Leigh was born august 1st, 1970, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.
Leigh: Circa 1984, a friend of mine, Gretg Bloom, built a quarterpipe at the end of his road and it looked fun and dangerous so I did it.
Leigh Ramsdell, www.vitalbmx.com, june 2011: I remember it vividly like it was just 27 years ago...I was riding my beat up bmx bike down the street with a friend. He told me about this ramp that a guy in the neighbor hood jumps. It was a 7 foot tall quarter pipe. There were trees being it. I kept thinking; "He jumps into the trees?!". I had no idea that he rode out of the top of the quarter and then back into it. The next day I saw him ride it and that moment seriously changed my life. Greg Bloom was the rider and I am still great friends with him. But it's nuts to think that because of that moment I fell in love with BMX and never looked back...thanks Greg!
SURFER.
Photo from Ride BMX US december 2006 of a surfer on his Redline RL-20A back in 1985.
ONE HADED DECADE.
Leigh, Ride BMX UK february 2001: I did that seriously back in 86, I think I was 16 years old, I said "I'll do a decade, and take my hand off and see what happens" and it worked, it's pretty cool...
FIRST SPONSOR.
Leigh: My first sponsor was co-factory Diamondback. From there I shot straight to the top and rode for Badd & Company. After that I rode for Homeless.
Leigh: I started my first zine called Zine Slam. It was a real sketchy cut and paste thing.
Leigh is starting a zine called Orgasmic Toaster.
BMX PLUS!
Letter published in BMX Plus! october 1991.
Leigh: Dear Editors, I am writing in regard to your May '91 issue; in the 2-Hip final article you misspelled my name. I got sixth place in Expert. It should be spelled Leigh Ramsdell. I'm also letting you know that a new bicycle/skate park has just opened up. It has a halfpipe (10-1/2 feet tall, 40 feet wide), a mini-half and a street section. All this was paid for by the city, but we built it. It will host one of the contests for the NBL. If anyone wants any info on the park, they can contact the city of Havelock, North Carolina, or me at P0. Box 1738, Morehead City, NC 28557. Leigh Ramsdell Morehead City, NC
Plus!: We'll apologize but we actually did that on purpose. Yeah, on purpose; you see, we thought if spelled your name right you'd be in the results and that's it. Now, this way you get twice the coverage... yeah, that's it; you've gotten twice the coverage, once in the results and once in "Mailbag." I think you've gotten the better deal.
The 2B death metal rocker Leigh Ramsdell rode with fire in his eyes. 360's over the spine with a 180 barspin thrown in. Fourth place.
July 93, Leigh is riding for Wilkerson Airlines (2-hip).
8th place stuntboys street & 3rd place stuntboys vert @ BS round 1, Glendale, Arizona, january 1993.
9th place stuntmen street & 6th place stuntmen vert @ BS round 2, Shimerville, Pennsylvania, april 1993.
7th place stuntmen street & 6th place stuntmen vert @ BS round 3, Oklahoma City, september 1993.
INTERVIEW.
Interview in Ride BMX US #8 december 1993 january 1994.
7th place stuntmen vert @ BS round 2, Ft.Riley, KanSas, may 1994.
USELESS CLOTHES.
Leigh is starting Useless clothes.
Leigh: Hal (Brindley) has helped me out a lot. I was sponsoring a couple of guys too. Steve Crandall, Mike Laird, Tim Mirra, Paul Murray, and Bryan Huffman. I just like to have shirts that are humorous. If you can't laugh, then don't even look at my stuff.
WORLDS.
6th place pro mini ramp @ Worlds 1994 in Koln, Germany.
FAT JAM.
BS OKLAHOMA.
8th place stuntmen mini street @ BS round 3, Oklahoma City, OK, september 1994.
Video FBM "Ring of Fire".
INTERVIEW.
20inch video magazine issue 5.
1995 EXTREME GAMES.
BULLY.
December 1995, Leigh is swithing from 2-Hip bikes over to Bully.
1995 X-Games. Photo by Brad McDonald.
Leigh is riding for DK.
Leigh: Being on DK is good because the bike fits me. I'm 5' 6-3/4" and the bikes that I've ridden for the past four years have been way too long for me and way too big. Steve Swope once announced during my run that I actually make BMX bikes look like they're the right size for us. I like DK because it's very professional, yet they really value riders' input.
AIRWALK.
Leigh is riding for Airwalk shoes.
Interview in Ride BMX US #25 december 1996.
Leigh did No-handed 540s, insanely high flip fakies and a tailtap to double peg stall. Leigh improves almost daily, and should prove to be a huge threat to the pro class.
X-Games 1998. Vert double. Leigh Ramsdell and Rob Sigaty shaved their hair into mullets and ended both of their runs whith flip fakies to flat. 8th place.
Interviews: Props #28 november december 1998, Ride BMX UK #38 december 1998.
DK's Leigh Ramsdeil broke his arm at the ESPN bike stunt competition in Oceanside; unbelievable that this is the first bone he has ever broken.
1999 X-GAMES.
Leigh Ramsdell didn't make the finals but went for a half-barspin flip to fakie.
Interview: BMX plus! september 1999.
Video FOX Expendable 2.
2000 X-GAMES.
Leigh was doing the commentating thing at the X-Games with ESPN.
Leigh, Ride BMX UK february 2001: The ESPN job came out cause l did little things with Rick Thore on X-Today and then Steve Swope asked we to do the Lake Havasu contest and I did it and they liked it, they thought it was good The thing there is good, it 's not just some announcer up there asking questions, it's somebody who knows something about the sport, that's pretty awesome. But the only drawback is that I haven't been competing as much, but I was kinda out last year with a busted up arm so it didn't matter.
USELESS.
Leigh is working on his clothing company Useless Clothing.
INTERVIEW.
www.fatbmx.com
EASTERN BIKES.
November, Leigh is leaving DK and riding for Eastern Bikes.
Leigh, Ride BMX UK february 2001: Eastern is giving me a signature frame, along with three signature complete bikes arid it's just something I have always wanted. And I have known these guys for a long time, and it's just awesome, they are from the same State as me, like Jon Byers is thirty minutes away front me. And if we are designing something together I can go 30 minutes to see him instead of like eight or nine hours. I am going to design my graphics, and do that completely. I'm going to have a lot of input with this company, like l've been helping them with their ads end everything, it's fun, I like doing ad designs.
DAVE MIRRA VIDEO GAME.
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX, developed by Z-Axis, features: 10-Time World Champion Dave Mirra, along with nine other BMX superstars (Ryan Nyquist, Leigh Ramsdell, Mike Laird, Troy McMurray, Kenan Harkin, Joey Garcia, Shaun Butler, Chad Kagy and Tim Mirra).
Leigh Ramsdell, www.vitalbmx.com, june 2011: Being in the Dave Mirra BMX games is truly an honor. I was so stoked when Dave asked me to be in the games. I was just in China for the Asian X-Games and a few guys said; "You're Leigh Ramsdell from the Mirra BMX game." It's funny to get recognized from a video game. It's awesome and something that I am proud to be apart of. Thanks Dave!
Eastern Ace of Spades, Leigh Ramsdell signature frame.
Leigh Ramsdell is now riding for Blacken Clothing.
