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DEPARTMENTS BMX MID-ATLANTIC by BRIAN CARON coolbmx2c4me@aol.com AST Dew Tour hits Charm City The first stop on this year’s Action Sports Tour, dubbed the AST Dew Tour was none other than The Charm City of Baltimore, Md. The AST Dew tour is a national series of competitions that visit several cities around the country and build dirt and ramp courses at each venue. The events encompass skateboards, freestyle moto-cross, and bicycle stunt. 2008 marks the second consecutive year that the Panasonic Open was hosted in Baltimore and served as the kick-off event for the year. The property that normally houses screaming Ravens fans, and the parking lots where they tailgate during the fall and winter was transformed into an extreme sports mecca. It’s quite a sight to see, as you peer over an overpass on Russell Street and see the monstrous 50 foot wide halfpipe standing between 12 and 15 feet tall, not to mention the additional colossal rollin standing over 25 feet from the ground. Above and around there were grandstands to hold thousands of extreme sports fans. Near the halfpipe, which is used for both BMX and skateboard vert contests and throughout the M & T Stadium complex, were the dozens of games and vendor areas including video game cafés and even the Chill Zone mist tent to make the 90 degree temps feel cooler. If you had a sharp eye, several action sports heroes could be spotted around Baltimore throughout the entire week, in fact, hometown skateboard hero Bucky Lasek threw out the first pitch over at Camden Yards on Thursday night and sported his Orioles jersey during his runs on the Skateboard Vert contest on Saturday night. The event goes on Thursday through Sunday and I was able to attend on Friday June 20, which had the most bicycle events in one day. On the agenda for the day was Park Prelims and Open qualifiers, Bike Vert Finals, and Dirt Finals. Skateboard and motocross events are run concurrently on separate courses throughout the day. By lunch time both the temperature and the riding action began to heat up on the BMX park course in the open qualifiers, where nonqualified riders and some locals have a shot at making it to the finals. Every year there are new trends and styles that are prominent, this year seems to be inverted and spinning tricks as there were more than a few front flip variations, along with 720s, 1080s, and tailwhip backflips. Most of these tricks don’t even look real and are hard to fathom while watching it live in real time, but there’s nothing like seeing it in person as opposed to trying to catch the highlights and edits that make it to TV coverage. The crew to watch in BMX park were, Ryan Guettler, Mike Spinner and Venezuela transplant Daniel Dhers. The surprise entry was Seth Klinger who hails from Kansas City, Missouri. Seth placed 8th in the Open Qualifier with some BIG tricks like massive front-flips up the huge step-up jump. This gave him a spot for Sunday’s finals and a chance at competing with some big names in the sport. He ended up finishing 7th overall later in the weekend, not bad for coming to the contest as an unseeded rider! Daniel Dehrs took top honors at the finals with some amazing tricks that included a no-handed flatspin 720, which has to be seen to be believed. The real show started at 4:30 p.m. with the Bike Vert finals on the massive halfpipe. Jamie Bestwick always comes to the table with huge airs and flawless trick combinations that he hones at nearby Camp Woodward in Pennsylvania where he lives and trains. John Parker has always been known for his huge airs as well and made a great showing in Baltimore also. James Foster amidst a triple tailwhip during dirt finals All of the riders usually try to unveil new tricks at the first events to set the stage for the season and up the ante on what it takes to make the finals. Chad Kagy was on hand and pulling out all the stops during warm-ups with huge airs in both directions, and crazy flair variations much to the approval of the fans in Baltimore. Once the music came on and the cameras started rolling during the finals, the excitement level went up a few notches, and the intensity among the crowd at the M & T complex really peaked. There was even a Maryland Crab mascot that was working the crowd into a frenzy during the vert competition. The riding was intense throughout the finals and only two riders fell during their runs. The first was the oldest rider in the contest, Dennis McCoy who slammed after a botched 540 barspin, the other was Austin Coleman whose bike almost hit me after sliding across the ramp and into the crowd. I ended up gathering his bike up for him and getting it back under him so he could finish his second run, in doing so I felt like I played a small but active role for the day’s event. Jamie Bestwick went on to dominate the rest of the comp with crazy high airs and stretched variations, fol- A-1 Cycling TWO LOCATIONS OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK! Mon - Sat 10am-9pm Sun 12pm-6pm HERNDON Clock Tower Shopping Center 2451-13 Centreville Rd. (703) 793-0400 MANASSAS Next to Best Buy 7705 Sudley Rd. (703) 361-6101 www.A1Cycling.com Bicycles & Equipment for the Whole Family! COMPETITIVE PRICES WITH HOME TOWN SERVICE S<strong>IN</strong>CE 1980 A-1 is a family-run business focusing on quality and service. Our staff is trained to superior standards to create a bicycle enthusiast's dependable source. COME EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE! We stock products from: Giant Thule Specialized Burley Raleigh Speedplay Felt Sigma Sport Haro Descente Hoffman Camelbak Minoura Continental CTS Serfas 18 August 2008
