Tuesday, July 15

Nyquist Dominates in Cleveland

By George Crosland
EXPN.com

Ryan Nyquist has won every Triple Crown event he's ever entered. So it didn't surprise anyone when Ryan left Cleveland this past weekend with both the Dirt and Street titles at the Vans Triple Crown of BMX Round 2. What was surprising was that he actually had to work for these wins. Plenty of veterans and hot new riders were gunning for the top spot and a chance to steal a win from the unbeatable Nyquist.

The venue was tight, at the Nautica Entertainment Complex right on the Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland. This very river caught on fire nearly four decades ago from all the pollution, but the city's cleaned up now and a great place for a comp. The weather was great, and the fans were out in full force.

Chad Kagy flips a tailwhip for the Cleveland crowd.

The dirt course had a sick roll-in gap. The riders launched off a 20-foot tower to a dirt landing. Fuzzy Hall did 360's off of it. There was also a berm in the course, which made for a cool obstacle.

Nyquist doesn't just win Triple Crown events. He wins about everything he enters. He won a Ford Ranger for being the 2002 Triple Crown overall champion and he's looking to take the title again this year. But Ryan isn't stingy with his winnings. On Sunday night, he treated 40 people to dinner at the Hard Rock Café.

Top contender Alistair Whitton broke his foot in Park practice. Let's hope he's wheeling again for the LA X Games.

What up with the Aussies? They took two of the top three Dirt spots. In fact, going into the Dirt finals, it was a three-way tie before Ryan took the win. Must be the Vegemite.

A dude from Salt Lake named Mike Aitken was going bigger and faster than anyone. Mike rides with Fuzzy Hall and that can't hurt.

Chad Kagy was ripping up the park and pulled a double flip and the flip whip. If Chad pulls it together a bit, he could be a real contender for X Games gold in LA.

I look at this photo of Steven McCann's mega backflip and think these guys are freakin nuts, no way.

Man, things were cooking in the Street final. There was practically a five-way tie. Nyquist stepped it up and won, of course, but the difference between second and fifth place was only 0.33 points.

Vans reserved a section for the competitors at a Cleveland Indians game. Fuzzy Hall threw out the first pitch, several of the guys were sporting face paint and a few even busted out the Indians arm-chop. The Indians won a nail-biter.

All of the Street and Park athletes who qualified for the X Games LA were present, except for the guys from the Latin X Games.

The venue was surrounded by bars. The most popular spot was Christy's Cabaret, a topless bar next to the course that was frequented by the bikers during late night strategy sessions. Of course, I never went, that's just what I heard.


What the pros were saying ...

Mike Aitken
EXPN: You ride with mad style. Where did you learn to ride like that?

Aitken: In Salt Lake with Fuzzy and all my friends at 39th back in the day. Plus, looking up to people riding in videos, I knew that's what I always wanted to do.

TJ Lavin pays tribute to the Cleveland Indians with an indian air seatgrab.

Ryan Nyquist
EXPN: Were you in top form today?

Nyquist: Not even close, I had a pretty bad day. In practice, I crashed pretty hard on my left side. Felt like I had a Charlie horse all day. I had a couple of mess-ups in my finals runs. I was stoked on my last run, though.

How'd you like the course?

The course was alright, definitely different, which is good. The wind played a huge factor.

How do you feel about the X Games going to LA, the birth place of BMX?

I think it's good as long as it's not as hot as Philly. (laughs) I think it should be awesome.

Nyquist spins a 5 on the park quarterpipe. After winning four events in the Triple Crown series, Ryan's a good bet to win the overall again ... sick.

Street Results
1. Ryan Nyquist - $7,500
2. Josh Harrington - $4,500
3. Chad Kagy - $3,000
4. Mike Aitken - $2,000
5. Colin Mackay - $1,500
6. Mike Laird - $1,200
7. Tom Haugen - $900
8. Allan Cooke - $750
9. Brian Foster - $650
10. Gary Young - $550
11. Dan Sieg - $450
12. Jeremy Fanberg - $400
13. Rob Darden - $200
14. Dennis McCoy - $200
15. Steven McCann - $200
16. Scott Wirch - $200
17. Scott Foster - $200
18. Stephen Lilly - $200
19. Sebastian Keep - $200
20. Chase Hawk - $200


Dirt Results
1. Ryan Nyquist - $7,500
2. Corey Bohan - $4,500
3. Steven McCann - $3,000
4. Mike Aitken - $2,000
5. Scott Wirch - $1,500
6. Cory Nastazio - $1,200
7. Allan Cooke - $900
8. Ryan Guettler - $750
9. Luke Parslow - $650
10. Chris Doyle - $550
11. Fuzzy Hall - $450
12. TJ Lavin - $400
13. Todd Walkoviak - $200
14. Rob Darden - $200
15. Stephan Murray - $200
16. Darin Reed - $200
17. Ryan Jordan - $200
18. Reuel Erickson - $200
19. Brian Foster - $200
20. Joey Marks - $200