Inside the X Games Part 2

Thought I would do you all a play by play of what was a historic day for X Games.

5.00am Wake up because of Jet Lag, try go back to sleep,  going back to sleep. Instagram a few photos from yesterday.

7.00am Lift to venue.

7.30am At breakfast have my first try of American bacon. Come to conclusion it tastes the same as UK bacon. Think about how Bacon is awesome.

8.30-11.00am Go to RallyCross and Lites practice. Take some media around on the golf cart.

11.00am-1.00pm Watch Skateboard womens practice, walk around the course and watch from different points.

1.00-2.30pm Lunch.

2.30-3.30pm Have a break, watch the Vert practice on a TV in the PR office.

3.30-5.30pm Watch Mens skate street practice.

5.30-8.30pm Watch Men’s skate park practice. Gasp frequently at how huge Pedro Barros goes.

8.30pm Get the bus to downtown Austin.

9.00-11.00pm Watch BMX and Skateboard vert finals. Celebrate as Brit Jamie Bestwick makes history by winning his 9th gold medal in a row.

11.00-12.00pm Few drinks with the staff.

12.00pm Sleep, hope to defeat jet lag, look forward to repeating this whole epic cycle again.

So the last couple of days have been crazy busy for me. Day 2 (Friday) included the return of a BMX legend and a gold medal for a 14 year old in big air. Yes that’s right, 14 years old, and the little dude won Big Air. For those of you who don’t know what Big Air is- that’s a roll in, or drop in from 40ft upwards. The purpose of this roll-in is so the athletes can gain the speed needed to take off the jump and fly over a 50- 70ft. After (hopefully) landing, they will fly up a 18 ft and higher quarter pipe. So a 14 year old won that. Yeah. Speechless.

Garrett Reynolds reclaimed his title of king of BMX Street on Friday afternoon. Since BMX streets introduction in 2008 Reynolds won every event until he was beaten last year. “It’s so hot, and street riding is so much about using your muscles to pull and pop tricks,” Reynolds said to ESPN, explaining that the biggest challenge of the day was staying cool and hydrated. “By the time you do like five tricks in this heat your muscles start to lose it.”

Day 3 (Saturday) was another spectacular show, with ridiculously hot temperatures and strong winds causing some problems to the day’s proceedings. Despite MotoX freestyle being postponed, the BMX big air riders decided to go ahead with their competition, showing off their skills to a huge crowd. Colton Satterfield won his first X Games gold medal, beating favourite and Texas native Morgan Wade, who rightfully took second. In the skateboard park competition, Pedro Barros added a fifth gold to his collection. In the press conference that followed, bronze medallist Aaron “Jaws” Homoki spoke of his training outside of skateboarding as “bouncing around every day on a trampoline. I don’t know if that helps at all, but it’s just something I like to do.” He went on to talk of his set up of 3 trampolines all set at different heights residing in his garden. If that doesn’t signify the dude lifestyle of these athletes, I don’t know what does.

Saturday evening saw the headliner Kanye West take to the stage. Whatever people think of the man, he is certainly an incredible performer.

By James Berg