BIG AIR RAID BMX EVENT HIGHLIGHTS NEW X GAMES ENTRIES.

Byline: KEITH LAIR Staff Writer

HUNTINGTON BEACH - BMX will be taking its next big leap.

And what a leap it will be.

Thirty-pound bicycles traveling nearly 50 mph flying over a 70-foot gap to a 40-foot quarter pipe in BMX's first Big Air competition at the 12th annual X Games at Home Depot Center.

The X Games begin Thursday at Staples Center and move to Home Depot Center on Saturday.

BMX Big Air will be one of the final events of the competition Sunday.

``It's the closest to flying without wings,'' said Chad Kagy, who has won four X Games medals and will be one of the favorites Sunday. ``It's a long time being in the air.''

Most BMX riders already call many of their antics insane. More BMX riders seemingly go to the hospital because of vert accidents than any other X Games competitor. Only two riders -- Whittier native Mike Escamilla and Kagy -- have completed a jump of that magnitude.

Escamilla did a then-world record backflip of 62 feet, 2 inches at last year's X Games, at Staples Center, and Kagy bettered the distance in a May exhibition in Mexico City.

Kagy, Kevin Robinson and Dennis McCoy made similar but shorter jumps during last year's Boom Boom Huck Jam tour.

Kagy and Robinson will attempt to win the inaugural Big Air title. Escamilla and Dave Mirra, who has won more X Games medals than any other athlete, have declined to compete in the event after initially agreeing to.

``I'm not ready to do my Evel Knievel,'' said McCoy, who was not offered an opportunity to compete in Big Air. ``It's hard to hold it for the first time when hardly anyone has done it.''

It's a complaint skateboarders voiced when Big Air hit the X Games two years ago. Danny Way proposed the event and helped design the ramp. Way, who is the only person to jump the Great Wall of China on a skateboard, was the only boarder to try the 70-foot ramp that year, and he won gold. Every skateboarder rode the 70-footer last year, and Way won gold again.

Kagy did a backflip tailwhip from 70 feet in Mexico City. He received the invite because, like Way, he is sponsored by DC Shoes, which sponsored the exhibition.

``Imagine being 50, 60 feet in the air upside down, not touching the bike on a tailwhip,'' he said. ``What's more exciting than that?

``This is the next step for us. It's something I have wanted to do for two, three years. And once you get up there, there's no backing down. You can't bail out.''

Kagy says the winner, like in skateboard, will come from the 70-foot run-in.

``I kind of know what to expect,'' Robinson said. ``I'm definitely primed for it, but I'm nervous to see what it is going to be like. I think people will be in awe.''

From the 50-foot ramp, the 30-pound bike and its rider will hit speeds of 35 to 40 mph. From the 70-footer, speeds can reach 45 to 47 mph.

``There's no purpose to go that fast on a BMX bike, unless. ...'' Kagy said. ``I'm pumped to do it.''

The quarterpipe is roughly 25 feet high, and Kagy went 21 feet in Mexico City.

``It's weird,'' he said. ``The quarterpipe feels horrible until you jump it. And when you're up there, people look so small.''

Mat Hoffman, whose company helps select the X Games BMX competitors, was the first to try a giant quarterpipe. He had a motorcycle tow him onto a ramp in 1992 to set the world record for the highest jump at 21 feet. He has since improved that mark to 26 feet. That record could also be in jeopardy this week.

``We're crazy,'' Robinson said. ``I'm nervous and scared. But I think it is a great idea. Chad did it in Mexico City and said it was OK to do it, so I'm doing it.''

Because of his experience, Kagy says he has the advantage heading into the event.

``It's how I have trained,'' he said. ``You need experience in dirt, for jumping, and vert, for height. I've done both. I'm confident I'll do well.''

It's not the lone new event at X Games this year. Rally cars will race, side-by-side, through Home Depot Center, too.

BMX vert, vert best trick, dirt and park return to the X Games.

Motocross events are freestyle, best trick step up and supermoto; and skateboard events are vert, vert best trick, street and Big Air.

Surfing was held last month. Wakeboarding was dropped from the event.

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