High-flying fun at the fair
Derek’s Guetter brother Jon is known as the first person in the world to do a backflip on a four-wheeler, a feat he first accomplished in 2004. The stunt launched the professional careers of Jon, Derek and their oldest brother, Dan.
For the past 11 years the three have toured the globe performing dangerous stunts and recording professional videos of themselves. Now they’ve returned to Minnesota and are taking a handful of the best freestyle ATV and motorcycle riders in the world on tour.
On Friday, July 31, they’ll bring the ATV Big Air Tour to the grandstand at the Washington County Fair.
“We’ve been traveling all summer city to city,” Derek said.
Last year the show performed a short demonstration on Sunday, and it was a hit.
“We talked to these guys about coming out, and so we asked them if we could have them last year just to see how it would go over,” fair manager Dorie Ostertag said. “Oh my gosh, you could see them way high in the air doing these flips. … It seemed to draw quite a bit of attentions.”
Derek said the hour-and-a-half show includes three all-terrain vehicle (ATV) riders and two motorcycle riders, reaching heights of about 35 feet. By the second half of the show, he said, they’re all in the air at the same time.
“The crowd’s been going wild,” he said.
Derek and his brothers grew up in Wabasso, Minn., admiring watching BMX biking and the X Games. They started riding dirt bikes, but after some accidents, they weren’t allowed to ride them any more. A few years later they moved on to something even bigger — ATVs.
“Then we all moved out to California, and that’s when my brother did the first backflip,” Derek said.
Together, the Minnesota natives started The ATV Big Air Tour.
“We basically had just two truck-fulls of guys and traveled around the country shooting movies and having fun, Derek said.
Jon was the “show pony,” while Derek took care of the booking and Dan handled the videography and images.
Some things have changed now — Dan designs equipment, and Jon and Derek have stopped backflipping on ATVs because of the high risk.
“This stuff is dangerous,” Derek said.
Even without the backflips, he said the brothers put on a heck of a show.
“Nobody really does these things on ATVs,” he said. “We’ve been doing it for long enough that I think we can do it safely, or at least that’s what I tell myself.”
If you go
What: ATV Big Air Tour
When: 7 p.m. Friday, July 31, 2015
Where: Washington County Fair Grounds, 12300 40th St. N., Baytown.
Info: washingtoncountyfair.org.
Contact Jonathan Young at jonathan.young@ecm-inc.com
