Saturday was much the same as Friday over in Anaheim. We got there early to take it all in. Finished the rounds in the pits, said hi to the folks, checked Supercross practice, time qualification, and cruised over to the BMX triples to catch some of the semi-finals, finals and best trick comp. Then everyone made it back into the Anaheim Angel stadium for the Supercross qualification races, LCQ's and finals.
There's no need to explain who did what and who finished where. That's what social media does for everyone these days. But with no live feed of BMX Triples you would still have to be there in person to catch everything. Seeing everything live is just so much better. Smelling the gas, looking where you want to look, hearing the sound, catching the action, the antics, nothing beats the live action. Luckily we were up high in the media room because it did start to rain during the evening program. Rain in California! it was almost a year ago since they'd seen it. Luckily the BMX Triple Challenge was finished already and the trophies and cheques had been handed out to the riders but the Supercross riders now had to deal with difficult vision and a slippery track. It did not turn into a mud fest luckily and the big jumps were also no problem for the boys. Damn they are good at what they do.
The evening passed quickly. Two heats of 250 qualification, LCQ and finals. And the same for the 450 class. The KTM Juniors did a couple of laps on the E-bikes and had the day of their lives.
Friday morning. Up early. Heading to Anaheim. Next to the Supercross ("A2") also the first round of the Monster Energy BMX Triple Challenge is on the schedule. The BMX Dirt comp is part of the Supercross Fan Fest entertainment and the big pro purse (over $120.000 divided over 3 stops) brought all the big boys to California. Climbing up that roll-in takes some balls. It's small and high, and I'm sure up there it's a tad wobbly too. And then looking down on the three massive jumps.... It didn't seem to hold back any of the participants though and it didn't take long before tricks were thrown.
But we were on duty for Twin Air to take some photos of their factory team bikes and riders. Friday was media day and our passes got us on the infield so we could mix it up with the Supercross athletes and get some content for FATMX at the same time. In the world of BMX you need to multitask sometimes to make ends meet and as long as it involves anything BMX related or motocross, you can sign me up for it. Friday is usually the quieter day in the pits with riders and mechanics having more time available. We got a lot of stuff done which felt good. Meanwhile the BMX Triples had done their practice and qualification. With the top 16 making it to Saturday's semi-finals it meant that 30 riders did not make the cut. The level was actually insane and with 1 run out of 3 counting for the competition the riders were able to send their best tricks.
With possible rain on the weather report for Saturday we had no clue what was going to happen. We did do Chic-Fil-A for lunch and were running out of time to hit a Raising Canes restaurant.
Waking up, and it's sunny! What a surprise. Maybe not, but that sun is welcome, every single day. After the morning rounds on the internet, answering email and social posts we had an appointment with the two Dutchies at the Chase Bank which used to be a gas station. It's where you park to go to Sheep Hills. To get a drink, you now have to cross the road but the parking spots have remained and the homeless are still hanging out there. After checking out Arjan and Tom's tour van they decided to put their bikes together for a morning session at Sheep Hills. At moments like these you wish you had brought your bike but we had not. Unfortunately. Anyway, it was their first time at Sheep so a little lap was done to check out what was rideable and what wasn't.
Being at a new place for the first time is always a bit strange. What is possible, what line can I remember, how far are the jumps, how much speed do I need? For Sheep Hills to be dry in the winter is pretty unique. We've been here when it was flooded, completely, but since it had not rained since February the place was in decent shape. People ride here on the daily we were told, especially towards sunset, but at 10am no SHL's were there. School, work, we get it. After some scouting Arjan and Tom got to work on their first BMX session of the trip. It didn't take long for them to find lines that worked and we took out the camera to snap some shots. With both of them surviving it was time to pack up to hit the next destination.
We managed to find a day to grab lunch with the father of BMX Freestyle: Bob Haro. After some computer work in the morning we cruised over to Cardiff by the Sea to see Bob. It still feels surreal to be able to do this. For Bob to actually know me and my son Philip is crazy. For us to be able to sit down with Bob to hear about his ongoing projects is out of this world. The respect for the man is huge and will forever be there. For him to call me a friend is nuts. Thanks for your time Bob as we know it's precious.
Driving in California ain't too bad when you can avoid the bad hours of the day. We know we could have visited more friends that day but the drive and busy schedule of the past days and the full days
On trips like these I wonder why I never really took the chance of living in the USA, like a lot of the Brits did successfully. Waking up to the sun every morning, how good would that be? The walk on the beach, would that ever get old? Mexican food all over the place, friendly people plenty to do, but most of all getting rid of the rain gear, the umbrellas, the Gore-Tex stuff as there is no need for it in SoCal. Would I miss not having 4 seasons? I don't think so. The mountains are only a few hours away, less than half the distance that we need to drive from The Netherlands to Austria. Next to direct family I would not miss much in The Netherlands I believe. I could do without stroopwafels and hagelslag and a frikandel speciaal (had one yesterday though). But no, I never made it that far and haven't even been close to making the move. It makes these short(er) trips special because you need to soak it all up.
