someone familiar getting out of their car and it turns out to be Ronnie Faisst!! So we go over and ask for a pic and he's totally cool and is like of course, and even laughed at the fact that we couldn't get our camera to work at first!! It turns out he was late because he was stuck in the same traffic we were. Good old LA traffic, it's stop and go even at 3pm in the afternoon!! Anyways, the village included sponsor booths, Official Tour Merch Booth, FUEL TV's interactive extreme obstacle course type thing that required every rider to wear helmets and pads, a skate demo by the Adio team followed by autograph signing, as well as an interactive VERB booth that included basketball and football tossing, as well as a Velcro wall among other activities.
However the highlight of the village was while we were standing in line for the Adio autographs, I look to my right, and standing there is Chad Kagy. We go up to him and he's totally sweet he says hi and asks us what's up and how we were, we got his autograph and a pic with him and then we spent about the next 15 minutes talking to him about traveling, the tour, how he's doing etc.
Kagy was super sweet and could not have been any cooler to talk to. And he was that way to every person who came up to him to ask for an autograph or picture or just to say hi! We talked to him until about 6:30pm when he realized that the show was going to start in 30minutes and had to get his ass back in the venue. So then we decided to go to our seats.
When we got into the venue we got food, nothing like good ol hot dogs and cracker jacks to satisfy your hunger, and got to our seats, which were awesome, we had perfect view of everything. As the clock got closer to starting time, which was 7pm, we noticed that the venue was not filling up, there were half the seats not occupied, which kind of threw us off guard but after while we figured that a smaller crowd that really wanted to be there would be way better than a crowd that was there just to fill seats.
As in typical extreme sports action, 7pm came and went with no action starting, but did anyone really expect the show to start on time anyways?? As the clock finally ticked 7:20pm the lights went dark and the action began.
The show started with a video intro where all the shows athletes
appear 50 years older. The whole theme of the show is each of them
reminiscing about their respective sports 50 years ago, which equates
to today, and how each was dominate.
The BMX guys, Chad Kagy, Kevin Robinson, Dennis McCoy, and Mat Hoffman talked about doing flairs, 900's and how each was on top of the other. The video was hilarious and even included subtitles so you could understand the "old people." After the video intro the show's host, Rick Thorne aka Biker In Black, appeared and got the crowd amped to begin the show. The first guys out were the BMXers. McCoy pulled a 540, Kagy threw a corkscrew, K-Rob pulled a corkscrew and 540 back to back and then Hoffman took the ramp however he slipped on his pedal and fell. Thorne then interviewed each of the guys for about 2 minutes and they talked about how long they've been riding, how the Dew Tour went and said hi to family and friends in the audience. Next out was the skateboarders: Tony Hawk, Rune Glifberg, Sergie Ventura, Lincoln Ueda fell the night before and broke a facial bone but he was in the house and will be back riding on the tour shortly, followed by the Moto X guys: Ronnie Faisst, Jeremy Stenberg, Drake McElroy, and Dustin Miller.
After each group was introduced and did their little shows, btw Moto X was off the hook;
Thorne took the show up a notch and entered into the realm of doubles. A BMXer and Skateboarder each took to the ramp and flew in all directions over each other. Then two BMXers took to the vert ramp and did the same tricks at the opposite ends of the ramp. It was hot! Then the Moto X guys took their turns doing doubles and two would jump over the vert ramp at opposite ends and pull the same trick in the air!! Again, it was mind blowing to see what these guys can pull on bikes.
Following the doubles, came a 25 minute open jam session with the Skateboarders and BMXers. Each athlete would take to the ramp individually and show what they got! And as an extra bonus, Thorne grabbed a bike and joined in on the session!!
