by Andrew Juiliano
Recalling days of his wilder youth, Dave Smith says, “You know, I’ve always had a knack for throwing really good parties.” The 56-year-old owner and operator of Shuttle Smith Adventures aims to bring this penchant for festivities to the inaugural Demo Dayz, Oct. 25-27, 2013. The weekend event features camping atop the coastal range, tacos, beer and 10 shuttle rides in Demo Forest.
Smith retired after 25 years at Granite Construction Company, and now shuttles mountain bikers from Aptos Village to Soquel Demonstration Forest. Smith combines the shuttle service and party-planning skills for the Demo Dayz Festival at the end of October.
While the regular shuttle runs from Aptos Village to Demo Forest via Corvallis’s, Eureka Canyon and Buzzard Lagoon Road, the Demo Dayz festival provides shuttles within the forest. According to Smith, this is the first event of its kind. The permit obtained from Cal Fire allows Smith to pick up riders at the bottom of the Sawpit Trail, then drive them up Sulphur Springs Road to the Helipad atop the ridge. Using the intra-forest route, Smith hopes to provide five shuttles per rider each day.
Read In The Demo Flow
Read A Mountain Bike Park for Santa Cruz
Demo bikes from Yeti, Giant and Trek will be located at the shuttle pick-up point, so riders can experiment with different setups throughout the weekend event.
After ripping turns through the redwood loam on Braille Trail and Sawpit Trail, riders return to Camp Loma—located on Highland Way at the base of Demo Forest—for Smith’s version of room and board. Hoist a beer with local mountain bike pros Ryan Howard and Kyle Jameson while crushing catered Mexican food from Deedee’s Taqueria. Find the right mix of Pabst and carne asada to dodge a hangover, loll around in the pool, then sleep and recuperate for more shuttling all day Sunday.
Not one to skimp, Smith has brought on board a jump clinic by the Aptos Jammers and arranged for Mara the Fire Dancer to perform Saturday night.
Smith explains the allure of the Demo Dayz venue. “Demo is a beautiful place to ride bikes. It’s like church for a lot of people—it leaves them clear-minded and rejuvenated.”
Through some odd combination of beers, bikes and spiritual epiphanies, it’s going to be a wild celebration of the bicycle come the end of October.
Demo Dayz runs Oct. 25-27 and features two days of shuttling, two nights of camping and meals for $275. Limited to 100 riders. $100 day passes also available. Contact Dave Smith at 831.234.3383 or Dave@ShuttleSmithAdventures.com for more information and registration information.
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