Alli Checks In with Andy Buckworth

Australian BMXer Andy Buckworth is only 20 years old, but he’s one of the only guys that can pull off a double frontflip and a Superman frontflip. In keeping with progression, he’s working on the Ozzie roll, a 180 backflip to 180 frontflip. Alli caught up with Andy at the last stop of the Dew Tour to get his thoughts on his second Dew Tour season and to hear his opinion of the Australian BMX talent exploding on the contest scene.

I heard about the Ozzie roll that you and your buddies are working on which is actually a 180 backflip to 180 frontflip. How did that all come about?
One of my friends back home named Matt was just fiddling around in the foam pit and he was trying to do 360 flips. Then he started to lean forward and it just changed the whole rotation a lot. Him and his friend Andrew have been trying to do that for a while, and out of nowhere I just tried it one day, and then all three of us started working on it. It’s still a long way from being land-able, but we’re all working on it together. It’s kind of like the weirdest rotation you could ever think of. You go like you’re going to do a 360 flip, and when you get to the 180 flip, you grab the brake and lean forward, and then drop your shoulder as well so it turns into like a 180 backflip to 180 frontflip.

You’re one of only four guys who can do the double frontflip. Did that take a while to learn and get it dialed?
It only really took me three or four tries just because I was front flipping a lot on the megaramp style jump. It made it a lot easier because you have so much air time. I just felt like I could do it, and I just tried it and it worked. The first time I landed it was this summer in Temecula, California at the practice for Nitro Circus. It definitely felt awesome.

Give us some background info, you’re from Australia but are you living in the U.S. now?
Yeah, I’m from Sydney, Australia but I came over to the U.S. a couple years ago and have just been hanging out here for the summers and the contest season. I’m living mostly at Woodward camp on the East Coast and just traveling around to all the contest and doing everything I need to do from there.

It seems like there’s a crop of Australian riders progressing the sport and doing gnarly tricks, does it have something to do with where you guys ride back home?
I think it’s because we don’t really have the best ramps back home, so when we do take the big step to come over here, the ramps get a lot better. And because we’ve traveled so far, we’re not just going to take it for granted and forget where we came from. So when we get here, all the ramps are amazing and we just start riding really hard and our progression just gets elevated, and we get real good real fast because we can ride the best ramps in the world.

Is it true you don’t drink, and is that tied to you pursuing a BMX career?
That’s just a personal decision that I don’t drink or smoke or anything like that. I don’t really know why, I just don’t like it and I just don’t agree with it. It makes no sense to me to spend $200-300 a night on a bunch of beverages that take you out of your own mind. I like how my life is working right now, I don’t need any substances to change it. That’s just my personal decision, it has nothing to do with my riding or training or anything.

I heard you have one leg that’s a little bit shorter than the other. How did that happen and is it that something that affects your riding?
It’s never really affected my riding. Just as a young kid, I didn’t like walking anywhere because my left calf would get real sore, so I just rode my bike and it just led from there, I guess, when I was growing.

This is your second year on the Dew Tour, but your first competing in Dirt. What made you decide to add that this season?
I figured there’s no point in not trying, so I figured I’d give it a go and try. I’ve been riding dirt every now and then for my whole life back home. I figured it was worth giving it a try, and if I don’t make it, no loss. I’m actually having more fun these days riding dirt than I am in park.

What is your overall impression of the Dew Tour?
I love being able to come to a contest and have all your friends here from all over the country and all over the world. I use it as a bit of a social event to see all my mates that I don’t get to see every day.  I do have the privilege of living at Woodward camp and seeing a lot of my friends there, but a Dew Tour is just a bigger, blown out proportion of that because you have your friends from all over the world here to ride.

 

Andy is headed to Salt Lake City for this week’s Dew Tour. If you want to see him ride in person, The Dew Tour’s Toyota Challenge takes place Sept. 16-19 in Salt Lake City at EnergySolutions Arena. For more information on the Dew Tour event, click here. For ticketing, click here.

Check out the video footage of Andy