Rockstar Energy Drink BMX Games 2009

What a way to kick off a long weekend! BMX dudes with massive, or no balls to break. Hordes of 16-year-old emo kids with questionable neck and full sleeve tattoos, mandatory snake bites, a lot of broken bones, injured souls and a bunch heatstroke ridden kids. The guys really endured the elements over the whole weekend, I can be the first to say, there was nowhere to hide from the blistering sun. The mood was set from the get-go and there was no holding back. When you give a bunch of kids fizzy, caffeinated and super sugary ‘Rockstar’ drinks at $2.50 a pop, you got yourself a party; these kids must have had a hip flask of vodka each because the little dudes we’re wildin’ out on this stuff. The crowd was amped up and actually pretty hilarious, one of the calls being thrown out was, “Do it for your self-esteem!”, hardly a helpful comment, and probably should be deleted, yet humorous to say the least.

The street set-up was a good one, in a place I would have never thought, the Docklands Central Pier was near perfect for the event. Ramps, kickers, grinds, stalling platforms, staircases, hips and boxes were everywhere, which made for an amazingly fluid routine, and kinda makes you think you too can be on Tony Hawk Pro Skateboarder, bouncing, jumping and grinding everything within reach. The Dirt games were set-up over on Docklands Road in an old car park, and I can tell you as a dirt jumper in a previous age bracket, these jumps were huge and most definitely terrifying. Iit never seems to amaze me how these kids just seem to throw themselves at these mounds of dirt and clay. Simply amazing. Monday was the qualifier for the expert and pro dirt jumpers, and although getting a few hours in, was delayed due to high crosswinds.

Give a 10 year old a BMX and let him run wild with it, a few years later, chances are they’re going to become really good at it, and that was definitely the case for about 83% of them. Some of the little munchkins in the junior expert groups can’t have been pushing 13, maybe 15 max! In particular, Alex Hiam, a 13-year-old wafer light, Oompaloompa-sized shredder who amazed the crowd (and more so me) who had me wanting to see this kid ride around all day. Unfortunately, he crashed out on a double tail-whip attempt over the box. Just to show you what I mean, you can see him here on his sponsor ‘Colony Bikes’ show-reel.