Here is the last update for 2009 people. We will fill you in on the end of the year happing’s and get you in tune with 2010. We will start at the FMX EAST CHALLENGE stop at LTMX. This is the second time Clint and Travis visited the complex. The fist was when they were filming the segment for the History channel. This year was a li’l different as the guys brought in the Challenge and then performed a pro demo at the end. This was the 2nd stop that did not get shut down due to weather. Close but we pulled it off. Check out www.FMXEASTCHALLENGE.com for more details. From there the guys spilt up as Clint and Chip headed south to the Pumpkin Fest in FL and Kenny and Travis shot over to the NC State Fair for a 7 day run. Down in FL the guys put on a great show for the annual event. It’s hard to believe how many people attend this event each year. Something like over 10,000.
Meanwhile Kenny and Travis linked up with KING BMX for the collaborated show for the thousand of people that attend the NC State Fair. This is the third largest fair in the country. Just to give you an idea, on Saturday alone there are over 100,000 attendees. It’s insane. Unfortunately on day 3 Kenny took a digger that sat him out for the rest of the week. However Ed Rossi came down to fill in and as always never let the team down. After that they all 3 headed south to link up in Orlando for a ridding sesh. Clint linked up wit Kenny and ED to do some jamming in O-town before he headed back home. The guys had the next few weeks off and spent some time relaxing. Up next was Clint jumping on a plane and flying to Colombia while Kenny and Travis performed at a demo in St. Petersburg FL. This was a hectic week but everybody is ok. I will just give you short sentences to explain.
Clint flipped a clapped out Suzuki in a non English speaking country.
Cody Cavanah had to get stitches prior to show from flip eject at jam session in O-town.
Kenny crashed at show ripping a hole in his hand.
Cody’s truck got stolen from hotel with his and Rossi’s bike in it.
Recovered truck but no bikes.
YES CRAZY!!
Moving on to the final round of the FMX EAST CHALLENGE. This last stop was added to try and complete the 2009 series. We had 5 stops but were only able to complete two of them due to weather. The location was at Lake City MX. However the rain was moving in and we did not want to finish off the year like that. So we move it to a private riding spot near Travis house that the rain would only help. Check out the talk about it online at www.FreestyleMTX.com We have a 2010 schedule for the FMX EAST Challenge and hope to see it grow with each new year.
Next year is a few days away and we have many things going on. We will fill you in after the 1st. Until then, merry X-Mas and Happy New Year from Team FMX EAST.
Here we are back again trying to get you updated on the past shows. It has been crazy as summer ends with fall bearing down on us. So we will start with Big St. Charles Motorsports in St. Charles, MO. This event was in the back yard of our good friend Terry Russell. So we brought him in to ride with Kenny and Travis for the event. He brought down his new rig for the maiden voyage to see how everything would work. The set up was super sweet along with his new freight liner. The guys had a great time riding together again.
On to the next stop in Palestine, IL, this freestyle motocross show was a 5 rider show that was one of the best shows of the year. The riders included Kenny Steinke, Mike Angerman, Daniel Weeks, and Andy Datwson. Andy was a last minute fill in rider and pretty green to it all, however he was able to take on the challenge.
The following weekend the Team had two separate shows. The first one was at Atlanta Motor Speedway for The Motor Sport Nationals. The riders were Doug Cossey, Chip Bishop, and Mr. Esposito. Upon arriving and having to dodge the weather they were able to get a few shows in with some flip action for the fans before the rain hampered the rest of the event. Over in Champaign, IL Kenny and Travis were performing at a music fest with classic rock band Molly Hatchet. This is about the 5th time the guys performed at the same event as the band. This was in the parking lot of a pub called “It’ll Do” just off the Interstate. Good times and a few new tattoos along the way compliments of Sudden Impact tattoos Matt Estock and their intern Polly.
Next stop was the FMX EAST Challenge in Dodd City, TX. It was the 2nd annual Pinn-It Bash. This was the third stop in the series and the fist one that was not rained out. Check out the details at www.FMXEASTChallenge.com
From there Clint stayed behind helping Daniel with clean up as Kenny and Travis took off for a 19 hour drive. First they had to stop by Nelson (Nelson FEST) house in Nashville to grab the rig from when they dropped it off a weeks earlier coming back from IL. After that 10 hour drive it was another 9 hours to the Virginia State fair. This was a three day event in the middle of the week. Kenny and Travis were the riders putting on 3 freestyle motocross shows each day. They battled the wind a little bit but never the less put on a great performance and are looking forward to going back next year. That following weekend Esposito & crew were going to be doing HIN in Knoxville, TN but unfortunately it was cancelled. No worries Team FMX EAST will be performing at the next Hot Import Nights in Jacksonville, FL on the 30th. See you there.
We will be adding more pics!
Wow, what a summer. Well gang we know it’s been a while but we are going to recap everything that has been going on this summer with Team FMX East. We will start with Kenny, Clint, and Travis heading to South America. This was a trip to Peru that was quite an adventure and an experience like no other. Too much happened on this trip to go into detail so ask one of us at the next event.
Meanwhile Chip Bishop headed up to Ohio for the Mansfield Bike Rally and met up with Daniel from Pinn-It. This was a ramp to ramp freestyle motocross show that added a new twist as Pinn-it brought in a quad rider to change up the pace. This was a successful show and good time for the riders.
The following week there was a show in Iowa that popped up on Wednesday. Travis shot an email over to Paris Rosen to get the show covered before he left for X. Riders Justin Hoyer and Vince Morgan gave the Iowa crowd a show to remember.
Moving onto WV where Clint and Kenny met up with Daniel from Pinn-it at the Extreme Dirt Series MX races. After getting things in place the guys were plagued with rain. They went out and gave it a shot Saturday night but were hampered due to the moisture. The next day the guys went out for a second round after the ground dried up enough to do the best job possible under the wet conditions.
Also that same weekend Team FMX East had riders over at Bristol Motor Speedway for their Monster Truck Madness. Riders Garry Robertson, Chip Bishop, and Brian Prindle had one opportunity to get out and throw down some tricks before Mother Nature shut them down with a down pour of her own. Not to worry, the 9000+ fans got a great freestyle show before the rain came down.