First out was K-Rob who pulled a 540 and a turndown! Thorne hit the ramp next, and did some high airs over the channel. Kagy followed and was getting some of the highest airs I have ever seen, he jumped the channel and pulled a corkscrew. McCoy then joined in and pulled two 540's, stalled on his back wheel at the top of the ramp and then fakied back in. He got some screams from the audience for that one!! Hoffman jumped right in as well and did a no footed set up air to 540. Thorne came in for his second run and pulled a look back over the channel, 540 and "peg grind" over channel. Kagy came in and pulled a table top over the channel, bar spin, and bunny hop on his back wheel. In between the BMXers the skateboarders would take to the ramp and I think Hawk pulled a 900 in between Kagy and Hoffman who came next, but can't be sure if it wasn't a 900 it was a 720 haha. Anyways, Hoffman jumped in and pulled some high set up airs including a no handed and no footed one, flew over the channel and then pulled a corkscrew. Thorne came back in and "peg grinded" the channel again followed by Kagy who bar spinned, corkscrewed the channel which was awesome, and did two more barspins in a row. K Rob came back out onto the ramp from backstage to pull a corkscrew over the channel!! Kagy went back in and bar spinned the channel, tailwhiped and did two corkscrews in a row!! It was getting hot!! Thorne joined in and pulled a 540 but then lost his bike over the channel, K Rob jumped in and flew backwards over the channel, no handed corkscrew, 540 and corkscrew over channel. Hoffman, I hafta say was getting the biggest airs out of all the BMXers, and preceded to go backwards over the gap and pulled a no handed 540. Thorne jumped in for his last run and "peg grinded" the channel and bunny hopped into the ramp and to close out the Jam Session K Rob decided to show everyone up, including the skateboarders and Moto X guys, who didn't participate but sat atop the ramp and watched, by pulling not one, not two, not even three, but 7 flairs in a row!!! 7!!!!
I don't think I've ever heard the crowd get louder that night then it did when K-Rob pulled that!!!!
There was a small intermission, so we went to get some food, and as we were walking back to our seats I saw a group of guys and one guy in the middle of the group looked very familiar and it clicked that it was
Brian Deegan!!! No one had noticed him standing there, so we went up to him and he was super sweet and we got autographs and pictures with him!! That made our night right there!!!
After the break the Moto X guys did some more doubles and were pulling supermans, lazy boys, heart attacks, nac-nac's, can-can's, and even backlflips courtesy of Twitch and Faisst. Then the show's level was upped even more and out came the triples, where three riders would take to the ramp at the same time!! First out was K-Rob who flew over Hawk and McDonald. Kagy then went out and flew over Glifberg and then Ventura. Next out came K Rob, McCoy and Hoffman, that's right three bikers in the ramp at once, and they followed each other pulling the same trick one right after another. Then Kagy went out with Hawk and McDonald followed by Hoffman, Hawk and Ventura. To close out the triples section, McCoy, Kagy and K Rob went out and pulled 3 corkscrews!!
Out comes the Mega Ramp!! The ramp is 5 stories high, which rolled into the vert ramp which is wider than a city street and the riders would land in the quarter pipe which was 20ft high!! Kagy rolled off it first and pulled a nasty back flip followed by McCoy who pulled a huge Superman Seat Grab!! K Rob also rolled in and pulled some high airs!! To end the high ramp, Kagy and McDonald rode in side by side, across the vert ramp and into the quarter pipe where McDonald went over Kagy.
Now it all comes down to the big finale!! With the crowd, which now was a good 2/3 full, on its feet and screaming, Thorne getting everyone pumped up, K Rob hit the vert ramp and went backwards over the channel into a no-handed corkscrew. Kagy rode in and pulled a tail whip over Glifberg and then Hoffman came in and went over Ventura and Glifberg. Mc Coy took the ramp followed by Kagy who did two flairs in a row and then for the very last thing, it seemed like everyone including the Moto X guys who were flying high over the vert ramp went up in the air at the same time!!!
As the show ended we rushed out and having two kids with me, we had to run around to the back and wait for the athletes to come out!! We were told it would be a good hour until they cam out but they did not care they wanted to see Tony.
The fist to come out was Twitch who I was excited to see, and he walked right by the fans but said he'd be back, he never came back. Faisst sneaked past the crowds quietly as no one saw him leave, but the crowd didn't really care, they wanted Tony.
So we waited and waited and finally after a good hour K-Rob came out and the crowd which had dwindled down but there was a good 20-30 die hard fans out there, came over and signed for everyone and took pics with whoever wanted one. He was super sweet and made sure everyone who wanted an autograph got one!! Next out was Thorne, who came over the fans and I must say he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met!! He actually talked to each person asked them their names, how they were, did they like the show, signed and took pics for everyone!!! Next out was Andy McDonald who came and signed for everyone but you could tell he was very tired but the fact that he came over to sign and say hi really means a lot!!
Now a good two hours have gone by and no sign of Tony, finally the tour manager came out and said Tony had left, as the venue had an underground parking area for the acts to make a "quick out" and although he could have just been saying that, we decided to call it night.
We got an awesome show by some of the most talented and coolest guys on the planet!! I can't wait to see what Tony comes up with for next years show, how he's going to top this one is beyond me!! Thanks to Kagy, K Rob and Throne for being soo cool and super sweet you guys kick ass!!!
