A couple days in now and waking up with the plan to go running again. Glad I did as it's hard to beat running on the beach in the sunshine in perfect temperatures. But we had big plans for the day which started off with a drive down to San Diego for the second round of the AMA Monster Energy Supercross. A quick stop at Subway had us fueled up for the next hours as we walked into Snapdragon stadium for media day. Getting to see things first hand feels good. The trucks, the bikes, the riders, the track, it all came together in SD. It was also the first time the big camera came out on the trip. Taking shots of the shiny bikes and riders in brand new gear is always a win. Did we mention it was sunny?
When the media session was over we were on our way to 100% who had their official new facility
What's typical about the first night on every California trip coming from Europe is that you wake up early the first morning. The 9 hour time difference does that to you. 6am in Newport Beach, is 3pm in Helmond. You can't just switch instantly. But hey, the sun is shining, the beach only a minute away. Although chilly (8 degrees celcius) it's the perfect set-up for a little run/walk on the beach. I'm not a big runner any more but having these conditions outside of your doorstep would turn me into a daily runner, at least I thought so. Instead of heading in the direction of Huntington Beach I decided to head towards the Newport Beach pier. I tried to avoid getting wet feet from the waves coming onto the beach so running in a straight line wasn't much of an option as I wanted to avoid walking in the deep beach sand. Boy did it feel good. Considering being in the cold and wet only 24 hours ago and now walking on the beach, in the sunshine, palm trees everywhere....
A good Vacancy Coffee and a shower later we started off the day by heading to Sheep Hills. Normally the spot is under water in the winter time for a while but since it had not rained since February 2024(!!!!!) the trails were still rideable. My first time to Sheep was back in 1990. Considering it's now 2025 makes this spot legendary. After soaking up the energy of the dirt jumps the day continued with a quick visit to 3Bros Racing in Costa Mesa followed by a FOX HQ visit.
For many years I've done an annual winter trip to California. The first one being 1990 when 3 months were spent in San Diego. The winter weather in The Netherlands is simply shit if you want to keep riding your bike outdoors. The winters of 1991/1992 and 1992/1993 were spent in San Diego as well. Simpler times with nothing but riding and partying on the schedule. I do miss those times. In 1994 and 1995 we moved up to Huntington Beach and made life long friends in that corner. BMX Freestyle wasn't huge back then, and those who rode, had a passion for riding. Several of them stayed in BMX over the years and are now contacts to visit.
Getting to do these California trips with my son Philip (21) means a lot. This was our 3rd annual Cali trip together. For him to experience the sunshine lifestyle in 12 days is important. There is more in life than being in Helmond. With Philip's interest being focused on motocross we combined BMX and MX for the days we were there. Plans were made to visit dealers, friends, manufacturers, events, supercross races, lifestyle shops, and enjoy the palm trees with sunshine.
We left Helmond by taking the first train to Schiphol airport and managed to get checked in and all with time to spare. Thanks to the KLM status this process was easy and breakfast was spent in the lounge.
Monster Energy kicked off the 2025 BMX season in dominating fashion with a full podium sweep at the BMX Triple Challenge in Anaheim, California. Monster Energy’s Ryan Williams and Monster Army’s Kaden Stone and Alec Danelutti claimed the top three spots in a thrilling finale. Williams also took home the coveted Best Trick title. Presented by Monster Energy, the BMX Triple Challenge has earned its reputation as the premier dirt jumping contest series, showcasing the sport’s elite talent. The Anaheim opener featured 50 riders from across the globe, including Canada, South America, England, and Australia.
The established BMX Triple competition format continued with three runs– best run counts.
2024 had an event or two on the calendar. From the regular C1 events to national championships to continental championships and UCI World Champs, but 2024 also had two Olympic Qualifier Series on the agenda and the Olympic Games. For Park riders it was a busy year. With the events listed on the UCI International calendar riders know they can score ranking points. After 12 months of collecting points left and right the standing looked as follows. We only list the top 20 where hundreds more competed this past year. So making it to this list means the riders didn't do too bad. Points do count towards nation rankings (top 2 riders' scores count for that) which qualifies quota spots for events like the continental championships and world championships. So even if there is no big prize at the end of the season, it still matters to do well. Also it guarantees you (top 72-ish) a participation spot at the UCI World Cups. Anyway, if you're competitive, a look at Tuesday's update of the ranking is interesting. Participating at more events on the UCI International calendar helps move up. Sitting around doing nothing does not. Points fall off the table after 12 months. But anyway, 2024 was the year of Jose Torres and Hannah Roberts. Their Olympic medals sure helped with that.
