Just sayin'. People actually check out this blog every day, even though I haven't added posts in a long time. Due to some kind of internet shennanigans and the censorship rampant online these days, my blog counters don't show the number of page views like they're supposed to. I don't know why. 44,746 page views, the #1 Old School BMX blog anywhere.
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Days ago, as I write this, Mike Varga landed the first 1260 air (that's 3 1/2 spins folks) on a BMX bike, on a halfpipe. It was so crazy, even Mike's tire had its mind blown. As fate would have it, I happened to be there when Mat Hoffman landed the first 900 on vert in a contest, 32 years ago, in the Spring of 1989, in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. As an Old School BMX blogger guy, I decided this would be a good time to go back and look at the history of aerial spins (not flips, just spins) in BMX history. Here goes.
Blogger's note (11/24/2021): I wrote this blog originally in July 2021, on my WPOS Kreative Ideas blog, the blog I was doing primarily at the time. Since I' moved back to this blog, I decided to bring this post back here, so you know I haven't forgotten about BMX. I'm also going to put this post on Freestyle BMX Tales, where I'll do most of my Old School BMX posts from now on.
Bob Haro- forwards 540 on wedge ramp and rollback 360- 1980- This video says Bob is 22 years old, and he was born inJune of 1958, so this is 1980, or early 1981. That's the very early days of BMX freestyle as a demo activity, years before the first competitions. The rollback to 360 by Bob Haro (1:22) is probably the first spinning trick on a BMX bike. I'm pretty sure the front wheel 360 spin came later. Bob also does a solid forwards 540 on the wedge ramp at :27.
360 flyout attempt, out of a concrete banked bowl, 1980???- 1:03 in this clip. Reportedly near Sydney Australia, according to the comments. Riders unknown.
Andy Ruffel- 360 jump in 1983- 26:05 Andy also does Old School 360 bunnyhops, also called 360 floaters BITD, at 25:32. He also does a front wheel 360 on a wedge ramp at 21:44. Oh, and don't play chicken with airplanes, they have propellers.
Eddie Fiola- 360's over small doubles (by today's standards) in races in 1983? 1984? I remember reading an interview with Eddie Fiola in 1983 or maybe early 1984, where he said he had done 360's in BMX races over doubles. I actually asked Eddie about this a few months back. If I remember correctly, I think he said they were about 2 foot high doubles, maybe 8 feet apart, standard for BMX tracks in that era. No photos or video for this, but I did get the story straight from Eddie himself.
R.L. Osborn, front wheel 360 on a quarterpipe on video, 1984. This Mountain Dew commercial, which featured R.L. Osborn, Eddie Fiola, Ron Wilkerson, and bike stuntman Pat Romano, aired nationwide on network Tv in the summer of 1984. I was about a year into learning tricks on BMX bikes myself, and RAN to the TV to see this commercial, every time I heard the music start. As a high school kid in Idaho then, I'd never seen a 540 on a quarterpipe, or a front wheel 360, which is what R.L. does here at :27. It took me all summer to figure out what R.L. was doing, we didn't have a VCR, and no one I knew to tape the commercial in those days. Also R.L. with a 360 lake jump at the end.
Legend has it the Woody Itson did the first 540 on a quarterpipe, about halfway up the ramp, sometime about 1984-1985. While known as mainly flatland rider to us younger guys of that era, Woody rode jumps, skateparks, and ramps, as well, in the early days. I can't confirm this, so if anyone can, let me know.
Eddie Fiola- 360 flyout on quarterpipe to deck- 1984. It's at 1:33 in this clip. This one is at the AFA Master contest in the old Surf Theater parking lot in Huntington Beach, in the late summer of 1984.
Hugo Gonzalez- 360 out of the halfpipe into the banked area at Del Mar skatepark- 1985- It's at :43. 540+ jump off pier into ocean at :37, alley-opp 270 flyout onto roof at 1:22.
Eddie Fiola- 540 in the Pipe Bowl, Pipeline Skatepark in 1985. To the best of my knowledge, this was the first 540 on video in a skatepark, though not the first 540 on a ramp. Leave it to the original King of the Skateparks, Eddie Fiola, to bust this one first.