Cathy
someone familiar getting out of their car and it turns out to be Ronnie Faisst!! So we go over and ask for a pic and he's totally cool and is like of course, and even laughed at the fact that we couldn't get our camera to work at first!! It turns out he was late because he was stuck in the same traffic we were. Good old LA traffic, it's stop and go even at 3pm in the afternoon!! Anyways, the village included sponsor booths, Official Tour Merch Booth, FUEL TV's interactive extreme obstacle course type thing that required every rider to wear helmets and pads, a skate demo by the Adio team followed by autograph signing, as well as an interactive VERB booth that included basketball and football tossing, as well as a Velcro wall among other activities.
However the highlight of the village was while we were standing in line for the Adio autographs, I look to my right, and standing there is Chad Kagy. We go up to him and he's totally sweet he says hi and asks us what's up and how we were, we got his autograph and a pic with him and then we spent about the next 15 minutes talking to him about traveling, the tour, how he's doing etc. Kagy was super sweet and could not have been any cooler to talk to. And he was that way to every person who came up to him to ask for an autograph or picture or just to say hi! We talked to him until about 6:30pm when he realized that the show was going to start in 30minutes and had to get his ass back in the venue. So then we decided to go to our seats.
When we got into the venue we got food, nothing like good ol hot dogs and cracker jacks to satisfy your hunger, and got to our seats, which were awesome, we had perfect view of everything. As the clock got closer to starting time, which was 7pm, we noticed that the venue was not filling up, there were half the seats not occupied, which kind of threw us off guard but after while we figured that a smaller crowd that really wanted to be there would be way better than a crowd that was there just to fill seats. As in typical extreme sports action, 7pm came and went with no action starting, but did anyone really expect the show to start on time anyways?? As the clock finally ticked 7:20pm the lights went dark and the action began.
The show started with a video intro where all the shows athletes
appear 50 years older. The whole theme of the show is each of them
reminiscing about their respective sports 50 years ago, which equates
to today, and how each was dominate. The BMX guys, Chad Kagy, Kevin Robinson, Dennis McCoy, and Mat Hoffman talked about doing flairs, 900's and how each was on top of the other. The video was hilarious and even included subtitles so you could understand the "old people." After the video intro the show's host, Rick Thorne aka Biker In Black, appeared and got the crowd amped to begin the show. The first guys out were the BMXers. McCoy pulled a 540, Kagy threw a corkscrew, K-Rob pulled a corkscrew and 540 back to back and then Hoffman took the ramp however he slipped on his pedal and fell. Thorne then interviewed each of the guys for about 2 minutes and they talked about how long they've been riding, how the Dew Tour went and said hi to family and friends in the audience. Next out was the skateboarders: Tony Hawk, Rune Glifberg, Sergie Ventura, Lincoln Ueda fell the night before and broke a facial bone but he was in the house and will be back riding on the tour shortly, followed by the Moto X guys: Ronnie Faisst, Jeremy Stenberg, Drake McElroy, and Dustin Miller.
After each group was introduced and did their little shows, btw Moto X was off the hook; Thorne took the show up a notch and entered into the realm of doubles. A BMXer and Skateboarder each took to the ramp and flew in all directions over each other. Then two BMXers took to the vert ramp and did the same tricks at the opposite ends of the ramp. It was hot! Then the Moto X guys took their turns doing doubles and two would jump over the vert ramp at opposite ends and pull the same trick in the air!! Again, it was mind blowing to see what these guys can pull on bikes.
