Skills, thrills and spills for BMX daredevils

Photo: Images supplied by Kenny Brown

Lee Hebb Aaron Heywood

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TWO-WHEEL stars Lee Hebb and Aaron Heywood are taking the British BMX scene by storm.

The duo showed their rivals how it’s done by winning top honours at the UK Park and Vert Championships at Beastramps Manchester.

Hebb won the Park series with Heywood runner-up, while the good mates swapped positions in the Vert standings.

Each won sponsorship for a year - worth £2,000 - from the world’s leading BMX manufactuers, Total BMX.

Hebb, from Higginshaw, took up the sport after moving to Saddleworth School.

“I got in with a bunch of mates who all rode BMX and it carried on from there,” said the 24-year-old graphic designer and signwriter.

The sport has opened up many opportunities for Hebb, but it also has its dangers: “I’ve appeared in adverts, on CBBC, music videos and Sky One’s ‘Street Striker’ - where I met Wayne Rooney.

“But I have also broken my nose, in London in an earlier round. I fractured my eye-socket this year. It’s just one of the hazards of BMX, but it won’t slow me down.”

Eighteen-year-old apprentice engineer Heywood started at his local skate park in Middleton and hasn’t looked back.

He said: “It’s the thrill and the freedom of being on a bike that I really enjoy. Everyone has their individual styles and it is a great sport to be involved in: there are no rules.”



VERT: Freestyle BMX discipline, where riders go up against each other, performing tricks in the air before landing, having turned 180 degrees.

PARK: Riding exclusively on skateparks, the emphasis is on transitions and ramps.