Ok so only one more show going on this weekend and it was on the island of St. Thomas in the USVI. The riders Team FMX East sent down there were Rich Kearns and Mike Angerman. Both guys went down there to show the island how to back flip a dirt bike. These guys threw out many flips and flip variations for their Caribbean Bike fest. They got to spend 5 days in the US Virgin Islands getting paid to ride their dirt bikes. I am sure they were tuffin’ it out.
Ok, onto the middle of nowhere. It was the Gathering of Juggalos. All we can say is, WOW! What a huge event and the guys were blow away. The event was put on by Psychopathic Records which is an annual event that was truly amazing. The event was at a campground 40 minutes from the hotel in the middle of a forest and quite a mission to find. None the less upon arrival there were masses of people on Wednesday night. There was somewhere around 16,000 people with a variety of entertainment. Bands like ICP, Kottonmounth Kings, Ice Cube, Twisted, and way too many bad a$$ acts to list. Check out www.gatheringofjuggalos.com to learn more about the family. Whoop Whoop!
So that is just a touch on all the recent shows. We are trying to get more pictures and video links to show all the events. Stay tuned.
There will be a crew in St Charles, MO this coming Saturday and Sunday. Check it out!!
We once again roll into Bristol Tn. Clint and Travis are always glad to see the fella's at Bristol Motor Speedway. Brandon, Jack and the whole gang are always a pleasure to see and visit. This show was a mixture of motor sports mayhem. Jet Cars, Kid Drag Racing, Cool Bus, of course Team FMX East along with lot's more. This time around the guys did not have to fight of the wet pavement and barely pulling the show off. The weather was good and the guys rode great. Check out video link below to get an idea of the event. Team Riders will be heading back over there on July 25 for the Monster Truck show down. Be there.
Next up was Lake City Motor sports park. This is a brand new facility in North FL near Travis's house. Come to find out the guy who runs the facility is a long time friend and racing buddy of Mr.T's. They did a lot of traveling and racing together but have lost touch since the old race days. They recently crossed paths and set up a demo. It was something that Clint and Travis did to add a little entertainment to the days event. It was the opening on the new Mud Bog section of this 200 plus acre facility. (www.lakecitymx.com) Scott Hardstock owner of Gun Slinger was on hand to help the cause and sign autographs also. Scott is a good friend of the Teams and decided to park his truck in between the ramps while they were jumping. It made for some great photo's for the up coming issue of Mud Life Magazine. Newest Team prospect rider Rich Royster came out to get some ramp time in as well. This is a young kid that live near Travis and is improving steadily every day. You will see him in a show real soon. BIG Things right around the corner for the team. Stay Tuned!!.
Bull Fights and Dirt Bikes June 26 27
So the second installment of the Bull Fights and Dirt Bikes tour went down in Marshville, NC June 26th and 27th- about 6 hours away from my house (pretty close to the same distence as the last one I just happened to notice). Chip and I headed out early Thursday afternoon, expecting to get there Thursday night to set up. Didn't happen- first I noticed both of my tires on the right rear were in bad shape. The inside tire was starting to shred apart, the outside one had a buldge most of the way around. While running out of time to get to a tire place that would actually help me, GA DOT decided they wanted to have a closer look at my landing ramp. I don't need to tell anyone that has been stopped in a big vehicle that DOT stops aren't usually a quick thing. After an hour and a half I was released with a laundry list of things I needed to do. The time was now 8:10pm, unfortunatly, WalMart tires ten miles away closed at 8:00. After another hour on the phone I realized it would be cheaper for me to just get a room and have the new tires put on in the morning. This put us way off schedule- we rolled into the venue at 2:00pm Friday 5 hours away from the gates opening. So we set up immediately and got right into practice. What made this so tough was that it was an outside venue and in the 90's that day. After practice we set up the merch booth and it was time for gates to open.
Despite being exhausted, the show went well especially since it was too windy to flip in practice and I had to wait till the show when it was dark. I might be making stuff up but I feel like it's hard to flip in the dark because your timing is usually a little off.
Saturday's show went even better after a good nights sleep and a day not spent in the sun, Well at least for the freestyle riders. Friday Cody the Bull Fight coordinator kept telling us that Sat nights bulls were even meaner. I didn't believe him- I figured an angry bull is an angry bull. Not so, there was definately a difference. I say it all the time "I'm glad I'm riding a motorcycle that doesn't have a mind of it's own". Sat was a very good depiction of that as most of the bullfighters were caught at some point. By a bull, angry bull I might add.
We will have a video of the event up soon so stay tuned.
Clint
Click here for video of event
So it has been a crazy month at Team FMX East. Let¡¦s get started with the Biker for Badges benefit in St. Petersburg, FL. This event was to raise money to help the families of injured and killed officers in the Bay area. Team FMX East showed up to perform and met with well-known radio DJ, Bubba the Love Sponge, in the parking lot at Derby Lane. Clint, Kenny and Travis got the ramps set and practice done before the winds picked up. Clint & Kenny still went above & beyond by tossing out some huge tricks in a gusty cross wind. It was a great opportunity for a good cause. Look for the fella¡¦s to be performing more for the Bubba Army in the future.
Now it¡¦s time to get ready for the first and only of its kind ¡§Bull Fights & Dirt Bikes¡¨. Produced by Cody Brown (UBF) and Travis Willis (Team FMX East) this is the next big tour that will be hitting the nation. The combination of these extreme sports is one of the most exciting events Team FMX East and UBF have ever done. Freestyle Bull fighting in the middle of the arena floor and FMX riders back flipping over the bullfighting cage, what a show to see! Check out the video Mr.T quickly put together. This is all armature camera work and editing so please be kindƒº. Clint, Kenny and Chip were the riders as Travis ran the floor and announced. Cody had the bull fighters lined up and the show was amazing for the budget they had to work with. This event was paid for and produced by Team FMX East and UBF. Check out www.UBFbullfighting.com to learn more about them.
