Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you were the first Australian to turn pro internationally? I know Clint was travelling internationally at around the same time… What was that like and how did your experience differ to someone doing the same thing today?
All respect to Clint, he was winning all the Australian BMX contests at the time and we travelled to the States in 1998 together and he entered Pro and did quite well, making the finals. I rode as an Am that year, but I returned in 1999 and entered Pro. That year I would be the first Australian to score a USA contract and get an invite in the X Games, “making it” I guess haha. For me in was unexpected and something I wasn’t working for it just happened to be honest. I had a good job back in Australia, but I thought stuff it, I’m going to hang here for a year or two in the States. Advice for someone today? I’d say you could get noticed from a web vid and go from there, if comps are your thing you would have to kill it to turn heads. Everyone’s good these days. If you were chasing a USA deal you would have to get in with that crew, a resume doesn’t cut it in BMX.
Over the course of your time as a pro rider BMX has progressed astronomically, are there any specific events or moments that you classify as especially important?
Ruben had everyone slimming down there bikes in 2000, before that in the 90’s strength was key and no one knew what weight their bike was. Mirra double flipping a real jump in 2001, Bohan dipping 3’s, Guettler doing 720’s, front flips and double whips in 2005, Dane Searls exploring big jump possibilities, Kyle Baldock making huge tricks look easy and completely controlled.
Murray, Aiken and Brett Banasiewicz going through awful injuries was a real eye opener to us all. BMX is burly; we are only human at the end of the day. I was right there for Murray and Brett’s crashes.
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Can you tell me a little bit about what happened with Huffy? From what I remember reading they went bankrupt and owed you a lot of money. That must have been a difficult and perhaps even a traumatic time to have your employer pull the rug out from under you so abruptly.
2002 was a great year and the end of the year I left Diamondback on great terms to pursue an offer from Huffy. It was to be a two-year contract. I went for the deal because I would be the second rider on the team with Cory Nastazio and I got to work on a signature frame and a signature complete bike. (They did come out apparently and I’ve heard of them being seen in the UK) Obviously the money was good, and the agency I would work for with ads and travel were good friends of mine so it sounded like a plan. I got about a year and a half into the deal and in September 2004 I was riding for Split clothes, Osiris shoes and Huffy, I was living in my own house in Greenville with my wife and my dog, I had a brand new Dodge Ram truck. I was making all the finals and life was going great. In two weeks flat I would have no sponsors! Osiris bailed on the BMX program, Split decided to drop the BMX program and Huffy filed for bankruptcy. The checks stopped and I was wondering what to do. I figured I could just sell everything and move home, the party’s over I figured. But I was still hungry; I was having a ball I didn’t want to throw it all away. I sold my truck and lived off that money.
The first Dew Tour started in 2005 and that was great for me. I took 4th in Dirt and 11th in Park . (10 made the final) I was riding a Fit Van Homan without stickers and a plain white T and I was sleeping on the floor in Nyquists hotel room. Dew Tour money was good for me that year. There were five events and the payouts were great, then if you made top ten in points year end, you got another bonus check. Dew Tour paid the bills in 2005!
After that first Dew stop in 2005, Harrington and Guettler spoke to their boss at Vans without me knowing and I was put on flow with around twenty other people, I didn’t think much of the opportunity because the Vans Pro team was stacked and there was no way I could be on it. I appreciated the shoes though. I was surprised one day when the boss called and offered me to go to England for a contest and Vans would take care of everything. I accepted for sure and I instantly felt part of a crew again, it was awesome. Vans were a big sponsor of the event and I ended up with the win in the Park final that weekend. Unreal! That began my great relationship with Vans and later that year I began riding for Haro, two companies I admire so much and continue to be apart of today.
There have been a lot of Australian riders who have shown promising potential over the years but only a handful who have been able to make a career out of it. From your experience, what do you think enabled you to make it work?
You don’t have to be the greatest rider in the world. Bring a good attitude and personality and see what happens. Don’t plan on making it; it will happen if it is supposed to. It’s a tough scene to crack and with so many good riders out there, you have to be different. It will take more than flair whips and fronties.
What has been your ‘career’ highlight?
Everything that happened I didn’t even dream of. It was that far off my mind. To keep it top three I would say I’m most proud of winning a legit USA Pro contest, being in a video game and getting the cover of RideBMX.
Can you tell me about the transition from solely being a pro rider to now balancing a pro rider/team manager responsibility?
