The filming of The Shred Remains has officially kicked off. Although we've gotten a couple shots here and there in prior weeks, this was the first real trip to get the project underway. Eiki, Lazz, Will and Paxson along with filmer Leland McNamara, Team Director Ryan Runke, TWS and Method-Mag photographer Frode Sandabech and myself (John Cavan) jumped some flights from around the world for the mellow 26 jaunt to Sapporo, Japan. Yes the home of Sapporo and Asahi beer. Where we were greeted by Rome Japan distributors Akira and Shuichi along with Rome Japan riders Koni and Doo.

A quick note on the guys from Rome Japan; they're all time. They had it so dialed. They helped us link up with Freerun Mag guys 2C and Max who helped us scout a ton of spots, and they where our translators for the trip, which was a huge help. A big thanks goes out to those guys, without all the help things wouldn't have gone as smoothly, that's for sure.

Traveling in Japan is interesting to say the least. It's pretty intense how many people there are everywhere you go, and your senses are constantly bombarded with new things. Smells, sounds and sights are all unfamiliar, traffic moves at an alarming rate, they drive on the opposite side of the road, and the steering wheel is on the right hand side so it gets a little complicated, unless you're a US driver with dyslexia, then you'd probably slay it. Throw in the language barrier and sometimes even the simplest of tasks becomes very difficult, like for instance dealing with cops ... not easy.

It's crazy how much filming has changed over the years. Everything we're looking at these days is huge, from rails to gaps. All the stuff we did on this trip was large and required a lot of work, add in the fact that there was a ridiculous amount of snow in the city, and as you can imagine we ended up doing a ton of shoveling. We were running a pretty hectic schedule over here shooting in the daylight then a quick dinner, and back out for vampire sessions.

For the full look at our trip you'll have to wait for the movie, but here are a couple photos to give you a sneak peek. We're headed off to France with a new crew in the morning so stay tuned for more updates from the road.

The Shred Remains!



Cavan's top Ten list from our trip to Japan:

10. Listening to our photographer Frode sing Biggie " It was all a Dream" over and over again.

9. The amount of weird candy I watched Paxson consume on this trip.

8. The conveyor belt sushi places we ate at.

7. MossBurger - that hamburger joint is the shit!

6. Beer in vending machines priceless.

5. Random girls in our hotel saying our Team Director Ryan Runke looked like Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.

4. The crazy shit that goes through Eiki's mind at the top of a rail. I was shooting a fisheye angle and he was talking to me about the most random stuff up there.

3. The haircut Lazz got from Runke (aka Hawk-A-Mo).

2. Using the X Games athlete plea line to the cops, and having it work.

1. Kicking the movie of with an epic trip.


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