Birthplace: Kansas City, MO. USA.
Rick Thorne: I started touring when I was 15.
3rd place amateur @ 2-Hip KOV finals, Glendale, Arizona, 1990.
Rick Thorne pulled-Cherokee airs, cancans, one footed inverts, 540s, manuals, peg grinds, abubacas and attempted 540s. This slickster now boasts a co-factory Mongoose sponsorship. He rides with his buddy (and teammate) Dennis McCoy most every day in Kansas City, MO. His ramping career seems to improve with every event he attends. On this occasion he rogued his way to a third place victory. Keep him in sight.
1991 GT International Tour.
Full page pic in BMX Plus! november 1991.
Rick Thorne: I competed in flatland from 1985 to 1993 and I got a couple of overall champion belts as an amateur in my garage. Got them doing the BS contest series.
Rick Thorne: My chain broke once in San Jose back in '92. I wracked myself right on my stem and tore my urethra. I had to wear a piss bag for a whole month. It was gnarly.
3rd place stuntboy flat, 1st place stuntboy vert and 6th place stuntboy mini @ BS round 3, Lake Owen Freestyle Camp, Wisconsin, 1992.
4th place stuntboy flat, 3rd place stuntboy vert and 2nd place stuntboy street @ BS round 5, Stone Edge Skatepark, Daytona, FL., september 1992.
BS round 1. Photo by Paul de Jong.
Rick Thorne: My first contest as a pro was in 1994. I was a wuss to not turn pro in the early years. But then I started using the Thighmaster -- the one the lady in Three's Company uses.
8th place stuntman vert and 7th place stuntman street @ BS round 2, Overland Park, Ft.Riley, KS., may 1994.
4th place stuntman vert and 4th place stuntman mini/street @ BS round 3, Hoffman BikePark, Oklahoma City, OK., september 1994.
Rick Thorne pulled flip to fakie on the vert wall.
7th place stuntman vert, 7th place stuntman street and 3rd place stuntman mini @ BS finals, SCRAP Chicago, november 1994.
6th place stuntman vert @ BS round 2, Hampton, VirginiA, july 1995.
7th place pro vert @ SUMMER 95 X-Games
5th place stuntman vert @ BS round 3, Hoffman Bike Park, Oklahoma City, OK., september 1995.
1996 worlds in Germany.
Rick rode in the 1996 Olympic Closing Ceremonies.
ESPN X-today
Rick Thorne: I hosted the Sports & Music Festival in 1997, then got a call from ESPN to host for 3 1/2 years, crazy uh?
8th place stuntman vert @ BS round 4, Seal Beach, CA, august 1997.
Eighth place went to the undisputed ruler of the tailwhip foot-plant, Rick Thorne. Rick opened up his big bag of tricks and came out with 540s, flip fakies, rocket X-ups and a whole slew of sleeveless bad assedness.
9th place pro vert and 5th place pro vert double @ SUMMER 98 X-Games
9th place @1999 Gravity Games.
Thorne didn't ride as well as he had in Prelims (both runs were clean) but still pulled a lot of his tricks.
Rick Thorne interview in BMX Plus! november 1999.
First interview ever in a bike magazine.
2000 Gravity Games
Rick Thorne got his hands on some brand new Rancid for his run and then proceeded to use the roll in to start off with a big alley oop air. He did a super clean 540 only to slide out on a tailwhip. Not one to give up easily, he hopped backed on and pulled it clean to finish off his run.
Rick Thorne: I had knee surgery in like september or october.I had both of my knees done, ACL reconstruction.
Rick Thorne: I married Madonna, October 21, 2000. My wife's the best. She's a skater, so she skates and I ride, so she totally understands what I'm doing, and I like back her...lately the last few months we got serious about our band. We have a band called "All Scarred Up" with me and Madonna and a couple of friends. It's a project that we're doing is just like bike riding. Create music, do what you want to do...our similarities are pretty close.
10th place pro vert @ B3 EVENT, ANAHEIM, CA.
23th place pro park @ B3 EVENT, LOUISVILLE, KY.
11th place pro vert @ B3 EVENT, LOUISVILLE, KY.
11th place pro vert @ 2001 BS SERIES YEAR-END RANKING
12th place pro vert @ CFB #1, JACKSONVILLE, FL.
8th place pro vert @ CFB #2, Perris, CA., may 2001.
At the end of the contest it was just Rick Thorne left on the deck. Rick was bound and determined to pull a backflip to fakie. It never worked out for him, although he did make the rollback into the opposite transition once. In the end Kevin Robinson had to tackle Rick to keep him from going on.
8th place pro vert @ CFB SERIES YEAR-END RANKING
13th place pro vert @ GRAVITY GAMES, PROVIDENCE, RI.
19th place pro park @ X TRIAL, GRAND PRAIRIE, TX.
12th place pro vert @ X TRIAL, GRAND PRAIRIE, TX.
14th place pro vert @ SUMMER 2001 X-Games
Vans Warped Tour.
Rick Thorne: It's the best bike sponsorship I have ever had homie, Free Agent is open to idea's & take chances & really back the sport of BMX to the fullest, compared to all the companies I have rode for in the past they are far the most supportive of me.
Vans pro model
Rick Thorne: The shoe is sick, it's simple with straight lines & the OG Vans sole. Vans let me do it my way, they really listen to their riders & allow them to be themselves, so that helped me out a lot. I'm really excited for the simple fact that it will help bikers have their own identity & solidify our sport more, all the signature shoes help our sport, it will be a compliment to see the shoe on peoples feet & as a biker it will be nice to have a bikers name on your feet & not a skater. I'm not a hater towards skating by any means but hopefully this will help the longevity of our sport as standing by itself & not trying to be something it's not. By the way it is out February 11, 2002, after 20 years of riding I've finally arrived. Ha!
Rick Thorne is one of the hardest working individuals in Freestyle. While riding full time in the Vans Warp Tour and hitting as many contests as possible, Rick is also the host for the 2002 Vans Triple Crown and the Mobile Skatepark Series, on Fox Sports.
11th place pro vert @ CFB year end standing
10th place pro vert @ CFB #2, WHEATFIELD, NY.
17th place pro vert @ EXPN INVITATIONAL, GRAND PRAIRIE, TX.
9th place pro vert @ EXPN INVITATIONAL, LAWRENCEVILLE, GA.
10th place pro vert @ HSA YEAR END STANDING
9th place pro vert @ VANS TRIPLE CROWN OF BMX #1, CHARLOTTE, NC., may 2002.
11th place pro vert @ VANS TRIPLE CROWN OF BMX #2, DENVER, CO.
7th place pro bowl and 16th place pro vert @ Vans Triple Crown #3, Oceanside, CA., october 2002.