For any of you who didn't catch it, here's the Our BMX Finals Highlights edit of the Triple Challenge BMX dirt jumping contest in Anaheim, California last weekend (January 6, 2024)
Supercross racing in Anaheim in January is a big tradition in Orange County, California. Just over 30 years ago, my first "real" TV crew guy job was working on the 1991 Supercross season. While I heard about people going to check out Supercross races before that, I'd never actually gone to see a race live. It's a freakin' insane thing to witness, and I tried to catch the Anaheim races in the years after that whenever possible.
Years ago, they added a BMX jumping contest out in the pits area, in the parking lot, to each Anaheim race. Now called the BMX Triple Challenge. The jumps, as you can see above, look like a small mountain range, with the mega roll-in heading into the three ginormous sets of doubles. I haven't made it to check out this event since I've been back in CA, the last few years, but that's what the video is for.
I captured this still off the Our BMX footage from the video above. This is not R Willy, it's Jaie Toohey, front bike flip that almost got away from him, but he actually landed this. Video game stuff in real life.
A Supercross story from the P.O.W. BMX House days... 1992 or 1993...
Back in the early 1990's, the first real BMX house formed. In a house on Iroquois street in Westminster, California, a bunch of pro BMX racers moved in, and out over a 4 or 5 year period. The early guys called it the P.O.W. House, for Pros Of Westminster. Rent ranged from about $95 to $120 a month, with guys sharing bedrooms in the 4 bedroom house. The backyard was turned into a little jumping line, and later filled with mini ramps. Alan Foster, Chris Moeller, Dave Clymer, John Paul Rogers, John Salamne, Lawan Cunningham, Jai Lonergan, and Brian Foster were some of the 22 official residents of the house. Pretty much every BMX traveler from around the world crashed on the couches of the floor during those years, at some point. I lived there twice, for several months each time, in 1992-93,
In January, either 1992 or 1993, our crew from the P.O.W. House headed out to watch the Anaheim Supercross, and we got there late. The only tickets were way up high, and kind of expensive to our meager wallets, $14 each or something like that. The other guys took off, I told them to leave me there. Since I had worked on TV crews the year before, I had an idea.
I walked around the stadium, found the TV camera crew, told them I was a good P.A., a production assistant, and offered to work for free. I was believable enough, and the producer hired me on the spot, saying he'd pay me $50 for the night's work. Deal. He pointed me to a cameraman I'd be helping, and I was soon helping unroll cables for the cameras.
I wound up getting a free spaghetti dinner, and then working all evening with the starting line cameraman. Instead of watching the motos from the nosebleed seats, I was literally standing in front of that motorcycles, on the track, as they revved up, right before the start of every moto. My cameraman was right in the middle of the first straight, getting the head on shot of all the racers. I was about a third of the way across the starting straight, holding the camera cable, there were no wireless cameras in TV back then. When the model turned the starting card sideways, we had something like 30 seconds to run off the racetrack, and I had to pull all the camera cable out of the way before the riders raced by, so they wouldn't get tangled up in it.
It's a hell of the way to see the Supercross. After each start, we'd run through the infield to the third turn, dodging all the assorted people down there, and I'd unwind the cable along the way. The camerman took position on the backside of the berm, on the third turn, and the racers would be coming at us each lap, through the whoop-de-doo section. Then they would charge through the berm, right in front of us. It was hard work, but man, that was the coolest way to watch a Supercross race ever.
The celebrity guest that night was David Faustino, Bud Bundy from the TV show Married with Children, so I saw him walk by, surrounded by security (he's a really small guy), at close range. He waved to the crowd, and said a few words on the mic, I think. Then it was back to racing. Standing on the berm, watching all the top MX racers bouncing through the whoops right at me, was a sight I'll never forget. Amazing night.
After the race, it took maybe 45 minutes to coil all the cables, and pack up the camera gear, and I learned the over/under technique for coiling the coax cable used for video cameras. It was a solid 6 or 7 hours of work, but fun work. I wound up getting either $75 or $100, I think. A check came in the mail a few days later. They asked if I wanted to help them at the next Anaheim race, a year later. I caught a bunch of buses back to the P.O.W. House, getting home like 3am, with a hell of a story to tell the next morning. My crazy idea to not only watch it for free, but get paid to watch the Anaheim Supercross, paid off. If you've never seen a supercross race live, go see one when you get the chance. It's about the most insane sport ever.
OK, not the biggest, gnarliest thing in the best trick jam, but definitely innovative. Tucker Smith with a nac-nac seat spinner. He loosened his seat, and spun it around mid air. I'm 57 years old, never seen this one before. Video still from the Our BMX edit.
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