Biography / Interview

Who are you, and where are you from?
I´m Alex "struck by a lightning" Etzold and I have been born in Germany. Simply AZE. The name "Lightning" is a leftover of my apprenticeship as an electrician at the "Deutsche Bundesbahn" (German Railway). Had some electric strokes there.... Right now I´m studying mechanical engineering in Cologne. But as soon as I have some free time I grab my bike and go out for a ride.

Why BMX? For how long do you ride? What do you ride?
BMX is a sport with soul and philosophy for me. It´s a great Lifestyle. Furthermore, it is interesting to see BMX Freestyle growing. I have been addicted to BMX since 1986, when I was watching E.T. at the cinema. I was fascinated by the pursuits. Later, around 1993 I´ve seen Mat Hoffmann on TV and I´ve got infected with the freestyle virus and tried my first x-up´s. I´m rather an Allrounder. I like to Ride Street, Vert and Dirt. Sometimes a little bit Flatland at the "Domplatte".

You´ve ever heard of some guys called the RUDE BARONZ? What´s up with them?
You mean the "Rude Bananaz"? Fuck off, blow job!!! %*#

Most favorite trick?
My favorite tricks are changing from time to time, right now I like "Suicide no hand double flip double whip". Yeah! Sometimes it´s not the hardest trick trick or the most wicked action, but having a nice clean alternating run with a lot of flow and style that is most important. At contests it´s sometimes hard doing this due to the pressure. With the right people, good ramps, the perfect bike and the best music there, it can´t go wrong. I don't consider myself as a trick fanatic. I´m a passionately BMX rider, but I don't see me as a BMX rider only, more like a biker, also motorised. I'm going for everything with two wheels, that´ll be like that till I'll die.

What do you think about Flatland?
Give them more space at contests. I think there is a high potential in Flatland. I do have massive respect for Flatlander, because Flatland is the most difficult BMX discipline in my opinion. I´ve tried it several times, but I failed to do more than a Double Tailspin or a Surfer properly. From my Point of view, one thing is missing in Flatland , thrill. The thrill I'm feeling when I´m 10ft above the coping, or defeating a 30ft Double. All of us can be happy if Flatland is standing on it´s own two legs, and does not die like Flatland Skating. BMX can only stay strong with all its disciplines. Being a community is very important. Take a look around, which sport shows that big diversity like BMX? We can be proud of it. Peace.

Spots? Where can I meet you? Who are your buddies? Where have you been for riding?
Mostly I´m riding in and around Cologne. You can find anything your looking for, except a foam pit. The next foam pit is in Sint Niklaas, about two hours away from Cologne. My home spot is "Bonn/Rheinaue". There´s a 40ft wide half pipe in the middle of a nice recreational park. Everything is green, as far as you can see. More often than not you could meet Tim Eichert there and have a nice session with him. If it´s about Dirt riding, I call up my MTB buddies Ralf Schupp and Jan Störtzer. It´s a pity that there aren´t that many BMX Dirt Riders. Only Jan Paetzold and Hannes Koch are there. If I´m looking forward for a street session, I just need to get out of my apartment, there´s always somebody there. Mainly in the summertime. If there´s nobody around, I call Gerrit Rehmann or Jan Heinen, they no Sassupönen.

What do you like? What do you hate?
I like reaching the train in the second it leaves, I hate it if the train leaves right before my eyes.

Dog or Cat?
Dog

What´s your favorite drink?
Peppermint Tea and Caipirinha

What´s your favorite meal?
Soft "Rouladen" with spicy "Rotkraut" and "Klößen". (German style, don´t try to translate it, eat it!!)

Favorite Actor?
Brad Pitt

What would you change if your able to?
Legalize Cannabis!

Best Run? Best Contest?
This year (2005) definitely the Garage Punx Jam in Cologne. Get there. Pull some bad ass stuff. Fuck off. But: Had some stylish photo sequences in two mag´s. Nice. One thing will always be on my mind, the "Wetten dass...?" story 2003. I placed a bet together with Stephan Prantl that we will burst nine balloons hanging over a halfpipe within 3 minutes. "That was the most exciting bet within the last year" was the comment of the director. 15,6 Million people were watching this. Insane! I can´t remember a perfect run I had, something is always going wrong. Now there´s just the King of Garden Contest left to mention, I won and became King of Garden. Fat Weekend.