Josh White- One of the first 540's on a quarterpipe, on video- 1985- It's at 1:29 in this clip. This is the Huntington Beach, CA AFA Masters contest in 1985, in the old Surf Theater parking lot. At the time of this contest, Josh White was a completely unknown amateur from Oregon, so you can bet he turned some heads blasting huge airs, and a 540, at this comp. He debuted to the rest of us in a feature interview in FREESTYLIN' magazine, in the August 1986 issue, and was riding for the GT factory team by then.
Brian Blyther- One of the first 540's on a quarterpipe on video- 1985- It's at 2:11 in this clip. This one is also at the AFA Masters contest in Huntington Beach in 1985. Brian Blyther was a Haro team rider, and one of the top skatepark/vert pros at the time.
Mike Dominguez- 7'-8' high 540 (judging by sprocket height)- 1987- It's at 9:33 in this clip. AFA Masters contest in Oregon. This was in the 8 foot high by 8 foot wide AFA quarterpipe, with no vert.
Craig Campbell- Wall ride to 360 (aka 540 wall ride)- Spring 1988- It was the first 2-Hip Meet the Street contest in Santee, California, at one of Dave Voelker's favorite riding spots. Street had been emerging, but there had been only one contest in NorCal, no one really knew what to expect at this comp. Craig Campbell blew everyone's mind pull this wall ride to 360 out of nowhere, at 4:53 in the clip.
Jeremy Alder- the world's first barspin air- 1988- In a small East Coast contest at the Crownsville Fairgrounds in Maryland, Jeremy Alder, largely unknown to West Coast riders, stepped up the game with the world's first barspin air. It's right at the end of the video, go to 3:50. He also does a couple of half barspin airs early on, a couple really big 540's for that era, and a 360 flyout to abubaca. Jeremy was sponsored by Haro Bikes for a couple of years. Progression.
Mike Dominguez nearly lands a 900 in fall 1988- 4:55- Mike Dominguez claimed to have landed 2 or 3 900's on his own ramp, months before Mat Hoffman landed the first one in a contest. But there was no video and no photos. Some people believed Mike, some weren't sure. At 4:55 in this video, shot at the 2-Hip King of Vert finals in September or October of 1988, Mike hucks a 900 attempt and just barely misses landing it. I believe Mike on nailing the 900. About six months later, Mat did it with several camerasrolling (including mine, as Vision cameraman), and made the 900 official.
Mat Hoffman- first 900 on vert in a contest- 2-Hip King of Vert, Spring, 1989. Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. (My angle of that 900 is at the end of this clip- 14:43). None of us knew he was planning to try that (except Steve Swope), until he tried the first one. Mat missed the first attempt, and landed it on his second try.
Mat Hoffman- First no handed 540- 1989- It's at 1:34:00 in this video. Mat actually pulled the no handed 540 the contest before this, at Woodward in Pennsylvania, but I couldn't find video on YouTube. This is the 2-Hip King of Vert after that, in Colorado Springs. I was the cameraman on this shot, and the video (Ride Like a Man) was edited by Eddie Roman.
Craig Campbell with the first dirt jump 720 on video- 1989- In this Ozone freestyle team segment on Home Turf, a local San Francisco Bay Area TV show for kids, Craig lands a 720 at the Calabassas jumps in San Jose, at 1:49. This video has interviews with Craig Grasso, Craig Campbell, and Pete Brandt, I believe, and there's some funny stuff. It's worth watching the whole video.
Ride Like a Man- 2-Hip/Eddie Roman directed video- 1990- 3:32- Maurice Meyer- 360 street abubaca. 4:02- Eddie Roman and ?, 360 down 6 long steps. 7:06- Rider?- 360 nsoepick over spine. 13:04- Rider? Flatland body varial spin thing around the seat. 22:06- Vic Murphy?- fastplant to 360 on flat. 24:44- Mike Krnaich- tailtap 540 on spine. 28:34- Bob Kohl- tailwhip drop-in on 8 foot ramp.
