Nigel Sylvester is a BMX street rider that came up through the most famous street scene in BMX. That scene is the New York Animal Bikes scene. From his hometown spots in Queens, to the legendary Brooklyn banks, to spots all over the world, Nigel has grown through BMX and even at his young age has become one of the biggest names in BMX street. He is also one of the most pure BMX riders one could meet. Nigel is so engulfed in BMX; he is down to fly across the world and compete in international X Games events or do barspins on the sidewalk in front of his New York BMX store, Format NY.
I would also like to add that Format NY is an epic little shop. Many BMX riders have that dream to run their own bike store and Nigel didn't think twice when the opportunity arose. He's so stoked on it, the local kids are stoked on it, and it's a MUST SEE if you're an action sports (or shoe) enthusiast running around in New York.
Now on to the topic at hand. Gatorade presented a BMX shop tour throughout the US where Nigel would hit up several bike stores in each city and do an autograph signing and hold a BMX demo session with local pro riders as well. Nigel spent the first half of July traveling the states, supporting the scene, getting the local kids all amped on riding and the free shwag tosses, but also getting his ride on of course.
Check out all the episode of Because I Grind
The tour started in Atlanta, Georgia at the Board-N-Bike shop. Mark Gralla made a special guest appearance. You probably know him as RATKID from the Jersey area. He's a lesser known rider but definitely underrated in that way. He is a creative street rider with very technical lines, manuals to grinds and back again.
A lot of typical BMX demos are something like one big quaterpipe and one big box jump. And what happens is a couple pro riders go and do their thing, back flippin 360 tailwhips and all that, while everybody sits their and watches. Nigel doesn't ride that way. The tour brought along some rails and boxes and little kickers so everybody could ride and even discover some local rippers who can express their talents. This is for the streets. This is for having fun. No velvet ropes blocking off the fans from the pro riders. We're all BMX riders here...
Along with Ratkid and Dave Belcher comes Mike Brennan. These guys are all Animal Bikes riders and OD (Brennan) is one of the standouts of the crew. They call him OD because he goes for the biggest things, just overdosing on tricks. He could barspin a 4 stair... but why not an 8 stair? 14 stair? OD on it, man...
The last stop on the tour was at the OMEGA Bikes shop in Oceanside, California. Also featured at the event are MY HOMEBOYS Boy and E-man. Anthony Flores and Manuel Cantero are Los Angeles riders that are as pure street as Nigel himself. I believe Manuel (E-Man) met Nigel a few years back when they both went to ride with Dave Mirra in ride BMX's video, Flipside. Boy was riding with E-man in LA all this time and through a few web videos both of them blew up on the scene shortly after. So, E-man and Boy would tag along the California leg of the Because I Grind tour and promote that street as hell riding we love.
Don't forget to throw in some wild cards on the way like Tom (Ohio?) from the give D! crew and the one and only Mike Escamilla. If you don't know Rooftop (Escamilla) you need to take a BMX history class or something.
Of course besides the shop demos some good street riding went down and you can see all of that in the last episode. The street guys throw down and get tech. This is their specialty and it's clearly evident in this video.
What is a cross-country tour without a wrap up party? Gatorade and Nigel Sylvester would not disappoint as the Southern California BMX industry heads gathered in Hermosa Beach to mingle and get down to the one and only Biz Markie. a hip hop legend out of New York so Nigel must have been ecstatic to have such a New York legend to attend his party, as Nigel is now a New York legend himself.
Mirraco, Nigel's bicycle sponsor, put up Nigel Sylvester's bicycle for someone to win at that wrap up party. That person had to be stoked to get their hands on not only a dialed bicycle, but the exact one Nigel rode throughout the Because I Grind tour. If that shows up on eBay holla at me because I want it...
Glenn PP Milligan, BMX filmer/editor and vital BMX big BMX show host, showed up at the party to get in everybody's face with microphones and cameras and hopefully leave some embarrassing moments on film captured forever amongst the attendees. Gatorade had the place lit up with flashy decorations and of course bottles of goods to go around. I think people were more interested in what to put in their Gatorade at the time, however.
In addition to having this tour, Nigel put out a mixtape with the help of Gatorade and in collaboration with The Alchemist. You'll notice his work throughout the episodes in this blog; just good beats to ride to.
Much props out to Nigel and Gatorade and everybody who participated in the Because I Grind tour. Props for supporting the local bike shops and keeping kids interested in the local shop talk instead of going on the internet and having message board arguments about what colors should be on bike parts all day. As Ja Rule once said in a classic movie (The Fast and the Furious), "It's not how you stand by your car, it's how you race your car." Ride a bike, not a bandwagon!
Watch all the episodes of the Because I Grind Tour
