FMX World Tour is coming to Western Financial Place in Cranbrook, B.C., on June 1

Expect to see all types of unreal tricks at FMX World Tour, such as cliffhangers, Superman seat grabs, dead bodies, helicopters, holy grabs and back solids. — Photo courtesy FMX World Tour

FMX World Tour ain’t your daddy’s form of freestyle motocross entertainment, no, no, no. This is a high-stakes, octane-fueled, non-stop thrill ride that will pelt your eyeballs with so many must-see flips and tricks that it’ll make your head spin.

“We are bringing X-Game and gold-medalist riders to this event—that’s who gets to take part in FMX World Tours: top riders from around the world,” said Ralph Moore, president and producer of FMX World Tour. “At some other events, you get local riders who go out and do old tricks that have been around for a thousand years. People don’t want to see that now. They want to see hardcore, fast, sick tricks.”

Keep up the pace

FMX World Tour has been reinvented in the past year. The old show had two ramps on either side of the arena with riders staying inside the oval. The new show has two ramps beside each other with a minimum of two riders in the air at the same time and up to eight riders in the air at one time. The reason for the change is somewhat surprising, but it makes sense.

“We revamped the show because people’s attention spans are not what they used to be because of social media,” Moore said. “It’s harder to retain the attention of your captive audience in live entertainment. The show is 90 minutes and action-packed from start to finish. There’s no downtime. It’s pretty crazy. It gets intense.”

Sick tricks

At an FMX World Tour show, riders are competing for points, trophies and prize money. The event is a combination of several competitions: team, big air intensity, trick-for-trick and FMX World Tour, a score competition based on the ability of the rider. Judges look at the motorbike in segments: front, middle and back of the bike. At the end of the night, scores are tallied to see who’s going to be the world champion for the night. 

Expect to see tricks such as cliffhangers, Shao-Lin bar hops, super cans, knack-knacks, Superman seat grabs, dead bodies, helicopters, holy grabs and back solids, in which the rider lets go of the bike completely.

Pulling off these unreal stunts are the likes of Nick Dunn, Keese Sayers, X Games-medalist Brody Wilson and X Games gold-medalist Kassie Boone, the only female FMX rider in the world. Some of the tricks seen at the event will be entirely original.

“Whoever performs a trick first gets to name the trick,” said Moore. “Nick Dunn created the Captain Morgan. If you’ve ever looked at a bottle of rum and seen how Captain Morgan has his foot on the oak cask, imagine doing that at 45 feet (14 metres) flying through the air. Then take it one step further: doing it upside down while doing a backflip.

“Brody Wilson does the running man. He hops off the bike and lets go of the handlebars and runs alongside the bike while moving his legs and hands in a running motion to run back on.”

FMX World Tour will be coming to Western Financial Place in Cranbrook, B.C., on Saturday, June 1, 2019.

“It’s the hottest show on the planet,” said Moore. “If you like extreme action sports and you want to see some of the best FMX riders in the world, get a ticket. It’s going to be loud, crazy and full of energy. We’re there Saturday night for one show only. Don’t miss it.”