The Latest - With Josh Dove
The next installment of 'The Latest' is with another one of the LUXBMX pro team riders, the 20 year old transition lord Josh Dove.
Hailing from Brisbane and now based on the Sunshine Coast, Dovey has very, very quickly announced his presence as one of the fastest and smoothest riders of the modern freestyle BMX scene. Treating bowls with contempt, Dovey applies his BMX racing background with an air of elegance, at first sight becoming obvious that there is something different about this kid.
After bursting on the scene with a win at the Five Dock regional qualifier in 2019, Dovey quickly drew the attention of the Spanish company, Fly Bikes. Renowned for their association with riders emanating 'style' as their key assset, big name riders too, like Sergio Layos, Ruben Alcantara, Chase Hawk and Kevin Porter. What a trip it must be to share a spot on the team with a line up of actual legends.
Over the subsequent years, the dudes passion to rip and tear has not eased, his ability to 'wow' those in his presence is truly remarkable. Beyond his riding abilities, the kid has a great attitude to BMX, not over-complicating situations, handling life with a grain of salt and choosing to avoid blowing smoke up his bum. With this approach, it is no wonder that he now finds himself on the Fast & Loose 'team', travelling the world riding bikes, exploring new terrain and meeting new people. Even writing that sentence feels good, imagine what it would be like to live it! The attention of LUXBMX management was also raised, with the kid having now represented us for a number of years. To see his trajectory continue to aim upwards is no surprise and something we all love to see.
Having viewed fresh Josh Dove content from a range of events over the last couple months, it seemed like a great time to get in touch to catch up on what he's been up to, no doubt a fascinating tale. With that said, let's dive in for a chat with Josh Dove, denier of gravity.
All photos supplied by Dovey, other than where noted.
Tourist Dove, taking it in whilst in Italy recently
Dovey, I've caught a couple videos on DIG recently, both heavily featuring your presence. This includes the Fast & Loose Colorado Jam as well as the Rumble in Richmond event. For the uninitiated, can you give a rough feel for this latest trip you're on, as in, where have you been, where are you going, how long for and what the overall goal is?
I landed in America the start of June. My bike didn’t arrive for four days, wich turned out to be ok as the boys had some gravel bikes at the house that I cruised around on. My bike arrived just in time for the Fast & Loose premier weekend wich was insane. It started with the jam at Valmont dirt jumps, that was a massive turn-out. The next day was the Boulder jam and that was just epic, one of my favourite skateparks for sure. Later that afternoon, everyone headed to the Fox Theatre in Boulder for the 'Magnetar' DVD premiere. Really cool place, massive turn and everyone definitely enjoyed themselves.
A couple days after the premiere we jumped into the vans and headed to the 'Rumble in Richmond' jam, which I was keen as for. From Colorado to Richmond, I saw so many cool places, one of them was Nashville which we spent a couple nights at. Such an awesome place, although it sucks I wasn’t 21 and couldn't have a drink :)
'Rumble in Richmond' was definitely different to any other BMX event I’ve been to. It was unreal! The jump was big and scary and the crowd was hectic. You had to pedal as fast as you could, to only just clear it haha. What Steve Crandall is doing for the community over there is unreal, he’s got everyone buzzing on BMX!
After Richmond, I got to spend a few days hanging out at Colin Mackay's house. We played a bit of golf, rode his local spots and even got up early to watch the State of Origin. Pretty cool few days before flying to Italy for a two week Fast & Loose bender (I mean trip!), got a bit of riding done in Italy, held a few demos and hosted another 'Magnetar' DVD premier. Most of the time we were site seeing, partying and eating a lot of good food.
Kris, Jason and I then jumped in a car and headed off to France. A week full of partying and riding some cool places. Even got a tattoo to remember it, it was that good! I then went to England for a week and hung out with Tom Russell. I rode Asylum skatepark for the first time and then headed down south for the 'Goodwood Festival of Speed' and handled some shows for the week.
After six weeks on the road, I then headed back to Australia with memories that will last a lifetime.
Dovey at the 'Rumble in Richmond', one foot table 360 over the booter. Love the look of that lip
How do you find being on the road for long periods of time? From my point of view, at this stage of life anyway, I find myself anticipating being home again to revel in the comforts of home and its familiarity.
I enjoy it a lot because I’m always riding new parks and meeting new people, seeing cool things like the past week being in Italy seeing the Colosseum and the leaning tower of Pisa (tourist things haha). I also really like Colorado as well, being in the mountains with insane views, plus the parks there are way better in comparison to the Australian parks. Definitely helps to make you a better rider!
What do you notice about American culture, does anything stand out to you as being vastly different to the Australian way of life?
Hell yeah, so much bigger, so many more people and it feels like your in the movies!
Dovey sky high at the Boulder skatepark, Fast & Loose jam unravelling with Jason Watts refereeing
You go big, we know this. Talk to me about some of your favourite tranny to ride on this trip and why?
Favourite transition this trip would have to be the the round end at Boulder skatepark in Colorado (the park we had the Fast & Loose jam at). I remember hitting it last year and really enjoying it, this year I tried to hit it with way more speed and landed flat a couple times haha, but still enjoyed it. Also, the little park near Colin’s house in Virginia was sick.
You've now cemented yourself as one of the Fast & Loose dudes, a quality assembly of shredders. Can you talk about what it's been like getting introduced to the dudes and how it feels to be apart of an influential crew of modern BMX?
Such a good group of mates! The trips I’ve been on have been some of the most fun times I've ever had, exploring new places while riding incredible skateparks, sitting by camp fires in the mountains. I’m stoked I get to go on these trips with these dudes and learn from them. It still doesn’t feel real because they're all my idols.
The Fast & Loose boys at the 'Magnetar' premiere in Boulder, Colorado. Photo taken from FatBMX
What have you been getting up to outside of riding, any good stories to share?
Outside of BMX, I’ve just been riding my mountain bike and surfing. Before I headed overseas I was doing a lot of kilometres on the mountain bike for some fitness as well as riding trails. Definitely helps to be better on my BMX.
What's the plan once you return to Australia? Have you got any projects on the go?
I have a few things happening with Fly Bikes later in the year that I will be filming a video project for. I'm now home for 4 weeks and then heading off on a European holiday with my girlfriend before ending up at the 'Battle of Hastings' jam, that’s my favourite event and I have another good team this year. Trying to go back to back wins. Last year was insane so I can’t wait!
Dovey with a super stretched no-foot can at the Valmont Bike Park, also in Boulder, Colorado
Shouts?
Everyone who backs me on the bike and everyone I get to ride with!
