FMX Insider No.54: Charity FMX Jam

Transmoto’s weekly web-exclusive column, the FMX Insider, penned by Ben Heidrich.

The Camp Quality Convoy For Kids Yatcon Civil FMX Jam took place last Sunday in Illawarra, NSW, at Albion Park. The Jam was run by Peter Yates from Yatcon Civil and Justin ‘Bushy’ from Fish Fingered FMX, and the event raised over $1.7-million for kids with cancer – an amazing effort. The Convoy For Kids started in 2005 as a way for the Illawarra community to come together and brighten the lives of kids living with cancer. The family-fun-day includes live music, entertainment, food stalls, rides and this year, a world-class freestyle motocross demonstration.

At the end of last year’s Convoy For Kids, Yates approached Bushy to organise an FMX Jam for the kids this year. Bushy, being the right man for the job, rounded up the best riders in the business. They got together and built an amazing course that enabled the riders to put on a show that no portable set-up could ever achieve. “Yatesy and I just wanted to stick some FMX in the face of the masses, with some world-class riders on a world-class FMX set-up,” said Bushy.

Pro riders came from all over to lend their skills for charity. The list included Rob Adelberg, Jackson Strong, Truman Carroll, Pete Anderson, Ryan Brown, Alex Buchultz, Joel Brown, Tom Robinson and Codie Rooney. Young guns, Benny and Tommy Richards, also came down to donate their time and showed their skills in their second-ever FMX demo. Bushy said, “We have some of the best FMX riders in the world and with nothing really happening for these riders it’s hard to showcase their skills to a live audience. But after this weekend, so many people were blown away.”

The event is a huge deal for the South Coast and the Illawarra, with all local businesses combining together for a good cause. The set-up consisted of two side-by-side 75ft ramps and a 65ft ramp for the Richards brothers. All the run-ups were road-based and raised, just so the event was not affected by rain flooding. The Yatcon guys went above and beyond to make this a top-quality FMX demonstration. “I just went up and met some of the sick kids and rain hail or shine, I said, we are going to make this happen,” said Yates. “LETS DO IT FOR THE KIDS! I don’t care what it takes. It’s so good to see the heavy hitters of Aussie FMX giving something back for a good cause. What a top bunch of blokes and they all ripped it to bits.”

The riders went hard all day with side-by-side whip trains and insane Flip combos. The crowd got one hell of a show with some of the biggest names in the Australian FMX scene throwing down competition level tricks. Rob Adelberg had not ridden an Australian FMX demo in two and a half years, so it was something special for him to give something back to the kids.

Bushy was highly impressed by the riders’ efforts. “Jacko’s a freak,” he said. “He was crook as a homeless dog with a stomach bug and there was no way he was riding. But being a tough little bugger, he battled it off and came out swinging in the last demo and all the kids who were Jacko fans were over the moon. It was just good to have a killer crew all back hanging out for the weekend and catching up over a few beers after the event.”

Bushy spoke about the event saying, “I’d like to thank all the riders who tore the joint to bits and Pete Yates from Yatcon Civil. He went all out and conquered the wet weather that completely rained out the course two days before the event. Him and his dirt crew worked day and night to get the set-up as safe and as cracking as possible. I’d like to thank CityCoast Motorcycles in Wollongong for donating a PW50 that we gave away to a sick child, which was a pretty cool moment. Also, a big thanks goes out to Robbie Maddison for coming out and giving us a jersey to Auction off, which raised $2800 for the kids.”