Two Generations of Minchinton's Shaping

Dec 22, 2016

We here at the Temple of Enthusiasm are constantly trying to push the envelope when it comes to Deus Surfboards and our ‘Shapers in Residence’ program. Whether it’s with established shapers bringing their vaults of knowledge, like Bob McTavish and Neal Purchase Jr or with the young guns like Ryan Burch and Tyler Warren with their new and fresh outlooks on the craft.

This is the story of what happens when you combine the two schools of thought.

First, we have to introduce Mike Minchinton. Mike has been shaping for the better part of 40 years along-side Robert August and Mark Martinson who were part of the Bruce Brown Endless Summer era of surfing. Now we have to introduce Dustin Humphrey. Dustin if you didn’t know already, has been a long time Bali resident and is the co-founder of the Temple of Enthusiasm here in Canggu. Now back in the day, Mike used to shape most of Dustin’s boards when he was a kid growing up in Huntington Beach in California. He has actually hand shaped a lot of people's boards over the years and is considered somewhat of an underground shaping legend. Don’t believe us? Ask Alex Knost.

So knowing Mike for pretty much 2 decades, Dustin also knew Forrest Minchinton, Mikes son, when he was a grom. And it just so happened that they ended up reconnecting with each other randomly over Instagram a couple of years ago, meeting up in person at a motocross track in California and shooting the shit, catching each other up on what had happened in the last almost 20 or so years. It turned out that Forrest had followed his Dad's dusty footsteps into surfboard shaping, and was even shaping under the same roof as his pops. Dustin, impressed with Forrest’s skill both behind the handle-bars of a motorcycle and behind the planer in the shaping bay, invited Forrest to come check out what we were up to out here in Bali. So a couple months later, Forrest was on a plane to Bali to come see what the Temple of Enthusiasm was all about. He ended up staying longer than expected, riding bikes, surfing and shaping Deus boards for a couple months before heading home to Cali.

Now skip forward a year, Forrest heads back to Bali with Mike, and Dustin gets reunited with his first shaper after over 20 years. The Father-Son duo set up shop in the Deus shaping bay and it didn’t take long for Mike to get into the flow of what we do here. He saw that we don’t just make ‘retro’ shapes to throw on the racks and sell, but instead we let ideologies of the past influence the boards we shape now, and by doing so end up creating some great looking boards that work well in really good waves. For the most part, the pair worked on their own shapes, usually poking a head in here n’ there to make some sort of comment with a beer in hand while the other shaped. When it came to Forrest and Zye cutting foam to shape Zye a fish, Mike stepped in to give his 2 cents and they ended up tag teaming the board, adding some channels to the bottom and some wooden blocks to the fishes tail, ending up with a collaboration of the utmost quality.

The simple and sleek boards that Forrest and Mike shaped during their time here, combined with the wooden tail blocks Mike crafts by hand, really produced some gorgeous pieces of surfable art. It’s been a nice change for the Deus retail store’s surf racks to have some Californian influenced longboards because most of our shapers hail from Australia, and anybody who knows what they are talking about when it comes to logs knows that the difference between a Californian log and an Australian log is quite prominent.

Once again we have dug deep to push the boundaries of what comes out of the Deus Shaping bay, and by combining the time tested knowledge one of the best underground shapers in the world his own son’s fresh views on the matter, we have ended up producing some amazing new boards.

ENGLISH TEXT BELOW

Sabtu pagi, 17 Juni 2023, menjadi hari yang ditunggu-tunggu oleh 250 peserta reli sepeda motor dan 80 kontestan flat track race di Bali. Itu merupakan acara Rally & Camp Tasik Adventure keempat yang diselenggarakan oleh komunitas pecinta motor trail vintage yang lebih dari sekadar menggemari motor dual purpose era 80-90-an. Dikenal sebagai Trail Asik Adventurer, AKA… Tasik Adventure yang telah menunggu setahun untuk merencanakan dan mengerjakan nya demi tidak mengecewakan siapapun yang ikut berpartisipasi.

Coba kamu bayangkan , ada dua sisi koin berbeda pada event kali ini. Yang pertama adalah Reli. Mereka memberi nama Challenge "Tantangan", menjadikan setiap peserta sebagai "Penantang" Challenger. Jadi, di tempat parkir Sangeh Monkey Forest, sambil menikmati keteduhan pohon jati raksasa yang awet muda, 250 Penantang parkir untuk menerima kode QR untuk etape pertama rute reli. Seluruh perjalanan adalah 3 etape dengan 3 titik pemberhentian. 4 jika Anda menghitung tujuan.

