October 5, 2008 

Orlando, Florida

In years past, Stuntober Fest has always been sort of a "warm up" event for the famous Stuntwars held in Florida. This year would prove that Stuntober Fest has come into its own, and is every bit as important and competitive as its big brother. Over 40 riders brought there A game to Orlando from all over the US to battle it out for the top spot. The competition was thick with riders bringing never before seen tricks to the new venue including 360 degree stoppies and riders doing wheelies using there feet to control the throttle! Saturday was set aside to qualify 10 riders for the main event on Sunday. Joe was sitting 7th in the points going into this weekends event and needed a strong finish to stay in the top ten. He delivered a near flawless qualifying run landing him in the 3rd spot for the day. As sunday rolled around, the always un-predictable Florida weather left over cast skies and an occasional sprinkle that had the riders on edge all afternoon. Just a couple drops of rain came down as Dryden was gearing up for his final run, but the sky would hold out and allow him the oppurtunity to give it his all for the crowd. Joe was well on his way to a great finish with an array stoopie variations, wide circle wheelies, aggressive burnouts and acrobatics when greed got the best of him. "I really wanted to sqeeze a set of no-handed circles into my run and I tried to force it" said Joe Vertical. A crash at the very end of his run would cost him 5 points and land him in 6th place for the weekend. Check out www.stuntwars.com for more info!

9-27-08

Palm Springs, California

 Every year around this time, motorcycle manufacturers all over the world get together to unveil all of there new bikes and products. This year, Joe was invited to ride along side 3 of the nations top XDL riders in a skills demonstration on the SXV 450. Dan Jackson, Andy Niles, Lin Eshalom, and Joe "Vertical" Dryden wowed the company with an array of tricks on the very capable Aprilia SXV 450. "The bikes are incredible right out of the box, literally, the bike I rode had 1 mile on it, and I was able to perform a variety of tricks including circle wheelies" said Dryden. The show included a break down on the bikes components, an individual skills demo, a team demo, and a run through of the XDL Spec Class Aprilia Challenge. The show was a great success, and the team is looking forward to performing at an Aprilia dealer near you!