Vans invited for a party at the Hardrock Casino in Las Vegas. FATBMX was present. Friday night saw an amazing dirt contest followed by a street comp the next day but first things first; Dirt.
The crew had built up the stage again which had a small roll in followed by a gap into a landing and two huge sets of jumps. The landings of the jumps were at least 10 feet high and 14 feet wide, I don't want to know how many truckloads of dirt had to be brought in for this.
Fuzzy, Elf and the building crew had built a monster course but the riders were ready to take it on.
I have to admit, it had been a while since I attended a dirt contest in America. X-Games 2003 I believe. The level of riders in Vegas was off the hook. It was pro invite only and they sure had picked a high level of riders. The contest was going to be a head to head contest. Each rider jumped once and after that the scores were announced.
The rider who was leading with the highest score could sit back and the other rider had the chance to beat his score. If he did so, the rider who initially lead the battle had the chance to beat his competitor. It sounds more complicated than it actually was.
All names were dropped in a very large Vans shoe and this is what came out:
Colin MacKay vs. Mike Clark
Ryan Guettler vs. Cesar Flores
Allan Cooke vs. James Foster
Ricarda Laguna vs. Joey Marks
Luke Parslow vs. Lance Mosley
Rob Darden vs. TJ Lavin
Mike Savedra vs. Morgan Wade
Cory Nastazio vs. Cameron White
It was unfortunate to meet a guy of high level but then again, all of them were of an amazing level and anything could happen. In heat one Colin MacKay beat Mike Clark so it was Aussie one to the next round. Ryan Guettler (Aussie 2) also made it to the next round and the same goes for James Foster and Ricardo Laguna. The Spiked hair duo of Luke Parslow and Lance Mosley had a strong fight but Aussi # 3 made it to the next round. Rob Darden lost against hometown hero TJ Lavin and Morgan Wade beat Savedra to go to the next round. The cut throat battle between Nasty and Cameron White was a toughie but Aussie #4 went through and Nasty Dawg could relax.
Round two:
Colin MacKay vs. Ryan Guettler
Foster vs. Laguna
TJ vs. Parslow
Wade vs. White
When Ryan Guettler started unpacking his 360 drop in to frontflip on the first set to 720 tire grab over the last set, he put himself in the hot seat. MacKay could not match Ryan's riding and was out. James Foster sure can whip. Doubles are no problem for the kid and later on in the best trick contest he even attempted triples (which he pulled at the Elevation contest in Whistler a few weeks earlier). Laguna out. TJ's stylish jumps were no competition for Parslow's hard tricks like flips over the first set and flipwhips over set 2. The fans didn't like to see their favorite rider go but it wasn't any different. Morgan Wade's superman tailwhips over the first set were amazing but it wasn't enough against the hard tricks pulled by Mongoose's White. With two Nora Cups in the pocket from the night before, Wade wasn't too disappointed.
Next round, who are going to the finals?
Ryan Guettler against James Foster
Luke Parslow against Cameron White
Guettler had his car stolen at the Hardrock earlier in the week. It was a Chevy Tahoe and he had everything sitting in the car when it happened. This meant Ryan was riding a new bike and was determined to go for the $19,000.= USD first place check. James Foster found out and all what was left for him was the battle for third against the loser of the other bracket. Luke Parslow has been on a roll this year and Cameron White found out. Parslow frontflipped to the final round and White was stuck in the bracket for third place.
White vs. Foster: White won and made 5G's that evening.
Guettler vs. Parslow: What can you do when SE's Ryan pulls a 360 drop in to frontflip to tiregrab 720 over the last set? Try harder. Parslow did give it a go but the turndown-flip and flipwhip that came from the HARO rider were not enough. Congrats to Guettler for the win.
The evening wasn't over, a best trick contest was taking place after the contest. For some reason the crowd wasn't as loud as I expected them to be, especially with the level of riding that was going on in the best trick contest. The Voice Of BMX (Paul Roberts) did a great job MC-ing and pushed the riders to the next level. Okay, I'll list some tricks and you decide which trick you think should have won:
a) Double tailwhip 360: Rob Darden
b) Flip double whip with a touch: Whitesnake
c) Double backflip: Hucker
d) Double tailwhip: James Foster
e) Frontflip no-hander to turndown: Diego Canina
f) Flipwhip: Luke Parslow
g) Triple tailwhip: Cameron White
h) 720: Hucker
i) Tailwhip to barspin: White
Wow, what a list! Brazilian
Diego Canina got the $ 5,000.= check for the no-handed frontflip to turndown. What the hell is going on??!! Where will it stop?
