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FMX 101: A Brief History of Freestyle Motocross
By Jane Dullum
Back in the 1960s, people didn’t know what hit them when Evel Knievel’s stunt show rolled into town. He was a fast-living, high-flying, hard-drinking man that kept the world on its toes by constantly defying the odds. By the time the mid-1990s came around, it was time to pass that torch onto a new generation that would revolutionize motorcycle jumping. This group of riders took inspiration from sports like BMX and started applying them to their riding. They were sick of the rules and the structure and routine of racing and took their new inspiration out to the desert and into the mountains to find a new way to express them selves. Many people will argue as to when Freestyle Motocross (FMX) started. It’s hard to put an exact date on it because it was more of a movement that just evolved over time.
But there is no doubt about it, Freestyle Motocross was in full swing by the late 1990s. Contests were popping up all over the place. Using metal ramps and dirt landings separated by 60-90 feet in distance. Tricks like nac nacs, can cans, heel clickers, hart attacks and supermans were the most common. In 1999, FMX was added to widely popular televised events and quickly took over as the main attraction. Getting the most attention was Travis Pastrana. Pastrana was this lanky, clean cut, young kid who took the sport of freestyle motocross to another level. Up until just a few years ago, Travis hadn’t lost an event he entered. He was the kid to beat. And everyone knew it. But hot on his heels was a huge group of up and comers. Nate Adams, Drake McElroy, Dustin Miller, Jeremy Stenberg, and Kenny Bartram just to name a few.
In the beginning, FMX was run by the guys who were like Evel Knievel. They were the bad boys of the FMX world and they called themselves the Metal Mulisha. Brian Deegan is a part of that group, and at that time he was most famous for ghost-riding his bike over the finish line after he won the 125 AMA Supercross race at the LA Coliseum. He has since gone on to become one of the biggest names in the sport, win numerous FMX events and break most of the bones in his body trying.
Then in 2000, Carey Hart put into motion what would become yet another milestone in the FMX world. He was the first to attempt a back flip on a 250cc motorcycle in competition. And just a reminder, those bikes weigh right around 240 pounds. Although he didn’t land it clean, it showed other riders that it was possible and it set off a wave of people attempting the flip. In 2002, Caleb Wyatt was the first to successfully land and ride away from the flip, and later that year, both Mike Metzger and Travis Pastrana were throwing down back flips in competitions. Since then, the back flip has changed the sport of FMX. At most contests, if you don’t flip, you don’t stand a chance of winning. And now there are many variations to the back flip. Taking a trick like a seat grab and doing that while back-flipping 75 or 100 feet is not an easy task.
There have been many things that have influenced the sport of freestyle motocross, most notably: the foam pit. In the past, if you wanted to learn a new trick you had to test it on the dirt first, which resulted in many bruises and broken bones. But the incorporation of foam pits changed everything. Most foam pits are 40 feet wide, 60 feet long and 15 feet deep, full of high-density foam blocks. It has allowed the sport to progress faster than it would have naturally by letting riders take previously non-landable tricks and perfect them in a relatively safe environment before taking them to the dirt.
What else can be in store for FMX in 2007? Where there are a handful of riders doing 360s, which is a sort of off-axis back flip. New back flip variations are being introduced at just about every single event this year. With Travis Pastrana having already unleashed the double back flip the bar has been raised to an unheard of level. Be sure to keep your eyes open and expect bigger and better things in the year to come!
