11 minutes of good times in Vienna, Austria with Michal Kovačovič, Martin Šiman (TBB BIKE), Josef Horáček, Šimon Veltruský, Ondřej Konrád and Pavel Tenčík. Looks like Paradiso.
From wall rides to heli-drops, to a skatepark that's an optical illusion, Kriss Kyle's blockbuster BMX edits have pushed the boundaries of what's possible on a bike. But for his latest project, Don't Look Down, he's taken the sport to new heights (and pushed the boundaries of aeronautical engineering in the process).
The impossible dream.
I was mountain biking up this horrible hill behind my house. It was a beautiful day – blue sky and pure sun. A thought popped into my head – ’imagine riding a skatepark up in the air’. I first thought you could hang it under a Chinook helicopter, but when I dropped out of a much smaller helicopter in Dubai it was like jumping into a tornado.
My next thought was ‘what can you fly that gives off no wind?’. It had to be a hot air balloon. I was visualising it as I was pedalling up and quickly put it down in my notes on my phone before continuing on my ride. When I got home, I sketched up a hot air balloon with a bowl and a stickman underneath it.
Enter Oracle Red Bull Racing
I trust my build crew with my life. I wanted to cram as many BMX park features as we could into the bowl, but it’s okay because I like riding tight, weird stuff. They built me a prototype out of wood which ticked all the boxes, but it weighed six tonnes.
The Rimowa x Nigel Sylvester collba as explained by Nigel himself: For years I’ve traveled the globe with my BMX bike via a repurposed golf travel bag. Not by choice, but because the options are limited in my sport. I desired a more designed-forward solution, and realized there was a void. I connected with the RIMOWA team over a year ago with the intention to create the bike case of the future. They assembled a dream team of designers and after many iterations, countless design sessions, we designed the first-ever RIMOWA BMX travel case.
I'm grateful and honored for the trust that my favorite luggage brand put in me to help co-design this
We got the invitation to test the new BMX track in Nijverdal, good times riding this fun track.
Uganda. 40kms south of Kampala as the crow flies, close enough for a bodaboda ride from Entebbe costing as little as 2,000 shillings, on the shores of Lake Victoria lies the rural village of Zziba. Here lies the story. One of smiles, sport, the development of Kasanje Cycling and making a difference in a small community with support from Pump for Peace.
Pump for Peace is a global initiative from Swiss-based Velosolutions, focused on providing sporting facilities and opportunities in underprivileged communities, making cycling and action sports more accessible than ever before. No matter your race, gender or religion, sport has the power to unite communities around the World, and the charity was founded on this belief.
“Imagine riding a floating skatepark up in the sky.” When BMX pro Kriss Kyle first dreamed up his Don’t Look Down project, little did he know the level of aeronautical engineering that would be required to turn his fantasy into a reality. Don't Look Down sees Kyle wearing a parachute and riding his bike in a Formula One-engineered BMX bowl suspended 2,000 feet in the air under a colossal hot air balloon.By joining forces with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, Kyle is challenging conventional BMX boundaries by elevating the sport to staggering heights and aspiring to motivate up-and-coming generations to embrace BMX riding by demonstrating the sport's endless possibilities. Here's what you need to know:
It was mid-April in Switzerland and we got a sunny day. Call us lucky so we could check some more spots in the Winterthur area. Google gives you all the spots. Type in skatepark, pump track, or BMX track and you'll get your options. On Friday Philip and I stopped by the Skills Park, a massive indoor park which would have been our go-to if the weather would have been shit. The Park was 250 meters from the hotel but wanted CHF 20,= per person to ride and CHF 3,= per person to look around. Needless to say our visit was short but we left the option open in case of rain. The air bag with run-up was huge though but not having any tricks to work on we did not pay for the entry fee to get to ride it.
It was Sunday and we googled the BMX track which was actually pretty near to the pump track we'd visited on Friday. Winterthur hosted several international BMX races back in the day so the name of the town sounded familiar. It's always nice to visit BMX spots, especially on sunny days. On arrival the Showa suspension crew from Belgium was there. They had the same plan of doing some riding on the day off. The track had received a tune-up and rolled pretty damn smooth. The first turn had received a smooth layer of asphalt. Think pump track turn but then 5 times the size. Not all turns had received the same treatment (yet) but for us it didn't matter. The Bensink gate wasn't set up for action but we spotted a downhill track behind the first turn. We gave it a shot and stayed on the BMX track afterwards.
Limits do not exist for BMX rider and Red Bull athlete Kriss Kyle who has achieved something seemingly impossible. With a skatepark suspended from one of the world’s largest hot-air balloons, Kriss Kyle floats over 2,000 feet above ground, showcasing an array of tricks suspended in mid-air for his latest pioneering BMX film.
DJ AMPM on the track. Overdose Ralph. Dev. Paulie.
How to Adjust your BMX Bikes V-Brakes.