This is footage I shot in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada in the spring of 1989. It was only when an edited version of this came on Facebook this past Sunday, that I realized that day, March 31. 2024, was the 35th anniversary of two legendary vert tricks.
At 11:29 in this clip you see Joe Johnson, riding for GT Bikes, land the first double taiwhip on vert. I'm pretty sure it was his first double tailwhip ever, but definitely the first in a contest and on video.
Then, at the end of this video, at 14:43, you see Mat Hoffman, in his first full contest as a pro rider, land the first 900, in a contest and on video. Not to take anything away from Mat's awesome accomplishment, but Mike Doninguez said he landed the 900 months before, on his own ramp, a couple of times. There's a shot of him at the 2-Hip contest at Ron Wilkerson's Enchanted Ramp coming really close to landing one. But, no photos or video exist of Mike Dominguez doing a 900. So this 900 by Mat is the first time Mat landed the 9, the first BMX 900 in a contest, the first BMX 900 in a video, and the first aerial 900 in any action sport. Even snowboarders hadn't landed the 9 in 1989. Mat and Joe changed BMX history with these two tricks, 35 years ago, this past Sunday.
This video segment was edited by Eddie Roman, for the 1990 2-Hip video, Ride Like a Man. He and some friends did the funny commentary to this clip, "Fire that cameraman!" Heh, heh, heh. For all of you youngsters out there, double tailwhips and 900's are older than most of you are. For all of the old schoolers, like me, thinking, "Holy shit that was 35 YEARS AGO?" Yep, we're fucking old. But that's life.
For those of you wondering about the history of spinning tricks in BMX, check out this crazy blog post I did back in 2021:
Remember everyone, tomorrow is BMX Day, aka 4/3/2024, or 43 Day. So go ride.
I've been doing a of writing lately on a platform called Substack, check it out:
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