Reynolds. Although he placed seventh in tonight’s event, his total point score of 344 kept him 10 points above Dave Mirra, and gave him the Dew Cup.
Reynolds placed lower than usual tonight due to crashes in both of his runs. But when he was on his bike, he was throwing down tonight. To start, he 540 trucked from the 8ft quarter, over the 6ft and into the bank of the wall ride. With just enough speed out of this gap, Reynolds threw a bar to tuck no-hander over the box backwards, and then manualed the giant wall ride to perfect tuck no-hander into the bank. The rest of his run(s) were filled with plenty of whip and bar combos.
Second place overall and fourth in tonight’s event goes to BMX living legend Dave Mirra. At 35, Mirra is still absolutely killing it. Although his first run was curtailed immediately after a failed bunny hop back flip attempt off the wall ride, his second proved to be really strong. Setting up for the same trick that took him down first run, Mirra pulled his bunny hop back flip perfect on second go. From there, he continued to meander over the course with a huge turndown flair on the 10ft, a 720 over the box, a perfect wall ride to tuck no-hander, and ended his run with an opposite 360 can-can over the box. When the scores came in, Mirra was bumped from eleventh up to fourth for the evening, although judging by their reaction, the crowd wanted to see him up a lot higher.
Third place overall and second in tonight’s event goes to three-time Dew Cup winner Daniel Dhers. Let me start by saying Dhers’ took $5,000 out of Dave Mirra’s pocket at the beginning of the weekend. Why you might ask? Mirra bet Dhers’ to take off his brakes for this final contest of the year. Dhers not only took them off, but rode as if the had them off for years. The color-coordinated rider in blue and white was all over the course. His run began with a 360 double whip from the spine to the box. From there, Dhers trucked the box backwards, 720 one handed-can the box forward, trucked the bank spine, and finished his run with a perfect flair whip on the 8ft quarter. Dhers is always a treat to watch.
Southsea is home to English rider Mark Webb and this year witnessed his initiation into the Dew Tour. A crowd favorite during prelims, Webb goes high, goes tech, and rides almost flawlessly. What’s interesting about Webb’s runs is that he begins quite slowly and inches his way into bigger tricks. Webb also mixes up his runs and tends to throw in new variations on each go—truck to turn down over the spine, truck to invert on the box, corkscrew over the spine, and a huge 360 invert over the box to finish things. Webb was also one of the few riders who utilized the micro mini as a tech center. It was enough to earn him his first time standing on a Dew Tour podium, as he got third today, and fourth overall.
Coming in fifth overall was tonight's winner Ryan Nyquist. Nyquist’s first run was good, but was definitely below his own standards. His draw back is that he has set the bar so high for himself. But during his second run, the Nyquist we know came back in full swing—no-handed suicide air at ridiculous height on the 10ft, 720 double truck over the box, wall ride to double bar spin, double truck on the banked spine, and straight bar over the step down. Nyquist’s second run at 94.38 was the highest score recorded in Dew Tour Park for 2009.
Honorable mentions you asked? Everyone. Drew Bezanson is a technical master. You will definitely see him ranked higher in upcoming years. His lucky stall to tooth as well as straight nosepick on the giant wall ride were pretty mind blowing. He ended up fifth tonight, his highest Dew Tour placement yet.
Scotty Cranmer’s second run was epic. A no-handed front flip over the box backwards and a straight triple whip over the box forward put him in eigth this evening.
Rob Darden? Wow. Seriously. Darden rides at light speed. And although he didn’t switch up his run much from prelims, his consistency is what counts, and what helped him finish in sixth tonight, and ninth overall.
Ryan Guetller and Austin Coleman are also riders that take after Darden’s speed. Speed seems like a must have in the Greenville, NC scene (where all three are from). With plenty of whip, spin, and flip tricks, Guettler (ninth tonight) and Coleman (eleventh tonight) definitely deserved their high placements over the weekend.
And last but not least was Allan Cooke. Cooke has been riding big contests now for over ten years and tonight’s two runs were his official last hurrah in the Dew Tour. And he rode solid—double whip the ten ft, huge nothing transfer from the long box lip to the bowl corner, nac-nac seat grab 360 over the box, and to end things, a perfect downside fast plant on the mesh wall ride. Props to Allen for being a genuinely nice dude, giving plenty back to BMX and for putting in years of shred.
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