AST Dew Tour:

BMX bicycle riding and skateboarding have been popular pasttimes for young boys for years. It wasn't until recently that the two activities have been turned into full fledged sports through the help of greats like Tony Hawk and Matt Hoffman. The X Games were started for extreme sports athletes to show off their prowess on huge vert ramps and dirt tracks along with guys that could pull off any trick on street style courses. I went to an event a few years ago called Boom Boom Huckjam which featured skateboarders like Tony Hawk and BMX riders like Matt Hoffman. The show was spectacular but that's what it was, just a "show". There was no scoring system or rankings, just a lot of tricks and stunts that you could only imagine doing yourself. Now, the AST Dew Tour (AST stands for Action Sports Tour), the current lineup of bmx riders and skateboarders have an official tour to go on and try to make some money doing what they love. I was fortunately to attend the event that just recently passed through Portland in 2008.

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Mountain Dew is the big sponsor of the events and the Dew Zone is an incredible setup they do so the fans can have fun getting freebies from the sponsors and trying new things. Meanwhile, the real athletes are all participating in their events (5 total) so you can sit back and watch the show. I went on the first day of the event where there are lots of preliminary trials going on to see who gets into the main draw. The top performers for the year don't have to qualify for the main events and I'm sure the sponsors want to keep it that way. I watched lots of guys trying to qualify for the BMX Dirt and it was amazing to see front flips, tail whips, back flips, and handlebar turns as they sailed over these gigantic dirt jumps and landed just fine. It's crazy to think these guys travel the circuit making money by jumping on their BMX bikes. We did see a few falls, but all the guys were able to get back up and take another ride. I did see the street course for the skateboards and BMX bikes and it would have been nice to watch that final. The vert ramp for the skateboarders and bikes is huge and well worth a look if you go to the events. The tour is a bit limited in the # of stops it makes across the United States. As of now, there are only 5 stops - Baltimore, MD, Cleveland, OH, Portland, OR, Salt Lake City, UT, and Orlando, FL. You would think they could easily add a show or 2 in California and another one on the east coast. The good news is that the events are televised on networks like NBC and USA so you can always catch the action on your television. The crowd at the event in Portland was during the summer and so plenty of young kids were there to cheer on their favorites and then of course you had the alternative older crowd sporting tattoos and wild clothing. You can follow the tour online at AST.com with the latest results, full bios on all the participants, downloads of full page wallpaper images, and a link to buy tickets. There are photo galleries which show all the highlights from each tour stop and articles on all the events. If you want, sign up for their free newsletter to have all the latest news sent via email.

Events:

The 5 main events are BMX Dirt, BMX Park, BMX Vert, Skateboard Park, and Skateboard Vert. There is also FMX (Freestyle Motocross) at some locations. The BMX Dirt event starts with 27 preliminary riders who get 2 runs to post the best score. The finals have only 12 riders and they each get 3 runs with the 2 highest scores counting. There is a cumulative point system that is kept throughout the year. As for the BMX Park (street course), 32 riders are in the prelims and each gets two 60 second runs. The best riders move on to the finals where 12 riders dual it out. The BMX Vert limits the prelims to 17 riders who each have 45 second runs to do their best (2 runs each). Then the finals are two 45 second runs for the top 10 riders. The skateboard park event gives 27 skaters a chance in the prelims while the finals has 12 skaters. The Skate Vert is definitely fun to watch as the air these guys get is major. 17 skaters are allowed at the prelims and then 10 skaters are in the finals and they get two 45 second runs on the massive ramp. The freestyle motocross (as I've seen on the X Games) is amazing with high flying flips, tabletops, and supermans pulled off by the most gutsy riders you've seen. It's a can't miss event. Each event has slightly different start times so you should be able to catch all the action if you go.

TV Schedule and Tickets:

The TV schedule is quite extensive and you can find all the details on the main AST.com website. Many of the events are televised on Saturday or Sundays and there are only 5 locations each year so it's not like they are competing directly with huge sporting events. Tickets start at $15 for basic seats and range up to $100 or more for the best seats in each event. The Action Zone tickets that cost $100 include things like a hat, behind the scenes tour, and a subscription to a magazine. Ticketmaster has a wide selection of tickets and I know that our event in Portland if you bought a 3 day ticket pass for Friday-Sunday, you received a ticket for Thursdays prelims for FREE. I was lucky enough to get some free tickets from a friend who works for local radio stations.

Top Participants:

Without some big names in the competition, the sponsors couldn't expect to see such fan support. A young kid by the name of Ryan Sheckler has taken over the Skate Park event and he was the 2007 champion. Others in Skate Park include Greg Lutzka, Rodolfo Ramos, Austen Seaholm, and Carlos De Andrade. Shaun White, the famous snowboarder from the Winter Olympics is the reigning 07 Dew Cup Champ for the Skate Vert. Other guys in this event include Bucky Lasek, Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Bob Burnquist, and Andy MacDonald. BMX Park has competitors like Daniel Dhers, Mike Spinner, Ryan Nyquist, Scotty Cranmer, and Dave Mirra. BMX Vert gives you names like Jamie Bestwick, Simon Tabron, Steven McCann, Chad Kagy, and Jimmy Walker. BMX Dirt has Ryan Nyquist, Cameron White, Dennis Enarson, Luke Parslow, and James Foster. FMX includes Nate Adams, Adam Jones, Mike Mason, Jeremy Lusk, Todd Potter.

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