gifted him with one of his old Honda CRF 450’s.
Carbone used to ride a clunkered out Yamaha
two stroke YZ 250, and now sees red but for all
the right reasons.
“Yeah, Vinnie Carbone, I’ve always liked Vinnie.
I helped him out with one of my old Honda CRF
450’s. I’ve never seen the dude angry or irritated
or complaining, he’s just happy all the time and
down to ride in the hills with everything he’s got
inside of him,” Stenberg says about the energetic
and charismatic Vinnie Carbone. “I knew if he got
on a four stroke he’d do so much better in the
hills compared to his two stroke, which was what
he was riding. I like his style, I like everything
he’s about so I helped him out with a bike. It’s
funny, he just sent me a
video of him flipping it (450)
in the hills. He said he’s
always wanted to do it and
it was time to start making
everyone happy, so he went
for it and did that s**t. And
he always shovels his ass off
and comes up with dope ass
jumps. I think that’s cool.”
“
looks like they went out there with a full-on legit
dozer and made it but it’s all done with shovels. I
can’t even imagine shoveling some of the jumps
they’ve built, but at the same time their jumps
always turn out to be some of, if not the sickest
jumps on the block”. Stenberg says about what
Carbone and the #Nonamers will do to build the
sickest jumps no matter what the conditions are.
As with most rookies starting a sport, showing
some promise, heart and potential to succeed is
a good way to attract the right sort of attention,
help and mentoring from more experienced
athletes. It was Twitch’s skills that caught the
eye of pioneers such as Mike Metzger, who let
him and Kris Rourke stay on his couch to go
freeriding - and Deegan
with the Metal Mulisha who
offered up the first real
compound for Stenberg
to begin honing his FMX
skills and tricks. It wasn’t
long after that he would
find himself a true member
of the M/M and on his way
to creating one of the most
accomplished pro FMX careers. Twitch is now
firmly established as one of the sport’s most
popular riders - according to his social media
followers, who exceed two hundred thousand.
Never one to forget where he came from though,
Stenberg remains true to his roots.
#Nonamers and DBK go
hand in hand - we are just a
bunch of #Nonamers that love
riding our dirt bikes
Carbone: “I couldn’t believe it when it happened,
but Stenberg sponsoring me with a 450 to go
out in the hills and have the opportunity to be
the best I can be - I’m lost for words. I’ve never
had someone give me a break like this. The DBK
brand and freeriding stands for everything I eat,
sleep, and breathe for!”.
Twitch: “It’s cool because he has the eye to
make bad ass jumps and they’ll say: it’s going to
take four days to build this jump, f**k it, let’s just
do it now, and then they’ll do it and make a sick
ass jump. They’re gnarly like that. We’ll show up
and be like, f**k, did you guys use a tractor to
build that? And they straight do it with shovels
(laughs)” Stenberg says. “The s**t they shovel
38 | FreestyleXtreme
”
“And it’s that giving attitude that has me wanting
to give back to my sport and guys like Taka
Higashino for example. If it weren’t for me and
my family helping him out and letting him live
with us for free for a few years, he wouldn’t be
where he is today,” he says about helping Taka
Higashino stamp his way into the American FMX
culture. “When I first met Taka I knew he could
be so dope on the bike if he had a little u