43 Freestyle Tricks

If you like old school riding, or just creative, unique, and different riding… This is the BMX video for you!

Dion a.k.a. RiderInBlack, not to be mistaken for Rick Thorne who goes by the Biker In Black, is celebrating his 43rd birthday by digging into his bag of tricks fueled by old school roots for this new video that features 43 different tricks. Dion knows his way around a bike and pulled out a bunch of tricks that most of you young guns probably have no idea existed and will probably think is completely made up. Either way, it’s a great watch and we’re stoked on it. Shout out to Montana Ricky for sending this one through!

“43 is a mystical number for us “old-school” BMX’ers and March 2018 marks my 43’rd birthday. So, it would only be proper to release one of my most ambitious BMX videos to date – “43 FREESTYLE TRICKS – pSyCho vErSion!”. The goal of this video was to for almost all of the tricks in this video (43 in total) to be ones I have never shared before on social media.

Since its release, “101 Freestyle Tricks” by BMX Plus! has been one of my favorite BMX videos. Back in the 1980’s, I watched that VHS tape time after time with hopes of dialing every trick… all one hundred and one. I don’t think I ever came close, but as a kid with freestyle hopes and dreams, it kept me going and wanting to progress. I wanted to be like those riders in that video. I wanted to wear their helmets and uniforms and do hopping tricks in Newport Beach.

Now, as a 43 year old (and having since done hopping tricks in Newport Beach), I find myself inspired by the quirky 80’s production style, the VHS/VCR patina, the team uniforms, the showmanship and all the wonderful things 101 Freestyle Tricks was, and is. Most importantly, the tricks inspire my own modern take on freestyle BMX. I turn to these timeless gems to see how I can incorporate them into my interpretation of BMX riding – which I feel is the equivalent to leftover stew, a mix of new and old, street, flatland, trials, balance and attempting to utilize the full spectrum of the environment. In other words, I try to ride objects and obstacles in a way other riders may not consider them.

I purposely chose only three locations to film. By limiting my environment, I thought it would be an interesting experiment in spot utilization.

My 43 edit is an homage to the masterpiece which is 101 Freestyle Tricks. It was one of a half dozen VHS videos I owned, watched and was inspired by in the late 1980’s. And in a time where there is an infinite amount of BMX riding content available at any time, anywhere, on a device you carry in your pocket – 101 Freestyle Tricks still inspires me.

I encourage you – if you have never seen 101 Freestyle Tricks – to watch it before you watch my video.

It is shared by OldSchoolBMX TV here: youtu.be/gMNThUIUfl4

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“43 FREESTYLE TRICKS – pSyCho vErSion!”
Rider: Dion a.k.a. RiderInBlack
Bike: 2016 Haro Master Lineage
Music: Miami Nights 1984
Entirely self-filmed with an iPhone SE”