Dane Reynolds caning California

The guy may not love contests or want to win a world title, but he surfs some truly inspirational lines. I just love how Dane surfs! The kook wipeout parade at the start also nearly made me crap my pants I laughed so hard. Enjoy...

Jordy Smith RIPs

The man has moves unlike any other! (Photo: Red Bull)

There has been a lot of banter and speculation on Jordy Smith the last few months and the tight loss to good mate Travis Logie at Snapper Rocks just added fuel to the fire. The bottom line is the man does rip hard, whether he gets a world title or not! So just sit back, drop your jaw and be amazed!

1721 Kilometers with Jordy Smith from steven michelsen on Vimeo.

Freeride Madness - Red Bull Rampage Top 5 Moments

The World's favorite downhill event returns in October for, Red Bull Rampage 2012. To celebrate they have released a bunch of highlight videos of the biggest open mountain riding event on the planet. Today we look at the Top 5 moments from the previous events...

Flying Superbikes at the British Superbike Champs 2012

The recent British Superbike Championship, at Cadwell Park, provided some rather intense and dramatic racing for the spectators. some smart fellow was on hand with a super slow motion camera to capture the aerial antics of these mullets on 2 wheels. Simply glorious!

XGames 2012 - Day 2, Moto X Step Up & Best trick

Red Bull's Ronnie Renner on his way to a new world record and XGames Gold.

On Day 2 of Xgames 2012 I found myself back at the iconic Staples Center for Moto X Best Whip, Step Up and Best Trick. The whip comp is fun and some of the guys were doing massive whips, but the voting system was definitely flawed as they relied on the audience to vote. Twitch had a huge following in the crowd and that made him the winner. I reckon Cam Sinclair was the best guy by miles, but hey, the system chose it's winner. (Important note that their has been a lot of questions hanging over the judging at this XGames and much discussion that it is all rigged. More on this at a later stage.)

The big surprise for me was how amazing the Step Up competition was to watch live. Normally I am not that taken with this event, but live it was a whole new ball game. I was sitting right in front of the kicker and I can tell you those guys are going Cheech and Chong high. Ronnie Renner had a huge battle with Matt Buyten and ended up with not only XGames Gold but a new World record at 48 Feet High. It was amazing.

After all that excitement it was time for the Best Trick Competition. These guys put everything on the line for 2 runs, most pulling first time tricks. There were plenty of spills and plenty of new tricks. Taking the Gold though was Australian, Jacko Strong, last years winner.  Jacko pulled off a soild body varial combo for Gold. Freestyle winner, Taka Hagashino came in second with an all new Rock Solid Backflip to no Hander. Another amazing event!

 

Poor Clinton Moore just missed making this 720 attempt, then had his bike attack him after the wipe...

 

BMX from the Air - Sebastian Keep & House Park

What an incredible Bowl.

I love this video. it has some a mellow rhythm to it. Having said that, it also make me a little depressed as we don't have anything like this park in South Africa. It looks like the architects incorporated it into the building design. It's like a piece of sculpture!

Bas Keep's Day At House Park from Attack & Release on Vimeo.

The biggest BMX Dirt Jumps ever - Dane Searls RIP

Dane Searls conquered his dream 2 days before he died. RIP

The BMX dudes were talking about this video the whole day at the recent Ditch Jam and I had to find it for myself. After watching it I was pretty blown away, not only by the incredible riding, but also the story behind it. Pretty tragic that the guy died just 2 days after achieving his goal of doing the biggest jumps ever. Sure he is flying over mega dirt jumps in the sky now!

December 20, 2011 -- The final video release for Professional Freestyle BMX rider Dane Searls sees him successfully ride the biggest dirt jumps in history, clearing distances up to 60 feet (18 metres) on a BMX. The Giants of Dirt Project began in 2010 when Dane Searls brought the idea to Unit Clothing, his sponsor. Over the next 12 months, together they built and tested the line of jumps in Boonah, (west of the Gold Coast, Queensland) on the farm of fellow Unit rider Freestyle Motocross Pro Matt Schubring. Sheer determination saw Dane push through many painful crashes and set backs, including the devastating Queensland floods of 2010. Dane finally completed his life long goal in November 2011, by riding and pulling tricks through the entire set of jumps. Giants of Dirt 3 is the realization of Dane's dream. A custom built drop in ramp was constructed and the final jump in the set of four jumps measures 60 feet (18 metres) from dirt take off to dirt landing. Two days after fulfilling his dream, Dane was involved in an accident and suffered critical head injuries, placing him in a coma for five days. Dane passed away on November 25, 2011 in hospital due to injuries sustained. His death sent shock waves through the BMX community and he will be long remembered as an amazingly kind person and as a professional athlete who pushed the boundaries of the sport of BMX.

R.I.P "The King Of BMX Dirt" Dane Searls.

For more from UNIT check out their WEBSITE.

