Flaming Hot Ditches - Red Bull Rich Ditches BMX

Eventual winner, Ben Hennon from the UK. (Photo: Red Bull)

Take a handfull of International BMX stars, some serious local talent and throw them in a huge canal/ditch in the baking summer sun in the middle of nowhere, some 2.5 hours drive from Cape Town and what do you get? One of the most awesome BMX events in the history of the game!

I missed it this year, but lucky for those of us who did, there is an awesome video to check out!

Captain Kai's World Podcast - Ultimate X, Rolling Retro, Pipeline Challenge and Dries Millard

Greg Illingworth laying down the hammer at Ultimate X on the weekend. (Photo: Ultimate X/Pierre Marqua)

If you thought the weekend in Cape Town was mental with Ultimate X, Rolling Retro, 40 Degree weather and more hot gals than any town has a right to, then this week's Podcast will blow your mind! First up we had paraplegic surfer, Dries Millard, in to chat about participating in the Rolling Retro surf day and how he is changing the face of paraplegic action sports and inspiring others to challenge themselves.
Then we had Jarret Johnson with all the Bodyboarding news both locally and abroad. He also gave us his predictions for the ongoing Pipeline Challenge, which has no less than 7 Saffa's charging the event.
Greg Illingworth and Markus Museler gave us the lowdown on Ultimate X, as well as some hard discussions about the state of action sports, athletes and sponsors in SA and the real need for a proper park in Cape Town.
Lastly, Tarryn Chudleigh, Ilan Sheer and Zac Wrankmore joined me to chat Rolling Retro and the surf scene at Llanduno Beach.
+Tyrone Bradley gave insight as a sports photographer and of course Chris Cabby Cab was along for the ride and causing mayhem as per usual.

Download the Podcast HERE

Hunters Extreme Ultimate X 2013 Video by Gopro

Jean Marc Johannes soars the stairs! (Photo: Ultimate X/Pierre Marqua)

Lets get something straight, Ultimate X 2013 was the most boss Action Sports event ever seen in South Africa. From Skate, Bmx, Wake and FMX the boys and girls were throwing down and the crowd were going mental! Fellow MC, Chris Cab, who normally works on MOD and Ken Block events in Europe, was totally blown away and compared the Ultimate X to the best he has seen. Just check out this edit by GoPro South Africa and you will see exactly what I mean and look out for this week's Podcast with some of the top athletes raving about the event, such as Bmx superstar, Greg Illingworth.

Captain Kai's World on www.2ov.fm - Podcast with Twig, Aces n Spades Bar and Greg Illingworth

This week I was joined by Grant "Twig" Baker and Reg MacDonald the owners of new rock bar, Aces n Spades. The bar launches on Friday and as you listen to this podcast you will realize that with these two in charge, the party is going to be rather large and full of Tequila.

Also on the show, live from Newcastle in the UK, was Greg Illingworth, to fill us in on all his BMX exploits from Europe to across the Channel in the USA.

Tyrone Rawlins was in the studio to give us the latest on the AMA Supercross Circuit and to talk about the first 2 rounds of the Billabong Pro in Tahiti.

Enjoy the show.

Download or Listen to the PODCAST HERE

The Friday Mix - XFighters Madrid teaser, Mongoose Bmx, Red Bull Wake & Mikey Feb Surf

XFighters returns to the Bull Ring.

Ok, so I have been away on what many will think was a holiday, but I assure you there was loads of work. The fact that my work feels like a holiday has nothing to do with it, haha. Hence there was a small break from your favorite Friday Mix. No worries though, its back and its bad.

First up check out the teaser for the biggest and most bad ass Red Bull XFighters of them all, Madrid. I would give my eye teeth to go to this event!
Next up we hit the road with the Mongoose Bmx team in Europe, including our very own Saffer, Greg Illingworth.
Back to the USA for the Red Bull Wake open 2012. Park, boat and Big Air wakeboarding in front of 25'000 fans. Sounds epic.
Lastly check out one of the new school SA surfers, Mikey February in his latest online video. Watch this kid carefully, he is going to go places!

west coast and lb from michael february on Vimeo.

