FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

ESPN’s X Games announces the second wave of athletes who have been invited to compete at X Games 11, to be held in Los Angeles August 4-7, 2005. The event will air live on ESPN, ABC and ESPN Deportes. The X Games is the definitive annual action sports competition featuring more than 150 of the world’s best athletes competing in: BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, Surfing and Wakeboard. X Games 11 will primarily have a finals-only format consisting of the 10 best action sports athletes per sport discipline. All athletes receiving invitations to compete at X Games are chosen by a sport-specific selection committee. Criteria and timing of invitations varies by sport and discipline, as it is based on the state and event schedules of that particular sport. The only exception is each gold medalist from X Games 10 (2004) receives an automatic invitation to compete.

Hopefully you will recognize some of the Boom Boom Huck Jam tour athletes that have left the road for this summer's USA tour. They grew old really quick. Actually, we got these photos from Rick Thorne who gives us the 411: Yo dudes on tha Tony Hawk BOOM BOOM HUCK JAM for 7 weeks, I'm hostin' & ridin' n tha show, we r doin' rehearsals n Spokane, Washington, 1st show 2morrow night, then rock tha nation after that, these r shots 4 tha intro video 4 tha show, enjoy........thanks 4 tha

Lake Jump Contest Den Dungen Holland A week before this event it was freezing so no one thought it would be 30 degrees Celcius this day but it was hot as hell! Downtown, Storttrail locals and Paul's Boutique were the organisers with Eastpak and Vans as additional sponsors it was a start of an annual event so bring your bike next year to Dungens Gat and have a nice day.

Kevin McAvoy and Justin Kosman keep firing out these Twenty BMX mag babies in a timely fashion. They'll be at number 20 in no-time. Mike Saavedra gets the cover. I thought it was Corey Bohan at first. Twenty has a lot of racing in it. Hopefully the BMX racing community appreciates that and buys the mag. The Pump section brings news and small articles like the one on Scot Breithaupt and Greg Romero. It moves on to the SubDivision 2005 report and continues with a Snafu road trip in the OKC area. Mongoose race Joey Bratford gets interviewed and the August issue comes with a Mongoose/Hyundai team poster. Twenty BMX covers the CFB in Oklahoma and that's quite quick as the comp happened only last month. Riding the Curve is a racing article with Matt Pohlkamp, Kris Fox and Ryan Roberts. It follows the riders during a race. Don't forget to put your filter on your camera. The Filter photo section brings you big pics (on the big size paper mag).

The August issue of RIDEBMX has entered the newsstands. We're counting 140 pages this month and it does come with a pull out poster of Darin Read and Reuel Erickson. Aitken makes the cover, it won't be his last one. The S&M ad is funny; Go-for-it. After the usuals in Up Front, a Pro Q+A follows with Allan Cooke. Diversions does reviews on CD's and videos and the Spots section is about the China Banks in SF. Then and now: Dave Voelker, still the best show rider alive. Some wooden hubs appear in the Products section and Taj's bike is being inspected in the Set-Up part. The Buyer's Guide shows park friendly pegs. Products tested in the August issue are: Ruben's tires and the Odyssey Reloader Freecoaster Hub receiving an 8.5 both. Find some pics of the old school BMX-ers in the BMX HISTORY GOES HOLLYWOOD article. There's a report on the transition Jam in Baton Rouge and an interview with flatlander Terry Adams. Mirra takes a few riders under his wing for an all expenses paid video trip (that is if you don't count the money lost at playing poker).

2ndSky has a new website going. The clothing company, based in Guethary, France (that's where the waves are) came up with a sweet design to showcase their 2005 Men and Women collection and accessories. 2ndSky has been flowing clothes to your FATBMX editor for over 15 years and are the ones responsible for the concrete pool in Guethary that you've probably ridden or seen in the magazines. Pay them a visit at www.2ndsky.com or look for one of their stores.

If you're talking countries there are not that many places left in the world where bmx tours haven't left marks, but Poland is one of them. Only recently invited into the EU, it's a country still heavily influenced by previous communist ideology and the architecture is becoming an incredible mix of both stereotypical East and West. I don't want to give the false impression, or hang on stereotypes but East Europe remains a through route to much criminal activity. But such images are built on the minority (as ever) because as we learnt, the country is incredibly rich in culture, really genuine people who'll do anything to help and spots that have never been seen outside it's previously difficult borders.

During the LG Action Sports European tour the organization had hired 4 Freestyle Motocross riders and Andy Zeiss on the mic for some good FMX shows. The set up was Jimmy Verburgh's FMX4ever take off and landing ramp and Jimmy himself was one of the riders. Well impressive was Gary Taylor on his 250cc KTM. He stretched everything to the max and gave it all he got. Two German FMX riders completed the field. With three shows a day we had the chance to test the zoom lens of the Canon 350D. Although operated with one hand (with the right arm still in the sling), the pics came out quite nice. If you're not into the FMX thing, skip the gallery. If you don't mind watching some MX riders catching huge air, click right here:

The Benelux does not have a print BMX magazine that comes out on a regular basis. This probably hurts the BMX trade but it's hard to find people crazy enough to put their heart into a magazine production. Recently a BMX Trix 'n Tips magazine came out and we checked in with Hoite Polkamp, the man behind the pocket format BMX mag. Do you think it's time for a BMX magazine in The Netherlands? Hoite: Well, obviously it would be great. The Dutch BMX scene has produced some seriously amazing riders over the last few years and it would be great to give them the exposure they deserve, but commercial wise I think it would be really hard to put out a regular magazine that comes out every other month. You’d probably have to do it in English and cover the European scene. What do you have in the works?

Fun for all at the Fordingbridge Sk8 Fest in the UK. The countdown to the official opening celebrations for the Fordingbridge skatepark has begun. Tribe Skate will be hosting the event on Saturday 23rd July, jam-packed with competitions, pro-displays, breakdancing and DJs. There will also be an opportunity to indulge in some retail therapy. Plenty of prizes, trophies and giveaways will be up for grabs for the most talented of Skaters, Inliners and Bmxers, keen to flaunt their skills. The event is being supported by a number of local businesses, including The Skate Shop, Cyclepaths, The Waterboard, and the skatepark installers GBH Ramps. For those who are steadier on two feet than wheels there is the