After several years at the NEC in Birmingham, the Bike Show moved down South a few miles to Coventry. Not knowing what to expect a strong group of riders made the trip and that includes American based riders such as Corey Bohan, Ryan Nyquist, Gary Young, Nasty, Ryan Guetler, Steve McCann, Jamie Bestwick, Scotty Cranmer, Alistair Whitton, Dave Dillewaard, Axel Jeurgens, Travis Collier and Tom Haugen.
The street course was a weird set-up. First of all the Braun Mini-Ramp was incorporated in the course and you could ride the spineramp during the street comp but it had its own contest too. With this ramp in the middle it did not leave much space for flow or lines. The ramps that were built were very slippery. Although a mix of RedBull and Coke was sprayed on the ramps, the dusty surface made sure people slid out every now and then and that includes photographers (Lard!?). The next
problem was viewing the contest. Basically the crowd could watch from one side. Depending on where you were sitting in the stands, most likely one side of the course was blocked by the 40 foot container of the mini. If you sat higher than 5th row, you could not see the jumps that were done on the jump box or spine because the roof was too low. It must have resulted in some sore next the next day. Being stuck in the far corner of the event wasn't nice either. All of this was addressed with the organisers so expect some changes for next year.
Enough complaining. With
Paul Roberts and
DJ on the mic and a great rider group there was plenty of good riding going on on the street course.
Senad Grosic had crashed badly on his hip before the finals. When he hit the first jump and attempted a flip whip, he fell on his black hip and had to leave the course looking for some ice and a cigarette.
Owain Clegg impressed with canonballs, footjam fakies, no-handers and a bunch of brakeless tech stuff.
Lance McDermott has got the moves and almost pulled that handplant 360 over the huge spine. And then we have
Cameron Hardy. The youngster rips and has a big future ahead of him. So stylish, so good, watch this space.
Mahoney did his transfers, 1-footed x-up flip, no-footed cancans and stuck most of his moves to make it in the top 10.
Ben Hennon was fired up and ready to go for the final. He threw in a flip whip but lost too much time trying to pull a double whip-transfer.
Hannu Cools, what can you say? Tech, burly, big, originality. The Belgian had it going.
Tobias Wicke was another top rider in this final but he had a hard time getting comfortable with the course. He started off tech though and threw in a few biggies over the jump box. Oh boy was
Guettler stoked on that flatbank to wallride/flair! He kept going too but got stuck with 6th place. That means there was more good riding going on. In 5th we have
Mark Webb who does flairs on anything. One combo was a 360 up a ramp to flair to tailwhip off. Good thing he kept the electro shocker in the pocket.
Dave Dillewaard is one good rider. 2 years ago at the Bike Show he was an unknown rider from Australia. That has changed since he picked up that GT factory ride. Dave can do it all. Another rider who can adapt to any situation is
Alistair Whitton. Ali blasted over the Vans hip with a 270 alley-oop turndown and made sure he showed he can pull a double whip. His impressive riding got him on the podium.
Scotty Cranmer was late for the finals but he qualified in the first group (that started at the end) and decided to just throw down. And that he did with a BIG frontflip over the box. It was huge and so different from all the others I've ever witnessed. No front brake either, "just leaning forward and rotate". Another impressive move was his flip-double whip that took him a few attempts but that's forgiven on a combo trick like that. Cranmer continued to rip up the course, the boy's got skills.
First place went to
Ryan Nyquist who used the Braun mini ramp to his advantage with several of 360 variations over the spine. A "first" for Europe was his no-foot cancan nothing - barspin. You know that trick where he hangs on the side of his bike, and then he spun the bars. Sick dude! Ryan transferred with a 360 tiretab/manuel from mini over the container in the street course but in the end he wasn't sure he deserved to win:
‘There was a lot of good guys who were riding out there. I’ll take it (the victory) if they want to give it me but I think there are people out there who were better than me’. If you want to see how "terrible" Ryan rode, watch the clip in the left column on FATBMX.
The riding sure made up for the circumstances. Knowing it can be so much better, the organizers will have to work something out for the street course and venue in 2006.