Captain Kai's World on www.2ov.fm - Podcast Show 33

I really enjoyed last night's show...

Show 33 had such a wide variety of stuff going on, it made me extremely happy! I had Dums and Marcel from Dragon Power talking about their fights at this last weekend's Fight Night in Cape Town. Jean-Marc Johannes (Skater) pulled round to tell us about the Resurrection Jam over the weekend in the Jozi area. We had Greg Illingworth (BMX) skyping in from the UK to tell us all about the Red Bull "Empire of Dirt" and his plans for the next few months. Then Tyrone Rawlins joined me to chat AMA Supercross and the Billabong Pro in Rio. Shew, what a show...


Captain Kai's World Show 33 - Podcast 33
(Right Click and save as.)

Everyone on the show was blown away by this BMX video - FISE 2012 (Well worth a look)

The BMX Bandit! Greg Illingworth kills it...

Greg Heading straight over the Wall Ride at Halloween Jam (Photo: Jaime Smith)

South Africa has a pretty strong BMX scene. Every year more and more guys are rocking up at the events and comps, pushing the establishment. But, they all know there is one guy they are not going to beat. There is one guy that time after time takes the wins, including at Ultimate X in 2012. That guy is Greg Illingworth. He is the best in SA and now he heads out to take on the world with Mongoose and Monster Energy. This is his latest video piece...

King of BMX - Greg Illingworth

I have been spending a lot of time recently with SA’s BMX crew. Filming the Halloween Jam and Ultimate X has made this possible. One of the things I have instantly realized is that BMX in this country is strong, good and popular. One of the guys who are leading the charge, is Greg Illingworth. I watched him cane the competition at the Halloween Jam in 2010 and am told this is a pretty regular occurrence in SA BMX. With this in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to catch up with the man and find out more about BMX, wiping out with a metal bike frame wrapped around yourself and what we can expect next from the King of BMX.

Fear is not in BMX vocab! (Photo: Moolman)

Kai - How did you get into BMX?

Greg - When I was a kid I used to ride bikes with my brother and the other kids that lived in our area pretty much everyday. It wasn’t like we were purposefully getting into BMX. We just had bikes and loved riding them so we never stopped. There was an open park opposite the house I grew up in so we built jumps there all the time. It was just a bunch of kids having fun on bikes. As I got a little older some of the other kids lost interest but Brad and I never did. I met a guy called Peter who lived kind of close and was the first person I had met that lived in the area that was also really into BMX. He introduced me to street riding. We rode almost every day together. It was awesome. I loved the freedom of just cruising around the streets on my bike and using whatever the environment had to offer to try tricks or jump gaps.  Then after meeting some older riders from all over Joburg and going on one or two trips it was game over for me. I knew that this is what I wanted to do and these were the people I wanted to be around. The people in BMX in general are friendly, open minded, supportive, and fun.

Kai - I have always looked at BMX as the fastest way of losing skin and blood. How difficult is it and how much do you damage yourself?

Greg - It’s definitely not a walk in the park. I never feel like it’s hard work or anything because I always enjoy riding my bike but the injuries suck… that’s the bottom line. I’m sitting here right now with a bruised coccyx from landing with a rail between my legs more than a week ago… it hurts every time I make sudden movements or cough or sneeze, or even when I just sit for too long. I came to terms with the injury factor a long time ago, so now I just sit back and wait until I feel good again. It’s frustrating when I can’t ride but sometimes I feel like a break is good and lets me catch up on business stuff I have to take care of. It’s important for me to have other things like business etc. going on in my life otherwise I get caught up in the “pro life” and all I do is ride and party…

Greg finds playgrounds everywhere!

 Kai - According to me our BMX in SA is bloody brilliant. How do we match up to the rest of the world?

Greg - Our BMX in SA is awesome because we have a tight scene. The events are really fun and relaxed. The level of riding on the other hand is far from where it is in Europe and America. There are very few SA riders that can truly compete on an international level. On that note I can honestly say that it doesn’t make the slightest difference. The riders here have just as much fun riding as anyone in the world and that’s what really matters.  With the boom of exposure BMX is getting through online videos, and the fact that down in SA we can now be current with what’s going on around the world, I do feel the level of riding will creep up to an international standard.

