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dirt comp. While Ricardo Laguna was still putting his new bike together JB Peytavit rode to second  place with double whips over the first set which transferred to the left. Two sets followed and JB did 3-whips, double whips, turndowns, no-handers and more for the second place check. One of the Musso brothers scored 3rd and was stoked. It was a battle for the riders to make it through the muddy packs without much practice. Whenever they crashed they looked like mud wrestlers. Respect to those who who showed up and made the best out of the situation. Ricardo Laguna never got dirty. He finished putting his bike together when the dirt comp was over and rolled around on the street course a bit instead.

With 109 riders in Amateur street, 21 in the minus 15 years old class, three girls in the girls class and 54 pro riders in the Pro class, most of the weekend was spent in the white tent. Saturday's qualifying lasted from 1pm till 10:45pm. That's a lot of bike riding on one day. But the level was high and some amateurs were simply awesome. So much good shit going on.

Let's jump straight into Sunday's Pro street finals. 21 guys made it and all of them deserved to be in there. Americans Lil John and Dave Rytell did not get very far as they both crashed within their first 20 seconds on the course and were too hurt to continue. They each received 50 Euros for their effort though and were stoked on that (ready to party). Stefan Lantschner had some good lines, did rad 360-s to fakies but could not stick his giant wallride to 180-out. He was too fast going backwards and was stoked he had that new helmet on his head. Bruno Faucon has moves and finished 18th, just behind Julien Masse and Georgy Doremus. Did I mention that over 50% of the riders rode brakeless? Leon Perkins had to fix a flat right before the finals and got shoved into the next group. His turndown flips are sweet. Leon was one of the many NIKE 6.0 riders who made it over to Pessac. Florent Soulas finished right after Greg Masson who pulled a clean tailwhip 180 over the box on Saturday and after a few tries he pulled a barspin toejam to fakie over the hip. Greg has his own tricks or lines which makes him an exciting rider to watch. Justin Fouque has great style. He goes high, clicks his variations and does the latest tricks. All that and finishing on 12th place! It should tell you enough about the level of the contest. 11th went to Joris Coulomb who always seems to be a little nervous during contest runs. He's such a good rider but making it happen during a contest is tough. He'll get better at it with time. His truckdriver down the platform was nuts. Alex Kennedy made top ten but it might as well have been top three for the young Brit. He reminds me of Jerry Galley, lots of talent, lots of speed, and no care in the world. His bucket came off once (he didn't have it strapped on), he crashed hard on a wallride to 180 and just got up like nothing happened. His transfers were the biggest and his no-handers off the wall were insane. Watch out for this guy, he'll be up there once he stays on his bike. It was close in points in this area but Tony Hamlin scored one point more for 9th. He was all over the place, did nose-wheelies, 360 variations over the box, loved the hip and it looked like he was having a good time. Barry Kohne tailwhipped to 8th place and did a giant no-handed flip in between. He could not stick his handplant during the comp but the unfinished business was taken care of after the contest was over. John Garcia had a few great moves like the fufanu on a fence which was ridiculous and also a 540 hurricane on the bank to wall. In qualifying he pulled an ice-pick to 270-in on this weird bank to wall construction which was sick. Alex Valentino got 6th place for some great riding. His barspin 360-s to fakie are insane and he had a few little moves like a smithgrind to nosewheelie to mix things up. I was impressed by the riding of 17 year old Simone Barraco. He's from Italy and rides with Alessandro Barbero all the time. Trick machine number two? Not only tricks but good style too and very consistent. 5th at a comp of this level at that age is a great accomplishment. Kevin Kalkoff was going for this insane transfer from quarter to wall at the end of the comp but couldn't quite get the speed he needed. His attempt was still nuts. It got the speed out of his previous tricks but that's why you write things down and take a look at what he actually did. It was a long list and got Kevin 4th place. 3rd went to JB Peytavit, who already finished 2nd in dirt. Opposite tailwhips, 360 double whips, tire slides on top of that bank to wall construction, the guy rides so solid, he hardly ever crashes and if you're at a contest and do some awesome tricks, that's a good combination. Maxime Charveron was on fire in the finals. The three person jam allowed every rider to do two runs and a bit of Last Trick playtime. Maxime's first run was amazing. He even knocked a cameraman down when he did a tailwhip from the quarter onto the bank. It was so funny. Dec8 jumps, high no-handers out of the bank to wall, peg stall on a plexiglass fence, double whip over the box, flairs, you name it. Max gave Harry Main a run for his money, that's for sure but Harry just rode and did what he usually does: shred. His jumps and airs are a few feet higher than anyone else's which already makes a difference. Tech stuff? Flair 540 tiretap good enough? Barspin fuf to barspin-in? Harry got close pulling a 720 tailwhip and blasted his 360 turndowns and 360 no-handers. Flairs on a 3 feet high ramp are possible too as proven by Harry. First place for him in Pessac.

The vibe in the tent was great. The MC-s got the crowd going and the riders gave it their all. Too bad some ramps were wet because of the condensation and if anyone has a solution to that, let Olivier Morineau know. The VU was more of a riders event than I had expected it to be. At this time of the year it's nice to be able to go to a good contest. You should check it out in 2009, we'll try to do the same.

BdJ