Ready, Aim, Fire!

Competing overseas at a major European stunt event has topped my list of long-term goals since the beginning of my freestyle career in the 1990s. After a very successful stunt season in 2003 in the U.S., I was hoping '04 would finally be the year I would turn that goal into an accomplishment. So when I received an official invitation to perform at Burns Day, Europe's largest stunt-riding event held every summer in France, I was stoked. I was the first American ever invited to perform at Burns Day, and I would share a bill with the absolute best stunt riders in the world--legends such as AC Farias, Kevin Carmichael, Andre "L'Animal" Colombo and Ronaldo Freitas, guys who have been inspiring me for years. The fact that I would be doing it in France--in front of more than 25,000 screaming fans--was almost too much to believe.

I accepted the invitation (of course) and immediately kicked into overdrive to prepare for the trip. The first order of business was phoning my good friend Drew Stone at Stone Films NYC and asking him to act as my road manager and document the event for his upcoming film Urban Streetbike Warriors 3. Some last-minute product support came together to help me out, too. Speed Bikes magazine in France would lend me a Kawasaki Ninja 636, but bike prep would be my responsibility. Luckily, Racing 905 agreed to fabricate a hand-brake system, engine guards and a 12 o'clock bar for the 636, and Acerbis provided me with one of its DHH flyscreens. KBC Helmets, Set Up boots and ECKO Unltd. came through with some fresh gear so I would look good, and Sportbikedecals and Sun City Electronics also provided support--huge thanks to all these companies for coming through under pressure to make this trip happen.

Finally, we headed out to Miami International Airport to catch our flight to Cote d'Azur, Nice, France (where Stone's luggage went is another question entirely). We spent our first two days on the French Riviera not at the beach but instead in the garage preparing the 636 for battle. To my surprise, Speed Bikes had the bike specially done up in an American-flag-themed paint scheme by Aeromagic to celebrate my arrival. These guys were serious. The pressure was on and time was running short. Ignoring the jet lag from the seven-hour time difference between France and home, I worked into the late hours of the night streetfighterizing the 636 and getting it ready to stunt. On Friday morning we loaded the bike into a truck and traveled 10 hours west to Perpignan, where Burns Day goes down.

We rolled into Perpignan in the evening, too late to test the bike, track officials said. Instead, we parked the truck and spent the night walking around the campground and introducing ourselves to the assembled fans, thousands of whom had traveled from all across Europe to attend the two-day event. Stone got the party started right off the bat with his raw New York attitude and "celebrity director" status. It was amazing to meet so many fans halfway around the world who were familiar with Stone's films. One even had Garth Vader's Black Sheep Squadron theme song downloaded in his cell phone!

The language barrier was an issue at first until Fab from the Riviera Stunt Riders (who I already knew from the Stuntlife.com message boards) came to our rescue. The rest of the time Stone and I made do with handshakes, laughing and the universally understood, "Hell yeah!" The vibe was one of respect, making me feel very excited about performing the next day. After a long, hard night of promoting, Stone and I made our way back to our hotel, the lovely noise of inline-fours bouncing off the rev limiter singing in the distance.

Saturday's schedule was an open practice for all the riders in the morning, followed by a rider introduction, stunt show, and then a parade in the evening. Despite our careful preparations, it still took most of the morning to get the 636 dialed in for competition; Stone even got caught up in the mix and tossed a few tools around in the pit area. Our biggest problem was a hold-up with the Racing 905 parts--German customs officials decided to hang on to these for a few days too long, and consequently I had to be extra careful not to drop the bike or risk breaking something that would force me to sit out the competition. Not good...With the bike now set up it was time to ride it for the first time. I entered the practice arena with L'Animal--and I have to say, I was seriously intimidated. I was on a bike I had never ridden before (my personal stunt bike is a Honda CBR900RR) in front of thousands of people alongside the absolute best stunt riders in the world. I had nothing to worry about, though--not five minutes into it L'Animal and I were rockin' circle wheelies at the same speed just inches from one another. It was the most awesome feeling. There was great energy among us and we were truly having fun.

