AST Dew Tour comes to downtown Cleveland

July 15, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

Anthony Napolitan (BMX)

The tour features the top names in skateboarding and freestyle motocross.

There’s nothing like summertime for catching some air.

Odds are air carries a different meaning — as in vertical leap — if you’re attending this year’s AST Dew Tour, which takes place Thursday through Sunday at the North Coast Harbor in downtown Cleveland.

Back for its second consecutive year along the shores of Lake Erie, the cool (or sick in a good way) event features competitions in skateboarding (vert and park), BMX (vert, park and dirt) and freestyle motocross, with extreme athletes vying for the largest prize purse in action sports — $2.5 million, plus a $1 million bonus pool.

“It’s part of a five-stop tour and has all of the top athletes across skateboarding, BMX and freestyle motocross,” said AST Dew Tour Vice President of Events Chris Prybylo. “First, we have great competition with Olympic gold medalist Shaun White coming to town. He was the big star in the last Winter X Games. He’s also a skateboarder and won the Dew Tour last year. We also have some great BMX biking from Anthony Napolitan, a 2006 tour champion who grew up in Youngstown.

“Not only can you watch the best action sports athletes in the world, the best skateboarding and see Ryan Sheckler, who has his own MTV show, but you can also learn to skate, learn to ride a BMX bike. There is a skate park, and we’ll provide boards for you and a helmet. In addition, we have a BMX dirt track where you can come down and learn how to ride.”

If the AST Dew Tour seems similar to the Gravity Games, which came through Cleveland in 2002 and 2003 and was broadcast on NBC-TV, it should. Not only was Prybylo part of that production, but he geared this new tour around topping the old one.

“It’s a new and improved version of the Gravity Games, which was broadcast nationally on NBC,” Prybylo said. “The AST Dew Tour is bigger and better. It’s broadcast in the U.S. live on NBC-TV, and it’s also simulcast around the world and broadcast live in Europe and Australia.”

The Cleveland AST Dew Tour stop, which last year attracted roughly 50,000 people, boasts more than 250 competitors. It also features a Van Warped-meets-X Games-like atmosphere with live music from national band Plain White T’s on Friday and the popular Festival Village, which has interactive events, athlete autograph sessions and games.

Perhaps the most surprising thing is that Cleveland was pegged as the host AST Dew Tour city two years in a row.

“Well, the Gravity Games were successful, so if we have something bigger and better, why not,” Prybylo said. “We expect the same success, and we’re thrilled to be back in Cleveland. It’s one of the most picturesque venues with the great city backdrop right down by the water in the North Coast Harbor behind the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

He added, “And Cleveland is overall a great sports town. They support their teams and they support events that come into town. So the city is all about sports, and that’s what our tour is about. These guys do incredible things.”