You have to admit it’s a little strange to see the X Trials in a town like Bristol, Connecticut. Not that Grand Prairie, Texas was anything to get stoked about, but we’re talking about a town that has an entire museum dedicated to carousels. Oh, and another museum just for clocks.

Omar Hassan killed this rail at Lake Compounce Theme Park so hard they should make it a regular ride here.

But Bristol’s claim to fame has been, and will probably always be, ESPN headquarters, namely the really gigantic satellite dishes (yeah, the ones Tony Hawk had his eye on in that SportsCenter commercial) that surround the building and attract onlookers of all kinds.

Coming in a close second would be Lake Compounce Theme Park, conveniently located right across the street from those really gigantic satellite dishes. Lake Compounce, which by the way used to host concerts and just happens to be where Milli Vanilli met their downfall when their tape skipped, is the site for the X Trials, the last qualifier for the 2001 X Games to take place in Philadelphia, PA. from August 17-23.

“When I heard the trials were going to Bristol, I figured I wouldn’t be working,” said X Games commentator Sal Masakela. “I figured Stuart Scott, Dan Patrick, maybe Eisen, I figured those guys would have it all sewed up.”

But Sal, along with skateboarders Omar Hassan, Pat Channita, Andy Macdonald, and BMX’ers Kevin Robinson and Jamie Bestwick, were just some of the athletes in attendance on Friday as things got underway.

All the riders were in agreement that having the trials in Bristol made sense, including six-time X Games gold medalist Andy Macdonald.

“I’ve been here before,” said Macdonald. “I drove through Bristol and the massive ESPN headquarters on a tour once. I guess it’s good. If you are ESPN it’s good because you can invite all the people that never get out to see us. I mean it’s right down the street from the office.”

For some athletes, like Hoffman Bikes rider Kevin Robinson, competing in Bristol was a sort of homecoming.

“It’s funny, my first halfpipe contest ever was in this very town of Bristol at CT Bike Exchange,” said Robinson after an impressive run in the bike vert preliminaries. “It’s pretty ironic that we are back here. It’s close to my home, Providence, Rhode Island, so I have some family here which is great.”

Most riders agreed that the actual event had the same feel as other X Trials and B3 events, despite being in the shadow of ESPN’s headquarters.

“It’s the same as having it anywhere else really … it’s exactly the same course,” said Macdonald.

But the question has to be asked, what the hell do you do for fun after the competition winds down? The clock museum closes at 5 p.m. seven days a week.

“I don’t know what we are going to do for fun,” said Omar Hassan as he relaxed by the Park course with Jason Ellis. “But I’m basically here for the competition. I don’t really know. We are going to some museum thing later. Hey Jason, what museum are we going to?”

“What museum are we going to? You are asking the wrong guy,” said Ellis trying to hold back the laughter. “We ain’t going to a museum. Oh wait, the rock museum? I just did that the other day.”

Maybe someday Bristol will be known for their stunning array of museums as well. Until then, Bristolites have three days to soak up as much X action as they can.

And unlike the Carousel Museum, the X Trials are free.

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