Back in the pits I made my way over to where Carmichael was unloading his fleet of '04-model Triumphs (sponsored by the British motorcycle manufacturer, Carmichael had six Triumph stunt bikes to choose from!) to say hello. To my surprise, he remembered riding together at the World Stunt Riding Championships in '01. A few minutes later, I noticed the legendary Brazilian stunter AC Farias walking in my direction. Farias is truly the godfather of streetbike stunt riding and an unquestioned technical master. I was unsure what his reaction toward my street-inspired style would be, but after we made our introductions we had a great conversation. Unfortunately, even though Farias was listed on the promotional materials, a contract issue kept him from participating in the weekend's riding events. I was disappointed I wouldn't be able to see him ride, but the competitor in me was definitely relieved I wouldn't face him on the track.

As practice wound down and showtime approached, the energy level thickened. The grandstands started to fill up and the music started bumpin'. I was beginning to bug out, but Stone did his best to talk me down. "Remember all the work it took to get here and all the obstacles you had to overcome--this is when it counts, son. Keep it street! It's time for professionals to get busy!" Pumped up by Stone, I rode out to the tarmac for the rider introduction parade on the stars-and-stripes bike holding the American flag high in front of the screaming European spectators, doing my best to represent our country. This moment was pure emotion. I was the last to be introduced, and as the MC approached my knees actually felt weak. This was by far the largest crowd I had ever been in front of. I had no idea what was being said over the microphone, but the huge cheers that erupted from the fans made sure I knew I was welcome.

Following the introduction, each rider was given a solo 30-minute show. It was amazing to see how different the event's format was compared to competitions in the States, especially the more precise, technical stunting style compared to the looser U.S. scene. Carmichael's routine especially blew me away and definitely set a new standard for thrilling the crowd. Armed with no less than six bikes, a four-man pit crew (plus a tandem stunt partner) and even pyrotechnics, Carmichael's show tapped the highest potential of flatland sportbike freestyle riding, and the crowd absolutely loved it.It was a tough act to follow, but I did my best. One of my contact lens blew out just minutes into my routine, but I was mostly able to ignore it, mixing up my show with a combination of fast and slow moves, adapting my style to the less powerful 636cc Kawasaki. I paid attention and worked off the crowd's reactions, giving them what they wanted to see. The absolute high point was when the music stopped halfway through and the great AC Farias jumped on the mic and started blowing his harmonica, setting the atmosphere for my European dbut. Respect.

Later that night on our way back to the hotel, Stone and I found ourselves in the middle of complete chaos. The French were out in the streets openly celebrating Burns Day, and the whole scene was off the hook. People were rocking cars off the ground, guys were wheelying and tons of girls were running around almost naked. I couldn't believe it when we came up on a 900RR with a sidecar. This guy was killing burnouts and riding the sidecar up in the air with a passenger. We were right up in the action. It was wild--the French definitely know how to get down!

After working off most of my nervous energy Saturday, I felt pretty relaxed for Sunday's main event. The day started with a rider's meeting where we were carefully briefed about how the show and competition would proceed. Burns Day had a very well-organized schedule that allowed no room for irresponsible or unprepared riders. After the meeting Farias jumped on my 636 and went out to serve up some wreck in the practice area for almost an hour. This was the first time I had ever seen him ride live--the man puts the "s" in style and the "c" in control. Props.

