Mike Spinner. His name has been on the lips of BMX circles for a few years now, and while 2006 was the year when people really sat up and started paying attention, 2007 has truly been a breakout year for this Oceanside, New York native. At age eight Mike moved with his parents to Miami, and took advantage of year-round riding weather, the street terrain of the Florida city, and the inspiration of his daily riding partners like fellow BMX-er Steve McCann. Every summer Spinner would blaze up from Miami to the Northeast, becoming a yearly fixture at Woodward. He even left his car parked there as a long-standing obstacle… actually, it stopped running in New Jersey and he had it towed to Woodward where it sits today, headlights smashed out and tagged beyond recognition with spray paint. Unlike his busted car, Spinner is anything but stagnant–this young ripper lives up to his name, and is pushing BMX progression rotation by rotation. In the summer of 2006, Spinner started turning heads doing 720’s and then 720 Tailwhips into the foam pit at Woodward. This is exactly the trick everyone was anticipating at last year’s Dew Tour in Portland. It could’ve been a pressure cooker–Mike remembers peering down course ramps before his run and seeing all the pros watching him. Instead, Mike looked over at his crew of BMX-ers on deck with him, ditched the stress and dropped in–just another session with his friends. He crashed on his first attempt, but got up, and with 40 seconds left in his run, nailed the 720 Tailwhip, making history, gaining a Gold medal, and securing a spot in Orlando for the Tour finals. He joined the Nike 6.0 family a few months later in February 2007. Read the rest of the story by going to the NIKE website
Friday, June 15th, 2007 - 12:47 am