Following the show Team FMX East received an email from FUEL TV asking if Team FMX East would be interested in filming for Built to Shred. The location was at the country¡¦s oldest running skate park in Jacksonville, FL, www.KonaSkatepark.com. This was something that has been a dream of many riders I am sure. The park was kind enough to let Clint, Chip and Travis do as they pleased. Once the guys got to the park, , scoping out the place and getting a little wet the wait was on. The rain in FL being constant for the past 5 days the minute¡¦s seemed like hours, finally Clint said ¡§let¡¦s just get wet¡¨. So the guys geared up and took a spin around the very slippery park. Doing what they could, a flat tire and submerging Chip¡¦s bike in a pool of water the rain still fell. This gave the guy¡¦s time to fix the flat, empty out Chip¡¦s bike and then the sun finally came out. The course was still wet but drying fast. Once all the hard work was complete the fun began. The guys were coming up with idea¡¦s the park never thought was possible. Ironically ¡§building some stuff to shred¡¨ the guys racked up some good footage for the 7th of 7 episodes starting this season. We will keep you posted. Lots of stuff to get done before this weekend¡¦s show at Bristol Motor Speedway, see you soon. Check out the FMX East Challenge update at www.FMXEastchallenge.com
Bull Fights & Dirt Bikes Video
Hot Import Nights (Tampa Florida)
Team FMX East got the call from FreestyleMTX.com to cover HIN in Tampa FL. It was a pretty standard routine once Chuck called Travis and gave him the details. Clint Esposito, Kenny Steinke, and Travis Willis made the journey to the Bay area in south Florida. Upon arriving at the event on Friday night the weather looked great. After getting up on Saturday morning the boys found the winds were whipping around before noon. The fella¡¦s got there in time to get practice done with before the winds picked up even more. After grabbing something to eat, filming a segment for MTV& Speed then getting ready for the show there was no sign of the winds slowing down. Clint checked the Doppler to find that the winds will be increasing throughout the night. So the guys jumped on the bikes to try and get something out for the crowd. After a few jumps the call was made to shut down shop. Kenny and Clint were able to through out a few big tricks but nothing like the guys wanted to do. The guys then got to hang out, check out some nice rides, hot chcks and watch some drifting before returning home and start getting ready for the FMX East Challenge. See you there!
St Martin
When my partner Travis called me and said I might be going to St Martin I replied with my usual "where is that?" He told me it¡¦s an island in the Caribbean, I thought "alright now you have my attention" When and for what, Travis then tells me I would be going down there on a reconnaissance mission of sorts. I was just going down to meet with the event promoter Shawn and helping with ideas and logistics for the event. I asked Travis if he was sure I didn¡¦t need any gear, "nope just your beach gear" Awesome I thought.
Not having talked to or dealt with Shawn at all, I couldn¡¦t help but be a little apprehensive. I figured it was just another promoter of another show. However when I got there and started talking to him I realized he was just like Travis and I. He has a genuine love for the sport and is doing everything out of pocket because of that very reason. I found out Shawn owns a bike shop (Sport Moto) and opened a small track to give lessons and help motocross grow on the islands.
See in the Caribbean there is almost no motocross scene, with only a couple tracks and even fewer races Shawn saw a way to impact his community positively. His idea makes total since, give the kids an outlet. Something that they can focus on and feel accomplished about. Not to mention something physical to do instead of sitting on the computer or staring at the TV, or worse selling drugs and getting into trouble. His track is very basic, but didn't all tracks start out as fields? All I can say about the event right now is that its called "Master of the Track" and will have motocross races, sopermoto races and of course freestyle motocross. The races are open to armatures and we will be building a ramp there and schooling some of the locals on ramp riding fundamentals. Our goal is to one day bring the best amateurs from our FMX East Challenge series down to ride against the Caribbean amateur freestylers. Right now this seems a little far off but just like all tracks were once fields all great events were once ideas.
I am very excited to be involved with this project and to be a part of helping freestyle/motocross thrive in another part of the world.
Clint Esposito
March 6 & 7, 11 and 14 &15
Ocala, Gencor and Stunt Wars demo
Friday and Saturday Craig Roberts, Chip Bishop and TW performed at a Monster Truck show in Ocala. The show was only 45 minutes away from TW¡¦s house so it was a little strange going to bed and waking up in your own bed the same day of the show however it was nice. The floor had plenty of length but only had a ceiling height of maybe 28 ft. It was extremely low but the guys have run into this situation before and were able to still get some big tricks off for the crowd on hand. Everybody was ducking rafters and then throwing out tricks. To say the least it was pretty close. Once again the Freestyle Motocross Show was a success and we only had a few days of rest before doing it again. Thanks you lord for this blessing.
So we had another eventful week here at Team FMX East. Wednesday Travis Willis, Chip Bishop, Kenny Steinke, Craig Roberts and I did an Employee/Customer Appreciation Freestyle Motocross demo with Street Bikes for Gencor. They make machinery to manufacture asphalt; we rode out of an asphalt grinder tube for intros and found out later that the piece of machinery was worth around a million dollars. Pretty cool if ya ask me, the show went well. We brought in The Buell factory stunt team featuring Todd Colbert, Tina Colbert and Chris Nichols the mix of street and dirt bikes worked well. It was in FL so you know it was at least a little windy, luckily it was more of a tail wind. We practiced during the day and then did the show at night under the lights which always takes a little mental adjustment. Everyone rode well and had fun, mission complete time to head to Daytona for the weekend.
