Josh Lewis is a rider who requires little introduction. He’s one of the creative minds behind 50to01, a crew that seems to have more fun on bikes than anyone else in the UK. In his latest project, Josh teamed up with friend, fellow digger and too-much-fun-haver James Pettitt over the course of a wet English winter to design and crafting one of the most expressive mini-park lines ever seen in northern UK. This snaking jump trail weaves together hips, doubles, tire-tapping (tire-wiping?) features and perfectly intersecting airs.
Get the full backstory of Nexus from Josh below.
When I signed with Marzocchi I couldn’t be more stoked about the enthusiasm and support I was shown. I had a lot of energy for a fresh start and was ready to spend some long winter days in the woods. With access to some build budget to accompany that energy, I went straight to my good friend James Pettitt to see if he was available to jump on a few weeks solid of building. Recently we had spoken a few times about collaborating on a film project and this came at the perfect time to finally bring to life some ideas that had been brewing for a while. Unity woods were kind enough to let us spill our vision out into a hill side, James moved over from Sheffield into a canal boat super close to the spot. From there, it was all systems go.
I don’t think we originally had any real intention of creating something of this nature. It wasn't until Josh Bryceland came up and suggested how a second option would fit into the flow, rather than just a singular line. Our hills are small, and we always strive to fit in as much as we can with what we have. It was more work, but we ended up doubling our money, so to speak. From a boggy old landy track through a tunnel of trees, we carved it in and transformed it into a golden pathway of fun that looks something like a mixture of a jump line, a dual track, a skate bowl with street features and a mountain bike trail.
I love these points in the build because it's where the real creative freedom is. You’re able to go wherever you dare to take it. Having a machine and more importantly, permission to move earth, let us really take our time and make it look nice. It was such a privilege to be going at it with my close friends; from filming, building, riding and everything in between. I am so proud of what we created and what we’ll leave behind for the riders of Unity Woods to enjoy.
As we got into the groove and the project started to take shape, we could see this dual line starting to develop like the ribbons of a double helix; skipping from side to side, over and under, with some unique features thrown in the mix. It was one day when James asked: who else is on Marzocchi close by who could come by so we can get some doubles clips? At that point I was looking at the only candidate in my mind. The guy who’s always the tightest on you in trains, the man spending countless hours with me out there in the British winter already creating this thing, and one of the most creative people I know... James Pettitt. P man himself!
As we got to filming, we wanted to do the best job of showing all the aspects of the build and two people riding it simultaneously, which often ended up being stationary angles as opposed to our usual pan and zoom usage. We pulled in help from Max Nerurkar, who had been with us on loads of previous projects, and he did a sick job with a build and style that’s very different to anything we have created before. Nath (N8), my old school friend from Sheffield, knocked the soundtrack up for us to round off a true home crew creation.
To see the finished product is still such a buzz and I can't thank everyone involved enough for the effort they put in to creating one of the most fun things I've ever ridden. While we were given some challenging weather on the last day of filming, the fun we're having riding trains down NEXUS is off the hook this summer.