DarkFest 2022 was a wild one, and we were stoked to see that our team rider Adolf Silva take the "best trick" award with his insane "Cali Roll". We followed him behind the scenes to learn more about the process and preparation he goes through to pull off these wild moves, or, is he simply loco?
How do you set your bike up for DarkFest?
"For my Yeti SB165, I keep it the same setup as always for Darkfest, I make it stiffer because the impacts are twice as heavy in some places, I ride Reverse Components wheels but set up 27.5"/26" mullet, single speed, hard suspension and not much more really, the same bike I usually ride but stiffer and with a 26" wheel in the back, which is my favorite part about the bike."
Have you hit the "Cali Roll" many times before?
"With the Cali Roll, I learned it on Moto first, on my FMX bike into the foam pit, once that worked out I tried on my bike, I tried about 250 times before it worked, then it finally worked ! Then since it worked, I haven't done it that many times, Darkfest is maybe my fifth time. But now I'm feeling pretty confident on that trick and I'm gonna be doing it more."
What was your gear pick for DarkFest?
"My choice was the MAYHEM BULLET Jersey and Gloves, the TRAILFINDER Pants and the SPLIT Body Protector to have a solid chest and back protection."
What's the hardest trick out of the tricks you did at DarkFest?
"The Cali Roll is definitely the hardest trick to be honest. You need the timing perfect, grab the seat in the perfect spot, you need to do the perfect body rotation so the bike doesn't move, you need to get on the pedals, it's a mess of a trick really, it's probably the hardest trick I do for sure."
What does it mean to you to take the "Best trick" award?
"To win the best trick at Darkfest was an amazing feeling, when you see all the guys sending it and seeing everyone doing the best stuff then to get the award for it, it makes the whole thing worth it!"
