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The hardest part of judging is pretty much all of it. You have 20 guys competing against each other, all with different styles and all with a huge bag of tricks. It’s pretty much anyone’s game. Clay Brown even told me the hardest part of judging today’s event was Rob Darden and Diogo Canina because they had similar runs. But they ended up with 3rd and 2nd, which was a huge jump from yesterday. Who won? You’ll have to wait to the end of this little story…or just jump to the bottom and see if you’re really impatient. Another thing about contests is that not placing well does not necessarily mean you didn’t do great things on your bike. Sometimes things just don’t go as planned. One of the crowd’s favorite, 13-year-old Nicholi Rogatkin, had a few falls but nailed a flip-whip over the box! Did I mention he was 13? He’s frickin’ 13 and does flip-whips! Another standout was Chase Hawk. He’s not known for doing the craziest stunts, but man he can make bike riding look soooo good. His style is something most riders wish they had.

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.

Nike 6.0 HB BMX Pro Contest - Day 2 Results.
1. Daniel Dhers - 94.5
2. Diogo Canina - 92.75
3. Rob Darden - 91.5
4. Garrett Reynolds - 91.5
5. Mike Spinner - 90.75
6. Allan Cooke - 89
7. Dennis Enarson - 88.5
8. Craig Mast - 88.5
9. Andy Buckworth - 88.25
10. Austin Coleman - 87.75
11. Marcus Tooker - 87.5
12. Ryan Guettler - 87
13. Josh Perry - 85.75
14. Scotty Cranmer - 85.75
15. Chase Hawk - 83.75
16. Trey Jones - 80.75 

Nike 6.0 HB BMX Pro Contest - Day 1 Results
1. Daniel Dhers
2. Mike Spinner
3. Garrett Reynolds
4. Andy Buckworth
5. Ryan Guettler
6. Marcus Tooker
7. Craig Mast
8. Austin Coleman
9. Rob Darden
10. Scotty Cranmer
11. Diogo Canina
12. Allan Cooke
13. Dennis Enarson
14. Nicholi Rogatkin
15. Ben Snowden
16. Josh Perry 

Nigel Sylvester celebrated the wrap-up of his “Because I Grind” Tour with friends and family last Thursday night at Spit Studio in Hermosa Beach, CA.
Music was provided by the one and only Biz Markie and one lucky party-goer rolled home on Nigel’s Mirraco bike, which he had custom tweaked specifically for his Tour. Big thanks to Spit Studio for hosting, Gatorade for throwing the party and all the awesome people who joined Nigel to celebrate.

The first day of practice at the Nike 6.0 HB is done. What a fun day. The best riders in BMX riding on a huge course; on the beach! (check the drawings) Right next to the US Open surfing competition, it’s one of the coolest events in BMX. I’ve never seen so many hot girls in bikinis watching, and cheering for BMX. And the weather couldn’t have been better. Five hours of practice under the burning hot sun in 90 degree temperature was by far enough for everyone. Matt Sparks was killing it, doing some of the highest flairs

Out of a field of 30 BMX riders, Chad Kerley won the BMX park competition Sunday at the Gatorade Free Flow Tour’s stop in Clairemont, Calif. Fifteen-year-old Kerley from San Diego, Calif. earned the BMX park victory at the Mission Valley YMCA after executing a number of technical tricks during the final jam session, including a barspin to manual to barspin to seal the victory. Dillon Hass was second and Patrick Casey finished in third place.

“I was just happy to make it through the semi-final heat after my hands started cramping up,” Kerley said. “But once I got to the finals, everything turned on, and I felt good. All the guys were riding so well today, it was a crazy contest.”

“This is the most people we’ve had at the park in a while,” 

Saturday morning it was off to Hasselt for the BMX Playtime contest. Spending a weekend in Belgium is always good and when there's BMX involved it's even better. The weather forecast wasn't too good but when we arrived in Belgium it had not rained there and the place looked good. Sven Grieten and Greg van Tulder had built a sweet dirt course on the parking lot of the Kapermolen. The concrete park next to it did not need much work as it was already there and ready to go. Saturday saw all amateur classes. On Dirt as well as Park. The classes in Park were split between a 15 and under class and a 15 and over class. Felix Prangenberg from Germany beat Brian Cuypers (B) and Eddy Baum (D) in the under 15 class with some strong riding. His dad and the whole German posse was stoked. Benoit Vandeguchte won the over 15 class. He's got real street skills and the manual upwards the kinked ledge to 180 off sealed the deal for him. 94 points for Benoit, 93 for Nicolas Terryn and 92.5 for Bram de Laat. The all ages dirt class was won by Pieter de Bruyn who did sweet no-footed cancans, followed by team mate Nick Dehertelend 

Last Tuesday the weather was so awesome so we decided to do a spontaneous BBQ at Bruno´s local park in Siegen. We just went there with the Red Bull Sugga event car, played some tunes, had some Red Bull and set up the grill. Vibe was awesome, 40 people showed up without even knowing, even Stephan Lantschner - Bruno was stoked! I think we will be doing more of this stuff soon - small events, support local scenes.