Opposite downside tailwhip, Laguna, Tenerife.
whole course, to go from one side to the other, so that’s what I did. I wasn’t scared, I just rode. I was hungry, not to win, but just to ride. I didn’t think about all the riders I was up against, I enjoyed it.” On home turf, riding a bike he’d paid for, still without a single paying sponsor and at the tender age of 17, Roey qualified sixth, ahead of seasoned pros the likes of Corey Martinez, Mike Escamilla and Taj Mihelich. “Doyle was in my group in the final. But someone, I won’t name who, told me to do just one dumb line, I never pulled it and finished 16th. That was a mistake, but I was still blown away how well I did. I would’ve finished better if I’d just rode… I still beat Ruben though,” he says shaking his head in disbelief. “When I rode at that jam, I didn’t give a flying fuck. No one knew who I was, no one expected anything from me, especially myself. It was the same when I rode at the Bike Show at the NEC in Birmingham with Dave Mirra in front of bloody hundreds of people. I just rode and the pressure didn’t bother me. Mirra came up to me after88
wards and shook my hand, said ‘well done.’ It was one of the best moments of my life.” Riding Derby Backyard Jam and beside Mirra at the Bike Show, Roey had proved himself against the best riders in the world and a new life as professional rider beckoned. He had the opportunity to be an English Chase Hawk or Mike Aitken, and he knew it. “I felt I could get better and I thought as long I can go high and have some consistency I could maybe make a life out of riding for myself. My old mate Gaz [Sanders] put me on the Mutiny Pro team and for a while things started to happen.” “But doing that well in the Derby Backyard Jam changed me, it changed riding for me. Afterwards I realized I wanted to go to comps and to my surprise I found myself wanting to win, whereas before I’d never given a shit. I put pressure on myself. I’ve never been able to cope with pressure, it span me out. I went to Sheffield Backyard and felt so nervous. I didn’t ride practice much. When it came to take my run one of my so-called mates shouted something about wanting to fuck my mam. It should’ve