The Ultimate Weekend (my self-produced video) 1990- Chris Moeller with the biggest 360 over doubles on video at that time- 35:45 (Mike "Crazy Red" Carlson lands a toe dragger tailwhip earlier, same session). Keith Treanor with the first 360 over a spine on video- 22:12. Gary Laurent also does one at- 22:56 (same session). Josh White, lookback 360 (on a flyout)- 23:59. Josh White, one hand one foot 360 (flyout)- 24:13. Keith Treanor, big one hand 360- 25:25
Eddie Roman's Ride On video-1992- Intro- Huge 360 over doubles(rider unknown). Dave Voelker(?)- turndown 360- 1:39. First no handed 360 on video (?) Rider unknown- 1:55. There will be more, I need to watch this whole video again...
Mat Hoffman jumps three flaming cars on Stuntmasters- 5:53. 1991or 1992? Crazy as it sounds, I got this idea underway, but never knew the stunt actually happened. I was working at a TV production company in 1991, and sent some footage from the 2-Hip King of Dirt at Mission Trails to motorcycle distance jumper Johnny Airtime, who worked in the other office. Much to my surprise, the BMX stuff blew his mind, and he wanted to know what kind of real stunts a BMXer might be able to do. Johnny and I threw ideas back and forth over the phone, and came up with a 360 over three flaming cars. I was trying to hook up Chris Moeller or Dave Clymer for the gig. Johnny had sen footage of Mat Hoffman, and asked, "Could Mat do it?" I said, "Yeah." I quit that company about a month later, but the Stuntmaster's show happened, and Mat did the stunt with ease. In a side note, according to Mat's book, it was Johnny Airtime, on this stunt show, who told Mat that if he wanted to do bigger airs, he needed a bigger ramp. Mat and Steve Swope built the first 20 foot tall mega quarterpipe soon after.
Todd Lyons- fastplant to 540- dirt quarterpipe jump- 1993- It's at 20:10. Todd Lyons boosting a new spin at Twin Palms in Riverside.
Jay Miron- First public 540 tailwhip- 1998- at 8:24. There's a lot of vert ripping in this clip, by Miron, Dave Osato, Tony Hawk, and others. That rollback nosewheelie tailwhip to drop back in thing Jay does? WTF? Never seen that trick. I'll make you watch the whole clip to find that one. The info says this was a small comp. at BC Place. Sponsored by Kokanee beer! Canada, eh.
Mat Hoffman with the first no handed 900 ever- 2002- At the X-Games.
Mike Spinner- First 1080- 2007- He talks about the whole thing in this 27 minute video.
Mike Hoder- 360 down El Toro 20 step- 2012- At 3:20. There are a ton more big 360 and 180 drops in this video as well.
Daniel Sandoval- First 720 tailwhip to barspin- 2012?
Crazy Shurva- bunnyhop 720 and 360 tailwhip bunnyhop- 2014.
Nitcholi Rogatkin- mountain bike 1440- 2017- That's 4 full spins, corked out. That's the record right now on a jump, and 3 1/2 (1260), in the video at the top of this post, is the reigning record on vert.
Dennis McCoy- Longest span being able to do BMX 900's on vert-1990-2021? First 900- Summer 1990- in Indianapolis, IN. 900 at age 52 in 2018. That's a 28 year span of being able to land one of the craziest vert tricks ever, on video. I believe he has pulled at least one 900 in 2021, stretching that span to 31 years. DMC continues to amaze us all.
What about the women? BMX freestyle has been a boy's club from the start, but since girls like racers like Deanna Edwards and Cheri Elliot, and freestylers Krys Dauchy from Ohio and Alma Jo Barrera from Texas in the 80's, there have been some women riding hard on BMX bikes. So here are some of the best women's clips of spinning tricks from recent years.
Women spinning tricks in 2019- Mexico City Van's comp-2:28- gnarly backflip attempt. 3:06- Macarena Perez- Tailwhip air. 7:00-Natalya Diehm- tailwhip jump.
