Daniel Dhers has had a stellar career in BMX thus far and, maybe following the footsteps of legendary riders he probably looks up to, has dipped the proverbial toe into the industry side of the sport that has given him so much. We've seen Mat Hoffman (BMX's "deity") build a company from the ground up, as well as Dave Mirra and a large majority of BMX companies are "rider owned". It's how the industry works. To accomplish this, however, Dhers had to let go of his sponsor Albe's. He thanks them for their support through the beginning years of his career. To ride for 58, Dhers has already recruited another stellar contest rider, Mark Webb. We know everybody on the tour is friends but I don't know who saw Webb riding for Dhers coming... Not me... Two of BMX's biggest names currently and this start-up is already on its way wouldn't you say?

Check out 58 Bike Shop's website and view some recent Daniel Dhers "training" footage. I do hope they invest into a professional web developer in the future, however. Normally a website that looks like this gets "skipped" in my book.

The announcers kept mentioning the tiebreaker that hadn't yet come in to play, except for the difference in gold and silver. Dhers and Enarson match scores at the very end, as Dhers sits a run out to gain energy and put on one of his best X Games runs to date. Dhers strategy pays off as his third best score, the tiebreaker score, beats out Enarson's and Dennis will settle for silver.

Scotty Cranmer will keep a grip on bronze with some high octane runs, holding nothing back. The less-than-safe strategy cost him in overall run scores with some falls and slip ups, but he still goes home with hardware for his efforts. Just missing the podium, and breaking the hearts of his fans, Chase Hawk lands in 4th place with a refreshing take on the X Games park course. Another refreshing rider, Gary Young, lands in 5th after a couple of shortened runs. You can't hate on Gary for going for it, regardless of trying to get a solid, medal-worthy score.

A couple of riders were plagued by losing their lines and sinking into quicksand and having to call their runs. Diogo Canina would at least keep going but would often lose his lines and start dead sailing every wall, costing him a finals appearance. Brett Banasiewicz and Daniel Dhers are similar riders in that they just trick, trick, trick box-jump like obstacles and are still very impressive. The difference is Dhers got solid scores to advance and THEN brought out the big guns to win the entire event. Brett made the mistake of throwing away runs with his best tricks and not advancing to the finals. No doubt, however, he will learn from these mistakes next year.

Kyle Baldock probably suffered the worst from losing lines, as he is another rider more accustomed to just box jump to quarter type courses. As soon as he landed bad, slowed down, and lost his line he would just call it. Garrett Reynolds also plagued himself by calling it early, but to his credit he went hard and should have given Chase a bigger scare.

We're glad to see the park event evolving and incorporating a more mature and skillful style of riding, and seeing riders who deserve it be rewarded generously. Next year, however, will the Dhers routine wear thin on the judges and not be able to compete with Enarson who was inches away from putting together the best park run in a while to take first.

Ocean City is set to go for the first event of this summer's Dew Tour, the Pantech Open. The world's best are already on the course, getting used to whatever the masterminds of courses have put together and probably only hitting the box jump.

The two names that can not be ignored are Daniel Dhers and Brett Banasiewicz. Though Brett had a poor showing last year, and many other names could be brought up, Daniel and Brett are without a doubt the most consistent competitors. Especially considering Brett won't be distracted with competing dirt since it's cancelled for this event.

All in all it's going to be a great year. We'll see if Jamie Bestwick continues his dominance that has almost become a bad thing for the discipline of vert as it would seem like he has no competition. When's Coco gonna win? Dhers will fight to defend his park title but if Banana Sandwich can focus on both park and dirt in the later events he might have a double cup season. And Brandon Dosch will have to defend his dirt title against Brett, but we all know TJ Ellis should have won anyway.

Check out this cool preview video from Dew Tour with Ryan Nyquist. Ryan worked with the course designers to make this Dew Tour event more than a box jump competition. It's unfortunate that most of the creative lines won't be seen as competitors stick to tricks on basic ramps, but it looks like there is some added size to the course overall and it'll be interesting to see how the riders use this size.

Oh, it's a-comin'. Starting July 27, this year's X Games will continue the evolving formats and courses that encompass a more free style of riding. The courses this year are continually improving, except for the big air and vert courses which leave little to improve on, except maybe safety. So, let's have a look at this summer's courses and the riders invited to shred on 'em (click to enlarge):




The Big Air event will commence on July 28 and feature the following riders:
Chad Kagy
Steven McCann
Morgan Wade
Zack Warden
Vince Byron
Anthony Napolitan
Alternates: Coco Zurita, James Foster, Colton Satterfield

The Vert event will take place on the following day, the 29th, and feature...
Jamie Bestwick
Steven McCann
Simon Tabron
Chad Kagy
Vince Byron
Coco Zurita
Dennis McCoy
Jimmy Walker
Zack Warden
Austin Coleman
Alternates: Jorge Jovel, Jan Valenta

BMX Park will happen on Saturday, the 30th, and feature these riders:
Daniel Dhers
Dennis Enarson
Gary Young
Drew Bezanson
Brett Banasiewicz
Jeremiah Smith
Chase Hawk
Scotty Cranmer
Pat Casey
Diogo Canina
Ryan Nyquist
Garrett Reynolds
Mark Webb
Corey Bohan
Rob Darden
Harry Main
Kyle Baldock
Alex Coleborn
Craig Mast
Brandon Dosch
Alternates: Chris Doyle, Chris Hughes

BMX Street will happen on the final day, Sunday, the 31st, and involve:
Garrett Reynolds
Dennis Enarson
Brian Kachinsky
Dakota Roche
Ty Morrow
Sean Sexton
Jeremiah Smith
Josh Harrington
Van Homan
Aaron Ross
Alternates: Chad Kerley, Dan Lacey

Dave Mirra's private warehouse, formerly named the "Animal House", falls into the hands of some pros who are currently the age he was when he opened it, Ryan Guettler and Daniel Dhers. Makes a lot of sense that way, but why exactly? Quite a bit of controversy rose in the past when Mirra's private warehouse was literally kept private. But now, even after letting other pros in, there's still a feeling the warehouse isn't being shared in the way it could be. Guettler understands how amazing it would be for kids to be able to come to the old Mirra park and ride, and wants to make that dream a reality.

In addition to changing things up in the park, ramp-wise, Guettler would like to add dirt jumps to the area surrounding the warehouse and most importantly would like to have public events, from amateur events to games of BIKE. Unfortunately, Guettler and Dhers (together, haha) don't quite make the money Dave Mirra does and can't keep it open alone. Public sessions are said to cost $25, a hefty price, but to the kind of rider that wants to head there - a worthy payment.

To Learn more about Ryan Guettler and Daniel Dhers' "BMX House", visit their facebook page or e-mail them at bmxwarehouse@hotmail.com