Freestyle Motorcross rider and X Games Moto X announcer Cameron Steele breaks down what to watch for in this inagural event.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bringing the aerial assault of Freestyle Moto X to the X Games and San Francisco is the best idea I've ever heard.

Just the basic way an engine works by exploding gas makes for something completely different than anything the X Games has ever seen. I'm a believer in the fact that freestyle Motorcross will be as combustible as gasoline on Pier 30 and blow up the X Games.

Igniting the X Games is a great way to describe what the Moto X will do. The maniacs who pilot these 250cc machines will by far rule the air as they launch themselves up to 30 feet into the sky off the "hits" from 50 to 80 feet in length.

	Clifford Adoptante launches himself over a jump during Moto X practice Sunday.

For me, a freestyle competitor and rider in some of the movies that spawned this new sport, I still get amped every time I see a new coarse laid out in front of me just waiting for someone to lay down the first knobby track.

The short history of Freestyle Motorcross can be traced to the creators of the first "Crusty Demons of Dirt" video. One of those creators is John Freeman, who is a judge at this inaugural X Games competition. The idea was "to show the fun and lifestyle of just going riding," according to another Crusty creator Dana Nicholson.

I would definitely say that the pair of pioneers hit their mark. They have sent a resurgence of sort into the whole moto industry. Events that just a few years back were selling 70-percent of the tickets, are now sold out in advance and it is directly related to the riders you will see here at the X-Games.

Mike Metzger, who is the undisputed king of the early videos and is still the top rider in the world, is credited with inventing many of the tricks you will see. He is for sure the guy perfecting most of them.

According to most insiders and riders, "Metz" is the favorite here this week. He has been busting some new tricks such as the "Christ Air" -- which is a super extended "Cliff Hanger" -- where he lets go of the bars in mid air, letting his feet drift up to hook under his handle bars. When he gets to full extension, he looks like he is standing erect over his bars with his arms straight out to his sides!

Sick!!

He will also be pulling "Pendulums," which is a combination of two "No Footed Can Cans" during the same jump, but done on both sides of the bike in quick succession. The name comes from the swinging second hand inside a grandfather clock.

Also busting the "Pendulums" is the darkhorse of the event, Kris Rourke from Boise, Idaho. This newcomer busted onto the scene last year with a finals appearance at the MCD Freeride Championships in Cost Mesa, Calif., and has yet to let up. I spoke with Kris this weekend in San Francisco and he told me that he will be bringing three brand new, never before seen moves, to the X Games. I'd say he's a medal contender -- with a good chance for the gold.

For Rourke or "Metz" to go home with the gold medal they will have to tangle with the cream of the crop in Freestyle Motocross. Any of the 10 riders here this week can win the event.

But one rider who can't be overlooked is 16-year old Travis Pestrana, who is just coming back from an injury he sustained in a 120-foot leap gone wrong at last year's Lake Havasu Freestyle Moto Championship. Pestrana came up short and dislocated his spine from his pelvis and spent the next few months in a wheelchair.

This is his first event since the injury. Hopefully he will bring his "Lazy Boy," a truck where he lets go of the bars and lays back on the bike with his feet up under the bars -- reclining on the bike.

"Mad Mike" Jones is also a contender with his "Rocket Airs" and his supercharged runs. He is the oldest rider in the event at 33.

This X Games is the first major exposure for the guys this year and everyone is healthy and ready to go. It will be a great show.