April 19, 2025 • 8 mins
Another year brings another Auckland Easter show, with more Kiwi athletes making an appearance at the Auckland Showgrounds.
Top Kiwi BMX champion Ellie Chew joined Piney to discuss.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalk zb.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Lea's moved to the Easter to show. It's on all
weekend at the Auckland Showgrounds and Institutions. Started all the
way back in eighteen forty three, but has evolved in
the time since from a purely agricultural event into a
pretty varied one, including some extreme sports in their action
arena over the weekend. One of those present across the
weekend is one of the world's top BMX writers. She's
(00:35):
one of ours. New Zealander Ali Chu from the world
famous Freestyle Kings and Ellie Chew is with us on
the show. Ellie tell us first of all about the
Freestyle Kings, what are they all about? And your part
in the Freestyle Kings.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
The Freestyle Kings, So we've actually just recently done a
tour of New Zealand. So it's a freestyle motocross and
BMX show. So we do big stunts and jumps and
it's pretty much a two hour spectacle of the biggest
and best freestyle tricks in world.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
So you've just as you say, finished in New Zealand too.
How widely though, have you traveled globally with the Freestyle Kings.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
We've been lucky enough to go quite a few places.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
We have.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Just prior to the New Zealand tour we went to
South Africa, which was a pretty incredible experience, and we've
also done a few tours of Australia and then we've
got a few more tours coming up at different parts
of the world.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
How did this all come about for you? Talk us
through your journey, you know, from when you first got
on a bike to where you are now.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Sort of all started when I was young. My dad
was always into motorsports and cars and engines and bikes,
so I was put onto bicycles and motorbikes from a
pretty young age. And then when I went to at school,
I had a group of friends who was interested in
BMX riding, so I ended up joining them going down
(02:05):
to the local being track. I grew up on the
Capity Coast and enjoyed doing the jumps more than the
racing side of things, so that sort of moved into
going to the skate park where we could get a
little bit more airtime than at the BMX track, and
started learning little tricks like one foot is no footers
taking her hands off, and really just fell in love
(02:27):
with the sport. It was always something I just did
for fun. It was just after school activity. And then
I guess the more I stuck at it, a few
people started noticing what I could do, and there was
a few more competitions popping up around the globe. I
put a YouTube video on actually, and then I got
invited to a few international competitions and decided to spread
(02:50):
my wings and head overseas, and then it all sort
of snowboard from there, really getting recognition from some overseas
brands within the sport, and it grew until the point
of being invited to ride with the Freestyle Kings and
getting that to do that, it is a full time job.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Now, outstanding. I've had a look at some of your footage.
Some of what you do is just well to the
normal person, just death defying stuff. How long did it
take you to feel comfortable even attempting and then achieving
some of the really risky stuff.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yet it's definitely all of our progression, learning step by
step type sport, so where we get to do a
lot of our training now for the bigger jumps in
a foam pit. So we ride at the Franklin Farm
which is up in Tokaroa with Dad Milton, who's another
writer who's going to be at the Easter show. We
do all our practicing there, which means we can throw
(03:48):
ourselves into the air and try to learn the new
tricks or maneuvers that we want to do and not
have to worry too too much about the landing side
of things, and can kind of figure out the tricks
landing into a softer pit of foam, you still obviously
have the risk of injury within that, it's a much
safer version than taking it straight to a landing, So
(04:09):
we can kind of figure out the aerial awareness side
of things and then perfect it and then be able
to take it to the landing that we do in
the in the shows.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Has the time between when you seet the phone pit again,
I've seen footage of that and that seems, yeah, like
a very very good idea. But has the time between
you know, when you finishing the phone pit to when
you give it a go properly? Has that time reduced?
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Like?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Are you now more comfortable and you don't need as
long in the phone pit? If you get my drift.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, So a lot of the time will when we
have to start from the beginning with a completely new trick,
we'll spend a lot of time in the phone pit
trying to iron out all the all the problems with
the trick until we get it perfect. And then once
we've taken it to the landing and we can land it,
we we tend to hang on to those tricks. Obviously,
(05:02):
we need to keep practicing them because you know, consistency
makes you more comfortable with doing them. But it's definitely
the transition from going to the phone pit to the landing.
A lot of the time it's so completely different environment.
