X Games Sacramento
Watching all the X Games hype and drama unfold since the first ever X Games League draft, I was quietly hoping for my invitation to be a part of it all. The draft athletes were selected, the free agents were invited, even a couple of alternate spots had been announced… finally I got an email, I was invited as a second alternate for the Sacramento competition; meaning if two riders dropped out, I would be in. This was probably a good spot for me this year, if you follow my journey you’ll know I have stepped away from competition a lot since the Paris 2024 Olympics, since I ended up not enjoying it all so much. With it being fairly unlikely I’d get into the contest it took away some pressure, and I still got to ride the practices and experience the structure of how an X Games works from the sidelines. Plus I got to enjoy the show alongside seeing many of my international friends for the first time in a while. Even though of course I’d rather be in the main event, I was still grateful to be involved and saw it as a learning experience and testing the waters of competing.
As an alternate and a un-drafted athlete you need to cover your expenses, however, once I arrived at the venue the athletes were well looked after. With a dedicated stretching and PT area, catered food & snacks, entertainment and even a hair dresser, the athlete lounge was awesome. There was always an event happening in either Skateboard, Bmx or Moto, or practice watching some of the best in the world do their thing. I had the camera out most of the time throughout the week and managed to create a bunch of vlogs of bringing the view behind the scenes and sharing my experience. Check them out here.
The course was challenging, triangle layouts always are. There wasn’t the traditional spots to get those big tricks out, and nothing quite lined up. While there were a few complaints, it’s an uncontrollable, and does force the riders to get more creative in their way of using the ramps, often levelling the playing field, and creating space for different styles of riding; which I actually really like and has it’s place. As the rest of the X Games events unfolded it seamed that the courses developed to being more park style, which did allow for some bigger tricks.
One of the highlights for me was Ryan Williams (who I’ve known for years through riding scooter together for MGP) along with all the other riders singing happy birthday on my 30th! What a way to spend it.
I enjoyed the experience and now know how X Games events unfold, hopefully I get a chance at putting something of my own out there! Check out my X Games vlogs here, for first practice, Bmx Park & Dirt.
