X-Games 14, street. By BdJ

Aug 04, 2008

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 13657 times

The X-Games kicked off with a real street competition. It was the first time that real street was on the program at the X-Games. Test cases were held in Mexico, Brasil and Dubai and it seemed to work there so why not get it on the main program in Los Angeles? The course looked real street. Not a lot of transition to be see but rails, gaps, ledges and a roof to jump off of. Some graffiti on the walls and a grey surface actually made it look pretty real. The intensity of street riding is high and with no mandatory helmets necessary it made for exciting faces on the big screen. Street is also closer to the spectators. They can imagine what is being done on the the smaller obstacles. Where Big Air is crazy, Real Street is realistic and the riders on the course knew how to make it work.

The sessions on different parts of the course were awesome. In a time limited jam session it was up to the riders to show what they got before the buzzer went off. This makes for some snake sessions towards the end to get that one trick in that they want to pull.

In practice I saw Garrett Reynolds crash. Damn, he's human after all I thought. Garrett is so consistent and good and claims to just ride and have fun. I actually believe him as there is no room for a complete run during the jam sessions that he could have practiced at home. It's just firing out trick after trick, one at a time and Garrett takes that to a whole different level. Van Homan got in contest mode and won a silver medal ten years after he entered his first ever X-Games event. He will be at the 2X4 shop signing autographs next week, and the week after that..... Sean Sexton couldn't believe picking up the third place medal and check of $10G that came with it. The X-Games have long been for the trickstars only but with adding real street it makes the X-Games a bit more legit. It is good to see a bigger field of BMX riders at the huge event too. The street riders deserve to be in the spotlight just as much.

BdJ

Results:

1. Garrett Reynolds / Toms River, N.J. / 91.33 /
2. Van Homan / Pennsville, N.J. / 90.44 /
3. Sean Sexton / Tempe, Ariz. / 88.88 /
4. Brian Kachinsky / Chicago, Ill. / 87.55 /
5. Dakota Roche / Huntington Beach, Calif. / 85.11 /
6. Nathan Williams / Hartselle, Ala. / 85.11