I met Mike Hermanovsky back in the spring at Jeremy’s toonie race and manged to snap this shot of him there. He seemed like a nice guy and had obvious skillz.

Mike recently invited me to a riding session with he and his mates on Thanksgiving weekend.  The ride was appropriately called, The Turkey Sesh.  I had already committed to another event but really wanted to shoot with Mike on his home trails.   I contacted Mike about shooting there but he was already back at school in Waterloo and didn’t think he could make it.  Mike was kind enough to send me the trail location so I could try and head in with another rider.

I called on Ontario legend Terry Leimonis.  If Ontario had a freeriding scene and that scene had a godfather, like Wade Simmons is out west, it would be Terry.  I filmed with Terry for my first movie, Eastern Standard.  Terry was just a kid then, but his talent was obvious.  These days Terry is busy studying to become a fireman and hasn’t been riding as much as he used to.  You know how life can be.  He can still hold his own though and is a blast to hang out with.  Once we got to the trails I actually recognized them.  I had been there long ago in my GT days.  The place looked completely different and had quite a bit of work done to it.  We ran out of light on this shoot but we had a blast and manged to get a few keepers of the elusive Terry.

Mike eventually decided to make the trip back to Toronto for a shoot.  I was stoked to shoot with him on his home trails.  I knew he would know the lines inside and out.  The light was bit better but we were still on the move looking for open shade all day.  Mike worked super hard and pushed himself to the limit. He had a fearless, yet super easy going attitude.  I never felt rushed while shooting with him and I am very happy with the shots.  The final berm shot with him is one of my favorites of the season.  Enjoy.

This last berm shot eventually became Picture of the Day and Picture of the Month on Pinkbike and was also nominated as picture of the year.  Big thanks to Mike and Terry for the fun shoot.