Ada beberapa motor keren di sana, Honda XR, Yamaha DT, Suzuki TS, Suzuki DR, dan beberapa custom modern, motocross dan scrambler. Sekitar sepuluh atau lebih, mereka berbaris di titik start dan memulai rally dari sana. Misi setiap orang adalah menyelesaikan setiap tahap dan berhenti di 3 titik pemberhentian untuk mendapatkan kode QR untuk bagian berikutnya. Keindahan Bali selalu menjadi pendamping, saat kami terbang di sepanjang kombinasi jalan aspal, jalan pedesaan, dan jalan tanah di daerah Tabanan. Kami perlahan-lahan terbang tinggi dan semakin tinggi ke perbukitan dan pemandangan sawah dan hutan akhirnya habis, sebenarnya lebih seperti perlahan menjadi satu ketika kami sampai di tujuan. Bali Outbound Farmstay (BOF) yang juga menjadi tempat berkemah semalam. Jika Anda mengumpulkan semua kode QR Anda, Anda mendapat medali Rally sebagai bentuk penghargaan.

Sisi lain dari koin yang disebutkan sebelumnya, atau event kedua, adalah balap jalur datar (flat track). Atau dalam hal ini jalur dengan landasan yang tidak rata karena tempat mereka membangun jalur itu berada di atas tempat yang dulunya terdapat dua sawah terasering. Jadi titik start finish lebih tinggi dari jalur lurus pertama dengan penurunan pada tikungan pertama dan sedikit menanjak pada tikungan kedua. Saat kami masuk ke BOF, kami sudah bisa mendengar suara motor flat track dan sorakan penonton yang berkumpul. Kami parkir dan membuat jalur jalur seperti lebah.

Keseruan seutuhnya pada acara, disaat tingkat kesulitan tambahan dimasukkan ke dalam jadwal sore hari menarik perhatian yang sangat luar biasa. Mereka berhasil menarik sekitar delapan puluh peserta, terbagi dalam 4 kelas: Kelas Mesin Horizontal, Kelas FFA 4T Max 250cc, Kelas FFA 2T Max 250cc Flat Track, dan Kelas FFA Big Bore.

Antusiasme untuk balapan flat track sangat terasa. Kegembiraan tumbuh saat kami melewati babak penyisihan dan membangun sesuatu yang luar biasa untuk final setiap kelas. Tidak ada kata menahan, mereka hadir untuk memenangkannya. Pembalap dari setiap komunitas bersaing sengit di setiap kelas. Nama-nama seperti Maulana Sandi, Dewa Dimas, Harris Manasi Ride, Nova Rider Sing Mebekel, Ferry Rider Sing Mebekel, Bontok Giga MX, dan lain-lain tak main-main, sebagian besar dari memamerkan skill mereka tanpa mengesampingkan sportifitas dan keselamatan.

Trek dengan permukaan tanah liat merah keras yang kering memberikan tantangan. Di awal, para pembalap disuguhkan dengan bagian menurun pada tikungan pertama, setelah itu mereka memeras gas di bagian trek lurus sebelum berputar ke kiri lagi tapi kali ini menjadi bagian menanjak pada tikungan kedua. Itu memaksa mereka untuk menggabungkan keterampilan balap trek datar mereka dengan banyak teknik motocross. Pada akhirnya, semua pembalap bersenang-senang dengan debu tanah liat merah yang menutupi segalanya dan semua orang.

Saat matahari terbenam ke arah cakrawala, saudara dan sahabat motoran kami meraih pecahan cahaya terakhir untuk mendirikan tenda mereka dan dalam persiapan untuk berkemah malam. Matahari menghilang di balik Gunung Batukaru memberi semua orang pemandangan yang menakjubkan, tetapi segera menyelimuti kami dengan udara yang jauh lebih sejuk dari dataran tinggi di Baturiti Tabanan ini.

Percakapan tentang rute reli dan balapan flat track mengalir dari pintu tenda semua orang yang berkemah, yang lain membaringkan tubuh mereka yang lelah untuk mengantisipasi perjalanan keesokan harinya, perjalanan yang relatif santai ke Pantai Pasut.

Dengan begitu, acara Rally & Camp Tasik Adventure 2023 pun berakhir. Sampai bertemu lagi tahun depan, salam untuk semua penantang, pengalaman yang luar biasa.

