Not going to lie I foot-braked at least half the time, only probably getting up to 20-25 miles per hour tops until the final stretch. At one point the track levels out, followed by a stretch of curves nicknamed the bacon strip. Once I passed this section I knew there was only about 25% of the track remaining; prompting me to haul ass down the rest. (Carving away as much speed as I could) The adrenaline rush going around the final turn, and seeing the camp at the end of the straightaway is fucking phinaminal. That feeling is the reason I do what I do, it gives me the biggest grin on my face, and keeps me going everyday.

At the end of the day we made some new friends, ran into friends we knew, and most importantly made some really chill memories. Thank you Joe Marshall for throwing together such a legit event!