Freestyle BMXer Tom Haugen is answesing the Who? What? Where? Why? And How? From the GO211 community as he gets ready to head to his home town of Minneapolis for the first stop on the ASA Action Sports tour April 25th. So ask this music savvy ripper anything and everything about being a part of the infamous Free Agent crew what it's like to compete in virtually every BMX event known to man....fire away he's all yours..

when i'm home in Orlando I divide my time between the Mesh, Vans and Merrit Island skateparks. when i'm in Minnesota I ride the Mankato YMCA park or the Oval.

yes, people do them all the time. it's much easier with breaks, but it can be done without them. you just need to lean forward and find that balance point.

i really didn't feel like a legitimate pro rider until over a year after i had already turned pro. it was summer of 99 and i was riding at the ESPN contest in Oceanside, CA. i did my qualifying run, did okay but certainly didn't feel like i rode well enough to make the finals. i rode my bike back to the van and was taking it apart for the airport when i heard the announcer call my name as having qualified for the finals. i quickly pieced it back together and went back to the contest and rode in the finals. sitting on the deck with guys like Mirra, Miron and Kimler really made me feel like i had actualized my dreams. i was on of the elite few guys riding in the finals at an ESPN event. my parents were skeptical at first, understandably. i left a fairly successful 3 years of college to ride for a living. when they started seeing me on tv they came around pretty quick, though.

Go faster!

my bike is made from 4130 chromoly, which is standard for most top of the line BMX bikes. the frame is about 5 lbs, and my bike is about 28 lbs. Most bikes are really light now, under 25 lbs, but I have some heavier more durable parts on my bike that I don't have to worry about breaking.

i ride everyday, unless I'm hurt or traveling and unable to ride. i started riding when i was 10, just doing flatland tricks in the driveway.

when I'm in Florida i ride at the mesh Skatepark, vans Skatepark or paradise funplex. when I'm in Minnesota i ride at the YMCA Chesley park in Mankato. but I'm gone a lot, so i just ride wherever I'm at at the time.

Diamond Back Hot Streak- pea green with mags. I saved up money mowing lawns all summer. Loved that bike!

the movie 'Rad' had a lot to do with it. and at the time, most kids had a bike with pegs- it was a very popular thing to do. it seemed interesting and fun...

Yep, a Felt is a good bike. Basically, anything you buy from an actual bike shop will be just fine. You just want to avoid buying bikes from department stores. The Next, Magna, Razor bikes are NOT reliable for trying to learn tricks.

Pretty much any flat soled athletic shoe will work. Brands like Vans, DC, Etnies, etc. make shoes that are ideal for Bmx. I personally wear the Osiris Merck shoe- it's strong, light weight and holds up quite well. You can check it out here: www.osirisshoes.com

oh, amanda how you've perplexed me. hmm.... well, here are random bits of info about me previously unknown to most of the world: i used to play the clarinet. i own most of Jewel's music. i used to collect Mark Mcgwire cards. i was once on a flight with Mitch Hedberg. i sat next to Debbie Gibson for a short while at an NFL game. in junior high i was in a band called 'Beyond Eternity' (we had two practices, neither of which i attended cause i was riding). my celebrity crush is Nicole Kidman (she still isn't returning my calls). i went to church last summer for the first time in 17 years.

Riding is definitely my most time consuming activity. I also jog daily, spend quite a bit of time working out as well. I'm a little rusty on my ping pong skills, but I could probably still beat most people. I have a pretty massive record collection as well and am always keeping up with new vinyl.

i've always been in touch with Osiris, even after they dropped their team in 2004. they've always been willing to help me out with shoes and in the last year they've stepped back into Bmx with a full team. there is nothing official between me and them at this point- they just hook me up and i appreciate wearing the shoes and do what i can to let people know Osiris still supports Bmx.

i have no plans to move out of Orlando anytime soon, but every time i go back to Minnesota it's harder and harder to leave. i miss my friends and family in Minnesota all the time. but i sure don't miss the weather and lack of good places to ride...

when my parents put their house up on the market they gave me boxes of their stuff to sell on ebay- cow bells, paper shredders, disc organizers, glass calculators- all sorts of random stuff. the craziest thing however was when i sold a VHS copy of the Direction video for $230 (GT team video from 2001, made by Kip Williamson). i actually ended up meeting the buyer later on and have since become friends with him.

i have to assume he doesn't feel the amount of revenue coming in warrants fixing it. i can't imagine why else it would be in that shape.

probably several dozen. basically anytime i crashed on my side the tape player broke. i didn't mind the tape players breaking, but when the actual tape broke that was bad news. mix tapes are time consuming to make!

my shuffle has all sorts of different stuff on it, from folk music like Billy Bragg to hardcore/metal like Harvest. lately i've been listening to the new Superchunk.

it's 14mm, Sun rim and hub. no more bent axles from nosepick to toothpicks.