Ryan Williams Takes First, Monster Army’s Kaden Stone Secures Second and Best Trick, and Mike Varga Lands Third. Monster Energy dominates once again with a consecutive podium sweep at the second stop of the 2025 BMX Triple Challenge in Glendale, Arizona. Monster Energy’s Ryan Williams (RWilly) claims back-to-back first-place victories, Monster Army’s Kaden Stone lands in second while also taking home Best Trick, and Monster Energy’s Mike Varga rounds out the podium in third.
Presented by Monster Energy, the BMX Triple Challenge is the premier dirt jump contest series, bringing the biggest tricks and top riders to stadiums alongside Supercross. The Glendale event delivered no shortage of progressive riding, with each finalist pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on dirt.
Results Victorian BMX Freestyle State Championships Melbourne, Australia. 18 - 19 January 2025.
Men Park:
1 Alec DANELUTTI 25 AUS 200.00 UCI ranking points
2 Xavier GILBEE 19 AUS 160.00
3 William SPEDDING 18 AUS 130.00
4 Cooper WILSON 21 AUS 110.00
5 Keegan PRYOR 17 AUS 90.00
Women Park:
1 Sarah SKOTNICKI 18 AUS 200.00
2 Mylee TOOHEY 18 AUS 160.00
3 Kayla MCCORMICK 16 AUS 130.00
4 Keilana STANFORD-MODINI 16 AUS 110.00
And..... it's Monday. Breakfast at DayDream in Costa Mesa with Mike de Wit. The week could have started a lot worse. Nice food place within a surf shop. Cali style. It was great to catch up with Choq and it was good to hear about the good news. Congrats. Mondays in LA. Not the busiest so all good. We hit the shops we wanted to visit. Some of them were closed so we had to come back for those but we started off at the new adidas flagship store at Melrose across the street from Cherry Los Angeles. For some reason Monday was a bank holiday which provided free parking. When you hop in and out stores it was nice not having to worry about parking meters that don't work and getting a ticket. We were in and out at Bathing Ape and discovered that the Palace store was closed. Next up: Supreme. We checked the same store a year ago so not much had changed. That goes for several of the stores we re-visited. We stopped by Kith and were still amazed by the curved handrail outside the store that has been hit on a skateboard. What was also amazing was that the Kith ice cream menu had "The Sylvester" flavour on it. Indeed, Nigel Sylvester has his own ice cream flavour at Kith, and it tasted good (had to try it). We took some photos of graffiti for future background use on Instagram. Might as well collect it while you're there. GOLF was checked, HUF was gone, Beyond The Streets was in between shows, Arc'terex has nice stuff and we strolled through the Carhartt store on La Brea. Next stop: In 'n Out Burger. We found one a bit North of LA. It was packed and a bit shady but the burger tasted good.
We were going to take it chill on Sunday as there was no need to get up early to follow the day program. We had no schedule and that was perfectly fine. With the sun shining once again (we could get used to that) we decided to go for a run on the beach to start the day. We did breakfast (cereal) in the hotel room as it had a fridge and a coffee machine with unlimited cups. It's not uncommon to pay $50 for breakfast for two in this area. Shit's expensive. Must be the sunshine tax.
We had not been to Huntington Beach just yet so we decided to cruise over, park the car, walk main street, watch some surfing from the pier, do some shopping, watch cars and grab lunch at Sancho's. The Masterpools happened to be at the same place. Lots of flatland riders had made it to Newport Beach for the One Love jam.
Saturday. Dilemma. Too much happening. The day after the Birth of the BMX Freestyle Movement book launch 4 things were on the calendar; the annual One Love jam only 7 minutes from our hotel in Newport Beach, the Roasta Mesa Bowl Jam put on by the S&M crew over at the Volcom Bowl in Costa Mesa, the last Vans Combi Pool session in Orange and the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Round 2 in San Diego. Choices, choices, not easy.
As you have probably noticed we have started a motocross platform at FATMX. Philip is venturing into that market and needs to soak up as much information as he can to gain as much knowledge as possible. We put the Rogue on the road again and headed south. Come Leucadia it is time to look for the Enchanted Ramp house. Only BMX-ers will do that. In Encinitas ramps are spotted on the opposite side on the hill. Little things, along with the coastline make traveling in Cali rather enjoyable. The cars and trucks are extra's. 7 cyber trucks a day were spotted on average. Wheels sticking out on the side on big pick-up trucks don't seem to be an issue. Let's just say things are different.
While at the "Fan Fest" we missed the old school BMX bikes that were on display last year. It was a nice addition to the pits. Also missing was a Freestyle MX show this year. Always worth seeing a few whips but the only things going sideways were the Dryfter scooters, a disappointing replacement of the oldskool BMX Bikes and FMX show. We managed to catch up with Eric "Big E" Bartholdus of former Powerlite fame who is now working for Yoshimura RD. We also caught up with Bob Morales
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.