Top Ten Women's BMX tricks compilation- 2021- :02 Macarena Perez- backflip over box jump. :07- Nikita Ducarroz- 540 on vert. :16- Charlotte Worthington- Flair on vert. :20- Shanice Silva Cruz- front flip on box jump. :26- Hannah Roberts- tuck no handed 360 jump. :29- Hannah Roberts- double tailwhip jump. :39- Hannah Roberts- triple barspin. :43- Hannah Roberts- double truckdriver jump (360 barspin to barspin). So yeah, there are a lot fewer women riders than men, but they're holding there own out there at the parks.
This blog post got out of hand real quick. I did a similar post about backflips a while back, but there are a lot more spinning tricks. I could watch and dig into old videos, and add 100 more variations to this list. But I'm going to stop it here. I did say a "brief" history of spinning tricks. The idea for this post, after seeing Mike Varga's insane 1260 on vert, was to show the long and continuing progression on the basic idea of spinning your bike around, one way or another. I seriously never thought a 1260 on vert would happen.
The craziest thing about this post is that I couldn't figure out who did the first truck driver, a 360 over a jump with a barspin. Logic would say Chris Moeller might have been the guy, but I was roommates with Chris for quite a while in the earl 90's, and I think he was the 2nd or 3rd guy to do one. Maybe Tim "Fuzzy" Hall did it first? But I'm not sure on that, the first and most basic 360 variation.
I also found tricks and clips I had no idea existed, like Andy Ruffel doing a 360 on film in 1983, and the Australian video supposedly from 1980. This post is not complete, by any means, but I've got a lot of the firsts, or firsts on video, in a timeline in one place. That was the basic idea, to see when spinning tricks and certain variations began, and how they fit into the 43 or so years that BMX freestyle has been a thing. Thanks, as always, for checking out my blog post. I'm not going to do as many Old School BMX posts as I have in years past, I've written well over 1,000 already. But I'll try to make the ones I do good ones.
What's a Spinaroonie? Listen to Eddie Roman's color commentary, 4:58 in this clip. I was the cameraman for that footage, by the way.
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OK, this is not exactly how BMX began. Last winter, I was working on an ebook about my early years in BMX and freestyle. Looking for a cool way to open the book, I listened to a few Indian "creation stories" from different tribes, and wondered how a creation story for BMX would go. Scot Breithaupt himself told me a short version of the story of Charlie Gnarly, one weekend when I worked for him as a cameraman in 1989. So I decided to write a mythical creation story for BMX. this is it.
The Legend of Charlie Gnarly
The Godfather of BMX, Scot Breithaupt, haulin' ass and flying fast in the late 1970's or early 1980's.
A long time ago (the late 1960's), in a land far, far away from most of you (Long Beach, California), a young man was racing his Schwinn Stingray on the bumpy Jeep trails in an area of oil fields. The young guy also rode motorcycles, but it was really expensive to keep a dirt bike running, so he spent a lot of time on his bicycle, racing around on the bumpy trails. A few homeless guys lived in the bushes in that area, and no one cared much about him tearing down the trails on his bicycle.
One day at those trails, young Scot saw a scruffy looking guy with a full beard, on a dirt bike, watching him ride from a distance. One of the homeless guys, sitting up against an old shack said, "Hey kid, I'll give you a brand new bike if you can catch that guy." Young Scot didn't think the bum could buy him a bike, but maybe he could steal him one. Scot was competitive as could be, and liked a challenge, so he took off down the Jeep trail, heading straight for the bearded guy on the motorcycle. The motorcycle rider, not wearing a helmet, just shook his head, laughed, and let the kid get within about 50 feet, then hit the throttle.
Scot, pedaling for all he was worth on his Stingray, hauled ass after the motorcycle. He got close in the first turn, as the motocrosser stuck a leg out and carved the turn, sending up a big roost, showering Scot in dirt and rocks. The mysterious bearded motocrosser played with the bicyclist, slowing down a bit, letting the kid close in, then carving a turn and hauling down one of the other trails, and accelerating. In a few minutes, the bicyclist was completely winded. He coasted to a stop, huffing and puffing, next to the homeless guy by the shack who had bet him. The motorcyclist stopped 50 yards away, looking back at the kid. The bearded motocrosser shook his head, hit the throttle, and hauled ass the other direction, riding out of sight down the trails.
