Let the Dogs Out

Let the Dogs Out
Phil “B-Dog” Casabon, event founder and emcee, shows off the prize for the rider-voted winner of the first Off the Leash jam session.
Words, Photos and Captions: Jean-Sébastien Chartier-Plante

As Édouard Therriault’s edges hit the ramp, the loud scrape of metal on metal pierced through a roaring crowd. Under hail and light December drizzle, a patchwork of local riders and spectators persevered in Shawinigan, QC’s Parc de la Rivière Grand-Mère.

A quarter mile-long course snaked through the park with six different features, including four rails and two jumps. At the snake’s tail, the pièce de résistance: a 25-foot concrete stair set with a chain-link fence towering over one side. Francis Bouchard, a local designer and street artist, had graffitied the wall for the first B-Dog Off the Leash event. Phil Casabon (aka B-Dog) emceed, distributing cash prizes for impressive tricks as riders flew by him.