SERENDIPITY: With Harley Allen
From a start in BMX racing through a series of highs and lows, Sunshine Coast based biker Harley Allen now finds himself on the Freestyle Kings roster as well as a contracted Nitro Circus athlete. Travelling the world, jumping out of planes and pushing the boundaries of competitive freestyle BMX, Harley now finds himself in a dream-like scenario. However, it hasn't been an easy run for the kid, having to work through multiple injuries and overcome a variety of mental battles.
Link in to learn more about the dude and a fortunate coincidence that has ultimately changed his life.
"What brings me back to the BMX every time is honestly just the joy of riding and hanging out with your friends. I love the thrill you get riding big jumps and being really high in the air"
Since 2011 when Jed Mildon handled a triple backflip for the first time in quaint New Zealand, Taupo to be precise, there have only been approximately 8 dudes to join these ranks. Not hard to understand why, I can't imagine how fearful it would be to experience looking upside down and committing to a full rotation three times over. The fragility of the human body exposed to positions it subconsciously seeks to avoid.
For Harley Allen, the triple flip is now a regular occurence, a hot breakfast type activity, something that he feels an urge to master as well as an obligation to a demanding crowd. In fact, it is now his defining feature, the cornerstone to his marketability and the outcome of a charged up special meter.
The kid has been able to harness the power of broad, crowd pleasure in the backflip, three times over, having now made himself a constant in the extreme sports touring landscape and enjoying the delights of a full-time 'job' as a professional freestyle biker. How about it!
It's been a long journey to get to this point, with all the highs and lows that we love to hear in admiration of a succesful individual.
Most notably, having to endure an 18 month sentence of forced absence through a knee reconstruction at the age of 16. A watershed moment for Harley as it deviated his ascending path in BMX, leading him to the cliches of cars, girls and partying. Perhaps not so stereotypical was turning the partying into something productive; in becoming a DJ; DJharlez!
For 8 years, post knee reconstruction, Harley made the most of his youthfulness and penchant for the thrill of the night into an ongoing DJ gig. This came on the back of entering a competition after building up confidence through mates parties and functions.
"It didn’t start straight away. I spent endless nights and weekends partying at clubs front and centre, staring at the decks trying to learn as much as I could watching while I was wasted. Haha! At the age of about 20-21, I started DJing pretty heavy playing in nightclubs throughout Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast."
Having squeezed the life out of this period, which of course has its own expiry date, Harley finds himself in a liminal state, unsure about what comes next in his life. It's at this point that serendipity plays its hand, providing the dude with an opportunity too attractive to ignore.
While Harley grew up racing with Ryan Williams, maintaining a strong friendship throughout his teens and DJ era, it wasn't until Ryan purchased and developed 'R Willy Land' did the boys really come together. So the kid is almost a decade off the bike, deflated in DJ land and searching for a change when out of nowhere, Ryan plonks 'R Willy Land' on the property right next to where Harley lives.
"I was having all these thoughts rush through my head, holy shit this is what I needed. This is meant to be, I’m gonna start riding BMX again."
So far out of the game, Harley starts off riding one of Ryan's spare bikes, in fact taming that badboy for a year. At this point, Nitro Circus hold a competition at 'R Willy Land' with the winner accepting a role as part of a Nitro Circus tour and ticket to the Nitro World Games.
"After getting to tour with nitro circus I knew this is what I wanted to do and where I needed to be, getting to ride with all of the athletes I watched growing up was a dream come true! "
"I rode my ass off and managed to pull first place, this day is what changed the rest of my life in the best way possible I managed to get my self back into what I love and that’s BMX."
Putting yourself in the position of Harley, it's hard to imagine not taking advantage of such a unique moment. In a collision of competing factors, a balance was to be struck, springboarding the young fella into a wild new era.
As previously mentioned, the kid is now a contracted, regular on the BMX ticket for Nitro Circus as well as Freestyle Kings, an adjacent touring company promoting extreme sports. What this means, to the delight of Harley, is performing the most cutting edge tricks in freestyle BMX in front of his homies as well as housands of people.
Perhaps more importantly, is getting to travel the world. Harley explained to me his recent explorations, which included competing in a multi-disciplinary BMX jam in France, taking some time to chill in Portugal and Spain and then straight back into a tour of America which included staying with FMXer Robbie Maddison.
"Although the show was really good, the highlight of that trip for me was going up in Robbie’s friends plane and skydiving over his property while all the boys were riding the freestyle compound and then landing right in his yard. It was so crazy!"
Back home to the Sunshine Coast and having now finished up the Nitro Circus Australia tour, Harley's about to enjoy a month off over the Christmas period before yet another busy touring schedule in 2026, starting off in Germany.
Coming into another season of living out a childhood dream, it must continue to be an absolute trip particularly in the vein of sharing the experience with R Willy - a long standing friend from childhood.
"Hanging out with Ryan at a young age (early 2000s), his mum Donna used to race BMX. One thing led to another and we were all on the track, both our families travelled up and down the coast of Australia racing BMX for the next few years to come."
Wild to think that the boys started off in such a niche landscape, to then continue in parallel 20 years later, again in what is otherwise a niche setting.
"My first memory on a BMX bike, I was maybe 4-5 years old, I would stack five house bricks on top of each other and then throw a plank of wood on top and fly down the backyard and launch off it. I guess that’s what started everything and led me down the path I took with BMX."
Aside from a full tour schedule for 2026, Harley now has his sights set on an X Games invite. With his drive for BMX now settled, his local being R Willy Land and having the likes of Ryan and Dylan Devitt as regular homies, it's not a stretch to think that we could soon see the big fella at an X Games.
Thanks to Harley for being down to work on this project. Feel free to take further interest in his biking and travels (@harleyrides_), if that tickles your fancy.
