me in on what to expect months before the trip, but nothing could have prepared me for this. The entire Metro Jam course was moved and set up on the beach, no more than 30 ft from the water, in less than 30 hours. Impressive to say the least. 
We weren't scheduled to start the PIG game until the following day so food and beverages were sessioned throughout the day along with a little island exploring on our bicycles. Pete Radivo and I, team Colony, decided that we wanted to ride day 1 of the game so that we could get our qualifying round out of the way and enjoy our vacation, so Miron set us up to go first along with Alistair Whitton and Kym Grosser, named team Queensland... and Dave Osato and Tobias Wicke doing it for We The People. 
Our bright idea ended up being our own little nightmare. We spent the next two days "on call" to try and get one round of PIG in between unbearable heat and massive thunderstorms. By the end of day three on the island, only one round out of four had been finished and talk of rescheduling the game in Florida was already going around. Thankfully the fourth day took it easy on us and they managed to pound out two more rounds bringing the entire operation back on track. 
The fourth round and finals were all said and done before the weekend was even over and yet another year of PIG was documented for mass consumption. Here's a little more of what went down day to day... 
It seemed like Pete and I lasted 3 days with a "P" and an "I", but it was really only 18 rounds before Alistair and Kym pulled the sweetest of all cards, the infamous "wild card". Kym gave us one of his signature jumping variations over the hip, "seat grab, x up, indian air", which knocked team Colony out and gave We The People their first letter and Tobias a fat lip and slight headache. Only a few rounds later team Queensland got their second "wildcard" and finished off Dave and Toby to advance to the finals. 
That night Osato and I recruited a few others and headed out on the town with the help of our friend Emmanuel, a local who has Singapore in his back pocket. Emmanuel never even made it out to meet us, but managed to make a few phonecalls and get us set up VIP for the entire night. Imagine a group of 5 BMXers trying to get into the VIP line at a proper club wearing board shorts, t-shirts, and sandals... it's never gonna happen, unless of course your friends of Emmanuel's! We rocked VIP like we were regulars. 
I spent most of the night watching Daniel Dhers gettin' dirty on the dance floor with no less than two girls at a time. Never underestimate the power of that "latin-shit", as Axel likes to say. Daniel unfortunately had to ride the next day, but it wasn't the partying that got him, it was Gary Young's style. Gary and teammate Morgan Wade pulled a "no-footed can-can" card and specified that you had to pull your bars up to you in the trick. 
Gary picked his spot and pulled it just as they stated, but Daniel ended up hangin' his legs out getting his team a letter. Morgan and Gary would end up finishing off both teams and making the finals. 
The third round was one of my favorites... Ryan Nyquist and partner Colin Mckay are no strangers to the PIG finals and once again proved to be a safe bet. They ended up putting down tough competition from Chris Doyle and Corey Bohan with moves like a jump-over handrail and Ryan's signature 540 truckdrivers, another "wildcard" move. Corey gave it the old college try but ended up doing a 540 without spinnin' the bars and landing half past the metal at the bottom of the 8ft quarter, something only Corey could make look graceful.
Since I ended up flying home early to finish my taxes and get shit ready for BACO jam I missed the fourth qualifying round and the finals but I heard a few nibbles from reliable sources... For the fourth round Guettler and Dillewaard gave Darden and Brian Hunt some trouble along with Diogo Canina and Corey Martinez, but Rob and Brian managed to make it one more day to the finals. The BMX PIG championship for 2007 went to Morgan Wade and Gary Young after an all-out battle with the likes of... Whitton and Grosser, Darden and Hunt, and Nyquist and Mckay who managed to hang on the longest. Congrats to all the made the finals.
I have to admit that the PIG Game could be held in a dirty, cold skatepark in the middle of Minnesota in January and it would still be the best shit out there. Now add whitesand beaches, Tiger beer, and the Siloso Beach Resort to the mix and you have one of the best times you can have on a BMX. Thanks to Jay and Greg and Brent and Darcy and Jamie and Chris and Al and everyone that busted ass to pull this thing off. My hats off to you all.
Dave Freimuth
Pics Dave Freimuth/Ryan Guettler
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.