Young Scot fought to catch his breath. He was pissed off, he hated losing a bet. But chasing the guy on the motorcycle, hauling ass on the bumpy oil field trails was the most fun he'd ever had on his bike. The old homeless guy sitting by the shed laughed. "Kid, you'll never catch him. You know who that was? That cat on the dirt bike was Charlie Gnarly. He's the best motocross rider there ever was. He won every race there was to win. A few years ago, he up and quit, nobody knows why."
Young Scot was beginning to catch his breath. "Charlie Gnarly?" he asked.
"Yep," the old bum said, "Kid, I'll get you the best bike you ever saw if you ever get Gnarly. He's fast as the wind on a motorbike."
Scot shook his head in frustration. "I'll catch that motherfucker. I'll get Gnarly someday."
Scot kept going down to the oil field trails to ride his bike, and some of the younger local kids would show up, and race Scot, and jump off the bumps on the Jeep trails. Every now and then, maybe once or twice a month, they'd all hear a motorcycle, and Charlie Gnarly would ride up, and sit and watch them, from 50 yards away or so. The old bum, usually sitting by his shack with a bottle of wine, would yell at them, "Go get him! Catch Charlie Gnarly! C'mon kids, get Gnarly!" Scot and the whole little pack would take off, hauling ass towards the old motocross rider. Charlie Gnarly would let them get close, and then take off, winding back and forth, stopping and starting, carving turns, bouncing over bumps, and keeping the the kids pedaling until they were all out of breath. It was as if Charlie Gnarly had been born on his dirt bike, his skill amazed them, as the tried to catch him. Then he'd send up a big roost as he turned and headed off the other direction and disappeared.
No one knew where Charlie Gnarly lived, or when he would show up. Scot started riding at the trails every day, and the local kids did, too. They got faster and faster, pretending to be motocross riders, racing each other every day on their banana seat bikes. As the Spring of 1970 rolled around, Scot decided they needed to start having official races, just like the real motocrossers did. He organized races at the old oilfield trails, and called it the B.U.M.S. track. About the same time, up in Malibu, an hour's drive away, some other bike riders parents' started holding races as well. Weekly races of what they called Bicycle Motocross began to happen, and draw more and more riders on the weekends.
Still, once and a while, during
the week, Charlie Gnarly would show up at the trails, and all the
bicycle riders would take off after him. By that time, there were
broken Schwinn Stingray frames and forks, and a few broken pedals and
handlebars, littering the trails. The crazier the kids got trying to
get Gnarly, the more they broke their bikes. The kids kept looking for
better parts, and some of the motorcycle companies, Yamaha and Kawasaki,
made bicycles that looked like motocross cycles, but they were heavy
and slow, with their plastic fenders and fake gas tanks. The kids
begged, borrowed, and stole bike parts wherever they could. The just
wanted to ride, they wanted to get Gnarly.
One day, Charlie
Gnarly showed up in the distance. Like so many times before, Scot and
the other bicycle motocross kids took off after him, chasing him through
the trails. Charlie took a quick left, showering most of the the pack
with his roost. But this time, young Scot Breithaupt was ready for him,
Scot anticipated the Charlie's turn, stuck his leg out, and turned off
the trail, and cut cross country to the trail Charlie headed down next.
As Charlie Gnarly looked over his shoulder at the pack of kids eating
dust, Scot popped out of the brush and onto the trail right next to
him. Scot wasted no time, and kicked the side of Charlie's motorcycle.
Charlie fishtailed, his back tire hit a little mound, and he
high-sided, and was thrown off the motorcycle. Scot skidded to a stop,
not really believing he had finally caught Charlie Gnarly.
Charlie rolled and bounced along the ground, and the motorcycle careened off into the bushes. Charlie Gnarly smiled. "You finally got me kid... I had a feeling you'd do it someday. You got fire in you, like I used to." Scot watched as Charlie Gnarly got up, brushed some of the dust off of himself, and then went into the bushes, and picked up his motorcycle. He looked it over, and got back on it. Scot, very unlike himself, was kind of in shock, blown away he'd caught the champion motocrosser on his Stingray. He had finally got Gnarly. "Follow me, kid," Charlie said. Charlie rode slowly down the trails, to the edge of the oil fields. Charlie stopped, and got off his bike near an old maintenance building.
