Mike Metzger held his 2  annual Godfather’s Hits Out event.

What many people fail to realize these days is that freestyle motocross wasn’t always the spectacle that you can now see on TV and around the world. Before there were ramps riders found sketchy dirt jumps in the hills of southern California and practiced their tricks that way, with no foam pits and little knowledge of what was actually considered possible on a dirt bike.

This past weekend I had an opportunity to ride with one of the guys who paved the way for all of those newcomers you see riding in the X Games and X Fighters events today. Mike Metzger held his 2nd annual Godfather’s Hits Out event recently in Ocotillo Wells California.

I’m always down for a trip to Ocotillo but the opportunity to watch one of the founding fathers of the sport in his stomping grounds is priceless. Ocotillo is one of the Godfather’s favorite places to ride and it shows. He’s quite at home airing it out over the mud hills and natural terrain that the area offers.

The day mostly consisted of scoping out jumps and sessioning each one. The whole event revolves around giving fans an opportunity to come out and ride with Metz as well as giving up and coming free riders a chance to show their skills. I was impressed with several of the younger riders who wasted no time throwing down with the pro’s.

Unfortunately this was mostly just a spectator day for me. Because of the terrain its difficult to find jumps suited for an ATV and you really have to look hard for them. None the less I had fun trail riding and it was awesome to watch the Godfather and these other riders doing their thing in one of the worlds greatest free-riding playgrounds.