ESPN X Games

Updated: July 31, 2009, 11:50 PM ET

Live X Games Blog - BMX, Monday

Keep it tuned here for continuous LIVE updates on all the BMX action from XG15.

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By Brian Tunney
ESPN Action Sports
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7:15 p.m. PST: And that's gonna be it for our first dose of vert practice. The chains are on the ramp and that day is winding down. Highlights of the day include some sick park riding, including the debut of Dave Mirra on the course, some inverted 720s over the hip from Daniel Dhers and more than a few boosts from Chase Hawk.

Street saw some trepidation from the competitors, which was overtaken pretty easily by the decision to say, "Oh heck with it" by everyone, followed by some 12-stair rail warmup sessions from the entire street entourage. And vert, well, we got a tire grab 540 from Simon Tabron and some stylish airs at height.

A reminder: this is only Monday. The competition doesn't start until Thursday, and although most riders wanna take it easy and make it to the actual comp, practice is just going to be sicker by the day. So check back tomorrow for more action from park, street, vert and big air practice. We'll be live blogging from the morning and into the night. Later!

Simon Tabron

6:48 p.m. PST: Simon Tabron is the only one sessioning the vert ramp at the moment. I'm standing on the deck chatting with him about how smooth and excited he is about the event. He really liked the double roll-ins on each end of it. Simon just moved to Manahattan Beach from England so he's only 10 minutes down the street from the venue. He didn't bring his pads today because he just wanted to pump around, but he couldn't resist doing a couple 540s because the ramp is so prime.

7:02 p.m. PST: Is the concrete park course affecting the brakeless rider contingent in park? - Todd Seligmen, Virgina

If it was, I couldn't tell today. Chase Hawk ruled practice, riding faster and going higher than everyone. Even Dave Mirra seemed to be just adjusting pretty well to the course without any brakes on his bike. It seems like there are more riders with brakes on their bikes than without in park. Ultimately though, the contest is going to be all about flow. Hey, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.

And as for street, well, brakes aren't really an issue for anyone. Brian Kachinsky, Brad Simms and Van Homan all ride with back brakes on. There aren't any back rails to fufanu on the course though, but when they leave the venue and are riding down the 101, they can stop on a dime if need be.

5:58 p.m. PST: Welcome to the first afternoon of vert practice. I am sitting in the grand stands of the Home Depot Center, looking at an empty vert ramp. Women's skate practice just ended, and unfortunately, I don't think too many vert riders have made it to LA yet. So instead of running down the action, I'll mention that Steve McCann is officially out of the comp. Steve should've been riding vert and big air, but after undergoing ankle surgery in early July, it looks like he's still in recovery and not at 100% just yet. Next year, I'm gonna be that guy to make a rush judgment and predict that Steve will be back with a vengeance in vert, big air and park. Get well Steve, your presence in vert will be missed at XG15. For more on Steve McCann and his vert game, check out his new breed of vert interview on ESPN BMX.

Oh yeah, I'm hearing some unreal rumors about big air involving double frontflips AND double backflips. We'll get the full scoop on that tomorrow when we hit up practice at the Staples Center. But check back soon for more on vert. Hopefully someone shows up!

Robbie Morales.

4:05 p.m. PST: We're finally getting to see some riding on the street course. The 12-stair rail challenge is over. Instead of everyone eyeing it up and saying, "I don't wanna do that in practice," the entire crew of riders practicing manned up and trained their way down it, including Van Homan, Ty Morrow, Nathan Williams, Brad Simms, Brian Kachinsky, Corey Martinez and Dakota Roche. So, we got that little bump in the road out of the way, and now the big rails are getting sessioned properly. Even Premium's Rob Darden is on the course riding. And Dakota Roche just did a pretty sweet 180 over the Euro gap and rail to rollback up the steep bank to barspin out. Speaking of which, Dakota, whose known for his sometimes outlandish reactions to un-pulled tricks, including the word "Fudge," has started to use actual curse words according to Fit TM Robbie Morales. So cover your youngin's ears if they're watching Dakota stressing out over a trick ...

Beanie Babies.

3:25 p.m. PST: Ty Morrow and Nathan Williams are both rocking beanies in this brutal summer heat.

Seth being Seth.

3:01 p.m. PST: Seth Kimbrough, pondering street practice atop the 12-stair rail. The first day of street practice is pretty mellow. We're out in the middle of the sun, and well, you can't really "practice" anything on a 12-stair rail. As Chase Hawk just said, "This definitely separates the men from the boys." Of course, Chase just finished up park practice, cruised over to the street course, rode straight down the 12-stairs and proceeded to session the rest of the course with everyone. Going back to Seth, he's walking around, procrastinating practice. I guess I should also mention Van Homan. First day of practice, first guy to hit the big rail. Not regular though, he over doubled it. Gotta love that dude.

