Nike 6.0 HB Pro Comp. From the Judges Tower A True story by Leigh Ramsdell

Jul 26, 2009

Written by Bart de Jong

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Whenever I show up to judge a contest I really have no idea what to expect. The Nike 6.0 HB BMX Pro was no exception. The course was a great layout full of hips, creative lines, and big transfers. All 20 riders were here to show off their best moves and try to make it into the finals on Sunday. Here’s a quick rundown of what went down—good and bad. Let’s start with the bad news first, shall we? The youngest rider of the contest (13), Nicholi Rogatkin, (who was voted in by fans online) took it the hardest after hanging up on a tailwhip-gone-wrong over one of the many hips. But like a young Genghis Khan he rose back up and rode his 2nd run like a true warrior. Rob Darden also did quite a disappearing act after landing a little crocked on a turndown-360 over the spine that shot him under the elevated mini ramp section. But some of the most entertaining almost mishaps were from Matt Sparks who some how defied the laws of gravity when he pulled a flair that he shouldn’t have and a barspin that he fumbled so much you thought it was a football play gone wrong—but he rolled away with a big ol’ smile on his face.

Some of the main highlights included Dennis Enarson blasting a flair at the eight-foot mark out of the ten-foot quarter. That’s it. No other highlights... Oh wait, we also saw 1080s and triple-tailwhips from Craig Mast and Mike Spinner. Ryan Guettler rode the entire course so well and threw down big moves including a stretched superman-backflip.

It’s always good to see an up-and-comer do great at a contest. That’s exactly what Andy Buckworth did with no-handed front-flips and a handplant-backflip. He has a great future ahead of him. Garrett Reynolds is one of the best riders—period. When someone does some of the hard

est tricks back to back on almost every ramp you can’t argue with that statement. It’s hard for me to take notes when that kid rides. The big man of the first day was Daniel Dhers. He’s another guy that does the hardest tricks out there like can-can 720’s, no-handed-360 over the big box jump, and a flair-whip. The crazy thing about Daniel was that he was in first before he took his last run with no one else to go, and he still bettered his first score!

Day one complete. Stay tuned for 3 more days from the Judges Tower.

Leigh Ramsdell

Pics by Justin Kosman