FOAD Crew delivers fixed gear freestyle to Salt Lake City

The first experience I ever had with the FOAD (pronounced Fo-Ad) Crew was earlier this year when I watched on of their riders descend Emigration Canyon at 30 mph on a fixed gear, without a shirt on - a "team car" following close behind (and filming from a hood-mounted GoPro camera)... in the middle of winter, with snow banks on the sides of the road. "I have to meet those guys," I told myself. I went for a ride with Jackson and Evan from the fixed gear freestyle group FOAD this morning. And though it wasn't quite like doing a shirtless descent in Emigration Canyon in 35 degree temps, it was still a blast.

In an effort to make the time I spend with interesting people in the bicycling community in Salt Lake less like an interview and more like hanging out with friends, I met up with Evan and Jackson at the Velo City Bags retail store, and then we just went for a ride around the City, stopping first at Library Square.

Evan Service (left) and Jackson Bradshaw at Library Square
during our ride around the city last week.
(Photo: Tom Millar / SaltCycle.org)

Evan and Jackson talked about how the group started more or less officially last summer, around August 2011. Following a successful fixed gear freestyle competition at last year's (and this year's) Velo Weekend, the crew had a fairly solid following. Their website generates quite a few hits and the facebook page has nearly 150 likes.

"So what does FOAD stand for? I assume it's an acronym, right?" I asked.

"Well, kinda," replied Jackson. "If you look it up online or on Urban Dictionary you might get a slightly more crude definition of the word. But really, it was the name of a gang at my dad's high school that beat him up one time. I just thought it was a neat sounding word."

"So it doesn't mean anything?"

"Well," Jackson said laughing, and glancing at Evan, "We've come up with a few iterations of it, but I think our favorite is Feed Our Adorable Dolphins. Some others we have come up with in the last year are Flipping Off Albus Dumbledore, or, French Offspring and Dalmatians. But in the end, we like Feed our Adorable Dolphins the best."

Jackson gets a bit of air on a makeshift jump near the Library.
(Photo: Tom Millar / SaltCycle.org)

We talked about the rise of fixed gear freestyle and that other than California and some smaller groups along the west coast, the fixed gear niche sport hasn't really caught on anywhere else. "I'm sure there might be little groups like us in some cities somewhere, but we really haven't heard of anywhere else that it has caught on, except for California. It's huge in California."

After some more messing around at the Library, we rode around downtown, and finally, I said, "Hey do you guys know about that alley behind where Sam Wellers used to be?"

"No, never heard of it," they said.

Getting creative with a ledge to ground gap by American Towers.
(Photo: Tom Millar / SaltCycle.org)

We headed over there and hung out some more under a gray sky and a light drizzle - just enough to keep us cool but not enough to run us off. Jackson and Sam took turns showing off on staircases, ledges and rails. One of their last "tricks" was taking one another for a spin on the handlebars of Evan's freestyle bike.

Evan takes Jackson for a ride around the alley.
(Photo: Tom Millar / SaltCycle.org)

The FOAD crew has produced some pretty fantastic videos, most of which have been filmed here in Salt Lake. Check them out and meet up for a ride with the crew. They're a pleasant bunch to be around.






Herriman Skatepark from FOAD on Vimeo.

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