For three years, the Silverdome, Detroit’s former home to football greats, wrestling giants, motocross legends and many massive sporting spectaculars, has been empty and abandoned. Tyler Fernegel, a native of Wyandotte, Michigan, just south of the Motor City, grew up going the best sports spectaculars at the stadium, and even raced Supercross there as a young boy. At 16, Fernengel turned pro after releasing several web edits detailing his remarkable skills as a street style BMX competitor. Though he recently moved to San Diego to pursue his career – he has always considered Michigan home, and returned to his childhood stomping grounds for the ride of his burgeoning career in the desolate and empty Silverdome. To see Fernengel’s epic ride through the once historic arena, watch the video now at redbull.com/bike. The full edit will be released on redbull.com/bike at 9AM EST on Tuesday, June 9.
“The last time I was here was nine years ago – at the last amateur Supercross race I attended when I was 10,” Fernengel says of his memories of the stadium. “Just being out on the field, it was crazy to think that there once was a motorcycle track here, every year, and all the fans, but now it’s nowhere near the same.”
The video features Fernengel covering all sections of the abandoned stadium, starting with a smooth line through the upper concourse where diehard fans would crowd concessions stands between quarters. He explores the beautiful ruins of the stadium, from the first floor concourse where seats have been cleared away from snapped cables of the Silverdome’s roof cover and pieces of fallen concrete have decimated full-seated sections to exploring the A/C vents at the top of the roof. On the club level deck, where once swanky patrons schmoozed around with cocktails, Fernengel reinvents it as a playground with many possibilities, finally settling on a massive 360 step down to conquer his discovered domain. The full edit not only features Fernengel’s effortless skill on a bike, but also features beautiful scenic compositions of the great stadium as a shadow of it’s past.
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