October 7, 2006

Allan Cooke vs. A Helicopter

Every rider gets wild ideas about tricks they want to do, but Allan Cooke is a bit different. While most riders are thinking about somewhat normal tricks, Allan thinks about 50-foot backflips and icepicks helicopters. You’ve most likely seen photos of Allan setting a World Record at Point X for his massive flip, but the helicopter icepick is all-new. We couldn’t get any photos of Allan icepicking the skid of a helicopter above an eight-foot quarterpipe since the Discovery Channel had the set on lockdown, but we had Allan give you a little behind-the-scenes. Check your TV listings to see when it’s going to air, and then put your TiVo to work.

When not icepicking helicopter, Allan does stuff like this tailwhip transfer into the vert wall at Mirra's warehouse.
Photo: Losey

1. How did the idea for the helicopter stunt come up in the first place?

2. I saw Danny Way bomb drop from a helicopter on a skateboard and just figured the next step would be to icepick one.

3. How receptive were the TV people to what you wanted to do? Did they understand the difficulty involved?

4. Yeah, there were proper Hollywood stunt people to oversee the stunt and make sure that I didn’t kill myself. They kept asking, “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

5. Once everything was setup and you were staring at a helicopter, what was going through your head?

6. Every once in a while I find myself in wild situations and ask, “How did I get into this?” I always have the same answer: It’s because I opened my big mouth. When I realize this I can’t help but laugh and just go for it.

7. How much more difficult was the trick than you had thought it would be? At any point did you think about calling it off?

8. That’s never an option, but especially on this stunt because in the contract with Discovery there was a clause that said that if I chickened out I would have to pay them the $50,000 that they spent on the stunt, plus another $100,000 just because. So I didn’t really have a choice this time.

9. What drives you to do stuff like this and the giant flip?

10. I think it’s because I think of these things—why not do them?

11. Do you have any more stuff like this in the works?

12. I always have things in my head, just waiting for the chance to do them.

13. When will people be able to see this on TV?

14. The show is called “Stunt Junkies” and it airs Wednesdays at 10pm on the Discovery Channel.

October 7, 2006

Interview: Steve McCann

Steve McCann.

McCann truck.

McCann 360Whip.

Bell

Judges' results at contests are always subjective. Do you ever get bummed out on contest placings?

Steve McCann

It comes down to a lot of things, but it's most or less about what I want to do at the contest and riding the best that I can ride. Yeah, you're going to get a score, but realistically it doesn't really matter. As long as you can get away with that contest and know that you're happy with the way you rode, people are going to realize that you did a good job and you'll get the scores for that after you ride well.

Bell

What did you do with all of your time during the off-season?

Steve McCann

You know, that's the running joke. I bought a jet-ski and took three months off and learned how to do 360s and jump off waves with it… That didn't cut it when I came back (laughs).

Bell

Did you just want some time off, or are you just into jet skiing?

Steve McCann

I was just psyched on jet skiing (laughs). I'd just drive my car down to the beach and people would wonder why I was in a piece of shit car and towing a nice jet-ski (laughs).

Bell

You haven't been running pegs for while. Are you just not into peg tricks?

Steve McCann

No, I guess I just grew up riding trails and racing BMX, and I was always into big tricks, fast lines, and things like that. Pegs just slow me down a little bit. It's not that I can't use pegs; it's just that I haven't. I put them on now and then… when I need to take my girl down to the shops (laughs).

Bell

Some BMX team managers are very "by the book." How would you describe Bell's TM, Chuck Platt?

Steve McCann

Let's just say he has an interesting life. He plays in a band (Good Riddance). He used to be a rock star, but he told me that he wasn't a rock star after he watched some video on rock stars. He's cool… He slapped his boss, I know that!

Bell

At contests, are you super-focused on what you need to do, or are you there to have fun at the same time?

Steve McCann

I get pretty focused when I'm about to ride. You gotta be ready in your head to drop in and do some of the stuff people do these days because if you're not focused, that's usually when you get hurt. Sometimes it's kind of hard… People think, "What the hell is this guy doing? He's too focused right now," but really it's preparing you to kill yourself, kind of (laughs).

Bell

You probably did the double-whip-360 100 times into the foam and onto the resi, but how scary was it to take it to a real ramp?

Steve McCann

Well, I was watching Mike Laird do it at the Dew Tour in Denver, and I was like, "Well, he’s doing it, so that’s my excuse to do it, too." You need someone to psyche you up, and seriously, I was scared shitless because it's easy to crash and easy to get hurt. I went down the first time and I felt like my hip came out of place, but I got it the next two times. Now my confidence is high -- until I eat shit (laughs).

Bell

What's your technique for passing time on the airplane when you're flying back and forth to Australia?

Steve McCann

I once heard this photographer talk about how to pass time on an airplane. He told me that because you don't know anyone you can fart, and then the best thing to do is to look around the plane to see who can smell it and smile. So I guess that's a good one (laughs).

Bell

Does it seem like the level of riding really went into high gear over the past couple of years?

Steve McCann

It really did… But you know what, though? I was watching a video the other day -- I think it was Mad Matt, or one of those videos, and I was like, "BMX really hasn’t changed that much." Obviously there are a couple of new tricks, but everyone was probably crazier back then, but just not as consistent. Now everyone’s perfected their stuff, and now it’s just scary. Anyone that comes in to see what goes on at a big contest these days must be amazed.

Bell

You rode vert at the Gravity Games at Woodward. Is that something you plan to keep doing?

