Anthony Napolitan's Haro SD

Napolitan goes brakeless, puts on pegs. Check the photos. Gallery

You've traveled all over the world, why do you want to live in California?
The way I see it is, Cali is kind of where it's happening right now. I actually should've moved years ago. Photographer and videographers rarely come out to the east coast anymore. And Woodward really isn't as much as a BMX destination as it used to be. I really just want to shoot more photos and do more video stuff. I've kind of been stuck in a funk of travel and contests for a few years now. I just think it's time for a change and for me to just prove to myself that I can do other things then just compete. I think that's a side of me that people haven't seen in years, and I really want to show that side of me again.

You recently flew out to San Diego to hangout and ride at Dennis Enarson's house, how was that?
Well Drew Bezanson and I kind of planned a trip out around some Xmas parties that we got invited to via our sponsors. So we figured we would make a trip out of it. Toyota gave Drew a really nice Tundra that we loaded up everyday with all of our gear. And we pretty much set out to ride and have fun. SD was actually pretty random. Drew hit me up a couple days before the trip and asked if I was interested in driving down to SD from OC over the weekend. I wasn't about to argue that! Dennis's house was a ton of fun! I had been there before, but I was hurt. So this is actually the first time I got to ride the yard. It was so much fun! While we were there we filmed some stuff with Miles Roguish for an edit that later went on The Come Up. I had a lot of fun! It was nice to get a couple mellow clips and see it all put together. And for me, my Brother Ronnie had just moved in with Dennis in October, So I was really excited to see him.

The Red Bull Dream Line contest you hosted this year in Minnesota was unbelievable! Rumor has it, that it will be returning in 2012, is that true?
Thank You!!! I'm really excited about Red Bull Dream Line! It's so mind blowing coming up with an event and concept that I created in my head, and then seeing it all come together in reality! And yes! Rumors are true! Red Bull Dream Line will be returning in 2012 in June! I really can't wait. The location of it will still be a secret I kind of like keeping things in the unknown. And I'm not nervous about that because the first event ran so smoothly with no really big complaints from the riders. This year will be way bigger as far as rider invites and prize purse. And also the event as an entirety! We have some big plans for Dream Line as far as media is concerned. This will be one of the biggest and most diverse dirt events of the year! Just as it was last year.

You showed up to ride Ray's MTB Park the other day with some pegs on, are they still on and are they going to stay on?
I did!! I actually didn't have brakes either haha! The pegs are staying on as of now. I really enjoy riding without brakes. It's so much fun and different. It's a nice change of pace for me. A lot of people trip out on me not having brakes for some reason. It's all fun for me though. I actually put brakes back on my bike. I have a few things that I want to do, and I don't really trust myself doing them without brakes. So that's partially the reason they went back on.

What are some of your future goals and plans for 2012? Are you planning on riding a lot of contests this year? Will you be putting out any video parts this year?
Yes, I'll be riding all the contests that I usually ride; I hope to do a few new ones this year! I really want to focus on filming stuff this year. I don't have any video project offers as of yet. But I would love to put some heart into filming something that's more then just a web edit. As far as web edits go, I do plan on putting out a few this year. I'm actually heading up to Canada with Drew Bezanson to film a split edit with him at Joy Ride! So I'm really pumped to ride that park and just kind of let me mind run free for once. Drew and I have been friends since he was like 15. He and I have always pushed each other through the years. So I'm really looking forward him convincing me to do some stupid stuff at Joy Ride!

I might take a step back from double front flip stuff.

--Anthony Napolitan

What about X Games, do you do any specific training or practice to prepare for X Games?
You know, in the past I would ride vert a bit before MegaRamp at X. This year I just plan on riding MegaRamp at Woodward West months before. I know my weaknesses are on the quarter and that is where I need to progress. It pretty much boils down to me getting comfortable on the quarter and having the Mini Mega at East this year really helped out. I really love riding that ramp. It's just so fast and scary. It's nice to feel a little nervous standing on that ramp. I might take a step back from double front flip stuff. I guess we will see. I do have a lot of ideas for the jumping aspect of the Mega Ramp. So I guess I'll just have to see what happens.

Lastly, you mentioned you have plans to go up to Canada soon, to film a bunch with Drew Bezanson at some skatepark, can you tell us more about that?
I know I mentioned it a little earlier. I'm heading up to Joy Ride Skatepark in Canada. Many of you will have known about this park from Drew's return edit that just dropped about a month ago. Which I believe has over 500K views. So if you haven't seen it yet, you've been living under a rock. But I'm just really excited to be filming stuff again. Joy Ride looks like my kind of park, where you can just twist the throttle and let it rip! I'm heading up there for a week to ride and film with Drew. I'm really looking forward to meeting all the locals. Drew talks very highly of everyone at the skatepark, and they all seem like really rad people. So it'll be nice to just get away and start working on some of the new and fun!