Berikut daftar pemenang Kelas Flat Track:

Flat Rack Horizontal Engine Class Winners:
1. Chiko GTT Bali
2. Panduk Pisaga Delodan
3. Andika Monkey Brothers

Flat Rack FFA 4T Max 250cc Class Winners:
1. Nova Rider Sing Mebekel
2. Ferry Rider Sing Mebekel
3. Bontok Giga MX

Flat Rack FFA 2T Max 250cc Class Winners:
1. Sandi Maulana
2. Dewa Dita
3. Eponk Road Country

Flat Rack FFA Big Bore Class Winners:
1. Dewa Dimas
2. Haris Manasi Ride
3. Sandi Maulana

Saturday morning, June 17, 2023, was a highly anticipated day for 250 motorcycle rally participants and 80 flat track race contestants in Bali. It was the Fourth Rally & Camp Tasik Adventure event organized by a community of vintage trail motorcycle enthusiasts who love more than fanging about on their dual-purpose motorcycles from the 80s and 90s. Known as the Trail Asik Adventure Community, AKA… Tasik Adventure people had waited a year for the follow up and none were disappointed.

Just so you can get it straight in your head, there’s two very different sides to this coin. The first one was the Rally. They hung it under the banner of “Challenge”, making each partaker a “Challenger”. So, in the carpark of Sangeh Monkey Forest, which enjoys the shade of giant ageless teak trees, 250 Challengers parked up to receive the QR code for the first leg of the rally route. The entire ride was 3 stages with 3 stop points. 4 if you count the destination.

There were some amazing bikes there, Honda XR’s, Yamaha DT’s, Suzuki TS’s, Suzuki DR’s, and some custom modern motocross and scrambler bikes. In lots of ten or so, they lined up at the starting point then let them out for the event. Everyone’s mission was to complete each stage and stop at the 3 stop points to get the QR code for the next bit. Bali’s beauty was the constant companion, as we flew along a combination of asphalt roads, rural roads and dirt tracks in the Tabanan area. We slowly winded up high and higher into the hills and the views of rice fields and forests finally ran out, actually, it was more like blurred into one when we reached our destination. Bali Outbound Farmstay (BOF), which was also to be the overnight camping spot. If you collected all your QR codes you got a Rally medal as a form of appreciation.

The other side of the aforementioned coin, or second event, was the flat track. Or in this case staggered track because where they had built the track it was over a spot that had once held two rice terraces. So the Start finish straight sat higher than the return straight with a drop on the first turn and an uphill bit on the second. As we were pulling into BOF we could already hear the flat track bikes and the assembled crowd cheering. We parked up and made a bee line track side.

What an absolute corker of an event, the added degree of difficulty jammed into the afternoons schedule made for the most marvelous distraction. They’d managed to attract around eighty participants, split over 4 classes: Horizontal Engine Class, FFA 4T Max 250cc Class, Flat Track FFA 2T Max 250cc Class, and FFA Big Bore Class.

The enthusiasm for the flat track races was palpable. The excitement growing as we whittled down through the heats and building to something of a crescendo for the finals of each class. There was no holding back, they were in it to win it. Racers from each community fiercely competed in each class. Names like Maulana Sandi, Dewa Dimas, Harris Manasi Ride, Nova Rider Sing Mebekel, Ferry Rider Sing Mebekel, Bontok Giga MX, and others were letting nothing slip, flaunting their skills without compromising sportsmanship and safety. Mostly.

The track, with its dry hard red clay surface, presented challenges. Off the start, the racers were presented with a downhill section on the first turn, they hit the gas on the bottom straight before spinning left again but this time into an uphill section on the second turn. It forced them to combine their flat track racing skills with a slew of motocross techniques. In the end, all the racers had fun with the red clay dust lay across everything and everyone.

As the sun dipped towards the horizon, our compadres and accomplices grabbed the last shards of light to set up their tents in readiness for a night of camping. The sun disappeared behind Mount Batukaru affording everyone a magnificent view, but immediately enveloping us in the much cooler air of these high grounds here in Baturiti Tabanan.

Conversations about the rally route and the flat track race flowed out of the tent flaps of all those who camped others bedded their weary bodies down in anticipation for the next day's ride, a comparatively leisurely meander down to Pasut Beach.

With that, the Rally & Camp Tasik Adventure 2023 event came to an end. Until we meet again next year, greetings to all challengers, what an amazing time.

Here is the list of the days winners:

Flat Rack Horizontal Engine Class Winners:
1. Chiko GTT Bali
2. Panduk Pisaga Delodan
3. Andika Monkey Brothers

Flat Rack FFA 4T Max 250cc Class Winners:
1. Nova Rider Sing Mebekel
2. Ferry Rider Sing Mebekel
3. Bontok Giga MX

Flat Rack FFA 2T Max 250cc Class Winners:
1. Sandi Maulana
2. Dewa Dita
3. Eponk Road Country

Flat Rack FFA Big Bore Class Winners:
1. Dewa Dimas
2. Haris Manasi Ride
3. Sandi Maulana