Dan Sieg had the BMX world talking this past October when he let a banger trick out of the bag; the frontflip double barspin. This held strong as one of the gnarliest tricks of the past year and we recently asked Dan a few questions about what it took to make it happen.


What originally gave you the idea for this trick?

It's actually kind of a long story. Last summer I was going through my head trying to think of some new stuff to work on. I started doing suicide backflips and it was whatever. I didn't really like how they felt so I was kind of over them right away; way too scary coming into the landing. One day I was heading out to ride and my girlfriend texted me saying, "gonna do any more suicide frontflips today?" I corrected her and then actually thought about it. I tried a few of those into the foam and they were WAY less scary than suicide backflips. I eventually started doing them on the resi and was happy with it. A week later or so later my friend Jared Whaylen told me to try a barspin frontflip. The first one I tried was a complete mess and I was over it right away. I decided to give it one more go (into the foam, of course) and it worked out perfectly. By the end of the night I was throwing barspin-catch-barspin frontflips and landing tires down in the foam. It was originally a joke; I had no intentions to actually do it. One thing led to another and Austin Coleman and I were riding one day and I started throwing straight double frontflips into the foam and landing tires down. Keep in mind, I wouldn't straight double barspin a jump ever and hadn't done one since I was 15. They ended up working and about 20 minutes later I popped one off onto the resi first try. Doing it actually won me some money that I owed Marcus Tooker. He said we'd be even if I fired one out. Pumped!

How long was it actually in the works before it went down?

From first trying the suicide no handed frontflips to actually landing the double-barspin frontflip on the jump was probably about two months. The resi was about a week or so after I had it all figured out.

Had you ever done a frontflip single barspin on a real jump before you let the double barspin fly?

Yes, I started off popping them onto the resi and was pulling them about 95% of the time. I did a few double barspin ones also, but not nearly as often. I went to the Salt Lake City Dew Tour with plans to throw a single in my first run and then a double in my second run. I did a handful of singles in practice and then I looped out a little and fell trying one in my first run. I wasn't hurt; nothing bad. Second run I decided to play it safe and stuck with a single and pulled it clean. About twenty seconds later I slammed hard on something silly; it's awesome how that works, ha! From there I figured I could just do it at the Orlando Dew Tour stop, but I found out that same day that they weren't going to have a straight box jump there. I immediately started thinking of how I could do it in between. That's where the Vital video came about. That jump is SO much fun.

I've heard of some people making their feet uneven to spin the bars in a frontflip. How did you avoid that?

When I started doing them I had some knowledge that Anthony Napolitan had done frontflip barspins, but I had no clue exactly how he went about doing it. I just kind of adapted my own way. Later I found out that he grabs his tire and turns his foot or something wild. I think having front brakes stabilizes everything and I treat it just like a regular pinch-the-seat type of trick.

How bad did you hurt yourself in the process of getting it done?

I was fairly consistent onto the resi. I pulled almost every single barspin frontflip I tried onto the resi and five out of the seen doubles that I tried. Then I took it to that Unit jump. That was a lot different simply because every single time the speed was a little different, not to mention the runway was super sketchy. I took some slams, but nothing real serious. My back is still a little sore, but I guess that happens when you're sending yourself into the air and twirling the handlebars around, front side up.

Have you done another once since the one you filmed for the Vital video?

I wish. Two days later I left on a show tour that consisted of three months of middle and elementary school shows. I never felt the urge to send one on a tiny little show box in front of a bunch of little kids who wouldn't know it from a backflip. I've been home a bit now and riding lots. I'll start doing them again soon enough.

Do you plan on bringing the trick to any contests this upcoming season?

Yeah, I think so. For sure frontflip single barspins and frontflip suicide no handers. I'll keep working on the doubles and try to get it to the point where I know what to do if anything goes wrong. The more you do the easier it gets, right?

What else have you been up to? Any big plans for '09?

Well I was on that school tour for what seemed like a year, but it was actually a lot of fun and we visited a lot of places. I'm home in Greenville right now and tomorrow morning my lady and I are taking a trip down to the Caribbaen for a weak; it should be real fun. We are going to rough it on the beach and just camp out every night in a different spot. I'm really looking forward to it. As far as the rest of the year is concerned I would really like to make it over to The Worlds in Germany and some other stuff over that way, but that seems to be my goal every year and it never happens, haha. I'll be riding Dew Tours again and doing shows, demos, and everything in between. Ride as much as I can at home and stay healthy.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Best trick ever done that's it it's over!!!!! Not really, hahaha. Just want to say thanks to the guys who have been helping me out for the last few years; Matt Coplon at Profile, Chad Degroot at UGP (two of my dream sponsors as a kid), and Moliterno at Standard. Believe it or not, SBC is making a comeback and has one hell of a shop set up in Davenport. Racing is popping off and it's only a matter of time until they get full throttle back into freestyle. Look out! Also Ron Thomas for booking shows for me to do and keeping money in my pocket; www.riseabovebmx.com! I'm off to finish packing for my trip! Oh yeah, thanks to Kyle Carlson for being my iChat buddy and setting up this interview!