In Daytona we rode at Destination Daytona (the world¡¦s largest Harley Davidson dealership) for a first year event called Extreme Spring Break. You guys should know by now I LOVE anything extreme, so I felt right at home. At this show it was set up opposite of Wednesdays show, Team FMX East was riding as a part of the Stunt Wars demo team. This time the dirt riders were Travis Willis, Kenny Steinke and I. The street bike riders were Todd Colbert, Tina Colbert, Chris Nichols, Adam Chumita, Jesse and Bill Dixon aka Bill D. There were also some drift cars. The shows were on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, the weather was beautiful except for the damn wind again. It seems like wind is just something you have to learn to deal with. Whether it be adjusting the ramps or not riding, the wind is always a very real and difficult thing to deal with or count on. I enjoyed watching the drift cars blaze by my takeoff ramp with inches to spare (I don¡¦t know about enjoyed but it did give me an adrenaline rush, whether it was a good or bad one, haha). I also liked watching Bill D and Jesse roll 100 to 200 foot stoppies and then set the bike down wherever they wanted. On Saturday night we got to see Hoobastank in concert at the venue, I had a really good time people watching. Drunk people do funny stuff... All in all a good work week for me, now I can pay Uncle Sam what I owe in taxes.
The pictures below are of Scott Murray and Ed Rossi performing at a Team FMX East show in Grand Island. Did you know Scott Murray landed another Double Backflip in Austria last month? Check out www.Sickairfmx.com
We will be posting pictures of the events above as soon as they get here.
Tulsa and Beaumont
So I had a little road trip for the last week and a half. First Chip and I headed up to Tulsa OK to ride at a car show for Daryl Starbird. When we got there we met up with the other riders Travis Willis, Kenny Steinke and Chuck Carothers. It was a good weekend 3 days with 2 shows a day gave all of us plenty of time to chill and exchange some stories. We brought Chuck in to flip since they asked for a big named riders, which didn¡¦t hurt my feelings since it was metal to metal on concrete. Everyone threw down, Chuck even did no handed flips first flip after not riding since the day before. I was impressed. Once we were done there it was off to camp Chuck to get some practice in and let Kenny and Chip do some foam pitting.
Both Kenny and Chip made some progress in making their dreams of flipping come true. Chip's progress was slowed however when he got some kind of 24 hour flu or something. I don¡¦t actually know but I am guessing he had a pretty bad fever. I walked into the house with little more than shorts on and chip is dressed in his gear under a sleeping bag asking me if it¡¦s cold... "Ummm no Chip its like 80", was my response. Next it was off to Beaumont for Chip, Celso Aslan (from Brazil), Chuck and I. We rode a Monster Nation monster truck show in the ford park arena. We had a nice dirt landing and everyone had fun, I also learned what it was to ride at the next level of flipping and doing flip tricks at shows that weekend. Chuck and I were both flipping so I watched how he rode and did all his flip tricks the first night. I was way off my game that night and could clearly see what I had to do the next two nights. So Saturday night I threw all my tricks, and then proceeded to flip and do my flip tricks. (Despite how small they may still be) Its weird I think I knew what I had to do but this weekend really opened my eyes, Thanks Chuck.
Clint
Belton, TX
Onto the Indoor Mud Bogg Nationals. This was a CFP event that was a mix of lawn mower racing, ugly truck contest, several classes of mud truck racers and Freestyle Motocross. Travis and Kenny had a Saturday night show only and were only a few hours from the arena. They were able to head up from Camp Chucks to the Beaumont show on Friday night with the four riders who name began with a C. Clint, Chip, Celso, and Chuck. After a great night of getting to be a spectator and see the fella¡¦s blow the roof off the place it was time to get a good night¡¦s sleep and head out. Upon arriving in Belton TX, everything was great. Good dirt and dry ground. Practice went good and everything was great. However once the show started the mud began to fly. The area where the ramp¡¦s were to be place was now a mud pit as well. Never the less the guys were able to clean it up enough to give the 4000 spectators on hand a great show. Minus a few difficulties the guys made it through safe. They packed up and headed out the next morning to catch up with Clint for the last bit of the Sunday show in Beaumont.
Team FMX East is on the rise in a fast and furious manner, so keep up!!
Well, it is nothing unusual fans, things are constantly picking up steam and we have been neglecting the site. However we have a lot of BIG changes about to happen with the site so please bear with us as we get through this process and back on track.
Now we will recap the past shows Team FMX East and our affiliated riders have been up to since this year¡¦s first update from Charlotte. The weekend after Charlotte, Travis jumped on a plane to fly up to Chi town to announce an Arenacross. That same weekend Garry Robertson drove down from PA with his ramps and performed at the Monster Jam in Montgomery, AL.
Moving on to the following weekend, Travis and Kenny S. drove to Wichita, KS and met up with Terry Russell and Paris Rosen. This was the 52nd Annual Darryl Starbird Rod and Custom Car Show. The fellas were faced with low ceiling heights and were surrounded by million¡¦s of dollars worth of cars. On top of that there were two cars valued somewhere around $500,000 each that the guys were jumping directly over. This was quite nerve racking for Mr. T and the car owners. That same weekend Clint was in Bossier City, LA for a MT show. Joining Esposito was X-Games Gold medalist Chuck Carothers. Also riding was team rider, Chip Bishop, and a rider from Brazil. Look for Clint¡¦s blog on the event on the new site. Also, all the way up in Grand Island, NE were Scott Murray, Moto-X World Championship Gold Medalist, and Ed Rossi. They took care of that Team¡¦s show. The fella¡¦s were faced with some snags along the way but as always they pulled through. Murray flipped the crowd into frenzy while Rossi had the jaws hitting the floor. Up in Michigan Team Rider, Garry Robertson, was performing at a Monster Jam in Detroit.
The next weekend Travis and Kenny headed to Cape Girardeau, MO for a MT show. Wet dirt and a rutted runway made it quite a challenge. But as always the riders adapted and were the best part of the show. Clint drove south to Miami, FL for the Low Rider Magazine Car show. Meanwhile Garry Robertson was once again performing at the Monster Jam in Indianapolis, IN .
The next weekend was just down the road from Travis¡¦s house, in Jacksonville, FL. The Freestyle Motocross Show was at the Beach BLVD Motorsports Grand Opening. On Clint¡¦s way home from Miami he stashed the landing ramp in Jacksonville so he could relax for the week before meeting up with Mr.T and Kenny S. It was an easy day with good people and a great show. They were not there for long before heading home to take a weekend off. The same weekend Garry Robertson was taking over the Monster Jam by performing again in East Rutherford, NJ.