Steve McCann

Yeah, I really want to start riding vert. It feels natural to me, and hopefully in the future you know… But vert is one of those things. Like Kagy and Jamie have told me, it's not if you're going to get hurt, it's how bad and whether you want to get back on the ramp (laughs).

Bell

You have a background in gymnastics. Do you ever play on the gym equipment at Woodward?

Steve McCann

Yeah, I do every now and then. But over the years I haven't been able to do as much as I used to because BMX takes its toll on your body. Trampolines are kind of scary now with the looser my knees get. Gymnastics have a lot of sharp, quick movements and it's a lot easier to get hurt after you've been riding bikes for a few years.

Bell

Since you live near Tom Stober and Kevin Robinson, do you ever think about working out to help your body deal with injuries better?

Steve McCann

Have you seen the size of me (laughs)? Yeah, that's something that I need to do. I was talking to Osato in Louisville about how when you get older you need to do more to keep control of how long you'll be able to ride. And the sort of stuff that people do now and the sort of stuff I've been doing, I really do need to be a bit bigger so if I do take a crash I will be able to get up from it.

Bell

Last question: Describe your car and what's the fastest you’ve ever had it up to?

Steve McCann

It's a Volkswagen GLI, and probably like 139 MPH. My car maxes out at 137, but when you're in the slipstream and coming out, it's pretty sweet and maybe a little bit faster.

October 7, 2006

Interview: Ryan Nyquist

Bell

You lived in Salt lake City, Utah for a few months in 2003. Do you think riding all of the cement parks there changed or affected your riding at all?

Ryan Nyquist

I think it made me a more fluent rider than I was when I lived in Greenville. Cement can be just like riding trails, and we never really had any trails in the past in Greenville, so my riding always seemed to lack a little flow. It was nice to ride that kind of stuff on an everyday basis.

Bell

With all of the cement parks being built around the country, do you think that is changing riding in general?

Ryan Nyquist

I think it’s changing it in the way people look at how things link together and how to look for transfer lines and things like that. But there is always going to be that aspect of going for a huge gap or transfer and just flat-out boosting over something. As long as that doesn’t change, I’m happy.

Bell

At the CFB, you won the Tough as Nails award in Park for bailing out of a suicide flip over the submarine gap. After you take a serious slam like that, does it mess with your head for the rest of the contest?

Ryan Nyquist

I had pretty mixed feelings about winning that because on one side, it said that I was able crash hard and still shred the course. But the other side said that I had the hardest slam of the comp, meaning that I crashed when I really didn’t want to and somehow got rewarded for it. Oh well… A crash like that can shake you up a little bit, but it’s not something that was impossible for me to do and I knew what I did wrong, so it didn’t really affect me too bad.

Bell

Your no-footed-barspin-can-can caught a lot of people by surprise. How difficult was it learning that trick? How did you come up with the idea in the first place?

Ryan Nyquist

The trick itself was pretty difficult to learn and is still difficult to pull off. There are some many things going on and so many things you have to remember to do that if one thing goes wrong you are left there hanging in the air not holding on to any part of your bike, and crashing is unavoidable. I came up with the trick while messing around with front brake tricks and things, and it just seemed like it could work. With a little work and some time in the foam, it did.

Bell

Everyone was really psyched on your segment on Cribs recently. How long did it take to get everything ready for the show? How did you come up with the ideas for those hilarious photos?

Ryan Nyquist

It took me a week and a half of nonstop preparation, with early mornings and long nights. I was so stressed out trying to get the house ready that I was losing my mind. My brother Shea and I thought it would be funny to insert myself into some photos with some outrageously famous faces, and also some just really unusual ones as well. We did it in Photoshop and some of them are really obvious that it’s fake, but there are some that we really spent time doing and it’s hard to tell if they are fake or real. My favorite ones are the ones where I’m hanging with Brad Pitt and George Clooney, the one with Gwen Stephani, and the one “The Bandit” (they didn’t show it on TV).

Bell

You’ve traveled a ton over the years. Who is the most famous person you’ve every seen in an airport/airplane?

Ryan Nyquist

I once saw the guy who played the Incredible Hulk on TV in the ’70s. His first name is Lou, I think—I don’t know his last name, though. And I saw Flava Flav in New York. That was pretty awesome. He seemed pretty out of it, but was super nice and let Josh Harrington and me take a photo with him.

Bell

With as much mainstream coverage as you get, do you get recognized a lot off of your bike? Are you psyched on that?

Ryan Nyquist

Not a whole lot. Just mainly little kids who might ride or maybe saw me on TV before they left the house. I’m kind of glad I don’t get really recognized too much. I don’t think I could handle it all the time.

Bell

Please describe your current facial hair situation. Is Greenville going through a new hair-farming craze?

Ryan Nyquist

It’s a handlebar mustache — grab on! I’m of sure what’s going on with the facial hair situation. It’s just fun to do, I guess… it helps pass the time.

Bell

You recently got a new dog — how did that happen?

Ryan Nyquist

I found her wandering around in the forest after a session at the trails. She was heading towards the main road so we grabbed her and took her around to all the houses in the area to see if anybody knew who she belonged to. Nobody had a clue who owned her, so I took her home, fed her, and that was pretty much it. She was mine whether I liked it or not. She’s an awesome dog, though, and I’m glad I found her. It’s a match made in heaven.

Bell

One more Cribs question: Which were you more psyched on, the refrigerator contents or the trunk of your car?

Ryan Nyquist

Oh, that’s a tough one. I’d have to say that I like them both equally. They were both very funny and fun to do. Don’t make me choose because one might get jealous and they might fight. I love both you guys.