Sometimes the tricks that we do can even be right
in the middle of a live show, and so it's
(05:27):
sort of the rev up of the crowd and our
friends within the show is generally what makes all these
crazy tricks happen.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Are there tricks that have never been done that you
want to do?
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yes? Yeah, so, I guess with being a woman within
freestyle DMX, there's not as many girls within the sport.
So a lot of men have landed tricks, but not
a lot of women have landed these particular tricks, So
there's a lot of women's world first out there ready
(06:00):
to be claimed or conquered, you could call. And so, yeah,
definitely are trying to claim a few more of those.
One recent one that I landed was a front flip
turn down that no woman had done before.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
What's the We probably understand the front flip, what does
the turndown bit of that mean? So that is.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Where you twist the bars backwards on themselves. So basically
the bikes facing fords, you're on your front, flip the
bikes facing forward and you turn the bars backwards and
kind of your body twists around. It sort of an
odd one to explain, but it looks quite cool when
you see it.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Outstanding. So, as you mentioned, there aren't as many females
taking part in this kind of thing as there are males.
Would you like to see more female riders involved? And
do you feel like you're a bit of a bit
of a trailblazer for for females to get into it.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Yeah, I would love to see more girls getting into
the sport. And there is a few around the world
who are sort of coming up, coming up the ranks,
which is really great to see. But it is great
being able to be one of the girls out there
doing it? Who's showing girls that you can do this too?
Obviously at the shows there's a lot of younger kids watching,
(07:17):
and all those younger brothers have a younger sister, and
so it's quite cool to be the little role model.
I guess you could call it for those younger girls
to show that, you know, they can have a go
at things like this too.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And these shows a great opportunity for you to perhaps
influence a few of those younger writers as well. Yeah, Ellie, hey,
thanks so much for joining us. I know that everybody
who sees you across the weekend of the Auckland Showgrounds
is going to absolutely love it. Hope it goes well
for you. And thanks for taking the time for a chat.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Yeah, thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
No, thank you, Ellie, appreciate your time. Ellie Chu, they're
from the Freestyle Kings. She can catch you at the
Easter show today or tomorrow at the Auckland Showgrounds part
of the Freestyle Kings. Yeah a look, as I say
during that interview at some of the stuff that she does,
absolutely incredible what they can do on a BMX
Speaker 1 (08:04):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine listen live
to news Talks at B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalk zb.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Lea's moved to the Easter to show. It's on all
weekend at the Auckland Showgrounds and Institutions. Started all the
way back in eighteen forty three, but has evolved in
the time since from a purely agricultural event into a
pretty varied one, including some extreme sports in their action
arena over the weekend. One of those present across the
weekend is one of the world's top BMX writers. She's
(00:35):
one of ours. New Zealander Ali Chu from the world
famous Freestyle Kings and Ellie Chew is with us on
the show. Ellie tell us first of all about the
Freestyle Kings, what are they all about? And your part
in the Freestyle Kings.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
The Freestyle Kings, So we've actually just recently done a
tour of New Zealand. So it's a freestyle motocross and
BMX show. So we do big stunts and jumps and
it's pretty much a two hour spectacle of the biggest
and best freestyle tricks in world.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
So you've just as you say, finished in New Zealand too.
How widely though, have you traveled globally with the Freestyle Kings.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
We've been lucky enough to go quite a few places.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
We have.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Just prior to the New Zealand tour we went to
South Africa, which was a pretty incredible experience, and we've
also done a few tours of Australia and then we've
got a few more tours coming up at different parts
of the world.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
How did this all come about for you? Talk us
through your journey, you know, from when you first got
on a bike to where you are now.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Sort of all started when I was young. My dad
was always into motorsports and cars and engines and bikes,
so I was put onto bicycles and motorbikes from a
pretty young age. And then when I went to at school,
I had a group of friends who was interested in
BMX riding, so I ended up joining them going down
(02:05):
to the local being track. I grew up on the
Capity Coast and enjoyed doing the jumps more than the
racing side of things, so that sort of moved into
going to the skate park where we could get a
little bit more airtime than at the BMX track, and
started learning little tricks like one foot is no footers
taking her hands off, and really just fell in love
(02:27):
with the sport. It was always something I just did
for fun. It was just after school activity. And then
I guess the more I stuck at it, a few
people started noticing what I could do, and there was
a few more competitions popping up around the globe. I
put a YouTube video on actually, and then I got
invited to a few international competitions and decided to spread
(02:50):
my wings and head overseas, and then it all sort
of snowboard from there, really getting recognition from some overseas
brands within the sport, and it grew until the point
of being invited to ride with the Freestyle Kings and
getting that to do that, it is a full time job.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Now, outstanding. I've had a look at some of your footage.