Now we are into February and Travis has decided to take the weekend off and have Scott Murray and Ed Rossi hold down the fort up in the white tundra. It was once again the infamous Green Bay, WI Show. Check out Murray¡¦s blog at sickairfmx.com. And you guessed it G-Rob was blowing up the Monster Jam circuit by performing at the Knoxville, TN show and the following weekend in Worchester, MA.
So it was a little hard to go into detail with so much to catch up on, but we promise that you are going to love the new changes coming soon. One last thing, please pray for the family of fallen rider Jeremy Lusk who passed away doing what he loved, Rest in Peace! For more info and ways to help his family please go to www.FreestyleMTX.com.
God¡¦s Speed
Click here to see a short video
With the holiday season finally out of the way it is time to get back to the grind!
My first show of the year was the 2nd and 3rd of Jan 2009. Not only did driving on New Years Day put a damper on my New Years celebration, I was also stressing myself out about some other firsts. 1- it was the first show of the year and you always want to start the New Year off well. 2 - I hadn¡¦t used my landing ramp for a little bit, and in my opinion letting vehicles sit is one of the worst things for them. 3- I had never flipped to my truck; I'm not really sure why that was bothering me but it was. 4 -The show was in an arena and I had also never flipped indoors. Now that doesn¡¦t seem like a big deal but many arenas aren¡¦t big enough to get the ramps back to the gap I normally flip.
My partner in crime for this show was Travis Willis aka Mr. T. Travis got to my house at about 6 pm we loaded up and headed out. Charlotte is about 4 1/2 hours from my house, and with a landing truck it takes a little longer. As we got close, I started to hear a funny noise. Actually it wasn¡¦t very funny at all. It was actually loud and annoying.
When we got to the hotel I popped the hood and it took me all of 10 seconds to see what was wrong. There was a pulley smoking and shooting out sparks; my AC compressor had decided it was over it. Mind you it was cold and putting on the AC wasn¡¦t ever an option on this trip.
After some sleep it was time to locate some parts to rectify the situation. After calling 5 auto parts stores and about 30 min on the phone with the store I finally bought the compressor. It had to be ordered. Scheduled time for the part¡¦s arrival was 1:30. It didn¡¦t make it, so we drove the truck to the arena. Smoking pulley and all.
We set up and had an abbreviated practice getting the ramp back to 58 ft, which is way shorter than I had ever flipped. In my normal fashion, I didn¡¦t flip in practice and decided to just throw it down in the show. I see it this way, I've got this but if I mess up the crowd might as well get a show. Ha-ha.
We went out first thing, did some regular tricks and that¡¦s when Travis pulled over. FYI this is my sign that its time to roll over (flip) like a good dog. I lined up the ramp like I would flip and knew right away I had it. After 2 more straight jumps I rounded the corner confident and gave a little tug at the top of the ramp. I over rotated a hair but pulled it. It was like a giant weight was lifted.
The next day I woke up with the beginnings of a cold. With me feeling crappy we addressed the AC compressor issue with no AC tools; I'll just say it¡¦s messy. We got it taken care of and then rode the show that night; I flipped perfectly the first time. So of course I wanted to do a flip trick for myself, the second flip was perfect too but I hesitated on the nac. That¡¦s when I decided I had it next time; well I got a little excited and over pulled. I was a little disappointed in myself but everyone was happy with the show and we were safe.
Anyone that has ever done shows or raced knows your journey isn¡¦t over till you¡¦re back home. Travis and I pulled the truck out of the arena and loaded everything up. That¡¦s when I noticed antifreeze was leaking pretty quickly from the truck. ¡§What now?¡¨ I thought. Luckily the driver of Hot Tamale was there and happened to be a diesel mechanic. He recognized the problem as a fairly easy $50 fix. Tired and sick I decided to just get to sleep and see what happened in the morning. Travis and I started driving and checking the antifreeze periodically, it was leaking too quickly. So we went to the auto parts store again about an hour into the trip home. I bought the parts needed to fix it, however being tired and sick I decided to try a temporary fix. (Tip: if you have a leaky radiator and have no way to address the problem on the road put some pepper in your antifreeze reservoir. The pepper held up for the whole ride back!)
Now I just need to get rid of this cold so I can go and fix it properly before the truck¡¦s next show in Miami Jan 25. Seems like work is never done.
Clint Esposito
Back Flip Video, click here!
Chile Show
I know it has been a little bit since my last blog and even a little while since the very show I am writing about. However I'm doing it anyway. Team FMX East rider Javier "Astroboy" Villegas has been telling me about Chile since he spoke enough english to do so. The plan has been to get me a show over there so I could see his native country. Finally the opportunity came up and I jumped at the chance. Javier always jokes with me that we americans think they live in trees and have monkeys as pets in Chile. So I was very excited to have Javier pick me up on his bicycle taxi with his monkey on a leash or something. Unfortunitly none of that is true. Javier picked me up in a four door pickup...... Lame!! And I didnt even see one monkey..
After my initial shock wore off we went to check out the set up. Of course when we got there the landing was about 9ft tall and 40ft long. For some reason thats what most course builders think is an appropriate landing for freestyle. I understand very very little spanish so I just stood there until Javier asked me what I thought. After the landing issue was resolved we rode some practice, the landing was pretty smooth. If you landed three quarters of the way down the landing. Other wise you landed hard enough to bounce and then G out into the bottom of the landing. However we had a good crew of riders and had fun riding anyway. The riders there were Javier "Astroboy" Villegas, Marco "Chino" Gonzalez, Renzo Pierattini and your truly Clint Esposito. I had met Chino before and actually brought him some FMX East graphics to the show but I had never met Renzo. They are both friends of Javiers from Chile and really cool guys I might ad. As the weekend went on both Javier and I got more and more comfortable. Each for different reasons, this was the first time I had ever ridden Chino's ramp and this was only the second time Javier had ridden since breaking his scapula. You couldnt tell though as he was doing just about all his tricks right off the bat.