Any Injuries?
I had a bad crash in 2000 at the "Green Ramp" (Halfpipe) in Karlsruhe. Spleen rupture, mortal danger. Emergency Room, got operated. I can be over fast. I had a lot of plans for the upcoming two weeks. But I had to stay in hospital for two weeks. Fortunately only two weeks. Hundred years ago I would have been dead. This accident made up my mind that it sin´t the most important thing in your life to think of your future all the times. Live now. It can be over every second. Don´t live half-hearted, be there 100% concentrated all the time. The most injuries occur whilst riding stuff you´ve done 1000 times before, when your not 100% warmed up or just before you stop riding because you´re tired. I almost never got injured myself while doing stuff I´ve worked on for weeks. If something happens, I´m glad to have the high medicine standards here, that makes it possible riding BMX at this level. It´s time for some massive Shout-Outs to Friedrich Wilhelm Sertürner, the inventor of morphine!!

Are you afraid when you ride your bike?
The Fear is always there. You should listen to what your fears are saying, but never let them control you. Fear is a kind of language of your body. Fear tells you how far you can go beyond your frontiers. Fear can be minimized with good physical and psychological preparation. Every time I ride my bike I hope that I won´t hurt or kill myself. Especially when I´m riding in a half pipe. Getting home save is like heaven.

Any plans for the future?
Finish my studies. Make a signature bike. Make more videos. Realize stunts which are in my head right now. Find the perfect girlfriend.

Would you recommend KHE parts?
KHE parts are getting better from year to year. Some years ago I couldn't ride my bike for a long time without interruption of stuff breaking. Nowadays my bike lasts for about one year but I definitely ride harder than before. That´s a word. The Method Fork for example is great. KHE is moving on, they don't mark time. They are developing all the time.

How will BMX evolve, and what do you think about that?
I think that the development of BMX is positive. Right now you will find more BMX Riders in Skate Park than Skaters. Wow. There haven´t been that much contests before in Germany like this year. The riders have the choice what to do. It was impossible to attend every contest. Even Vert was crazy, notwithstanding the lack of new blood in the vert. But we should take care! We should return to the spirit and the roots of BMX. Things like sticking together and tolerance are very important, no matter which level you are riding. The session you had together with your locals was the most important thing to keep. Passion was very important. I just thought of BMX Street 10 years ago, where everybody was riding with body armor and full face helmet, or that you´ve been waiting desperately for the next contest were just a fistful of riders were competing. Respect to Oldschool. Now that BMX is pretty big, a lot more money is coming into the game. Idealism is getting rare. But the industry or commercial stuff shouldn't be avoided. It´s more that the BMX scene and the companies should find their balance and work together hand in hand. Everybody should be able to benefit from the other's work. I started riding BMX Freestyle after I had been watching a kind of a "Head First" Video on DSF, for example. Isn't that commercial also? It´s pretty much the same about the X-Games. Lots of people moan about this event. It isn't that bad at all, how many kids want to have a BMX bike when they´ve seen an event like the X-Games on TV. It also raises the status of BMX in the society. I will be happy when the doctors in the hospital don´t ask me what BMX Freestyle is. Isn't it the duty of all the BMX enthusiasts to be open-minded about all those kids getting into BMX and give them a warm welcome, showing them the BMX Lifestyle of being aware not to mutate into BMX machines? Or should riders just be riders, photographers just photographers, sponsors just sponsors and organizers just organizers. No way! This shows that BMX is very universal. Some just ride for their sponsors, some for the sport. I just say tolerance and acceptance There´s just one question left: Would I have started riding BMX if it was as popular as soccer and everybody was riding a BMX?!?

Last words?
Ride on. My respect to my familie, my homies from Heidelberg, Fisti, Lily Acosta, Volker Lux, Tim Eichert, Peter Geys, Achim Kujawski, Christoph Tober, Stephan Geissler, Benny Kopp, Jan Tinter, Hannes Koch, Jan Petzold, Marco Fey, Karsten Bihrer, Volker Giljevic, Basti, John Becker, Constanze von Kitzing, Marie Kronauer, Rüdiger Kussmann, Jan Heinen, Sven Fanghänel, Sven Hoffmann, Oli Arroyo, Niels Lange, Schober, Martin Balkmann, Mark König, Kuskus, Timo, Alex Reinke, Bernd, Team-Promotion, Jochen Forstmann, Andy Zeiss, Biggi, Axel Reicherts, Ralph Schupp, Jan Störtzer, Leroy, Jan Beckmann, Spiess, Janosch Ritter, Jan Kovermann, Markus Wilke, Arne Mohr, Gerrit Rehmann, Tim Wiegmann, Björn Heyer, Sergej Geier, Christian Ziegler, Magga, Sascha Roll, Fabrice, Andreas Kittel, Pierre Mandt, R2D2, Dirk, Daniel Weber, Thorsten Pullich, Benny Korthaus, Benny Paulsen, Dirk Becker, Anno, Kruz, Dominik Wrobel, Alex Lotz, Wolfgang Penzler, the whole KHE-Team and everybody who knows me.