lowed by Chad Kagy with some flatspin tricks. Simon Tabron rounded out the top three with back to back 540 variation airs and a 900. Kevin Robinson, who just one week prior set a world-record highest air at nearly 27 feet over a 25 foot ramp in New York City, ended up in fourth place for the day. Fifth went to previously mentioned Austin Coleman. It was quite a who’s who of BMX/Freestyle within the crowd throughout the day but after the vert awards were presented I spotted a few East Coast legends, including Jeremy and Joe Alder. These brothers set the scene for flatland and ramp riding during the 1980’s and hailed from the Annapolis area. In fact Jeremy Alder was one of the first ramp riders to perform barspin airs. Joe was the innovator as far as flatland freestyle during the same time period. Other East Coast lifers were a few members of York, Pa.’s Plywood Hoods, including Large Ray and Mark Eaton who was doing film and production work for NBC Sports for the tour. Some of these riders were even featured in the very first issue of SPOKES magazine that had contest coverage from an indoor event at the Hagerstown Speedway back in 1987. Dirt Jumping finals were scheduled to start about an hour after the vert contest. This barely gave me time to grab a bite to eat/drink and hustle over to the dirt course. The dirt jumps were adjacent to the FMX course, just under Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard, giving some passing motorist a great show if they timed it right. There were more than a few cars that stopped to watch after the contest got underway. It’s very similar to the vert competition in that you have to be there to even conceive how big the jumps are and how technical and crazy these tricks have gotten over the years. The riders roll in from a 25 foot tall scaffolding tower and launch off a series of four huge jumps. Before the riders took to the dirt a special tribute video was played for Stephen Murray who was in attendance with friends and family. The video that was put together by some fellow riders promotes the Stay Strong campaign, which is designed to raise money for Stephen’s rehabilitation following his accident just one year ago at the same venue that left him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. It was a very emotional time and there was dead silence for the four minutes that the video played on the big screen, portraying the ups and downs of Stephen’s riding career prior to his accident. Some of the riders in the contest switched to special Yellow front wheels as a tribute to Stephen who used one during his fateful run at last years Panasonic Open. Riders were scored on three runs and the best two run’s scores were added to decide the winner. It came down to the defending champion Ryan Nyquist’s final run following a spectacular run by James Foster who’s runs included a tailwhip backflip, a triple tailwhip, and a windshield wiper (a tailwhip in both directions on the same air). Ryan’s first run included a 720 double barspin which was a jaw-dropper to say the least but he had to reach into his bag of tricks again to beat Foster’s run. He answered the call by pulling off a Powerball (double barspin cannonball) over the last jump in his final run. Pandemonium ensued after his final run’s scores were announced. The day wasn’t over yet as A Freudian Slip, and Good Charlotte both put on a live concert beginning at 9 p.m. What a day! Hopefully the AST Dew tour will continue to choose a Mid-Atlantic City close by or even give Baltimore a nod for a third year in a row in ‘09. They always say “The third time is the Charm- city!” Area Happenings The early season at most tracks in the Mid-Atlantic region was plagued by rainouts and cancellations. Once the July heat chased away the rain and mud, most tracks were able to get “back on track” with consistent racing programs. Chesapeake BMX an ABA affiliate located in Severn, Md., is pulling out all of the stops for their upcoming Star Spangled Banner National week scheduled for August 11-17! The week’s events include; Monday evening- Guys Race Clinic, Tues-Girls Race Clinic, Wednesday and Thursday with both be single point local races, then on Friday through Sunday they will