So other than the innitial set back of realizing that there arn't even monkeys in Chile I had a really good tome. I actually ended up staying in Chile an extra two days because Javier and I were having way to much fun laughing at pretty much everything. So our next plan it to get me down there with a camera man next time to do some filming. I will let you know if that happens.
Clint Esposito
The next show on the schedule was right down the street from Travis¡¦s house. It was the Monster X Games at the Gainesville¡¦s Raceway. It was a Monster Truck Show that turned out somewhere around 4,000 people. The rider line up at this freestyle motocross show was Kenny Steinky, Clint Esposito, and Travis Willis. Clint was scheduled to flip at this show but unfortunately there was a strong cross wind that kept pushing the riders to the edge of the ramp every time they jumped. They had to go out twice during the Monster Truck Show and do the best job they could with the wind. It was too windy for Clint to get upside down and the call was made to pull out of the flip and keep everybody safe. It was the best choice considering the condition. All in all the show went pretty good other than the wind and everybody made it through safe.
The next stop for Travis was at the third largest fair in the United States, The North Carolina State Fair. This fair is huge and we had no idea as to how big it actually was. Travis and Craig joined the King BMX Stunt Team for a collaborated show of BMX and FMX. Keith has been performing at the fair for the last ten years and was excited to get a new twist added to his show, Freestyle Moto X. The schedule was a 6 day run with several shows throughout each day. King had a great street course set up and some top BMX riders in attendance. Dew Tour competitor and BMX legend Mike Laird was on had turning out 720¡¦s like frisbees. There were several street course riders as well as the top flatland BMX riders in the world. Also showing up was the biggest name in BMX Dave Mirra. He came out to support the show and hang out with good friends. Dave is a really cool guy with lots of love for his sport. The week almost ended without a hitch until a warm up run near the end of the week. Unfortunately, there was a small accident which resulted in Craig suffering a broken lower leg. He had to have surgery and a rod beat down into his bone. He will be out for the rest of the year but will be back in action in 8 weeks our prayers go out to him for a full and speedy recovery. One last thing, check out the new Racer X January 2009 issue and see Team FMX East¡¦s newest sponsor ad, Motion Pro, Professional Grade Quality Tools & Controls featuring Team logo and rider Garry Robertson.
1st Issue 2009
Motion Pro ad featuringTeam FMX East
King BMX Show
Working on the train
Setting up for the Monster X Games Tour
Peru - October '08
11/03/08
What's up everyone, its Clint with my first blog for the site.
Since I have started to flip, Javier Villegas (team rider and South American connection) has been hooking me up with a bunch of South American shows. In the past year I have been to Columbia 4 times, Honduras once and this past weekend (Oct 25th 2008) I got to go to Peru. This was not only the weekend of my 29th birthday but the first time I would get to ride a show with Chuck Carothers. I know Chuck or "Shuck" (his Peruvian name) from him being gracious enough to have let me fine tune the flip in his foam pit. I seriously appreciate it Shuck, because now I get to fly around with a gun case full of suspension and ride weird bikes. This is AWESOME!
Anyway, this event was for Burn, a Coca Cola produced energy drink in, well, Peru. The riders were Julian Dusseau, Chris Taylor, Pollo Restrepo from Columbia, Marco "Chino" Gonzalez from Chile, Rudy Waller, Shuck and me, Clean (MY Peruvian name.) I knew everyone pretty well except for Julian, who was really cool, so we had an awesome group of riders. Julian, Taylor and I flew in Thursday night, we were all tired so it was a short night. The next morning all the riders met at the hotel restaurant for breakfast. It was good to see the guys I haven't seen in a while. (In this sport you will see someone for a week straight then not for a year.) We then headed to the stadium and to my delight they had the sweetest metal landing I have ever ridden to 20 ft wide big safety rolled in and out. The event was sponsored by Yamaha so we had brand new YZ 250s waiting with a Yamaha support truck. It was like it was my birthday! (Oh wait. It was.) The only issue was the stadium was right on the beach so it was windy all the time. We put our parts on the bikes and then went to eat. When we got back we turned the lights on and started practicing. To my surprise, the wind didn't bother us (I think the bleachers were our saviour there,) however the seemingly hard dirt quickly turned to sand. We left and got some dinner, where they even sang Happy Birthday to me in Spanish.
Omar, the show organizer, showed some concern that we hadn't flipped in practice. After some Vino (wine) Julian told the promoter he would flip third hit the next day. The next day (show day) we practiced around 3:00pm, and true to his word, Julian flipped his third hit. I, on the other hand, waited to feel more comfortable and the run in turned so bad there was no way I wanted to do it then. We got changed out of our costumes and relaxed before the show. Omar met with us and told us how the show was going to go. I wasn't really listening...all I was thinking about was flipping in the show. I knew we had 5 hits first round and I was flipping in that run before the run in became horrible again.
I went out and my first three hits were tricks, the fourth was a flip set up, and the fifth was a flip. When I rode back over to the rider area, Shuck greeted me with a weird look and said, "We weren't supposed to flip that round." My reply "really I dont remember that from the meeting."
My flip caused a domino effect...out of pride, Julian felt forced to flip. He ended up popping his knee out, which ended his night. Sorry, Julian!
Then Shuck went out and did his run. Of course he flipped, too. From them on, the show went as planned and we all had a good time. I was told there might be another one in 3 months.
I'm already packed.