BdJ
Results Pro Street, Bike Show 2005
1 Ryan Nyquist USA
2 Scotty Cranmer USA
3 Alistair Whitton GBR
4 David Dilleward AUS
5 Mark Webb GBR
6 Ryan Guettler AUS
7 Tobias Wicke GER
8 Hannu Cools BEL
9 Ben Hennon GBR
10 Chris Mahoney GBR
11 Cameron Hardy GBR
12 Lance McDermott GBR
13 Owain Clegg GBR
14 Senad Grosec AUT
Photo's by: ©AlexSchelbert.de
problem was viewing the contest. Basically the crowd could watch from one side. Depending on where you were sitting in the stands, most likely one side of the course was blocked by the 40 foot container of the mini. If you sat higher than 5th row, you could not see the jumps that were done on the jump box or spine because the roof was too low. It must have resulted in some sore next the next day. Being stuck in the far corner of the event wasn't nice either. All of this was addressed with the organisers so expect some changes for next year.
Enough complaining. With Paul Roberts and DJ on the mic and a great rider group there was plenty of good riding going on on the street course. Senad Grosic had crashed badly on his hip before the finals. When he hit the first jump and attempted a flip whip, he fell on his black hip and had to leave the course looking for some ice and a cigarette. Owain Clegg impressed with canonballs, footjam fakies, no-handers and a bunch of brakeless tech stuff. Lance McDermott has got the moves and almost pulled that handplant 360 over the huge spine. And then we have Cameron Hardy. The youngster rips and has a big future ahead of him. So stylish, so good, watch this space.
Mahoney did his transfers, 1-footed x-up flip, no-footed cancans and stuck most of his moves to make it in the top 10. Ben Hennon was fired up and ready to go for the final. He threw in a flip whip but lost too much time trying to pull a double whip-transfer. Hannu Cools, what can you say? Tech, burly, big, originality. The Belgian had it going. Tobias Wicke was another top rider in this final but he had a hard time getting comfortable with the course. He started off tech though and threw in a few biggies over the jump box. Oh boy was Guettler stoked on that flatbank to wallride/flair! He kept going too but got stuck with 6th place. That means there was more good riding going on. In 5th we have Mark Webb who does flairs on anything. One combo was a 360 up a ramp to flair to tailwhip off. Good thing he kept the electro shocker in the pocket.
Dave Dillewaard is one good rider. 2 years ago at the Bike Show he was an unknown rider from Australia. That has changed since he picked up that GT factory ride. Dave can do it all. Another rider who can adapt to any situation is Alistair Whitton. Ali blasted over the Vans hip with a 270 alley-oop turndown and made sure he showed he can pull a double whip. His impressive riding got him on the podium.
Scotty Cranmer was late for the finals but he qualified in the first group (that started at the end) and decided to just throw down. And that he did with a BIG frontflip over the box. It was huge and so different from all the others I've ever witnessed. No front brake either, "just leaning forward and rotate". Another impressive move was his flip-double whip that took him a few attempts but that's forgiven on a combo trick like that. Cranmer continued to rip up the course, the boy's got skills.
First place went to Ryan Nyquist who used the Braun mini ramp to his advantage with several of 360 variations over the spine. A "first" for Europe was his no-foot cancan nothing - barspin. You know that trick where he hangs on the side of his bike, and then he spun the bars. Sick dude! Ryan transferred with a 360 tiretab/manuel from mini over the container in the street course but in the end he wasn't sure he deserved to win: ‘There was a lot of good guys who were riding out there. I’ll take it (the victory) if they want to give it me but I think there are people out there who were better than me’. If you want to see how "terrible" Ryan rode, watch the clip in the left column on FATBMX.
The riding sure made up for the circumstances. Knowing it can be so much better, the organizers will have to work something out for the street course and venue in 2006.
BdJ
Results Pro Street, Bike Show 2005
1 Ryan Nyquist USA
2 Scotty Cranmer USA
3 Alistair Whitton GBR
4 David Dilleward AUS
5 Mark Webb GBR
6 Ryan Guettler AUS
7 Tobias Wicke GER
8 Hannu Cools BEL
9 Ben Hennon GBR
10 Chris Mahoney GBR
11 Cameron Hardy GBR
12 Lance McDermott GBR
13 Owain Clegg GBR
14 Senad Grosec AUT
Photo's by: ©AlexSchelbert.de
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