🔥 DeathJuice Dispatch: July Was A Chainring to the Face (And We Liked It)

If you blinked in July, you missed it—because BMX wasn’t just alive, it was throwing elbows. We’re talking elite gate battles in Latvia, freestyle fiestas in Brussels, next-gen shredders dropping hammers, and Chris Moeller himself stirring the pot in Colorado like a BMX witch doctor. This wasn’t a quiet month. It was a thunderclap. Here’s the full blast:

🇱🇻 Valmiera, Latvia – The Euros Go Nuclear

Date: July 10–13
Event: UEC BMX Racing European Championships
Winners: Mathis Ragot‑Richard (Elite Men), Beth Shriever (Elite Women)

What Went Down:
Valmiera became the Roman Colosseum of BMX—no lions, just French dudes snapping gates like their lives depended on it. Ragot‑Richard threw down a clinic in power starts and smooth transitions, looking like he was genetically engineered in a wind tunnel. Meanwhile, Beth Shriever broke Dutch hearts with a line so dialed it could’ve been drawn by CAD software.

DeathJuice Analysis:
Valmiera’s soil ran red, white, and blue—France and the UK locking horns while the rest of Europe caught their breath. The track rewarded aggression, punished hesitation, and if you weren’t snapping like a mousetrap, you were out.

Big Question:
Will this momentum hold into Copenhagen? Ragot‑Richard is hot, but racing’s a mood, not a guarantee.

🇺🇸 Minnesota Meltdown – Land O’Lakes, Land of Legends

Date: July 11–13
Event: USA BMX Land O’Lakes Nationals

Pro Podiums:

• Men’s Pro: Simon “Smooth As Swiss” Marquart
• Women’s Pro: Molly “Breakout” Simpson
• Vet Pro: Big Jeff Upshaw, eternal ruler of the aged and angry

The Next Ones:
Addison “Alligator” Thompson and Ethan “Epop” Popovich tore the Futures class wide open—riding with the kind of raw horsepower that makes coaches cry and rivals quit.

DeathJuice Take:
Marquart rode like a monorail—clean, silent, unstoppable. Simpson proved she’s more than a prospect—she’s a problem. And Upshaw? Man rides like gravity owes him money.

🌆 Brussels Urban Sessions – BMX Joins the Street Party

Date: July 4–6
Status: UCI’s first-ever Hors Class Freestyle event
Location: Parc du Cinquantenaire, Belgium

What Hit:
BMX, skateboarding, 3×3 hoops, parkour, DJs spinning breakbeats and techno—this wasn’t a comp, it was an Olympic fever dream fueled by Monster and subwoofers.

DeathJuice Verdict:
This was the Freestyle blueprint. No bleachers, just a crowd of sweaty humans vibing to tailwhips and tre flips. It felt like BMX finally got invited to its own party—and didn’t puke in the punch bowl.

🧠 Grassroots Grind – Where the Real Work Gets Done

🛠️ Dale Holmes – Pro for a Week Tour

The legend’s still out here doing the Lord’s work. Dale Holmes toured SoCal and Arizona tracks, running bootcamp sessions and handing out pro tips like a BMX Mr. Miyagi. No livestreams, just kids learning how to carve lines and stay clipped in.

🥷 Chris Moeller – Rollers’ Realm, Colorado

You heard it right—Chris f’ing Moeller brought the chaos to Colorado. “Rollers’ Realm” was a mix of secret sessions, pump line showdowns, and whispers about a new steel prototype. It felt more like a BMX cult gathering than an event, and honestly? That’s the point.

🐍 Fast & Loose Crew – Frisco Bike Park Takeover

Mid-July, the Fast & Loose gang lit up Frisco, CO like it owed them something. No UCI medals, no energy drink banners—just raw transitions, lip-hunting savagery, and POV clips that’ll melt your retinas.

🛹 VERT ALERT – AND WHERE THE HELL IS BMX?

When: July 18–19, 2025
Where: Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Event: Tony Hawk’s Vert Alert – elite vert skating, best trick, legends demo, Olympic hopefuls, sold-out hype, and one glaring omission…

No BMX. Again.

💢 DeathJuice Rant: Vert Alert Needs BMX Like A Coping Needs Coping Wax

Tony Hawk’s Vert Alert is the last bastion of high-flying vertical madness—exploding with crowd stoke, legacy riders, and Olympic buzz. But guess who’s not invited?

BMX. The sport that made vert famous in the first place.

