Nitro Circus came to town this month, well three towns actually London, Manchester, and Birmingham during its first European Tour. Travis Pastrana and his crew brought the action packed show of FMX, BMX, MTB and other crazy stunts to the UK shores, following the success of the TV series. Madcap stunts and riders pushing themselves to go 'one better' on the Giganta ramp.

THIS IS WHY WE LOVE EXTREME SPORTS!!!!

The terms action packed and adrenaline fuelled have never been more appropriately used. If you think this is some soft show where all the moves are so choreographed that there’s no need or room for the riders to push themselves then think again!

So we headed down to the O2 in London for the first of the stops on the UK leg of the Nitro Circus European Tour 2012. Even though the show didn’t start until 8.00 pm, by 3.30 crowds had begun to gather outside the arena. There was a buzz in the air and you just knew that something big was about to go down.
Going back stage we grabbed ourselves an interview with none other than the man himself, Travis Pastrana, probably the best known FMX rider ever and the first person to land the double backflip. Nitro Girl, Jolene Van Vugt. An FMX rider, Jolene holds the Guinness World Record for the first female to backflip a dirt bike; but more about her interview later.
So after watching rehearsals we took to the stands as the show began in spectacular style. Opening with a fire ball, the stars of the show were introduced to the appreciative audience who almost lifted the roof off the O2 with their cheering and clapping.

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On the Giganta Ramp, Greg Powell, aka ‘Special Greg’ kicked off the show in true BMX fashion, quickly followed by a flurry of BMX, skate and scooter action. X Games gold medallist, Lyn – Z Adams Hawkins Pastrana, wife of Travis, showed why she is one of the top female skateboarders in the world as she put down some mega tricks on the enormous ramp.  Dusty Wygle threw in a backflip on his BMX and not to be out done, Chris ‘Beaver’ Fleming got in on the action by riding a BMX whilst wearing skates! With super huge tricks and tail whip 360’s, it was an awesome start to the show.
Next up it was over to the FMX ramp for a variety of comps; Trick, Whip and Side by Side Action. And with the likes of Cam Sinclair, Blake ‘Bilko’ Williams, Adam Jones, Clint Moore, Thomas Pages and the UK’s very own Chris Brock in the house it was sure to be good. With the bikes hurtling through the air the riders threw down some of the sickest tricks sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Back to the Giganta Ramp and the crowds once more went wild as Nitro crew got busy with the ‘Contraptions’! Kid’s 3 wheeler trikes, double seater trikes, skies, ‘snow mobiles’, body boards, tandem scooters, shopping trolleys; you name it and it seems the Nitro Guys will ride it. And getting in on the crazy action, Bilko burnt off the ‘shoes’ on his FMX!

To the sound of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’, Jolene Van Vugt entered the arena. After injuring her shoulder which saw her take 18 months out of the sport, Jolene returned to perform her infamous backflip. Landing the jump perfectly, Jolene was rewarded with rapturous applause, only to be out done by the crowds at the later Manchester show who witnessed Jolene perform and land her first ever one handed backflip.
Cam Sinclair and two members of the audience performed a 3 person backflip next, landing the trick successfully but not before the audience were shown a video showing what can go wrong!
Then it was time for the USA to take on the English riders. Entering the arena to the sounds of Land of Hope and Glory, the English team fought the battle on the Giganta and FMX ramps, emerging triumphant.
The second half of the show kicked off with Gavin Godfrey going down the Giganta Ramp in an ice cooler and then there was THE ‘Trick Train’ on the FMX ramps followed by a Giganta v FMX ramp challenge and a trike comp.
Jolene took to the ramps again but this time in a shocking pink Barbie car, showing that she can do girlie too!

Staying with the Giganta ramp, the riders pulled out all the stops as they threw down some unbelievable tricks in the Giganta comp. Double backflips on skies, scooters and inline skates, not to mention the inline skate backwards down the 50 ft. ramp; this was some pretty amazing riding and then it was back over to the FMX ramp for the Big Air Comp. Now the idea behind this is one rider performs a trick right way first and another rider follows, copying the first but performing the same trick only upside down. Talk about jaw dropping stuff, think we’ll let the piccys do the talking on this one!

And if the adrenaline wasn’t pumping enough already, the ‘Special Flip’ performed by FMX rider Thomas Pages, in the ‘Red Bull Challenges Travis and The Crew’ challenge, pushed the levels to the very limits, as did the side by side vaults, performed by Thomas Pages and Clint Moore.
But what really got the crowd on their feet was one very special person, WCMX rider, extreme wheelchair athlete, Aaron ‘Wheelz’ Fotheringham who attempted, but didn’t quite land his front flip. And when Aaron sustained an injury at the Manchester show, the crowds showed what they really thought of this truly inspirational person, showing their love as they applauded him; more about Aaron, our interview with him and his amazing achievements to follow soon on the ExPix site.
Back to the Giganta Ramp and the Big Air and Biggest Trick Comps saw Chad Kagy perform and land a no handed double backflip, before James Foster took the roof of the stadium when he landed his triple backflip. ExPix got to interview James before the start of the Manchester show, hear what he had to say about that trick in our report later.
So to an ‘all in’ FMX, BMX, scooter and skate finale, the show came to a close. A seriously amazing show and one that you don’t want to miss when Nitro comes back to the UK in November 2013!

Keep an eye on the ExPix website as we bring you the low down from our interviews with the Nitro Crew.