Some of what you do is just well to the
normal person, just death defying stuff. How long did it
take you to feel comfortable even attempting and then achieving
some of the really risky stuff.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yet it's definitely all of our progression, learning step by
step type sport, so where we get to do a
lot of our training now for the bigger jumps in
a foam pit. So we ride at the Franklin Farm
which is up in Tokaroa with Dad Milton, who's another
writer who's going to be at the Easter show. We
do all our practicing there, which means we can throw
(03:48):
ourselves into the air and try to learn the new
tricks or maneuvers that we want to do and not
have to worry too too much about the landing side
of things, and can kind of figure out the tricks
landing into a softer pit of foam, you still obviously
have the risk of injury within that, it's a much
safer version than taking it straight to a landing, So
(04:09):
we can kind of figure out the aerial awareness side
of things and then perfect it and then be able
to take it to the landing that we do in
the in the shows.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Has the time between when you seet the phone pit again,
I've seen footage of that and that seems, yeah, like
a very very good idea. But has the time between
you know, when you finishing the phone pit to when
you give it a go properly? Has that time reduced?
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Like?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Are you now more comfortable and you don't need as
long in the phone pit? If you get my drift.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, So a lot of the time will when we
have to start from the beginning with a completely new trick,
we'll spend a lot of time in the phone pit
trying to iron out all the all the problems with
the trick until we get it perfect. And then once
we've taken it to the landing and we can land it,
we we tend to hang on to those tricks. Obviously,
(05:02):
we need to keep practicing them because you know, consistency
makes you more comfortable with doing them. But it's definitely
the transition from going to the phone pit to the landing.
A lot of the time it's so completely different environment.
Sometimes the tricks that we do can even be right
in the middle of a live show, and so it's
(05:27):
sort of the rev up of the crowd and our
friends within the show is generally what makes all these
crazy tricks happen.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Are there tricks that have never been done that you
want to do?
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yes? Yeah, so, I guess with being a woman within
freestyle DMX, there's not as many girls within the sport.
So a lot of men have landed tricks, but not
a lot of women have landed these particular tricks, So
there's a lot of women's world first out there ready
(06:00):
to be claimed or conquered, you could call. And so, yeah,
definitely are trying to claim a few more of those.
One recent one that I landed was a front flip
turn down that no woman had done before.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
What's the We probably understand the front flip, what does
the turndown bit of that mean? So that is.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Where you twist the bars backwards on themselves. So basically
the bikes facing fords, you're on your front, flip the
bikes facing forward and you turn the bars backwards and
kind of your body twists around. It sort of an
odd one to explain, but it looks quite cool when
you see it.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Outstanding. So, as you mentioned, there aren't as many females
taking part in this kind of thing as there are males.
Would you like to see more female riders involved? And
do you feel like you're a bit of a bit
of a trailblazer for for females to get into it.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Yeah, I would love to see more girls getting into
the sport. And there is a few around the world
who are sort of coming up, coming up the ranks,
which is really great to see. But it is great
being able to be one of the girls out there
doing it? Who's showing girls that you can do this too?
Obviously at the shows there's a lot of younger kids watching,
(07:17):
and all those younger brothers have a younger sister, and
so it's quite cool to be the little role model.
I guess you could call it for those younger girls
to show that, you know, they can have a go
at things like this too.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And these shows a great opportunity for you to perhaps
influence a few of those younger writers as well. Yeah, Ellie, hey,
thanks so much for joining us. I know that everybody
who sees you across the weekend of the Auckland Showgrounds
is going to absolutely love it. Hope it goes well
for you. And thanks for taking the time for a chat.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Yeah, thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
No, thank you, Ellie, appreciate your time. Ellie Chu, they're
from the Freestyle Kings. She can catch you at the
Easter show today or tomorrow at the Auckland Showgrounds part
of the Freestyle Kings. Yeah a look, as I say
during that interview at some of the stuff that she does,
absolutely incredible what they can do on a BMX
Speaker 1 (08:04):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine listen live
to news Talks at B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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