Following the doubles, came a 25 minute open jam session with the Skateboarders and BMXers. Each athlete would take to the ramp individually and show what they got! And as an extra bonus, Thorne grabbed a bike and joined in on the session!! First out was K-Rob who pulled a 540 and a turndown! Thorne hit the ramp next, and did some high airs over the channel. Kagy followed and was getting some of the highest airs I have ever seen, he jumped the channel and pulled a corkscrew. McCoy then joined in and pulled two 540's, stalled on his back wheel at the top of the ramp and then fakied back in. He got some screams from the audience for that one!! Hoffman jumped right in as well and did a no footed set up air to 540. Thorne came in for his second run and pulled a look back over the channel, 540 and "peg grind" over channel. Kagy came in and pulled a table top over the channel, bar spin, and bunny hop on his back wheel. In between the BMXers the skateboarders would take to the ramp and I think Hawk pulled a 900 in between Kagy and Hoffman who came next, but can't be sure if it wasn't a 900 it was a 720 haha. Anyways, Hoffman jumped in and pulled some high set up airs including a no handed and no footed one, flew over the channel and then pulled a corkscrew. Thorne came back in and "peg grinded" the channel again followed by Kagy who bar spinned, corkscrewed the channel which was awesome, and did two more barspins in a row. K Rob came back out onto the ramp from backstage to pull a corkscrew over the channel!! Kagy went back in and bar spinned the channel, tailwhiped and did two corkscrews in a row!! It was getting hot!! Thorne joined in and pulled a 540 but then lost his bike over the channel, K Rob jumped in and flew backwards over the channel, no handed corkscrew, 540 and corkscrew over channel. Hoffman, I hafta say was getting the biggest airs out of all the BMXers, and preceded to go backwards over the gap and pulled a no handed 540. Thorne jumped in for his last run and "peg grinded" the channel and bunny hopped into the ramp and to close out the Jam Session K Rob decided to show everyone up, including the skateboarders and Moto X guys, who didn't participate but sat atop the ramp and watched, by pulling not one, not two, not even three, but 7 flairs in a row!!! 7!!!! I don't think I've ever heard the crowd get louder that night then it did when K-Rob pulled that!!!!
There was a small intermission, so we went to get some food, and as we were walking back to our seats I saw a group of guys and one guy in the middle of the group looked very familiar and it clicked that it was Brian Deegan!!! No one had noticed him standing there, so we went up to him and he was super sweet and we got autographs and pictures with him!! That made our night right there!!!
After the break the Moto X guys did some more doubles and were pulling supermans, lazy boys, heart attacks, nac-nac's, can-can's, and even backlflips courtesy of Twitch and Faisst. Then the show's level was upped even more and out came the triples, where three riders would take to the ramp at the same time!! First out was K-Rob who flew over Hawk and McDonald. Kagy then went out and flew over Glifberg and then Ventura. Next out came K Rob, McCoy and Hoffman, that's right three bikers in the ramp at once, and they followed each other pulling the same trick one right after another. Then Kagy went out with Hawk and McDonald followed by Hoffman, Hawk and Ventura. To close out the triples section, McCoy, Kagy and K Rob went out and pulled 3 corkscrews!!
Out comes the Mega Ramp!! The ramp is 5 stories high, which rolled into the vert ramp which is wider than a city street and the riders would land in the quarter pipe which was 20ft high!! Kagy rolled off it first and pulled a nasty back flip followed by McCoy who pulled a huge Superman Seat Grab!! K Rob also rolled in and pulled some high airs!! To end the high ramp, Kagy and McDonald rode in side by side, across the vert ramp and into the quarter pipe where McDonald went over Kagy.
Now it all comes down to the big finale!! With the crowd, which now was a good 2/3 full, on its feet and screaming, Thorne getting everyone pumped up, K Rob hit the vert ramp and went backwards over the channel into a no-handed corkscrew. Kagy rode in and pulled a tail whip over Glifberg and then Hoffman came in and went over Ventura and Glifberg. Mc Coy took the ramp followed by Kagy who did two flairs in a row and then for the very last thing, it seemed like everyone including the Moto X guys who were flying high over the vert ramp went up in the air at the same time!!!
As the show ended we rushed out and having two kids with me, we had to run around to the back and wait for the athletes to come out!! We were told it would be a good hour until they cam out but they did not care they wanted to see Tony. The fist to come out was Twitch who I was excited to see, and he walked right by the fans but said he'd be back, he never came back. Faisst sneaked past the crowds quietly as no one saw him leave, but the crowd didn't really care, they wanted Tony. So we waited and waited and finally after a good hour K-Rob came out and the crowd which had dwindled down but there was a good 20-30 die hard fans out there, came over and signed for everyone and took pics with whoever wanted one. He was super sweet and made sure everyone who wanted an autograph got one!! Next out was Thorne, who came over the fans and I must say he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met!! He actually talked to each person asked them their names, how they were, did they like the show, signed and took pics for everyone!!! Next out was Andy McDonald who came and signed for everyone but you could tell he was very tired but the fact that he came over to sign and say hi really means a lot!! Now a good two hours have gone by and no sign of Tony, finally the tour manager came out and said Tony had left, as the venue had an underground parking area for the acts to make a "quick out" and although he could have just been saying that, we decided to call it night.
We got an awesome show by some of the most talented and coolest guys on the planet!! I can't wait to see what Tony comes up with for next years show, how he's going to top this one is beyond me!! Thanks to Kagy, K Rob and Throne for being soo cool and super sweet you guys kick ass!!!
Cathy 
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.