host the Star-Spangled National race. Wow, what a week for BMX fans! That will be a great end of summer BMX mania week. Chesapeake BMX holds weekly free practices on Wednesday evenings and race both Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Check them out on the web for more details on the week’s worth of fun: www. chesapeakebmx.com Winchester BMX an NBL track in Winchester, Va., has been chugging along for the ‘08 season and recently held one of the Virginia State Qualifiers (July 25- 27). They are among a great cast of BMX tracks that host the Virginia Qualifiers including, NOVA BMX, and Hampton BMX, and Richmond BMX. Although they’ve had good turn-outs for the big races, they are looking to strengthen their local racing program. They hold local races on Saturday evenings in a beautiful shady location in Jim Barnett Park, check them out sometime! www.winchesterbmxracing.org Larry Camp, a member of the MBM (Mountain Bikers of Michaux) sent word that they’ve received approval to build a BMX style pump track in the Chambersburg area near a current Rails-To-Trails location. This style of track is much smaller than an actual full BMX track but teaches rhythm and jumping skills that tend to help mountain bikers and BMX riders hone their skills, and if it’s done correctly there’s very little pedaling involved! The construction is scheduled for mid-August and they are seeking both volunteer help and donations. Check out their website and a video sample at: http://raisindetra.blogspot.com/2008/05/ council-meeting-for-pump-track.html Old school BMX rider Craig Stang has taken over the reigns at Germantown Cycles recently. With his recent purchase of the business he hopes to maintain a similar inventory that the store has had in the past, as well as grow his customer base and offer great service on all makes and model bicycles, but I’m sure with Craig’s background there will be a little more BMX sprinkled in. Stop in and say “Hi” when you get a chance. Riverside BMX in Cumberland, Maryland has changed their weekly race schedule to include Thursday evening races, in order to escape the hot temperatures and allow their riders to travel to other tracks on the weekend. They’ve reported an initial success with almost 50 riders for their first evening race! Check them out at www.riversidebmx.org Hagerstown BMX, another Maryland NBL track, has an event scheduled for Saturday August 23 that includes an Open House at the track, along with a Custom, Classic and Vintage BMX show. They are hosting an Air-cooled Volkswagen Car show at the Hagerstown Fairgrounds as a fund raiser for the track on the same day. If there’s enough interest, there may be a vintage only BMX race the following day at their local races on Sunday August 24. Check the website for updates and details: www.hagerstownbmx.com BMX Bike Shop Spotlight The Bicycle Escape Owner? Tom and Danielle Rinker When did the shop open? 2005 What prompted the shop to begin selling BMX related bikes, parts and apparel? Our stock is dictated by our commitment to all facets of cycling and a demand for BMX products. Tom Rinker, owner of The Bicycle Escape in Frederick, MD Do you have specific staff members in charge of BMX related merchandising, sales, and service? Several members of our staff ride BMX bikes and they offer input on the product mix. What type of bikes and equipment sells best in your area (BMX Racing or Freestyle/Street)? Freestyle/Street What brands of complete bicycles and frames do you sell? Haro, Fit, Specialized Do you sell BMX parts and accessories? What items are the best sellers? We sell a wide range of BMX products. Handlebars, pedals, and sprockets sell the best. Do you sell lifestyle accessories like T-Shirts, pants, Shoes, Backpacks, wallets, belts etc? We do have some lifestyle accessories but it is not our focus. Do you have a local BMX Track or Skatepark in your area that helps create a market, add to clientele, and boost sales? We do not have a BMX park in Frederick but are currently working to promote the construction of one. How do you market or promote your BMX related products? We promote our BMX products on our website, in print media, and through word of mouth. List any additional comments you have about your involvement in the BMX industry and how you see its future. We are eager to see BMX grow in Frederick and willing to help make it happen. Your Turn Maybe you know of a local shop, BMX track, or BMX enthusiast that helps promote some facet of the sport of BMX in the Mid-Atlantic region. I’m always looking for suggestions and ideas for future articles that include people, places and personalities that make up or help promote BMX in our area, that includes all disciplines of riding whether it racing or freestyle and the person is 3 or 53. Email to coolbmx2c4me@aol. com or call 301-582-1452 if you have ideas or suggestions for future articles. August 2008 19
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