Clean
TW getting the crowd pumped
Cali's, AJ Smith, durng an interview
Y-town event shirts
Canada's, Alex Abbott, taking the win
Clint during the pro demo
Garry Robertson over the big gap
Hardware and prizes
Every level of rider's welcome
New York, New York good old NY
It was time for one of the largest events of the year for Team FMX. This year¡¦s attendance was over 100,000 people for the weekend and it was at the Metro NY Balloon and Music Festival put on by Remax NY. The event grew 40% from last year and looks like its going to get bigger. The Team has already been asked to come back next year and bring the back flip. As you will see in the pictures below it is enormous. Once again Travis brought in Bill Knight with the XFR Street Bike Stunt Team accompanied by Ludicrous Luke Duke. They had to rearrange the street course which worked out great. They were able to get more room to perform the tricks at high speeds. As always they put on a great routine. The FMX line up consisted of TW getting back on the bike, Jadd Knox, Tim Wrey and Big Truck Bobby. Tim and Bobby are a few local riders that the team met last year. They actually performed with Team FMX in Connecticut last year. Well they were back. Travis was feeling out his injury and was only able to do a few tricks. Unfortunately Bobby went down hard in practice and was not able to ride for the rest of the weekend. Jadd Knox and Tim Wrey held down the Freestyle Motocross Show with huge tricks and up close trains. The Freestyle Moto X was mixed in with the monster truck show, so Travis took over the mic after hitting the ramp a few times and announced for the Monster Trucks as well. The truck line up was Mopar Magic, Stone Crusher, Cowboy, and the Gun Slinger. They are a great bunch of guys and awesome drivers. Just like last year they put on a great performance. It was three days of fair weather and good times. The Team looks forward to going back next year.
On to, The Works, on the History Channel, that¡¦s right if you caught last weeks episode of the new series ¡§The Works¡¨ it was about motorcycles. The History Channel contacted Team FMX inquiring about filming one of the shows and Clint & Travis giving their prospective of riding, bikes, and the famous ¡§Back Flip¡¨. Clint stuck the flip and the show did a great job with interviewing Clint and Travis along with a few shots of Craig Roberts in the episode as well. Be sure to check it out. Always move forward!
The balloon's are blowing up
The Gun Slinger
Travis back in action
The stands were packed
JK KOD over?
Riders are ready, Trucks are ready
Y in the sky
Bill Knight and Luke Duke w/ XFR
Tim Wray in the clouds
Straight from TV
Clint flips into History
Nice hair
History Channel gets animated
UGP on the History Channel
Busy as always fans, and we cannot complain. Before we get started with the tour we need to jump back to Bristol, TN. The riders there were Clint, Craig, and Travis and the Freestyle Motocross Show was on the drag strip. The first night was called ¡§Street Fights¡¨ which included locals racing each other. Then on Saturday it was a Monster Truck show. The first night everything went great, however on the second night Mother Nature was relentless. The rain came and did not stop all day. Not to worry as always Team FMX went above and beyond as well as the track crew. As soon as the rain quit halfway through the show the guys got out there with blowers, torches, and track dryers to make it the best they could. Travis lined up first to check out the conditions. The ramps were wet and he did lose a little traction on the take off. He went back and let the other riders know and they all agreed it was possible. Never the less the riders went out and took the show by storm (literally). The crowd was great and the promoters were grateful they were able to perform for the 4+ thousand people on hand. After the show the guys relaxed with old friends before heading south to get ready for a multiple week trip.
Team FMX has been all around and back from a four week trip throughout the mid west. First let¡¦s rewind to the Maggie Valley, NC Bike Rally Show. This was the 2nd time Team FMX has performed in the Valley however this was the first time this promoter put on a bike rally. It was not bad for the first time and I believe it will only improve. Unfortunately Travis jammed his knee during the last show and will be taking the next few weeks off. Not to worry, Craig Roberts finished up the last show before heading home and getting ready for the month long road trip. After getting home Travis had a pretty good knee injury however it does not slow down the progress of the Team. After a few bottles of Ibuprofen, a set of crutches, and a few weeks off, Travis will be back in action.
Now it starts out in Union, MO at their County Fair. This was a one night Freestyle Motocross Show combined with Monster Trucks. The riders lined up were Paul Smith, Terry Russell, and Craig Roberts. Unfortunately Craig slipped a peg when landing and broke his heel and tore his meniscus. Not to worry he will be back up and running in no time. Paul and Terry put on a great jam session in between the monster trucks. Travis coordinated and announced the combination of shows and the fans as well as the Fair committee were amazed by the excitement.
After the show it was time to load up and get ready for Jefferson County Fair also in MO. It was only about an hour down the street which made for easy traveling. Last year it was only a one day Freestyle Motocross Show and this year it was scheduled for three. Travis is still hurt at this time and Craig had to fly back to NJ to get an MRI. And as for Paul, he went back to Canada for his FMX Suzuki gig. Therefore the riders that performed at this show were Terry Russell and Jadd Knox out of FL. The fair let the Team build a dirt landing instead of setting up the landing ramp which made for a better time for the riders. Joining the Freestyle MX show was a local band, Anix that jammed out during the FMX show. These are just kids that can rock out hard with their music. The show there was yet another success and they want Team FMX back next year.
It¡¦s time once again to load up for the next Freestyle Moto-X Show just a few days later in Harrisburg, IL, ahhh life on the road. This is always a great stop and was no exception this year. The guys got to hang out with old friends and had a great time. Travis is still limping around and not ready to ride yet but Terry Russell and Paul Smith were able to do the job and do it well. The show was on a Monday night so the attendance was a little light but still had several hundred people enjoying the entertainment.
Afterwards Terry went home and Travis dropped Paul off at the airport once again to fly back to Canada for Suzuki. Travis then truck drove it to Lexington, Ohio for the final gig of the tour. This was an event that AMA hired Team FMX for and it was no joke. As Travis arrived on Thursday there were over ten thousand people all ready there. He had no idea how huge this event is. Still deciding not to ride Travis called in Bryan Prindle to fill in for him. The other two riders he had lined up were Jadd Knox and Mike Angerman. They performed three FMX shows a day for three days and once again everybody was amazed. However at this show Angerman was hired to come in and turn his bike upside down. As he did with ease and the crowd went nuts. Angerman is very smooth and consistent on his flips and threw down many over the weekend. Jadd Knox made the sports cover of the local newspaper doing a huge kiss of death. All in all it was an awesome show and AMA asked Team FMX to come back next year.
It is now time to head south for a weekend off and so the landing ramp can get some work done to it. Travis will be getting ready for the Metro NY Balloon Festival in Long Island. Last years attendance was over 70,000 with rain. This year it is expected to be even bigger. We will update you on that as soon as we get back. Stay tuned as we will have more exciting news coming soon.
