Pros swap to flat pedals at Desert Classic National race in Phoenix

Jun 17, 2020

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 4852 times

Over the weekend something happened at the USABMX race in Phoenix, Arizona that some people had been waiting for. The Pro Open class decided collectively to race on flat pedals. For the heck of it. Not everyone came prepared with a good pair of riding shoes and platform pedals but since no points were on the line it was agreed to do it anyway to spice things up. Keep in mind that several riders in the pro class have never raced with flat pedals before, after Mike King and Brian Lopes had introduced them to BMX in the mid-nineties. Was racing better? We checked in with a few of the participants to find out what they thought of the Pro Open Desert Classic flat pedal race.

Nic Long:

Who initiated the change to flat pedals in Phoenix?
Nic Long: I did actually, kind of as a joke 'cause I ate shit in Friday's main. Wanted to make It a little less serious.

Did everyone agree?
Nic Long: All but one rider, who didn’t have any.

Did you bring flat pedals and which ones did you use?
Nic Long: I had my own HT flat pedals in my tool bag, as well as a spare set because I had my jump bike that I lent out.

Who brought the wrong shoes for the flat pedals?
Nic Long: I only had some OLD Vans Authentics which left me with 3 blistered toes. Corben Sharrah raced, and smoked us in Nike foam soled athletic shoes.. Riley and Lucas had to buy shoes on the way to the track, and Corey had Vans slip-on’s, haha.

Did you grow up racing on flat pedals?
Nic Long: Not at all, was honestly my first full lap on flat pedals since I was 7 novice. I was full time ABA clips kid.

Do you think it's more spectacular / safer / more challenging?
Nic Long: It was just a lot more fun and less stressful. It was exactly what I needed Saturday after crashing Friday for a $300. It made the full laps a lot less exhausting too for some reason.

Did anybody do a show jump (on purpose)?
Nic Long: I don’t think any stunts were thrown except maybe some tables and dead sailors

Was this a one-off gig or do you see more of this happening in the future?
Nic Long: I talked with Matt Wilcox and we are interested in doing more of the Pro Open weekends with at least one day of flat pedal racing... But also, I’m in the process of penciling in ideas for a flat pedal Pro/Am series for next year. Working on getting sponsors, and the 6 tracks I want to use. Kind of want it to be in all corners of the US, with events being in SoCal, TX, FL, NJ, WI, and back to end in NorCal. Hopefully have more of a locked in schedule before the end of this year... I’ll come up with a clever name.

What place did you get?
Nic Long: Ended up 5th with a terrible wheelie outta gate one and Wilcox smoked me to the inside of turn one haha.

Was it fun?
Nic Long: The most fun Pro Open I’ve raced yet. Really looking forward to more racing like that, especially this year. Hopefully get another flats day at the upcoming Lemoore Race in mid July.

How did it feel walking on normal shoes after you crossed the finish line?
Nic Long: At the Phoenix track... amazing hahaha all that gravel is terrible.

Callum Holloway

How did you hear about the change from SPD's to flats?
Callum Holloway: I heard first from Nic Long, I believe he initiated it and had about 1/2 the riders already keen when I heard.

Did you bring any?
Callum Holloway: My flats were back home in Colorado but I got a pair of Tangent flats for the weekend

Who brought the wrong shoes for the flat pedal race?
Callum Holloway: Everyone was wondering about Corben's choice but the softer compound may have been the better choice! It seemed to work for him.

What did you wear?
Callum Holloway: I wore a pair of Vans Chima Pros

Did you grow up riding on flat pedals?
Callum Holloway: When I began BMX yes, until maybe 2012? When I was a better rider and started racing bigger events, I still use flats regularly for MTB, Pumptrack, Trails and Skatepark riding.

Is it safer not to clip in?
Callum Holloway: I don’t think it’s safer for the pros, clips give more control when accelerating especially the first 30 ft and exiting corners, but I did have spectators say they enjoyed watching it more.

Did anyone stick out a leg in the turn?
Callum Holloway: I saw a video where Riley House did, and I’m sure there were other instances.

Any show jumping going on?
Callum Holloway: I did, and there were definitely a few others on the triple in practice, not really in any race laps.

Are flats the future again?
Callum Holloway: I definitely feel this could happen more in the future, there’s interest there, and some Pro Women are down to race on flats too.

Where did you finish?
Callum Holloway: I got 4th in Saturday’s Flat Pedal Pro Open

Good fun?
Callum Holloway: I enjoyed it, definitely an adjustment out of the gate, but I enjoy riding flats so had fun racing on them too.

How did it feel walking on normal shoes after you crossed the finish line?
Callum Holloway: So good! Walking through the pits in Vans all day rather than in my clip shoes was much more comfortable!

Matt Wilcox

Who was the instigator? Nic long
Ride flats much? Yes, I do. 90% of my training on flats, an answer pedals
Shoes of choice for flats? Vans
Raced SPD pedals all your life? No. Grew up riding flat pedals
Fun to watch? Not sure.
Safer? Maybe safer yes
Challenging to ride flats? A little bit more challenging. Your feet want to float around because you're not clipped in.
Was this a one-off flat pedal race? I hope not. I would love to race more flat pedal races.
What place did you get? 2nd
Good fun? So fun
How did it feel walking on normal shoes after you crossed the finish line? A lot more comfortable

Riley House

Who initiated the change to flat pedals in Phoenix?
Riley House: I heard it first from Nic, he asked if I’d be down and I told him 100%.

