Taupō's Jed Mildon in action during a Nitro Circus show in Japan. Photo / Supplied
Taupō's Jed Mildon in action during a Nitro Circus show in Japan. Photo / Supplied
In 2011, Taupō's Jed Mildon caught the attention of Nitro Circus when he beat them to completing the world's first triple backflip on a BMX bike.
Fast forward seven years and Mildon is an integral part of the Nitro Circus family, who are preparing for another boundary-breaking tour of New Zealand in March next year. In 2015 he flipped his way back into the record books, becoming the first person to complete a quadruple backflip on a BMX bike.
The all-new You Got This Stadium Tour, formerly known as the Next Level Tour, showcases Nitro Circus' fearless riders braving the biggest ramps ever seen in FMX and BMX. Not resting on their laurels, the Nitro Circus crew has created not one, but two new ramps which will make their way to New Zealand this summer.
Organisers were unsure how the new ramps would travel, but Mildon, arguably the biggest name in New Zealand action sports, campaigned to bring the double-ramp show to his home crowd, adamant that New Zealand sees the very best version of the Nitro Circus show.
"I just knew, from the moment I first hit this ramp, that New Zealand had to have this ramp.
"The FMX boys have done such a great job progressing their sport over the past 12 months, it's now our time to catch up on the Giganta side. With this brand new ramp technology, I cannot wait to throw down in front of my people.
"I may be biased, but I'm not the only one on tour who says it - New Zealand fans are the most wild and passionate fans anywhere in the world. So it's only right that they get the very best version of our show and I am honoured to have played a small role in making this happen."
He said Nitro Circus "literally is a family".
"You couldn't do it without that aspect. It's amazing, it's my life. I grew up looking up to every single person I now call my brother. I never thought I'd even get to meet these guys, let alone be rubbing shoulders and telling them I love them right before we drop in and do something gnarly.
"For me, from Taupō, I'm like 'how did this all come about?'. But, I guess that's just the power of the mind, doing what you love and believing in something. The show business didn't even exist when I started, that avenue for employment in the sport wasn't there. I just loved the sport, kept doing it, spent all my money on having fun and building ramps, and it all worked out."
When he's at home he trains on his own dirt playground on Franklin Farm in Tokoroa with big man-made jumps and a foam pit, all created by Mildon and his mates. He also uses his standing in the sport to inspire the next generation.
"I've been developing that over the past seven years, to practise my own skills, but now there's kids coming through. That's just part of sharing it all. Nitro is a family, but so is the whole freestyle community.
"We do all these things in our own time and at our own pace and it's so valuable for life skills."
A highlight of any Nitro Circus show is when the athletes ditch their bikes and skateboards and take to the ramps in anything they can put on wheels, including bathtubs, wheelbarrows and chilly bins.
"I'm the couch man, that's my job, jumping the couch. I've done them all, but I just do the couch now because that's probably the scariest one and no one wants to do it. All that stuff is exciting because it's a challenge and that extra bit of fear you can overcome to get your kicks.
"It's like everything in life, you're always chasing the next thing, always chasing a hit of something. With these sports, the beautiful thing is the future's in your own hands."
Tickets for the show are available at nitrocircus.com
Nitro Circus' You Got This Stadium Tour 2019 March 9: Eden Park, Auckland March 10: FMG Stadium, Waikato March 15: Westpac Stadium, Wellington March 17: McLean Park, Hawke's Bay March 23: Christchurch Stadium, Christchurch