"What're you doing?" Scot asked.
"Just
hang on a minute," Charlie Gnarly told Scot Breithaupt. Charlie pulled
his keys out of his pocket, and unlocked a rusty padlock on the old
building. He disappeared inside, and reappeared a minute later holding
two bicycle frames, frames like Scot had never seen before. One was
bright chrome, the other painted black, the tubes were all straight, not
curved like Scot's Schwinn. Charlie held the chrome one up, "This one
is made of Chrome-moly steel, it's lighter, and a lot stronger than your
bike." He held the second bike up, it's down tube looked wider and
flat. "This one is 6061 aluminum, it's not quite as strong, but it's
lighter, and it's still a lot stronger than your bike. I call this
design the double diamond hard tail. If you're going to race bicycles
in the dirt, this is how they should be made. I knew you'd catch me
some day, so I figured I'd design and build a couple bike frames
actually made for racing. You'll be able to ride a lot harder, and a
lot faster, on one of these."
Charlie Gnarly handed both frames to Scot Breitaupt. "Which one do you want?" Scot checked them both out, then replied, "I want the light one, the aluminum." Charlie Gnarly held his hand out, and Scot handed him back the chrome frame, and kept the black one.
Charlie went back into the building, and came out with a pair of chrome forks, with straight fat tubes, the legs weren't curved, they were much beefier than the forks Scot kept breaking. "These are tubular chrome-moly steel, they'll last you a lot longer than the ones you have. Take these home and build yourself a bicycle MX... a BMX bike."
"Really?" Scot asked.
"Yeah, really," Charlie Gnarly said, as he locked up the building, and got back on his motorcycle.
"Thanks." Scot said, one of the last times he was ever at a loss for words. Charlie Gnarly started up his motorcycle, nodded to Scot, and rode off. That was the last time Scot ever saw Charlie Gnarly.
Scot went
on to become one of the top BMX racers, and soon started Scot
Enterprises to promote BMX racing, and his riders. That soon turned
into SE Racing, which invented the PK Ripper, the Quadangle, the Floval
Flyer racing cruiser, and the OM Flyer for Scot himself. Scot grew a
full beard, just like Charlie Gnarly, and came to be known as the Old
Man of BMX, which is what the OM stood for. The fire that Charlie
Gnarly saw in young Scot led to a lot of progression in BMX racing.
Scot rode hard, promoted hard, and would get gnarly every time he did.
That fire also led Scot to a lot of self-destruction at times, he liked
to party hard as well. Scot made huge leaps forward, and sometimes
reverted to self-destruction. But few people, if any, made as much of
an impact on creating BMX racing and BMX bikes as Scot Breithupt. That
growth of BMX racing in the 1970's set the stage for BMX freestyle to
evolve from skatepark carving in the 1970's to a full fledged sport in
the mid-1980's. SE racing sponsored Todd Anderson, Craig Grasso, Fred
Blood, and Justin Bickel, and a few other freestylers along the way.
OK, maybe that's not exactly how it happened. That's not quite how BMX began. But it did begin in 1970, and Scot Breithaupt was a big part of it in the early years.
In January of 1989, Scot Breithaupt hired me to be a cameraman at the Reno Silver Dollar Nationals, for a TV show he was producing. Scot headed up early in the week, and paid for a rental car for me to head up to Reno that Friday, taking off a little early from my job at Unreel Productions. I wound up driving through the Sierra Nevada mountains in a blizzard, so the weekend got off to a sketchy start. I shot video of Scot, and other racers, all weekend. We made the long drive back down to Orange County Sunday night. On the trip, Scot told me the legend of Charlie Gnarly, a mythical guy who young BMX riders would chase when out riding. Every time they tried to "get Gnarly," they got a little better, a little crazier, and pushed themselves as bike riders. After a while, the guy disappeared, but every time the BMXers got crazy on their bikes, they called it "gettin' gnarly." I took a few liberties with the story Scot told me on that drive, but that's the nature of legends. Welcome to my story in the world of BMX...
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