Horsepower
Start of the show
What are you looking at?
Esposito eyeing up the situation
08 Cummins is the newest addition to the Team
Team FMX roll's into Bristol Dragway
10 year old Awesome Austin L. whipping it out on a 35fter
Roberts arch
Vendor's checking out the warm up
Russell's running man
The stage is set
P. Smith and T. Russell Train
Nice finish
Europe's very own Kevin Carmichael
Angerman, Prindle & Knox all lined up
Thursday's crowd as the Team is arriving.
J Knox with a huge KOD
Nice Cliffy
St. Louis on the horizon
Freestyle that
Just commitment
Then your upside down
Then you ride away
It has been a while people and a lot has happened. We will try to get you caught up the best we can. Starting off with the Iowa Freestyle Show, the crew showed up to find out that it was going to snow. It was an outdoor event that went well last year however the snow ultimately canceled the event this year. Never the less the crew was on hand to assist the best they could and make the best out of a bad situation. It was then time to head west for the Freestyle Motocross show in IL. This was a dirt bike facility that was outrageous. It was on a huge piece of land that had several tracks as well as a rally car track. The show consisted of Clint Esposito, owner of FMX East, Craig Roberts, and Travis Willis. Team FMX was contacted by the History Channel to see if they could send a crew out to film for a new TV series that will be airing in the fall. Travis was more than happy to have them aboard and get some national coverage. The episode was about the evolution of motorcycles and Freestyle Motocross is part of it. It worked out great because they got to film the Motocross races as well as the Freestyle Moto X show. All in all it was a great time and some great new friends made. Team FMX was also joined by Eric Jensen a local quad rider that brought out his ramp and pulled off some nice tricks of his own. The show ended with Clint pulling off several back flips for the MX crowd that got them pumped to go out for their 2nd moto. As always we look forward to going back next year.
Now the fun begins as Travis and Clint head to the Hawgs and Hills bike rally in Texas. On the way to the show on Interstate 10 at about 12am there was a Honda Accord that decided to pull out in front of them. They swerved to miss however the Accord did not. It ended up tearing up the side of the Team bus and bending two axels on the landing ramp. It seemed as though they were not going to make the show. Not to worry we have not missed a show yet and it is going to take more than this to do it. The guys had to park it for the night but got on the phone to see about getting it all fixed so they could make the show. Long story short they patched the bus back together and got a new axel put on the landing and 24 hours later they were back on the road and made it to the show for a great performance. It was a challenge but they still pulled it off. They made it back home safe and were very thankful nobody got hurt. No worries the other driver had insurance and it was her fault so Team FMX received some new upgrades to the ramp as well as getting a new Team truck.
Now it was time to head north to Canada for the NASCAR Canadian Tire series race. This was a NASCAR sanctioned race with all the goods. The series was filmed for TV and had some great racing. Being the Team bus is down TW had to make a few adjustments to the set up and brought in a landing ramp from Canada and had Rich Kearns join him for the show. Rich is from Connecticut and met with Travis on the road after getting dropped off by Paul Smith on his way to another show. Rich is a great guy with a huge bag of tricks including the flip. The fellas ran into a little situation but were able to make a great show for the thousands of fans on hand. In other news Team FMX and FMX EAST have merged together to really put some stats down on the board. Look for new and exciting things in the near future. See you at the show.
Local Quad rider Eric J.
Casey, IL set up
Roberts with a double grab
Clint getting upside down
Honda Accord Carnage
Nice Rims
Waiting on repairs
Tom Suarez shot
Getting the job done
Sweet buggy
Freestyle on a Harley
Clint kicking back
Ok so it was a short trip over to St. Augustine, FL for Spring Stock 08. This was an event that included live bands, world know DJ¡¦s, a wake boarding rail jam along with Team FMX Freestyle Motocross. The guys arrived the night prior just before the rain set in and were unable to set up for the show. Although the next morning they got the ramps in place and started warming up. The winds were pretty brisk and they were only able to do what they could without getting blown off the ramp. Never the less everybody rode good under the circumstances and made it through safe. After the guys were done there were a few problems the event organizers ran into on top of the rain. Unfortunately, the rain kind of put the event underwater once night fall set in and it was not a good sign. After the guys were done riding they packed up and were getting ready for the next adventure to Puerto Rico. This event included 8 FMX riders and has been scheduled and then delayed several times. No surprise the show was delayed once again. We will update you on that soon. Now on with the Big News.
Long time Team FMX rider Scott Murray took home the Golden Helmet with the double back flip at the MX World Championships in California this past weekend. It was some fierce competition that has once again raised the bar in the FMX Industry. It is getting out of control with what these guys are doing now and we all wonder what¡¦s next? Never the less Murray has paid his dues and has finally received the recognition that he deserves. Congratulations Scott and good luck at Summer X this year.
Well there haven¡¦t been any double back flips at TW¡¦s house in the new foam pit but there has been some flipping going on. Before the trip to PR the FMX East riders drove down and were getting ready to join Team FMX for the trip before it was postponed again. It was not a total waste of time being the riders got to try some flips and others were perfecting their flips along with a few variations. It was a lot of fun and look for the East Coast riders to start moving up the ranks with the flips and variations. The following weekend Travis and some local friends were having a little fun with the minis and started to just huck stuff out. P-boy was his name but know he is known as the Bar Setter. Travis neighbor, Jason, started going all out on the 110. It started with 1 handed flips onto no handed flips. Then it was a knack flip onto an under flip and finishing off with a 1 handed under flip. Keep in mind Jason has never jumped a dirt bike before but is now addicted. Sure it was into foam but still when you can get it done in the pit the next step is dirt. Enjoy the pic¡¦s and we will see you soon. Until then loop out on the ramp.
What's everybody looking at?
Team FMX Moto X-Mas Jam
Friday night before Christmas
Paul Smith's stretch out routine
Santa was on hand to say Hi
Getting ready for the show
Santa Claus dashing through the air
Which way is he going?
Cowboy Kenny & Mr. T getting ready for the train
NSYNC
One of many in Tulsa
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