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This year I rode my bike a lot and it brought me all around Europe. Syo van Vliet and I tried to get out of Holland every month and we are getting close to success with only December left. With the help of sponsors and friends I was able to travel a lot and experience new places and people.

You traveled quite a lot. What was the best trip of all of them in 2012?
Desmond: This one got me thinking, I’ve been to a bunch of places this year and as a trip it would definitely be my trip to Rebeljam in Spain and the days after in Nice at the Masters of Dirt compound. After Kill The Line I went with my girl, Dani and Syo to Eurocamp already, we hung out there for a couple of days and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Just a couple of weeks later I was able to go to Eurocamp again for the Rebeljam. This time of the year the camp site was closed but especially opened for the event. This place with the whole BMX community was amazing, cliff diving for breakfast, trails session for lunch and amazing ambiance for dinner, I could get used to it I recon. After the rebeljam Syo and I went to George Fechter his place in Nice. When we came there we got picked up from the airport got a big ass Jeep to drive ourselves around and stayed in the most beautiful house I saw in a long time. Could ride the big jumps all day and dip in the pool after or drive around the amazing hills along the area and get some good French food to end the day. I think that trip was the best one of the year.

The commercial with Jenson Button, how was that?
Desmond: Weird story, I was working on my graduating project when I got called by a German company if I was able and wanted to come over to London to shoot a commercial for Hugo Boss. As I didn’t know how they found me I was surprised but got on with it for sure. So said so done and they flew me in business class from Amsterdam to London and after to Berlin for Red Bull R.Evolution. The shooting for the commercial was cool, riding around on a racetrack as a stunt double of Jenson Button, with guest riders as Bas Keep and the London locals was really cool. Filming 2 full days for a 1.27 min is still a weird thought.

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Then the day after it was off to the Red Bull R.Evolution in Berlin riding a spectacular track with Kriss Fox leading the way.

Amazing life sometimes isn’t it?
Desmond: Really amazing! Can’t thank Andy Zeiss enough for the invite as this was for sure the best event I have been to this year. Fully packed Mellowpark and the biggest race track in history. With only 1 hour and 15 minutes practice for me I am really thankful that Kris showed me around the track as the boys had already been riding there the whole week while I was in London. The main event was amazing. Standing in between the best BMX racers of the moment with my 28/9 gearing made me look stupid at the starts but I couldn’t care at all! The night before the race I was in the bar with Bart de Jong and Rutger Pauw, drunk as I was I told them I would flip the second double no problemo, once at the track I knew I was fucked haha.

Are the big jumps, as used at the Lords Of Dirt more your thing, or do you prefer jumps a bit smaller that you can actually do tricks on without risking a ride to the hospital?
Desmond: Big jumps are fun! As much as I like to ride technical jumps with my friends there is always that trigger to try the biggest jumps there are. This year there were a lot of big jumps to conquer but coming back to the Bensink compound and having a session with my friends is the best there is.

How was the Bensink jam this year?
Desmond: Jam was really cool, as we didn’t set it up big we didn’t expect much of it, just a season ender with some beers, bikes and bbq. It turned out to be a cool dry day with 60 riders and some spectators having a good time. We rented some lighting poles to lit the place and the jam kept on going until late in the night while Monster was keeping us awake with some nice tunes and booze.

You’ve been working at SoleTech in Amsterdam for a bit and have some plans for the new building. How does it look at the moment?
Desmond: We just moved offices in Amsterdam and got ourselves a nice new place in the harbor. With some empty areas around the office we decided to set up a plan to get some help from the local government to realize some action sports facility. Plan is made and we are now waiting for some permits to be changed. We are going in the right direction and the schedule says I can start building somewhere begin of 2013.

Where do you ride when it gets cold, wet, and dark early?
Desmond: There is not that much to ride around Holland when our typical weather once welcomes us. For now it is mostly the 040 skatepark in the weekends and our private Soulcycle set up. When temperature goes under 0 we can ride the trails again and I can’t wait to hit the new jumps of Jeremy Struik in Assen.

Who do you normally ride with?
Desmond: As I am living in Amsterdam now it is mostly the Amsterdam crew; Daniel Wedemeijer, Syo, Barry Kohne and Iwan. As I still try to hit the Bensink compound a lot, I ride there with the locals; Geoffrey, Niels, Bas, Niek and Dyon.

Trails session, Park contest, or BMX race. What would be your pick if you had to choose?
Desmond: If I could ride a R.Evolution kind of course once in a while would be nice haha. Trails is where it is at!! Unfortunately we aren’t living in the best country for trails but when the weather allows us I am definitely out at the trails.

Big plans for 2013?
Desmond: Want to try to make some more time to ride during week days next to work. Besides that I got some stuff planned bmx wise for the Dutch scene. If I can make 2013 close to all the stuff I did this year I am a happy guy! Thanks everyone that helped me out this year and thank you Bart for the interview.

Pics by Syo van Vliet/BdJ