Sandy Carson // Fairdale goes to the sun

As a grown up BMX’er, I’m just gonna dweeb out here for a second, and be honest, Sandy Carson was one of my favorite riders as I was really coming into my own through BMX and bikes. Figuring out what riding style I gravitated to, what kind of music I liked, and where and how I expressed myself with everything that was burning inside of me to get out. Not necessarily because of his riding style, since I gravitated towards what I had at my disposal at the time, street riding. Honestly, I gravitated towards Sandy and his role in BMX because of his demeanor, who he was, what he was into. He was more than just a BMX rider to me, he was a real and tangible human being just a few degrees of separation away from me, with a life, a set of values, and a specific appreciation that I felt like I truly understood, and I wanted to build into my own life. Bikes and photography ended up becoming my life, as for me they go hand in hand. I don’t think I ever would have taken a single photo in my life if I didn’t want to document my first few pul-up barspins on the first disposable camera I ever got my hands on. It brought meaning to something most people in my life saw as meaningless. It was there, I had the proof now. Naturally I ended up gravitating towards every other rider that shared similar views. In my eyes, Sandy stands for everything good in cycling, having fun, making photos with friends while documenting your reality, and doing it all for the love of it.

Sandy went to Montana with some really good guys over at Fairdale Bikes to ride “Going To The Sun Road” in Glacier National Park. With Chris Cotsonas, Leif Valin, and Alex Hendrex, they put together a short video with the talented Francis Delapena, and photo gallery of their time. We’re lucky enough to share a full gallery of Sandy’s film photography from the trip! And damn, check out those X-Pan shots(camera borrowed courtesy of Joe Rich)!!!!

Check out the video and the post on Fairdale’s site here

Check out Sandy’s site here

Any chance you can get to pay homage to a scenic mountain climb with your friends on bikes is always recommended, especially when said breathtaking mountains and valleys were featured in the opening credits to one of your favorite movies of all time; The Shining!

With last year’s bar being set so high climbing in the French Alps, our humble Fairdale team of thought why not add add some Yankee mountain feathers to our cycling caps, this time on the roads of Montana’s Glacier National Park, during it’s centennial celebration.

This was a quick in and out trip with the homies, to make some photos, exercise the laughing gear, eat pizza (not baguettes for a change) and shred the Going-to-the-Sun road before it closed for winter. Luckily the weather held out and Team Fairdale climbed up and over the Continental Divide at Logan’s pass, just in time as the seasons turned getting on the plane back to the Texas.

People always ask me would anyone in their right mind would put themselves through hours of climbing uphill on a bike. Don’t you get bored looking at the road all the time? Well, only if i’m looking at the road and not the mountains. You really can’t beat the scenery up here in Montana, even if your legs tell you different. Just don’t forget the bear spray!

Thanks to Chris Cotsonas, Leif Valin, Alex “coach’ Hendrex, and to Francis Delapena for filming. And to JP and for the opportunity on NLLTL.