BdJ
Vans / Hard Rock Let It Ride BMX Jam Dirt Final Results
1. Ryan Guettler- $19,000
2. Luke Parslow- $7,000
3. Cameron White - $5,000
4. James Foster- $2,000
5. Morgan Wade- $500
6.Richard Laguna-$500
7.TJ Lavin-$500
8.Colin Mackay-$500
9. Cory Nastazio
10. Allan Cooke
11. Cesar Flores
12. Michael Clark
13. Lance Mosley
14. Rob Darden
15. Joey Marks
16. Mike Saavedra
The rider who was leading with the highest score could sit back and the other rider had the chance to beat his score. If he did so, the rider who initially lead the battle had the chance to beat his competitor. It sounds more complicated than it actually was.
All names were dropped in a very large Vans shoe and this is what came out:
Colin MacKay vs. Mike Clark
Ryan Guettler vs. Cesar Flores
Allan Cooke vs. James Foster
Ricarda Laguna vs. Joey Marks
Luke Parslow vs. Lance Mosley
Rob Darden vs. TJ Lavin
Mike Savedra vs. Morgan Wade
Cory Nastazio vs. Cameron White
It was unfortunate to meet a guy of high level but then again, all of them were of an amazing level and anything could happen. In heat one Colin MacKay beat Mike Clark so it was Aussie one to the next round. Ryan Guettler (Aussie 2) also made it to the next round and the same goes for James Foster and Ricardo Laguna. The Spiked hair duo of Luke Parslow and Lance Mosley had a strong fight but Aussi # 3 made it to the next round. Rob Darden lost against hometown hero TJ Lavin and Morgan Wade beat Savedra to go to the next round. The cut throat battle between Nasty and Cameron White was a toughie but Aussie #4 went through and Nasty Dawg could relax.
Round two:
Colin MacKay vs. Ryan Guettler
Foster vs. Laguna
TJ vs. Parslow
Wade vs. White
When Ryan Guettler started unpacking his 360 drop in to frontflip on the first set to 720 tire grab over the last set, he put himself in the hot seat. MacKay could not match Ryan's riding and was out. James Foster sure can whip. Doubles are no problem for the kid and later on in the best trick contest he even attempted triples (which he pulled at the Elevation contest in Whistler a few weeks earlier). Laguna out. TJ's stylish jumps were no competition for Parslow's hard tricks like flips over the first set and flipwhips over set 2. The fans didn't like to see their favorite rider go but it wasn't any different. Morgan Wade's superman tailwhips over the first set were amazing but it wasn't enough against the hard tricks pulled by Mongoose's White. With two Nora Cups in the pocket from the night before, Wade wasn't too disappointed.
Next round, who are going to the finals?
Ryan Guettler against James Foster
Luke Parslow against Cameron White
Guettler had his car stolen at the Hardrock earlier in the week. It was a Chevy Tahoe and he had everything sitting in the car when it happened. This meant Ryan was riding a new bike and was determined to go for the $19,000.= USD first place check. James Foster found out and all what was left for him was the battle for third against the loser of the other bracket. Luke Parslow has been on a roll this year and Cameron White found out. Parslow frontflipped to the final round and White was stuck in the bracket for third place.
White vs. Foster: White won and made 5G's that evening.
Guettler vs. Parslow: What can you do when SE's Ryan pulls a 360 drop in to frontflip to tiregrab 720 over the last set? Try harder. Parslow did give it a go but the turndown-flip and flipwhip that came from the HARO rider were not enough. Congrats to Guettler for the win.
The evening wasn't over, a best trick contest was taking place after the contest. For some reason the crowd wasn't as loud as I expected them to be, especially with the level of riding that was going on in the best trick contest. The Voice Of BMX (Paul Roberts) did a great job MC-ing and pushed the riders to the next level. Okay, I'll list some tricks and you decide which trick you think should have won:
a) Double tailwhip 360: Rob Darden
b) Flip double whip with a touch: Whitesnake
c) Double backflip: Hucker
d) Double tailwhip: James Foster
e) Frontflip no-hander to turndown: Diego Canina
f) Flipwhip: Luke Parslow
g) Triple tailwhip: Cameron White
h) 720: Hucker
i) Tailwhip to barspin: White
Wow, what a list! Brazilian Diego Canina got the $ 5,000.= check for the no-handed frontflip to turndown. What the hell is going on??!! Where will it stop?
BdJ
Vans / Hard Rock Let It Ride BMX Jam Dirt Final Results
1. Ryan Guettler- $19,000
2. Luke Parslow- $7,000
3. Cameron White - $5,000
4. James Foster- $2,000
5. Morgan Wade- $500
6.Richard Laguna-$500
7.TJ Lavin-$500
8.Colin Mackay-$500
9. Cory Nastazio
10. Allan Cooke
11. Cesar Flores
12. Michael Clark
13. Lance Mosley
14. Rob Darden
15. Joey Marks
16. Mike Saavedra
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.