I’ve not long returned from a week in Italy where I spent time catching up with freestyle rider Alvaro Dal Farra and his mechanic Lorenzo, who kindly put my fiancée Andrea and myself up in his apartment in the Dolomite Mountains for the week, which is on the doorstep of 1200kms of incredible ski runs. I hadn’t had the fortune in the 18 months of traveling through Europe to hit the snow until this trip and when the snow started dumping on our third day my snowboard was working overtime making up for lost time carving fresh tracks until my legs couldn’t cope any longer.

While staying at Alvaro’s I also caught up with old friend Busty Wolter and French sensation Thomas Page. Alvaro was just coming back off injury and we managed to get a few hours shooting in at his park, which was more a fun warm-up session for the boys before heading off to the second round of the Master Of The Dirt series in Austria that weekend, which Alvaro ended up winning. His riding has lifted to a higher level since my last visit to his park back in November last year, which is good to see.

Busty and Thomas rocking Alvaro’s double line. Busty was also stepping up his tricks learning Superman Flips, go boy!!

The colours, the characters, the atmosphere, the tastes, the smells, the landscape, the diversity, the poverty, the richness, the raw beauty, ruggedness, deep sense of well-being, community, crowds, donkeys, mules, mint tea, time to breathe, space, flow of life, at peace…Insh'Allah! Welcome to my favourite photos taken from a recent trip to Morocco, enjoy!

In the small remote town of Talate-n-Issi, two elderly gentlemen watch the day go by with the their glasses of mint tea to keep them refreshed.

Hanging out with the Daboot freestyle crew in Italy is where I’ve been of late. Alvaro Dal Farra, one of Italy’s top freestyle motocross riders, picked me up from Venice airport and I quickly warmed to the very relaxed, laid back feeling of being in a country that hasn’t sold out to the supermarket giants, and where people are proud of their traditions and still love to do things the way their Muma’s and Papa’s taught them, weaving their ways just like the many generations before them. Where your daily shopping for food is more like meeting up with friends, who own and run the stores – specialty shops just for bread, or cheese, or meats, or wines, etc … The experience of walking the colourful streets lined with a variety of these shops , such as in Alvaro’s hometown of Belluno, is so refreshing compared to pushing a trolley down long sterile isles bombarded with cheap goods from who knows where, like in most countries nowadays. Being a lover of good food I felt right at home in the country that’s shaped like Da-boot instantly!


Alvaro showing his style at his park close to Belluno with the famous Dolomites Mountains in the background.

The new issue of Freerider MX is due on the shelves in the coming weeks and it looks like being an awesome issue. The new editor Simon “Smakka” Makker has gone for a silhouette cover, only the second in 46 issues, the first by photographer Leith Holtzman of Sturto, and this one by myself of German rider Busty Wolter. It’s a bold move but as you can see the result speaks for itself and I can’t wait to get a copy in my hands to check out the content, which includes the results to the poll “Greatest 20 FMXr’s ever”. To read more about what’s inside this Special Collectors Edition log on to www.freeridermx.com This issue also comes with a DVD, check it out soon!!