LenTen Megaloop Challenge - The Video

Lewis Crathern wowed the judges to win the first ever LEN10 Megaloop Challenge (Photo: Red Bull/Kolesky)

The first ever Len10 Megaloop Challenge went down last Friday at Big Bay. I was there and the kite guys were busting big Megaloops. Red Bull always put on a good show and definitely know how to host the guys watching. Check the video and press release below. NB - Ruben went out for a demo just before the final and on his first jump had one of the biggest wipes I have ever seen!! Check the video!

Brit pulls out all the stops to win ‘Mega’ kiteboarding event in Big Bay, Cape Town 

The wind was pumping and kites were flying high as Lewis Crathern wowed the judges to win the first ever LEN10 Megaloop Challenge in Cape Town. Crathern, from Worthing in the UK, went up against Sam Light (UK) and Gianni Aragno (ESP) in the final. “I was just stoked to have been in the final with two of my best friends. A megaloop isn’t the easiest trick because you have to try and get height while trying to get your kite as horizontal as possible. I’ve been coming to Cape Town to kiteboard for the last six years and I love it here. The people are friendly and the weather and wind conditions are perfect here,” he commented. Brainchild of Red Bull Athlete and ‘King of the Megaloop’ Ruben Lenten (NED), the LEN10 Megaloop Challenge saw 24 participants compete in a format new to kiteboarding competitions. Ruben remarked: “All the riders and spectators were excited about the format which gives the guys time to pull their best moves and score high. I’m happy that such a big crowd came down to see the guys pull some gnarly tricks and see some pretty epic wipeouts too – which is just as much part of kiteboarding as landing the trick.” Participants were scored on the height, technique and the style in which they executed the megaloop with. LEN10 Megaloop Challenge winner, Crathern and the other finalists had decided before they went out for the final to split the prize money – it wasn’t about the prize but rather spending a good day out doing what they love. He does, however, walk away with a one-of-a-kind trophy and a photo shoot with renowned South African action sports photographer, Craig Kolesky. Ruben Lenten is keen to bring the competition back even bigger in 2013 and throw himself into the mix. “We’re going to push the limits of kiteboarding even more.”

Len10 MegaLoop Challenge - Waiting Period starts today!

Ruben Lenten showing the plebs how to MegaLoop (Photo: Kolesky/Nikon/Lexar)

Every summer Ruben Lenten (NED), professional Kiteboarder and King of the MegaLoop, descends on Cape Town for the prime summer and wind conditions. This year sees Ruben, together with his friend and fellow Kiteboarder Aaron Hadlow, challenge 24 amateur kiteboarders to compete in the LEN10 MegaLoop Challenge in Big Bay, Blouberg .  

Big air equals a big score.

 

“A megaloop is when you go full circle with the kite – right through the power zone. As judges, Aaron and I will be looking at the style, height, length, enthusiasm and speed each kiteboarder executes their MegaLoop with”, says Ruben.  

In true kiteboarding tradition the best wipeout will be also rewarded. As the competition requires wind speeds upwards of 30 knots a window period from the 16^th to the 26th February 2012 has been secured to ensure optimal wind conditions. (

The Captain's Tip - conditions look amazing for Friday 17th!)

The winner on the day will take home R10,000 and a photo shoot with renowned action sports photographer Craig Kolesky. 

 

Eager challengers are encouraged to head to www.redbull.co.za for more information.

 

Ruben Lenten (NED) was just twelve years old when he took up the sport of Kiteboarding. With no kiting schools around in the early days of the sport, Ruben had to learn the hard way – taking four long months of crashing and swimming back to shore to get up (and stay up on the board). Once he got the hang of it he knew that this would be a way to express himself and started riding as much as he could. Soon, at the age of 14, a coach (Former Dutch National champion, Steph de Jong) and a sponsor recognised Ruben’s talent. This gave him the opportunity to start travelling and developing skills faster. Within three years he competed on the highest level and was the Number 2 Kiteboarder in the world – second only to one of his now best friends, Aaron Hadlow. In 2005, Ruben took top honours in Red Bull King of the Air in Maui, Hawaii where he competed in the big air format against his legendary watersports athlete Robbie Naish, and defeating Robbie right on his home turf. Right before the start of the 2006 World Tour, Ruben had a serious crash leaving him injured and unable to compete in the first few events of the tour. With him unable to score points to keep his ranking, he decided not to compete but rather focus on freeriding and finding new challenges. Since then his focus has remained on, as he puts it, “doing some pretty gnarly tricks with my kite”. He’s all about big air and loves riding in the strongest winds. “I’m pretty stoked to have kiteboarding as my job. The ocean is my playground, what more could I ask for?” Ruben is dedicated to pushing the sport and developing kiteboarding gear as much as possible, all while doing some pretty extreme stuff on his kiteboard. 

Follow Ruben Lenten on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RubenLEN10 and on 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/RubenLEN10. 

His new website www.rubenlenten.com will be live soon with more crazy action, stay tuned!