Behind the Edit: Dylan Stark Talks X Games Real MTB

The X Games Real MTB competition has returned for the first time since 2021, and this year's edits dropped Monday on the X Games website. Five riders and five filmmakers have each submitted their “most electrifying” ninety second parts for a chance to win X Games medals and prize money.

Real MTB is part of the larger Real Series hosted by X Games that includes Real Ski, Real Street, Real Snow and Real MTB. The 2021 Real MTB competition featured Brage Vestvik , Cam Zink , Brandon Semenuk , Danny Macaskill , DJ Brandt , and Veronique Sandler , the competition's only female rider so far.

Today, we’re catching up with competitor Dylan Stark, from Lake Elsinore, California, whose submission was filmed by Tyson Traner .

When the Bike Mag staff rounded up their personal thoughts on each Real MTB 2024 edit, one of our writers described Dylan as “staking a claim for the title of mountain biking’s most creative rider." Here’s what Dylan had to say about the project:

Coming into the contest, what was your goal, what sort of video did you want to make, and where did you draw your inspiration from?

My goal was to put out a video I was happy with, and hopefully win a medal at the same time. Mainly, just getting into the X Games was a huge goal of mine - has been my whole life. Also, coming from BMX, I wanted a chance to film a Real BMX part, but it never happened, so getting this opportunity was huge for me. I didn’t want to waste my chance to prove myself.

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How did you choose your shoot locations?

Choosing spots was kind of a tricky one. I always had a list of things I wanted to do if I ever got into the X Games, but was only able to tick off a couple of spots. Some spots come from skate videos, some stuff I just saw driving around, and there were some local builds as well. I didn’t do much traveling for this video, because my girlfriend broke her back right when we started filming, and I needed to stay local after that. No spot was more than a couple hours away from home, besides the two Utah clips.

What trick or clip was the hardest to get?

That’s a tough question but maybe the step up gap to crank arm grind - it was so hard to line up and land on the rail, and the hike back to try it again was no joke. After so many tries, I was exhausted from that one.

Which clip are you the most proud of?

Probably the road gap tailwhip. That was my first clip of the part and, at the time, I was recovering from getting stem cells in my ankle and wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to ever ride at this level again. I had multiple doctors tell my ankle was so bad I would need to fuse it, and that I would possibly never ride again. I didn’t listen to them. Instead, I went to Mexico and got stem cells and it worked wonders. In less than three months from the injections, I was filming for this video, against all odds.

Any stories from production that you want to share?

On the first film trip of the video, we went to Utah, and my girlfriend Brittany had a crash while riding and broke her back. I had to stop the whole trip we had planned and went back home and took care of her. While filming the whole project, I had the harsh reality of worrying about also getting hurt and wondering who would take care of both of us if I did.

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Anyone you’d like to thank?

I’d like to thank Tyson Traner and Andrew Jimenez for putting their time into this project. My girlfriend Brittany for being so supportive. All the homies that helped with the builds and just being in the moment helping with some of the missions. My sponsors, YT industries , Pit Viper , and G-Form . And anyone who watched the part, left a comment and voted; it means a ton, seeing all the support from the biking community.

The full X Games Real MTB show will air on ESPN on July 23, though there will be an athlete watch-along on the X Games Twitch channel on June 27, where the winner will be announced. Viewers can also vote for their personal pick; a fan-favorite will be announced June 30 during the X Games Ventura broadcast.