Hey everyone. I just got back from the Rock N Rip Tour, a massive promo event for Sobe and ESPN The Magazine. We spent several weeks touring college campuses across the country, trying to give students a flavor for what action sports are all about.

Despite getting rained out the first couple of dates, the tour was awesome. We started out at Penn State, and my last date was at Southern Cal. I’m a BMX stunt rider, and the ramp was great. Our shows would go for about three hours -- we’d warm up a bit, do our scheduled shows on the ramp, and then just hang out and talk to the students.

The atmosphere was exciting. The students really seemed to enjoy us being there. This tour was all about having a good time, and getting more people to notice action sports -- I think we accomplished that. The only perception most people have of our sports comes from TV -- but they are so different in real life. A lot of people see us perform live, and they’re like, ‘Wow, this is so much cooler.’ That happened a lot on this tour.

Sports like stunt riding don’t look as dangerous when people watch them on TV. These days there’s so much violence and fantasy on the tube that people tend to think nothing is real. Then they go out in person and see guys riding on 13-foot ramps, and they really respect us.

It was great to bring our sports to places that haven’t gotten as much of a taste of them. In Southern California, everyone’s already been exposed to our stuff. But the schools in Michigan, for example, were pretty hyped about us.

I started racing BMX bikes when I was eight years old -- like many other kids, I’m sure. I stuck with that for a while, but then this stunt-riding sport started to develop in the early-to-mid-'80s, and it looked like more fun to me.

I was the oldest bike stunt rider in the 2001 X Games. I’m still doing this because of my love for riding -- I’m simply doing what I love to do. I’m sure pro basketball players get the same feeling when they’re competing against the best in the world. I get that feeling from riding my bike.

I'm 36 now -- probably gonna stop competing in a year or two. But I’ll never stop riding. I’ll be the old guy with the ramp in his backyard, inviting kids over to ride.

If you missed us on tour, check us out on TV -- and the next time we come town!

Jim Burgess is a BMX stunt rider.