2:05 p.m. PST: And that's going to do it for the very first park practice session of the week. We are heading over to the street course to check out some grinding and take a break from the carving. Check back tomorrow for more park highlights.

1:48 p.m. PST: Dhers just flawlessly 720'd the quad box.

1:45 p.m. PST: Attack of the shirtless practice session. Chris Doyle, Diogo Canina and Daniel Dhers are cruising (way too fast) around on the concrete without t-shirts on. I fear for the skin on their backs. Not only because of the sun, but well, if they slide out, road rash hurts. Highlights of the practice session so far? Well, this is most of the competitor's first times on the course, so everyone is basically just figuring out lines, getting their carve on and keeping it pretty mellow. I will say that Ali Whitton and Chase Hawk are looking really good so far. Ali even went to so far as to say, "I haven't had to figure out lines in a long time." But he's not having any problems, and he's just coming off of a broken hand too. When some people got it, they just got it.

1:20 p.m. PST: Brian Foster Update: He took a digger on the hip a few days ago, and did a number on his knee. According to Brian, two days ago, he started pedaling a beach cruiser, and today, he's just going to cruise around. The reason for all this: BF is steadily downgrading his knee pad setup. So blame low impact knee gaskets for BF's relaxed practice session. He does have some lines figured out though, so don't count the oldest park competitor out anytime soon. Did I mention that Brian Foster is 37 years old and still ripping? Plus that, he is one heck of a cheap wine connoisseur.

Dave Mirra, ladies and gentlemen!

1 p.m. PST: Dave Mirra has entered the building. There's been a lot of speculation about whether or not Dave is actually going to ride the park comp. And I'm going to chalk that one up to the concrete. I guess the nice way to put it is that some people aren't big fans of riding concrete. So as of yesterday, the grapevine was saying Mirra was out. The grapevine has a way of reversing decisions though, and today, it did just that. So Mirra is in, and as of 30 seconds ago, surveying the course in some DC slippers. They look comfortable.

12:45 p.m. PST: Overheard: "Did you make a decent course this year, Wessel?" Said by Van Homan to park builder Nate Wessel. I guess a back story is in order. Nate Wessel is one of the main X Games course builders, and he got some flack last year from a skateboarder that wasn't too happy about a BMXer constructing the park course. Ironically, the same guy that complained was also the guy that won the skate park comp, so he basically did a whole lot of complaining for nothing. Wessel took it in stride though, the two parties talked it out and now everyone is one big happy dysfunctional family. Nate's also going to ride practice now, which is pretty cool.

Jeremiah looking serious.

12:40 p.m. PST: Park practice is underway. On the course so far are Scotty Cranmer, Rob Darden, Ali Whitton, Chase Hawk, Jeremiah Smith and Chris Doyle. The big news: Scotty Cranmer has pink rims. Take a second and let that soak in.

I'm just joking. Scotty Cranmer frontflips off of dumpsters in his spare time. If he wants to ride pink rims, he can do it and pull it off. But there is some actual big news: the park is concrete, and it's flowing really great. Speed is the new name of the game, and I can't wait to see some more of the style-centric park cats (and dogs) ride this thing. Not that I have anything against tricks, but Chase Hawk, Brian Foster and Corey Bohan are going to be to fun to watch in this thing.

12 p.m. PST: Hello BMX (and non-BMX) world.

We are coming to you live from Los Angeles. Well, let me rephrase that. We are coming to you live from Carson, CA. Carson is the location of the Home Depot Center, home of X Games 15, along with a handful of donut shops and a few Del Tacos. But I am not here to talk about food. Someday, that might change, but for now, I am here to live blog BMX practice for X Games 15. And when practice ends, we'll be covering the BMX events from start to finish with the latest haps.

So for the next week, check this blog often. Like every few minutes or so, and you can stay as up to date as humanly possible on every minute detail of BMX at the X Games. I will know when Chase Hawk's shoe comes untied, and I will tell you about it in real time. So you can be checking this at work, then tell your co-worker over the water cooler that Chase Hawk needs to pay more attention to double knots on his Vans so he can win the park event. But just in case Chase's shoes don't come untied, we'll have the latest info on everything, from tricks to setups to sponsor changes. See you in a few minutes. We're off to watch practice.