I’m quite proud of my extended roll I have these days. I’m using my experience I had over the years and I’m enjoying it. I Team Manage for Haro and Premium and also assist Vans in a lot of behind the scenes jobs. Comps were great for a while and I was having fun. Then one day I just began to dread dropping in about to do tricks I really didn’t want to do. I wasn’t being myself. I was getting burnt out for sure. I still compete every once in a while but it’s usually a fun comp over seas and I’m there for my boys so competing isn’t priority.
The Haro job came along just because my old Team Manager/Brand Manager was always busy and the website wasn’t up to date, flights were getting booked last minute and I was adding input to the team enough for him to start paying me to take it over. They split the jobs and since they have had just a Brand Manager to concentrate on that job (John Buultjens), and myself looking after the Haro and Premium teams. I have 18 riders I keep an eye on and look after. I shoot 90% of the ads and catalogs as well as film for them on some projects.
What was it like being in the Dave Mirra BMX game? I’m not sure if I’m right, but I think it was on his ‘Supertour’ to promote the game that he did his first double flip? That must have been a pretty crazy time.
The double flip went down at the Raleigh CFB in 2001. The box jump was the biggest one to date, 6 ft lip probably 12-14ft deck. Double flips had been done of resi but I think that box just sent you to the moon enough for Dave to let it rip. It was incredible to be a witness to that. I actually “good game” Dave when he rides away if you ever see the clip of it.
Mirra Tour was also in 2001, for those who don’t know what it was it was a three trip tour covering most of the States in a tour bus and doing stops at skateparks full of screeming fans. It was as close to the rockstar life as you could imagine. The trips were filmed for a TV show aired on ESPN. I was living in Greenville and on the phone to Dave one day about lining up to go ride or something and he said “Do you want to come on a tour I’m planning?” something super relaxed and I didn’t even really know what it was about at the time. I was in for sure I told him. Not long later the first trip was about to start and we had a meeting about what was happening. They handed out contracts and I was tripping out that we were getting paid to do this tour as well! It was on that tour that I pulled a whip to barspin on a box jump, at the time there wasn’t really combos like that.
And the video game came along pretty relaxed as well, DM1 was out and they were working on DM2 in 2001. Being an international helped my cause to be in the game along with Mike Laird suggesting me. I filled out some paper work and had only Osiris and Strictly BMX as sponsors listed. Somehow I’m in the game I’m on a Specialized and it was over a year since I rode for them. I was devastated about that! The excuse I got was they needed to kit me with a bike and they used that one. They had another rider in the game that was on specialized and somehow they figured I was on still. They said sorry and the next game DM3 will be coming out the following year so I let it go. That game never came out. I’m stoked to be in the DM2 game, it’s pretty crazy for sure. I had to sit in a machine that took 360 degree scans of my head I couldn’t move for 5 minutes. Mirra and Nyquist did the motion of all the tricks.
How do you think the Internet has changed BMX?
At 14 I remember riding my bike 45 minutes every month to the news agency that got in BMX Plus! just to keep up with the news and see who’s doing what. I remember pizza and bike video nights at Millars when a new vid came out.
These days a rider has to film top quality stuff just for the web to get a few likes! At Haro we just started a contingency program so the guys are getting a reward for their efforts. There are so many good riders out there today and there’s new videos dropping daily. I try to let my guys know 1 good vid a year is better than 5 average ones.
For my job I scan instagram daily, I get sick of all the self-promotion that’s for sure. Some riders do it so much.
One thing becoming popular is the live feed online at contests. I’ve been able to stay home a couple times now and catch the live feed to see how my boys do instead of getting on a plane and sitting around all weekend at an event.
If the Internet was as developed as it is now 15 years ago, how do you think it would have affected your career? Do you think the ‘Australian invasion’ would have happened earlier?
Haha yeah not sure. There’s always been a strong Australian scene, I saw on fatbmx the other day a video from the Australian BMX Freestyle team in 1987! Australia has always kicked arse in BMX, I just think some of the earlier pro’s didn’t know how good they were. Guys could of made it before me, I guess I just brought a bunch of encouragement for the next generation and that’s an honor on my behalf.
Where do you see BMX in the next 5 and 10 years?
BMX is wild right now, the combos are crazy on any obstacle. I’m getting confused and I’ve been riding for 20 years! I see classic BMX coming back . How can a 12 year old kid want to get into BMX without the classic BMX influence. Drop a can, boot a table… BMX.
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