The X Trials back in the 90’s were the qualifying events to be in the X-games. In 1999, I flew out to the states for two months to compete in the X Trials in Louisville, and Richmond Virginia. I was beyond stoked to make it to the 99 X games on the first attempt in Louisville, Kentucky behind Jason Brown R.I.P. and Trevor Meyer. Great to watch this back today!
What a great achievement Big-E ! Qualifying for the X-Games back then was crazy difficult , as back then , I was always hearing about it from multiple riders telling me how those contests were HEAVILY stacked ,with riders who were not only bringing their hardest stuff…..they were ALSO very , very dialed ! Jumping into the ring , on SUCH a big stage …..pressure , nerves , LIVE T.V. cameras filming , as those heated prelims and finals went down……bruuuuuv ….I couldn’t even imagine riding under THAT kind of environment , haha…..just shows how DIALED you were AND the level of difficulty of your links , tricks . Loving your Saran wrap steam you were rolling in this edit …..I have an older issue of Ride BMX magazine , the U.S. edition , you got a color photo busting out this trick @ the 1998 X-Games , I believe . SLLLAAAAAMMMING DOWN in those events back then……talk about BRAGGING rights , bruv , haha…..also stoked seeing Jason Brown R.I.P. , mixing it up in this lil edit ! I ll always hold his riding in high regard , Terry Adams told me some crazy stuff he would pull out of his hat during prelim battles , on the fly to ensure he would make the finals @ those contests ! That was also Art Thomason , his first X-Games earned spot @ this contest , too . I really miss those days , Effraim , getting to watch FLATLAND on T.V. on E.S.P.N. , right before work in the morning ! The stoke of the sport being on LIVE T.V. was a good buzz / feeling and would fuel me mentally for the next riding session ! Don’t get me wrong ……..flatland as a whole, is in SUPERB , PROPER , STAND UP shape these days ,with all of the D.I.Y. rider run companies , contests , jams , even THIS web site ……Im just saying it was really cool to watch it on T.V. on the regular , haha……but everything occurs for a valid reason though…..had the table never turned the direction that they did…….BMX FLATLAND wouldn’t be where it is TODAY , in my opinion anyway ……everything happened for the greater good of the sport , and THIS web site …….was a direct result of all those changes , and what a dope direct result that’s been since 2008 , cheers , E !!