Did you bring flat pedals and which ones did you use?
Riley House: I’ve always got flats in the helmet bag just in case of a last minute trail sesh... I use my Tangent flat pedals.

Who brought the wrong shoes for the flat pedals?
Riley House: I thought my shoes were bad so I got new ones but I saw Corben's Nike foam soled shoes and immediately started to question his choice of riding shoe, I quickly came to find out it didn’t matter what shoes Corben had on... he’s just a horse.

What shoes did you use?
Riley House: I called Lucas Howes and told him about us all racing flats since he hadn’t shown up to the track yet, he told me he didn’t have any riding shoes with him and I looked down at my feet and wasn’t very pleased with my “riding shoes” I had on so he went to the Vans store 20 minutes before practice to get us some freshy old school classic Vans.

Did you grow up racing on flat pedals?
Riley House: Raced flats for the first 6 months of my career and went straight to clips. But always stayed on the freestyle bike riding park and trails growing up and switching over to flats for certain training.

Do you think it's more spectacular / safer / more challenging?
Riley House: I think it’s a bit of everything, more fun for sure I believe, Nic said laps are way easier on flats but I have no idea what he’s talking about haha, but all in all I think it’s rad.

Did anybody stick a foot out in the turn?
Riley House: I had a good one in turn 1 that USABMX caught on vid, I know Nic and I were both puttin' the drift down in the last turn.

Did anybody do a show jump (on purpose)?
Riley House: Everyone was getting pretty steezy out there for sure... we all got on the flats, now the only thing we need is the OG pro sets that we have to trick!

Was this a one-off gig or do you see more of this happening in the future?
Riley House: I think we will be doing some more in the future!

What place did you get?
Riley House: I finished 3rd for the flats race.

Was it fun?
Riley House: Hell yeah it was fun! Get to battle with the guys I grew up idolizing can’t ask for anything cooler than that!

How did it feel walking on normal shoes after you crossed the finish line?
Riley House: So comfy hahaha wish I had flats on all the time!

Pics by:
Nic Long
USABMX / gOrk
Kirby Kronk
Riley House
Tommy Koppinger - www.irieazphoto.com

Corben Sharrah

Corben Sharrah received a text from Nic Long asking if he wanted to run flats. He had brought his HT pedals and some Nike running foam bottom shoes which were the wrong ones but worked. Corben grew up racing flat pedals and thinks it's definitely safer. He also believes it’s easier to ride the bike, at least he feels more comfortable on them. There were a few show boaters on the track but Sharrah wasn't one of them. He was too busy winning the race. Although he believes it was a one off race, he would love to see more flat pedal events. Corben: "We can all go just as fast with flats," the winner continues: "The race in Phoenix was a ton of fun. It felt great to just hop off the pedals and walk normally with no cleats hitting the ground."

Corey Reid

Who initiated the change to flat pedals in Phoenix?
Corey Reid: I think Nic got everyone on board for the race on Saturday because he crashed Friday but I had already been thinking about it and mentioned it to Riley a couple weeks before the race just to have some fun!

Did you bring flat pedals and which ones did you use?
Corey Reid: I brought flats and I use the Tangent pedals for most of my flat pedal riding.

Who brought the wrong shoes for the flat pedals?
Corey Reid: Haha everyone likes a different feel but I don’t think I’d ever ride in the Nike’s Corben was running haha, but it worked for him!

What shoes did you use?
Corey Reid: I rode in some classic Vans slip-ons so that might not have been the best choice because they didn’t feel tight haha.

Did you grow up racing on flat pedals?
Corey Reid: Yeah kind of, I rode flats for the first 3-4 years of racing as a kid. My mom made me buy my own pedals and shoes because she didn’t approve of being locked in to the pedals.

Do you think it's more spectacular / safer / more challenging?
Corey Reid: It’s more challenging because it takes so much more control and technic to ride smooth, fast and pedal efficiently. It’s not any safer because you can crash just as hard and get equally hurt or injured riding flats.

Did anybody stick a foot out in the turn?
Corey Reid: I think I saw a video of Riley putting a foot down.

Did anybody do a show jump (on purpose)?
Corey Reid: Not sure if anyone was show boating out there, maybe throwing some whips and kickouts haha.

Was this a one-off gig or do you see more of this happening in the future?
Corey Reid: I’d like to see some different events like this because it changes everything for the riders and you will see different guys excelling and skill sets come out so it would just mix it up for everyone!

What place did you get?
Corey Reid: They told me I got 8th after taking a dirt nap in the 3rd turn haha.

Was it fun? Yeah!
Corey Reid: It’s was a lot of fun!

How did it feel walking on normal shoes after you crossed the finish line?
Corey Reid: It felt great great!! I’ve had surgeries on both ankles so walking around in the deep rocks at Black Mountain in normal shoes was nice!

Pro Open Results DESERT CLASSIC NATIONAL #2, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Male Pro Open (on flat pedals):
1 CORBEN SHARRAH, DAYLIGHT, TUCSON, AZ
2 MATTHEW WILCOX, THRODWN, DENVER, CO
3 RILEY HOUSE, TANGENT, GILBERT, AZ
4 CALLUM HOLLOWAY, COLORADO MESA UNIVERSITY, GRAND JUNCTION, CO
5 NIC LONG, FACTORY HYPER, LAKESIDE, CA
6 LUCAS HOWES, AZ BIKE WERX, SCHNEIDER, TEMPE, AZ
7 JACOB PEEBLES, SACRAMENTO, CA
8 COREY REID, TANGENT, TEMPE, AZ