Is This Secretly The Best Freeride Event In The World?

This is one of the world's most exclusive freeride events. No baning crowds, no stressful time runs or judges. This is purely for fun. This, my friends, is Monster Energy's Backyard Battle. We have 40 of the best freeriders, slope-style riders on the planet, riding a custom course, feeding off the atmosphere and seeing how big they can go. And I'm here to take you along for the ride. While it might not be well-known as an event like Red Bull Rampage, Darkfest or Swatch Nines, it's fast becoming a rider's favorite. Each run of the series has a host who designs and creates the course and invites riders to take part. Backyard Battle is a huge session with all your mates and all the riders that inspire you the most in your own backyard, which is insane. It's a collection of talented individuals that all share a passion. It's a creative expression of digging and riding, putting an event in the riders' hands. And here we make an event that would be the perfect, best event we could ever go to. And we try and put that on for our friends, build the best jumps, cook the best food. Riders get to session together for a whole week. At the end of the week, the host hands out custom awards for the standout riders. One of the riders hoping to pick up one of those awards is Alfie Stevens. If you're a regular viewer, you might recognize Alfie. If not, now's your chance to get to know him. So I've been riding with Sam Hodge since we were probably 16, 17. We've been doing UK dirt jump competitions together, competing party ride sessions every month for the last kind of 10 years or so. It was a no-brainer that I wanted to come and ride in his garden. And I'm so glad that him and Vero chose me to come along to the Backyard Battle. Most of the pros taking part in this event travel the world, taking part in events just like this one, whereas Alfie is a little different. From nine to five, you'll find Alfie at Friction Cycles in Bristol, serving customers and fixing bikes in the workshop. In his free time, though, you'll find him riding jump spots around the Southwest. It's this riding that's earned him his sponsorship like DMR and invitations to Backyard Battle. Alfie was kind enough to invite us along to check out the event with him, so we'll be tagging along and seeing what he gets up to. I came to Backyard Battle last year as a bit of an underdog, didn't really know all the riders, and I spent a lot of the week getting a feel for the place, getting comfortable on the track. Come the end of the week, I felt like all of the tricks I thought, oh, I might try this, might, they all happened on the last day. Biggest 360 drop I've ever done, tail whipping the big dirt-to-dirt. And I guess my goal for this year is to bring those moments of my personal achievements up front, start the week where I left off last year. So I was watching Garden as well the other night, and a moment really inspired me, actually. Really made me, you know, the run-up to this beautiful event coming up, and I'm sat at home chilling, watching Garden as well. And this quote came up. It said, I love gardening because you get to create your own story. You don't get placed in someone else's story. And I thought, ah, that's dirt jump competitions, freeride competitions versus Backyard Battle. You come to a competition, you get placed in someone else's story. You come to Backyard Battle, the doors open and you carve your own story throughout the week. And that is just Garden as well, perfect annotation. And I really hit hard at that. Was that from Monty? No. If you've spotted a gnome here and there, there's a reason for that. Because this place is gnomed as Gnomeland. So this is the gnome edition of the Backyard Battle. Now let's catch up with Sam and Vera, and let's talk a bit more about this place. Hey, gnomey. So Gnomeland, Ryan, our manager from Monster, nicknamed Vera and myself the gnomes. And then it kind of caught on, and we thought it was sick. And actually, since I was a kid, I've always been super into, like gnomes were the one thing that I believed in as a kid. But I swear I could see gnomes in my garden all the time. So when they called us there, I was like, oh my gosh, that's so perfect. This place isn't just their playground, it's their home too. Vera and Sam have ridden some of the biggest events in the world, and they have combined that experience to create this incredible course. Besides maybe a whip-off jump at a Crankworx event, these are whip-off jump after whip-off jump. These are some of the biggest jumps in the world, let alone in a private back garden. And it's amazing that they let us come and ride and join them for the session. Mate, the first time, like last year, the first event we held here was crazy. We had no idea what to expect. I would say last year, we did like most of it. We did all the hard work, all the big landings, all the big earth moving. Then this year, I reckon we did a month of just adding some bits. It was elements of the build that we really enjoyed that we wanted a bit more of, and it continues to evolve, I'm sure. When it comes down to choosing the riders, it's fully up to us, which is really, really cool. But it's a very hard job because we obviously, the spot only offers a certain capacity. Really awesome being able to invite who you want, but then it's really, really hard not being able to invite everyone you want. So that's been a learning curve for me because I'm so bad at saying no. And I don't want to either. The riders arrive and sign in. Ahead of them, a week of big jumps in the sunshine. Alfie is an eager beaver and he's amongst the first to get riding. How's it been? Have you done a lap? Perfect. The big line is open. We are in for a treat. Going up. I'm going to warm up with a top-to-bottom on the side line, on the middle line, and just get loose and get a feel for it, I think. First impressions, unreal. The architecture of this whole place is incredible. They are civil engineers and they didn't even know it. In dirt moving, that is. I love every single feature of this place. At this event, I've got a medium Orbea Rallon. It's carbon in this gorgeous forest green. 