This isn’t a new snub. It’s a slow cultural bleed. But in a year when freestyle BMX is shining on global stages, how is it still left off the ramp roster?

🧨 Remember the BMX Vert Gods

This isn’t just about today—it’s about legacy. Look back at the real X Games gladiators, the BMX vert monsters who built the foundations of modern air:

• Dave Mirra – The miracle man himself. Gone too soon, never forgotten.
• Kevin Robinson (K-Rob) – 27-foot flairs and a heart the size of Rhode Island.
• Simon Tabron – 900s like clockwork. Style, power, poetry.
• Jay “The Beast” Miron – Canada’s vert hammer before retiring to build furniture and rewire brains.
• Jamie Bestwick – The most decorated BMX vert rider of all time. 13 X Games golds. Rode like gravity was optional.

Vert Alert should honor these legends with a tribute ride, a banner, something. Because this isn’t just a missed opportunity—it’s a missed responsibility.

🔥 Who Should Ride Vert Alert Today?

Look at the Olympic BMX Park roster and you’ll find prime vert-tier senders—riders who’ve got the air awareness, bike control, and aggression to dominate a 14-foot ramp:

🚀 BMX Park Olympians Who Could Crush Vert:

• Logan Martin (AUS) – Tech meets torque. Give him a vert ramp and a little time? Game over.
• Daniel Dhers (VEN) – Veteran precision and one of the most adaptive minds in BMX.
• Justin Dowell (USA) – Flawless rotations, futuristic style.
• Anthony Jeanjean (FRA) – French flyer with amplitude and consistency.
• Declan Brooks (UK) – Not just tricks—he brings grit. Could go vert easily.
• Nick Bruce (USA) – Wildcards need wild walls, and he’s built for it.
• Kieran Reilly (UK) – Young blood with triple flair energy. Born to fly.
• Jose Torres (ARG) – Big transfer energy and fearless pacing.

And don’t forget Dennis McCoy—the eternal beast who competed in vert into his 50s. Invite him and give him the mic while you’re at it.

✊ DeathJuice suggests

Vert Alert needs a BMX division. Full stop. The riders are ready, the legacy is undeniable, and the crowd would lose its collective mind watching a 900 barspin tailwhip hit the rafters.

Here’s what should happen:

1. Tribute Run for Mirra,.
2. Legends Demo: Jamie Bestwick, DMC, maybe even Jay Miron rolls back through (Has he had his surgery yet).
3. Pro Showcase: Invite 6 park elites. Give ‘em the ramp. Give ‘em the mic.
4. Crossover Battle: Skate vs BMX best trick. One ramp. One crowd. Pure chaos.

🎤 Vert Alert take from DeathJuice

Salt Lake City’s Vert Alert is poised to be the event of the vert season—but it’ll never be complete until it stops pretending BMX isn’t part of its DNA. Whether you ride with pegs or trucks, vert belongs to both bloodlines.

So while skaters fly this weekend, BMX stays watching. Unless we change that. Next year, give the ramp back to the full family. Bring the bikes. Bring the legends. Bring the fire.

And someone call Moeller. He’ll bring the coping wax and a shovel.

💼 Sponsorship Moves – Quiet Money, Big Shifts

• Tactics Racing scooped Luna Arpagaus, European Junior assassin
• Federal Bikes reupped Merlin Spencer after he upset a seeded rider in Latvia
• Oakley x Kimmann: Whispers say Niek Kimmann’s about to become the face of Oakley’s new park line—freestyle finally getting that corporate shine

🔮 Looking Ahead

🔥 Event	📍 Why It Slaps
UCI Worlds – Copenhagen	End-of-month firestorm. The fastest riders in the world in a city that bikes better than most cities walk.
Fast & Loose – Worldwide Tour Stops	New lines. New clips. New scars.
Grassroots Coaching Expansions	Rumor: Dale Holmes is launching a “Pro For a Month” pilot. Get the wristbands ready.
Vert/BMX Integration	Either we show up next year or we keep getting iced out of our own history.

🎤 Final DeathJuice Word

July was a full send. Racing cracked wide open. Freestyle got a new crown. Moeller stirred the dirt gods. And the scene—still scrappy, still steel-toed—is mutating again. The energy isn’t coming from boardrooms or energy drink decks. It’s coming from fast laps in Minnesota, fast lips in Frisco, and fast minds like Dale, Chris, and the kids chasing roost.

Stay loud. Stay fast. And next time they forget to invite BMX to the party, crash it with a shovel, a shovelhead, and a suicide no-hander.

— DeathJuice out.