Disney TV Up Next For BMX Rider
geneb
Troy, MI -- 05/26/2009
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Photo - Ian Bradley of Troy practices on a private home
ramp Friday afternoon. He is one of five riders on �Next X�,
a show on Disney XD.
Ian L. Bradley has mad skills.
He rides park and vert, and can nail everything
from no-footers to backflips and tuck no-handers.
Ian has shown off those skills in competitions across the
United States, but he�s about to get a much bigger audience.
The 12-year-old Troy native is one of five action sports amateurs
featured on �Next X,� a new reality show on Disney XD, a cable TV
channel owned by Disney.
Ian has been riding BMX � which stands for
bicycle motocross � since he was 8 years old.
Initially inspired by motocross racing, BMX riders use specially
designed bikes to ride on everything from trails to streets.
Ian rides park � performing tricks on a course like a skate park
� and vert, which is a half-pipe ramp, shaped like the letter �U�
and anywhere from 10 to 15 feet tall.
BMXers ride down each side of the ramp,
catching air to perform tricks along the top.
Ian, a 6th-grade student at Troy Elementary School, tried BMX
after riding dirt bikes, and says he wants to go professional one day.
�I definitely do it because I travel and I get to meet
new people and they become your friends,� he said.
But the sport also lets him be creative.
�It�s not just you hit a box jump,� he said. �You can make up
your own style and you can flow through whatever you want.�
On �Next X,� Ian traveled to Camp Woodward West, a training
facility in California catering to action sports, such as skate
boarding and BMX.
Along with the four other amateurs � boys ages
9 to 12 � Ian was mentored by a professional athlete.
The eight-part series is billed as a way for these young athletes
to crank up their tricks and skills, and learn how to be the next
action sports superstar, according to promotional materials from
Disney XD.
Ian found out about appearing on the show after a producer
called his mother, Cheryl A. Paul-Bradley, to see if her son
would be interested.
�We thought it would be a great opportunity,�
Paul-Bradley said.
�Finding out that he was going to be paired
with a pro was an extra bonus.�
Ian didn�t find that out, however, until after he
arrived in California.
�When we first arrived I was like �Ah, sweet�,� Ian said, since
he had been to Camp Woodward East � another branch of the
action sports camp in Pennsylvania � but never Woodward West.
But finding out he was going to be mentored by professional
BMX rider Van Homan � a New Jersey resident who has
medaled in multiple X Games � was even sweeter.
Homan was �really nice� and fun to work with, Ian said.
The biggest trick he taught Ian on the show was a tuck
no-hander, Ian said, which is when a rider � in the air after
a jump � throws the bike�s handlebars into his lap, leaving
his hands free.
Though being followed by cameras was weird
at first, Ian said he eventually got used to it.
And now he can�t wait until the show airs.
�I go on the computer pretty much every week
and look at my commercial still,� he said.
That is, when he�s not riding, which Ian does five
or six days a week.
He practices with his brother and fellow BMXer, 14-year-old
Zane, and travels to Rye Airfield, a massive indoor skate
park in Rye, every weekend.
The brothers also travel to one major competition annually.
This year, Ian competed in the Toronto Jam, placing fourth
out of 48 riders in the 14-and-under park category.
The brothers can also ride on a ramp in
the yard of their Troy home.
�We gave up a birthday present and a Christmas
present just for that,� Ian said. �It really paid off.�
Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
All Things Northwest in BMX!
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