Open Ground contest, Reno, USA. By Lloyd Ramsay

Jan 22, 2007

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 8881 times

Openground bike and skate park in Reno , Nevada had its first ever competition this last weekend. The park is run by flatland rider Gabe Weed and is under full swing after dealing with all the bureacracy that comes with running a skatepark. The competition day was broken into 4 classes : Beginner , Intermediate , Advanced and Pro. The little guys were the most fun to watch giving it their all and getting the crowd behind them. A standout rider of this class was 11 year old Paris who took the boys to school with a crank flip over the jump box and super high carves on the vert wall. The atmosphere at this park is awesome and throughout the day riders were throwing themselves off park obstacles. I even saw one guy rugby tackle one of the roof pillars trying to transfer around it.

2 local bands who's names nobody seemed to know rocked out while the riders did their thing. The first band played hardcore and

had an emo fan in convulsions from what I can tell. Band 2 rocked the green hair dye and were punk rock all the way.

The pro class hit the park and Psykopath Industries rider Omar "Endo" Romero and Bay Area rider Ronnie Michelini both tried front flips on the box. Both riders went home with bruises. Pro class winner Matthias Weldon had lines all over the park and threw in tons of tricks to take first place. Second place rider Kevin Friskel hails from Tennesee and showed us a pretty extended super whip in best trick. Ronnie Michelini tailwhipped most of the quarters , threw down some no footed cans and

then later on trashed my hotel room.

If you are ever near Reno be sure to check this park out. They have a skate/bike store , games area , lockers and a rather unique park layout. Openground is looking to have more competitions in the future so keep an eye out on Fatbmx calendar.

Get well soon to Matthias's friend Brennan who crashed really hard and hurt himself trying a huge quarter to flatbank transfer.

Pro Results :
1st place - Matthias Weldon
2nd place - Kevin Friskel
3rd place - Ronnie Michelini

Best jump box trick :
Joe Chernoff
(truck driver to X-up)

Pics/words by: Lloyd Ramsay

Freestyle

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