Kai - Who have been the major influences through the years, local and international?

Greg - Locally my biggest influences have been my brother, Peter van der Riet, Jimmy Reynolds, Tyrone Bradley, Francois April, and Nigel Morta. Internationally it’s been Mike Aitken, Ruben Alcantara, Sergio Layos, Chase De Hart, Miles Rogoish, Garrett Reynolds, Rob Wise, Chase Hawk, and Gary Young.

Kai - One of the things I noticed, again, at Ultimate X, is that the level of BMX is way above the Mountain Bike when it comes to jumps, in South Africa. But, when we watch international video, the level is pretty equal, with the mountain bike crews maybe even going bigger sometimes. Why is this?

Greg - I can only guess as to why this is and my guess is that it’s such a young sport. BMX has been around way longer than dirt jumping on mountain bikes. The BMX scene in South Africa has been around since the eighties, giving it a chance to mature into a real industry with sponsored riders etc.  In Europe and the states on the other hand, mountain bike dirt jumping grew rapidly due to the mountain bike industry in general being so massive. They could pump huge money into it, which made it pretty serious in a short time. This also meant many BMX dirt jumpers crossed over to mountain bikes to cash in on that money that was up for grabs… they already knew all the tricks. Darren Barrecloth is a perfect example of this.

Kai - We chatted about the Dirtpipe event in Australia online the other day. You mentioned you really want to make it next time, so what are your plans for the next year?

Greg - Well I got too many plans to go through, ha ha. I’ve been really fortunate to have some really good sponsors this year, which are helping out a lot. They are making sure I’m riding all around the world instead of just South Africa. The biggest change for me was getting put onto the Mongoose international team and going on to Monster Europe. This means they need me riding in Europe, UK, and the states.  I’ll be over in America in May for a Mongoose road trip, and then off to Europe for a few contests, then back to Europe for some more contests and possible road trips. I have a very busy year ahead. I’m also working on the 10^th RIOT JAM, which will be from the 7^th-10^th July at the Mr Price Pro surf contest in Ballito. That’s a big project I’m working on and will be the best BMX contest SA has ever seen.

Kai - Where can the kids go to get into BMX?

Greg - Well first they would need a bike and for this they contact me on greg@theriot.co.za. Like I said earlier in the interview I also have a business and it’s a BMX shop based in Joburg but we mail order to anywhere in Southern Africa. They can also contact me to find out where their closest park is to ride etc. A huge part of my motivation to stay in South Africa and not go ride full time overseas is to build BMX in this country. We have huge potential here and I think with the right people behind the industry South Africa will become a breeding ground for a massive BMX scene.

Kai - Why BMX?

Greg - Like I said earlier it was never really a conscious decision. I just had a bike like most kids growing up. Only difference is when I tried to jump homemade ramps it worked… Ha ha. I believe everyone that gets to ride a bicycle will enjoy it to some extent. I just enjoy it more than most so I never stopped.

Kai - Will we see an SA BMX rider at XGames?

Greg - Well I rode Asian X Games if that counts… XGames is far from what the general public out there thinks. There are way better BMX contests and festivals happening. Like Simpel Sessions or FISE. I hope to see more South Africans at events like this. I don’t really care for XGames. They invite 10 riders to compete with 2 replacements in case of injury. 99.9% of the riders that get invited are from America.

Kai - Last word...

Greg - Sure… I’d like to give a huge thanks to all my sponsors! They have made it possible for me to live my dream, they have also stuck with me for a long time and always made things better whenever they can. So thank you to Mr Price, Mongoose, Monster Energy, SNAFU, Osiris, and Skullcandy. It’s a pleasure working with these people and I consider all my team managers friends. To the kids out there wanting to make BMX their living… IT IS POSSIBLE, I AM PROOF. Being a professional BMX rider comes down to this… Ride your bike as much as possible and love riding it. When and if you get sponsored, stick with your sponsors. Communicate regularly with them and give them reason to sponsor you. Lastly do not be scared to promote yourself, but don’t be arrogant. Thanks for the interview Kai. Ridaz!