Men Park
1 TORRES GIL Jose ARG 29, 5770 UCI ranking points
2 JEANJEAN Anthony FRA 26, 5450
3 NAKAMURA Rimu JPN 22, 4920
Events on the UCI BMX Freestyle calendar provide ranking points. These points are handed out at the UCI World Champs, Continental Championships, C1 comps and National Championships. At the end of the year you can see which riders are ranked highest over the course of the past 12 months. it's a rolling ranking meaning that points get dropped once they've passed the 12-month point. New points are added each Tuesday when riders have scored some over the weekend. Who's got the biggest bragging rights for Flatland over 2024? Here's your top 20 in both Men and Women.
2024 Flatland Ranking Men
1 PREVOST Jean William CAN 38, 4230 UCI Ranking points
2 KATAGIRI Yu JPN 19, 4040
3 DANDOIS Matthias FRA 35, 3790
4 SASAKI Moto JPN 39, 3450
5 SHOJI Yu JPN 22, 3170
6 GOMEZ PIERNAVIEJA Jorge ESP 43, 2640
7 ALT Dustyn GER 33, 2360
8 HAYAKAWA Kio JPN 22, 2340
9 HERNANDEZ DEL POZO Alvaro ESP 29, 2310
It sounded like a good idea at the time, throwing a jam, and guess what, it turned out better than expected for the Zonder Pardon crew. Getting off your asses doing stuff is what we can support. There's nothing wrong with getting the community together for a good time but they don't show up at the same time all of a sudden. Action needs to be taken, preparations need to be made, things need to be organised. Ideas can pop up, but they need to materialize and often it's easier said than done. But oh boy, did the community show up and did the ZP BMX jam turn out good.
Area51 was chosen. A smart choice as organizing an outdoor event in The Netherlands in December isn't the smartest thing to do. A very long low rail was welded, poles were made for the high air comp on the quarter and out of the bank, the spine was still there from previous week's Dutch Champs, a kicker was made for the long distance jump and a rail with a raised end was put together for a session as well. Anyway, it wasn't going to be a regular Area 51 riding session. Riders from France, Germany, Belgium and the Dutch (street) scene rolled in for the evening jam. The Park section was turned into a stage for the bands and DJs and the bar was open!
For whatever reason the lights went out during most of the night, even during the sessions, but the riding went off regardless. Photo-wise it became difficult at this point shooting without a flash. Even the ISO button couldn't solve the issue, but we already had taken some during the warm-up when the lights were
Results Costa Rican National Park Championships - Park Parque 10cio Jaco, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. 08 December 2024.
BMX Park:
1 Gamaliet Alexander OSEGUEDA REYES 27 CRC 200.00 UCI Ranking Points
2 Dereck RODRIGUEZ SOLANO 26 CRC 160.00
3 Jose Joaquin QUESADA FONSECA 24 CRC 130.00
Results Brazilian National Championships - Park Maringá Pr, Brazil 06 - 07 December 2024
Men Park:
1 Caio DE OLIVEIRA SOUSA 31 BRA 200.00 UCI Ranking points
2 Felipe ALVES ALEXANDRE 25 BRA 160.00
3 Cauan MADONA PONTES DO NASCIMENTO 30 BRA 130.00
4 Gabriel RIBEIRO DOS SANTOS MENDONÇA 30 BRA 110.00
5 Davi Henrique GIBIM SODRÉ 21 BRA 90.00
6 Douglas LEITE DE OLIVEIRA 33 BRA 70.00
7 Victor LAGE SILVA 31 BRA 50.00
It has become a reoccuring event, the Dutch National BMX Park championships. A few editions have taken place at Skateland Rotterdam and a couple at Area 51. On November 30th the Dutch park scene got together in Eindhoven for the 2024 edition. The Park had been upgrades with a spine and a smaller box jump on the street section and transfers between the bigger ramps and the new ramps were possible during the riders' runs. Anyway, a free pick to choose whatever you preferred. Jikke Schraffordt made the right choices and won the U15 women class. BMX Amsterdam also picked up the title in the U15 Men class in the name of Saimi Paulissen. Barspins, ET's, tire grabs, no-handers, X-ups. T-bos, cancans over the spine, alley-oop 270s, and a 360 over the new box jump. Saimi's run was packed and he beat Madhu Furst and his younger brother Oden to it. Scooter rider Jesse Bust decided to borrow Daniel Wedemeijer's bike and had a go at the 15+ class. And guess what, he won! In good Daan Melis fashion he showed no problems taking his scooter tricks and adapting them to the BMX bike. If Jordan Clark can do it... Jesse pulled flairs, flips, did Toboggans, cancans, 270s and 360s after only one hour on the bike. Next to scooter champ he can now add BMX champ to his C.V.
Indy Kramer did not have much competition in Elite Women but even if there would have been more girls, they would have to do well to beat Indy. Multiple Dutch champion at age 16. No-handers, 360 X-ups, T-bogs, transfers, alley-oop 270s, cancans, all on the big ramps in the park. The red/white/blue jersey will be framed at some point. Maybe.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.