27.5 wheels, single speed, of course. Some guys here are even riding with no chain. Put a load of DMR components on it, ready for some big, heavy impacts. And I've ramped up the suspension. When you're flying through the air, taking big hits and harsh transitions, you do not want a soft bike. Pumping up to max. Doing a little behind the scenes. How to pump up your bike. Let's get it. Boner's perfect. I like the boner. First day here, getting primed. Alfie's down there, he's already riding and I've got to catch up. Absolutely loving it. Such a good day today. The sun's out, the wind has dropped and everyone's lapping. Top to bottoms here are unlike any bike park ever. They're just jumps, jumps, jumps, jumps. Back of the truck, back to the top. Jumps, jumps, jumps. It's perfect. One of the best things about this event is we're here for the week to explore the course in any way we want. There's no aims or goals in terms of competitive nature. And what happens is always in this comfortable environment where we're so well looked after, it just curates the best riding. Sun comes out, everyone will ride. Best filmers in the game are here. Drone pilots at the ready. They'll capture it if you want to do it. How's your bike doing? All right, yeah. Should have gone with no dropper. No dropper? Yo. Yes, Tom. Have you done that on a jump before? Yeah, that. Oh, good. Good, good, good, good. Is that Alfie number four in there? It is. We've got the full house. Hiya. How do you do? Blake caught up with me. I was going a bit slow and a bit cruisy and I could feel his shadow above me towering in. Mate, check me out on the chest cam. Ooh, medium. Yes, we've got the Alfie cam. Double Alf. Warm-up is over and Alfie's ready to send his favourite tricks. Yes, mate. Thank you. Too good, perfect. Okay, it's the last one. Doesn't matter. Next time. You did it. Pick it up. I don't know why I had so many nerves there. I do, because it's gnarly as s***. Hey, Alfie. Yo, first one on the medium. I was shy about that, but we got it. The scale of the jumps here is just mad. You look at it and you're like, okay, that's one house, two houses, three, and you ride it and you're like flying over those houses. Just want to go again and again. So we've done probably a hundred laps. One of my goals for the week was to take those tricks that took me all week to do last year and just start getting them out earlier, feeling comfortable. And day one, and I've just done a tailwhip on one of the bigger jumps here, the big dirt to dirt at the top. And that's one of the big, that's the biggest tailwhip I've ever done. So many moments today, so many magical, impressive riding, but my favorite moment today from day one, Lukas Schaefer hitting this transfer from one line over here to this humongous landing over here. No idea how big this gap is, but this transfer gap is probably one of the biggest gaps here. And he ticked it off and he did it perfectly with maximum speed. Feeling ready for more and feeling pretty chuffed with what we've done so far. Morning. Goodie bag for the week. Adidas Backyard Battle. Check this out. Mini speaker from DeWalt. Custom stickers with Sam's dad. What's on the cards today, I think? Oh, dude, just more, more of the good stuff. More trains, more laps, more airtime, more stunts. Yeah, really looking forward to it, actually. Sun is shining, it's 25 degrees. Not a drop of wind, and everyone is buzzing to get started. Getting the cold ones ready. It's going to be a hot day. Day two has been a cruisy one so far. It's about four o'clock. The session's just starting to go off. Cornflakes drops in, makes it look amazing, and everyone wants some, so. I love coming here because I get to remind myself what I can do on a bike, and the course allows me to push myself. All good things must come to an end. Luckily, we leave Alfie with a camera to document the rest of the day. They've gone now, so I'm on my own. Just me and the goey. Oh, it's so good. Ah, what have we got here? Just making a bed. A wardrobe. Yeah, I kind of moved in. You've fully moved in. Right, we're here for the week. Let's take a look at my bedroom. Oh, that's cool, isn't it? Where's your wardrobe, mate? I don't have one. Morning, Harry. Morning. Morning, Master Rainbow. Big time. Morning, gloomy clouds. What do you reckon? Session on today? Yeah, session, sure. We're going to do our best and try and go for a session, but it's definitely about to start raining. Heavy rain halted play on the jumps of Backyard Battle. Luckily, this week ended with a public day at Revolution Bike Park, Wales, where the riders get to meet the fans and ride together. It's one hell of a park to ride. Hello. Welcome to Trailer Talk. We're at Rest at the Backyard Battle public day. We've got our caravan parked here. We've got a photo booth sponsored by DeWalt. We've got some merch here. Come on in. This is our little merch corner. Wow, nice hat. Biking. What a cool trailer. This is our studio. This is where the podcast takes place. So this is where we get our guests and we interview them. And today we brought the caravan here to rest. There's loads of riders lapping the park. It's a bit rainy, but we are having a good time. We've got this photo booth, so we're going to get people to take some pics and, yeah, just have a good time. Anywhere else? Yeah, let's go on. Do you need a hand? It's a bit different in England. Welcome to my eyes in the vlog. Are you having a good time? I'm having a great time. Hello. Is that the microphone? Hi. Hey. Hello. How are you doing? Oh, that's our song. I've got to keep the flaps open at all times. Oh, oh, pictures, pictures. Welcome to Trailer Talk with Tash. Trailer Talk with Tash. I've got a lot to say. I don't know if you're really ready for this, to be honest, guys. Are you having a good time? I'm having the best time. I'm riding. I'm getting a lift up the hill with my bicycle and then I'm riding it down the muddy hill. Oh, wow. It's brilliant. There's lots of roots and berms. And I did a little jump as well. And I went... Respect. It was pretty cool. I feel quite cool now. And hungry. Really hungry. Hangry, some would say. I've been back in Bristol all week now. I've been back at work at Friction and I've had a minute to digest what a huge week that was. So many amazing moments, so much new things. Like I rode the biggest jumps I've ever ridden. That was a shock to the body, a shock to the mind. And just, if you've got to take a minute, let it all sink in. So now I've had that. I'm actually on my way riding now, so I can't wait to... I've had a few days off. I can't wait to get back at it. But I wanted to reach out and say thank you to you guys for coming along, watching this video. Thanks to Sam and Vero for putting on the best event ever. Monster, the Backyard Battle Team, everyone who made it happen. And yeah, I hope to see you again soon, coming behind the scenes on a trip like this to a really special event that means so much to me. So thank you and till next time.