Mustache Tour Of Destruction

How could a road trip with 10 full grown mountainboarders packed into one vehicle get even dirtier? Make that vehicle the MBS van and slap 10 full grown staches on their faces. Granted, one of those staches was sad and sorry and another was drawn on with a sharpie, but even so, the Mustache Tour of Destruction was and will most likely be the dirtiest road trip for a long, long time.

The crew, from left to right: Jason T. Lee, Tyler Mork, True Grizz, Matt Silva, Dave Stiefvater, Brandon Johanns, Devin Garland, Benton Jackson, Evan Carlson. At the bottom there is Wilson and Juice Dutcham is not pictured. Photo by Justin Dersham. So, on with the story...

It all started on Friday morning in the snowy MBS parking lot. The whole crew was mostly on time and ready to go because anyone whose ever traveled with Jason T. Lee knows you can always be sure of two things:
1) His favorite place to eat is Subway.
2) The van leaves in 10 minutes.
According to the itinerary, mustache inspection was at 9am and we were to leave at 10. The simple fact that one full hour was devoted to inspection let us know that this was a serious expedition. Of course, it did give us time to figure out how to fit 10 people’s gear plus camera equipment into the trailer and all of us into the van. Other interesting locations on the schedule included cliffs, skateparks and secret spots. We were stoked to be back on the road with MBS. Despite Carlson taking forever doing who knows what, we left relatively on time and headed south towards the border


Mork ready to ride.

The first spot we hit was the Pueblo cliffs. As we moved south we slowly outran the storm but the weather was sour nonetheless.

Grizz, Brandon and Ecar tuning the reception.

Wind test.

Facing high winds up top and a field of yucca for a landing, these guys stached up and dropped it anyway. J took advantage of the wind to harass us with a monstrous kite from below.

Cool indy Evan. Photo by True Grizz

Cool kite J. Photo by True Grizz

The weather was bad for the rest of the day but didn’t hamper our spirits one bit. By late afternoon we reached Raton, New Mexico and the famous Mount Jlee. The mountain is named such because it is the very mountain on which Jason was born atop and is the current home of Granpapa Jimmy Lee and his wife, Bina. Jason’s parents were gracious hosts; they outfitted us with all the goods we could ever require. As we rested up at the top of Mount Jlee, the storm really started to move in. We figured a fierce blizzard might be a good time to get some shots so J rallied the troops and led them down from the mountain.

Meanwhile, Bina had cooked up some fine spaghetti and sausage, so after the blizzard sesh we went inside to scarf some nums, claim our rooms and warm up with a tasty beverage.

True Grizz usually sleeps in a tube.

On the second day of the trip we ventured into the heart of New Mexico. Our first stop was in Santa Fe at the most elusive dirt jumps one could imagine. Jason, the most experienced dirt jump locator, was stumped for a solid hour. Only with the help of ePhone, a.k.a. Ecar, and his iPhone, did we finally find them. Some local bikers were stoked to see mountainboards they had before “only ever seen in videos.” We gave them some boards to mess around on while ePhone, Devin and Brandon had their way with two separate wall ride setups.

Yes, you! Go! Photo by Justin Derhsam

The push.

Evan Carlson above the wall. Photo by Justin Dersham

Brandon Johanns front 1 to back 1. Photo by Justin Dersham

Some great lines were also thrown down on their challenging rhythm section by Benton and Papa J. After Subway in Santa Fe, we got back on the road south to meet up with Matt Silva in Albuquerque.
No road trip is complete without riding a proper drainage ditch and, lucky for us, the aqueducts of Albuquerque are epic. It didn’t take us long to find a nice one off Indian School Road (for anyone who may be passing through). This girl was several miles long with banked walls on each side. She was a carver’s dream. On top of all that, it was sunset when we rolled up so, with everyone’s effort, we took home some beautiful shots.


After the sun went down, we headed to the Albuquerque skate park, which is big, outdoors and lit ‘til late. Devin’s a skatepark killer and had some awesome lines complete with backflips, boardslides and back 1’s. Brandon impressed us all by not only riding a skate and mountainboard, but showing off with some 3’s on a borrowed BMX as well. And then, just as it was time to leave, Mork laid down the dirtiest MJ the world has ever witnessed.

Albuquerque at dusk.

Devin Garland gettin' his. Photo by True Grizz

When it was all over, we piled back into the van and began the push back to Raton. By this time is was getting late and the crew was feelin’ it. Co-Captain Dutcham even relinquished his spot in the peanut gallery to take the wheel for a minute and give J a break. After a few long hours we made it back to Mount Jlee, but barely.

On the third day of the trip we got up early yet again, said goodbye and thank you to Jimmy and Bina, ate their Raisin Bran, and left. Our first location, before Subway even, was the Trinidad skatepark. This was probably the coolest park of the trip and it was completely deserted. Devin and Dave had their day, Benton rode some nasty freeride lines and everyone else got to work on a huge dirt quarter in the parking lot.

Juice having a tweak.

So, how could anyone possibly have fun with a QP in a flat parking lot you may ask?

Well, with an MBS van tow-in of course. J knows how to drive that thing and probably would have gotten some air with the van if we asked him. Instead, he was happy setting up the other riders with plenty of speed to go big out of the pipe.

Benton Jackson, van tow.

Ecar grabbing melon.

Next up on the list was a secret spot Jason had been talking about the whole trip. I’ll cut the suspense and just tell you right now; it was a castle.

A full on stone castle, on a hill, surrounded by forest, in the mountains.

All the Euros reading this are probably like, “Yeah, whatever,” but let me tell you something else. It was built by one man. One man! With his hands. The man’s name is Bishop and I’m writing of Bishop’s Castle. If you ever find yourself in Rye, Colorado, Bishop’s Castle is a place you have to visit. Plus, you will probably have your board in your car and Bishop will let you ride it wherever you want. Just make sure to give The Man a donation.

The Man, Mr. Bishop.

True Grizz at the top. The bridge leading to nothing may or may not have passed Colorado building inspection.

Bishop sitting by the fire.

The final stop of the whole Mustache Tour was right where we began, the Pueblo cliffs. Luckily, this is a huge area and a second location was found without much difficulty.

We lingered around the cliffs for a while after the session was over, reflecting on the good times, the scenery and the staches. Too soon it was time to pack up and start the long drive home. We parted ways in Colorado Springs and the ShralpHaus crew rolled into Denver late Sunday night. Then I took a shower.


Thanks for the great time guys. What a kickoff to the season. See you in Kansas. Oh, and be ready for a Shralpdown! screening.