By Dwayne Taylor, Mongoose Brand Athlete
This year’s Dirtyfest 3 was bigger and better than ever. As the “world's largest vintage BMX family reunion,” the event was truly a celebration of BMX’s rich heritage—hosted by Dirty Knobs Productions in Temecula, California.
From the first moments of vendor load-in day, it’s always cool getting a sneak peek at the other BMX brands and teams in attendance. Since team Mongoose was in the house, we had to jump on the track to see what was in store for us. It was clear from the first lap that the track had leveled up from the year before. It was fast, smooth, and dusty, all with that sketchy Dirtyfest-style we’ve come to love.
Saturday was race day and the Mongoose Motomag III raffle. Bikes and riders were all over the track, wheeling, foot-off sliding, jumping, and crashing–and having the time of their lives. Mongoose LRC riders were representing in top spots throughout the qualifying rounds, and with a clean sweep, Kylie Lopez and I didn’t lose a single lap. After the second round of racing, we did the raffle drawing and Bradley Fanshaw was the winner of the red Motomag III’s. Enjoy those new hoops, Bradley!
After racing and the raffle, it was time to head over to the 80’s Party and the Mongoose Mom’s Scooter Challenge. Our team mom Ashley Lopes was in the hunt going into the finals, and the main event was a spectacle to say the least. These ladies were out to win at all costs—thanks to a $500 pot for the win! Ashley unfortunately went down hard on the second straight while in 3rd, so she ended up in 4th but she’s set on getting the win next year.
The Sunday festivities were all about racing with 3rd rounds, quarters, semis, and mains. Mongoose LRC’s Kayla Lopez had a full plate with her class and ended up with 4th for the day. I went 1-1-1-1-1 and got myself into the final, and during the main I battled for position with the top guys and tried a dive bomb move in the last turn (that didn’t go so well) and ended up in 4th. Mongoose LRC’s Alex Perez swooped in on the DJ class and got 2nd, and he also raced his Re-Pop Open class which was just 4 motos after the DJ race. Kylie Lopez...... This girl really picked her time to shine and that time was Dirtyfest. Pulling a Mongoose Supergoose straight out of the box and hopping on to race, this girl didn’t lose a lap all weekend! We were all so proud of her and she’s already talking about racing next year!
Dirtyfest is a reunion that celebrates and embraces Mongoose and our rich BMX roots. Attendees from far and wide made sure to drop by the booth to show us their bike builds and share a Mongoose story with us. The pride of the brand lives on thanks to events like this, and we can’t wait to go bigger and better next year!
Photo credit David Rivera