Sunday's show started off with a 20-minute individual unlimited show, similar to Saturday evening's. The stands were packed to the maximum, the DJ was hitting 112 decibels on the turntables, cameras were going off everywhere and people were going crazy. I looked up into the crowd and saw a huge banner that read "Welcome Tony D!"--I was totally taken aback. I rolled out to the original beats of Garth Vader to set the pace. Round 1: The only rule at Burns Day, as they say, is that there are no rules. The riders compete head-to-head on the track for 10 minutes, throwing out everything they've got. At the end of the round the crowd's reaction (measured with a decibel meter) determines which of the two riders advance to the next round. The competition's format took me back to my early years on the streets in Jersey, when I saw the boys from Ruthless Tactics, Jer-Z-Boyz, Underground, Reality, etc. out in the streets working for the onlookers' respect. Coming from this background, I felt surprisingly comfortable."Ronaldo vs. Tony D"--that's what the schedule said. Ronaldo is another great rider from Brazil, known for his very tight, technical riding style, and he was performing on his own personal bike, a beautifully chromed R6. We battled it out, always giving one another respect and keeping in mind our main goal was to satisfy the crowd. It was great; Ronaldo is one hell of a rider, and he has circles on lock. I stepped up and put the hurt on him with some killer combo wheelies, high-chair scrapes and long stoppies. Near the end of the round he launched into a two-handed chainsaw burnout. I pulled up next to him and started a fast one-handed chainsaw and, in a fit of madness, took off my brand-new, red-white-and-blue KBC Racer-1 helmet and whipped it into the crowd. They went absolutely nuts and advanced me to the next round, where I would face off with either Carmichael or L'Animal. Both of these guys are heavy hitters, so I knew I would need to bring it hard with whomever I was matched against.
Remember what I said earlier about Carmichael's exhibition blowing me away? Well, you can imagine how I felt when I realized I would be facing off with the Scottish madman in the next round. We hit the track and the vibe was much more serious.

Prodigy's "Smack my B*tch Up" was booming from the sound system and the crowd was worked up. We both came out of the gate doing circle wheelies, and then I opened it up with some street-style combos, tank wheelies, flamingos, high chairs and other crazy wheelie stuff the Euros go nuts for. Then Carmichael opened up his arsenal and switched to a different bike, doing a move I'd never seen before, a sit-down wheelie where he shut the bike off midwheelie and then "dead dropped" it back to the ground no-handed. The crowd loved it. I threw down some strong long-distance stoppies to bring the crowd back to me, and then Carmichael did a sick move where he came in doing a stoppie and as soon as the back wheel touched the ground it's burning out. I responded with some crossover circle burnouts with one hand pointing at the crowd, and Carmichael switched bikes again and came wheelying down the track on a Triumph with no front wheel and fork. He pulled it off and the crowd went nuts. Carmichael finished it off with his trademark "wilding burnout," where he blazed up and down the track very fast going side to side as if he's going to lose it. It's a wild, dangerous-looking high-speed move that was a real crowd-pleaser. Time was called and the crowd gave Carmichael the nod over Tony D Freestyle. In the end, Carmichael's bag of tricks was heavier than mine, and he had the honor of taking Burns Day's coveted gold helmet back to Scotland. I can't say I'm unhappy with my performance, though, and as Stone pointed out later, in the famous movie "Rocky didn't win either!"After the Burns Day competition some serious R&R was required. Stone and I took AC Farias up on his kind (and unexpected) offer to head east and hang out with him for a few days at his Spanish villa, soaking up the sun, riding and checking out the Spanish nightlife. From there it was back to Nice, where I spent some time with the staff of Speed Bikes recapping the event and taking some photos for their story, followed by a few days riding with the French Riviera Stunt Riders on their home turf. Stone set up a huge shoot in downtown Nice with the fellas for USBW 3. I expect to see some great things from this group in the future.

I am so glad to have been given the opportunity to make this trip; events like Burns Day prove that when presented properly and professionally, the possibilities for streetbike stunting are endless. As I sit here and conclude this story, I find myself getting ready to jump back on another plane to Europe to begin an intense, monthlong training program with Farias in Spain to prepare for the upcoming World Stunt Riding Championships being held this year in the U.K. I guess I was right--'04 is shaping up to be a very big year for me indeed!