Right before the Red Bull Featured pilot started, we caught up with Bas Keep about the competition concept he had been thinking about to change things up from what is currently out there. Welcome to Red Bull Featured, a BMX Freestyle (Park) event with different Rounds leading towards an overall winner at the end of the day where the limits are pushed. The idea is to bring new tricks and smiles on everyone’s faces, especially those of the riders. We put the Dictaphone on at The Mill at the DYFI park in Wales and here’s what we ended up with to explain the competition some more.
FATBMX: To start this off, why here? How did you find this place?
Bas Keep: Haha, the idea is to test the event, and we have a good relationship with The Atherton’s, so we were able to test the event in their barn instead of testing it in front of a large crowd.
FATBMX: It’s an amazing place.
Bas Keep: I love this place. They own the mountain. Dan Atherton is the hardest working man in the world. He can’t stop building. They’re awesome people to be around with. It’s a good vibe this week with the Red Bull MTB DH summit taking place at the same time.
FATBMX: So we understand this Red Bull Featured ramp set-up will be packed up after the pilot, correct?
It’s all pedal to the metal in this episode! Monster Energy is proud to welcome freestyle BMX innovator and three-time X Games gold medalist Kevin Peraza on Episode 31 of the sports and pop culture podcast UNLEASHED with The Dingo and Danny. This latest one-hour episode featuring Peraza released today across Monster Energy’s social media channels. In the conversation recorded inside Monster Energy headquarters in Corona, California, the all-round BMX champion shares key milestones in his ongoing professional career.
“The biggest question is, how do you keep going after falling so hard? I think it's that line that you have to cross. When you realize, you want this despite those injuries, because you know they’re going to happen. I’ve had them before, and I’ve only come back stronger and more addicted to it. That’s what kept me riding for the past 20 years, it’s crazy!” said Peraza about his driving force on the new episode of UNLEASHED.
Fans can now tune in to Episode 31 of UNLEASHED featuring decorated BMX professional Peraza. Released today, the new podcast is streaming on all major platforms, including Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.
Growing up as the son of a pro BMX racer, Peraza was raised with a passion for BMX in his blood. After making his mark on the amateur circuit in the late 2000s, Peraza turned pro as a teenager in 2010 and
Name: Shota "GANMO" Horiuchi
Age: 32
Hometown: Gunma JAPAN
Hook-ups/Sponsors: Taraleba, Fuck Shut Chick, Bayked, Cycle Shop KRAiM
---The FAT favorite list---
-Spot to ride: Finding something new
-BMX video: CROSSOVER from MOTOBUNKA, COMBO from KAZUMA TV, Street Vacation from Alex Duleba
-Website: DMM.com
-Web video: TAIF
-Food: All munchies food
-Person on Instagram: All friends
-Travel destination: Indonesia is my second home
-Riders to ride with: 3choume crew
-Car: Classic cars
-Movie: Chef, Interstellar, The Shawshank Redemption
-Colour: Green
Name: Bri Welch
Age: 34
Hometown: Columbus, WI, USA
Hook-ups/Sponsors: I got a big one time hook from Vans!
The FAT favorites list:
-Spot to ride: Anywhere that is flat!
-BMX video: Rad Girl edits on YouTube!
-Website: flatmatters.com
-Web video: Rad Girls
-Food: Street Tacos and wings
Name: Matheus Moraes Ferreira
Age: 27
Hometown: São Domingos do Prata - MG
Hook-ups/Sponsors: No comply skate shop
The FAT favorite list:
-Spot to ride: All spots
-BMX video: Markit Zero and Deadline
-Food: Eat well
-Person on Instagram: Give Matheus a follow: @moraeesmatheus
-Riders to ride with: All my friends
-Car: My car
-Movie: Comedy
-Colour: Black
-Shoes: Vans
-Bike company: Odyssey
Name: COURAGE ADAMS
Age: 26
Hometown: Madrid Spain
Sponsors: REDBULL, VANS, FLYBIKES, ANIMAL BIKES
Over the years you have managed to find yourself a solid group of sponsors. Do you have signature products at all of them?
Courage Adams: Thanks, not all of them, just only with FLYBIKES and VANS. With Fly some BMX parts and with Vans a full collection including two shoes.
Name: Jimmy Mac Mcneal
Hometown: Camden, NJ, USA.
Occupation: CEO/founder Union Square shoes
Let's start with your BMX background. Give us a short history.
Jimmy Mac McNeal: I've been BMX for very long time since the early '80s, I started competing in BMX racing at an early age and my love started with a mix of BMX and freestyle especially during that time period of the early '80s. I already started riding, but a friend was reading a BMX Action mag in 4th grade and loaned it to me. I was hooked. And it never stopped. I've been riding 45 plus years. Committed and always moto/skated for fun…
Did you learn much by doing Bulldog Bikes?
Jimmy Mac McNeal: Bulldog bikes was a great learning experience. We had a lot of success, and we had a lot of challenges. I had to get very creative because there was a lot of blocking going on where people didn't like exactly what we were doing. So it made me be able to innovate in distribution and sales and marketing. Using a hip hop approach like emcees like Too Short and other independent artists where they went direct to the consumer. Also being one of the early BMX sites starting our site in 1998 and being able to order on the phone and online, I basically modeled what Dan's was doing.
Name: Logan Martin
Age: 28
Hometown: Gold Coast, Australia
Sponsors: Rockstar Energy, Hyper BMX, Snafu BMX, Pushys online (Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi) Car dealership, LSKD, Fist Handwear, Go Pro, Cortex protection.
Winning the Olympic Games must have been a dream come true. How long did it take for the moment to really sink in?
Logan Martin: It was definitely a dream come true! I put so much into achieving this goal and it’s so