Day two at the EXPN Invite and there are a few more faces headed to Philly for X Games VIII later this summer.
The day began with Bike Stunt Flatland, after the street dried off that is. Now most people (announcers, judges, other flatland riders, myself included) have no idea what the names of the tricks these guys were doing. It's not like Skateboarding or BMX Vert where there are established tricks. Flatland is all about flow and style, doing your own thing and being innovative. With that in mind, there were plenty of people in Atlanta who have a newfound respect for flatland as the course was lined with excited fans.
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| Flatland winners. |
Trevor Meyer was cruising the course in practice, looking confident in his skills, but despite his patented Peddling Dump truck (ok, I might know ONE trick name) he was only going as high as second. It was Michael Steingraber from Germany who had the flow for first. He now has a one-way ticket to Philly and a grip o' cash to fill plenty of steins back in Hamburg. Third was Jorge Gomez from Spain who had quite a cheering section for himself.
The other bikers on the day, the vert dogs were put off for yet another day as the winds came up and kept the boys from flying above the coping. None of the riders ever got on their bikes for a practice run as Dave Mirra summed it up best, "yeah, it's crazy out there."
Inside though, things were in full motion on the park course as the skateboarders used every inch of the rails and ledges at their disposal. The course was mostly a thin corridor of ramps and metal to play on and it suited most of the riders just fine.
In the practice session, it was obvious that it was going to be a Brazilian battle between Carlos De Andrade and Rodil Junior. Both were tearing the place apart, going from obstacle to obstacle flipping, grinding and sliding pretty much whatever they wanted.
Rodil was showing off the smooth style that won him the Slam City Jam a couple of weeks ago. He looked best in practice and held the same form for the next hour, winning the final. Rodil was all over the place, starting his run with a good combo through the first three obstacles...switch kickflip over the midsection, and then a f/s lipslide across the rail to a f/s crook grind down the following rail. He came back for a 360 flip over the pyramid then around again for a f/s noseblunt on the quarterpipe. With no falls on his first run, he had things locked up.
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| Rodil Junior with the Brasilian 360-flip. |
Carlos was charging the entire day though, using aggressive lines and some HUGE pop to stomp anything he wanted. His massive 360 flip through the middle of the course was topped only by an even bigger nollie heelflip 180 on the "off limits" drop in by the judges stand. The only thing that kept him out of first was having to take two shots at a kickflip to crook on the last flatbar.
Taking third was Dan Pageau, who made it though a great first run without a fall. Frontside boardslides and tailslides are nothing for this kid. He even proved that he has some vert skills with a blunt kickflip to fakie on the quarterpipe.
So with Dan taking third, he gets the golden ticket to Philly this summer for the X Games. Pat Channita, De Andrade and Rodil have already qualified for the park event, so their bags are packed.
The Inline Vert comp was held in the parking lot of the skatepark where gale force winds buffeted the skaters from one wall to the other. Most competitors kept their airs at a safe height and restricted their biggest tricks to the coping. Cesar Mora returned after nearly eight months out of commission due to a broken arm and placed eighth. Marc Englehart threw back-to-back 900s to take fifth, while Shane Yost pulled a series of indescribable spins to finish fourth. Seemingly unaffected by the wind, Taig Khris executed lofty 10 foot airs, but missed his new double-grabbed double back flip and ended up in third. Again, the real story was the battle between the Yasutoko brothers. In the first round, Eito took the lead, but Takeshi returned with a dominating run, complete with a 900 and a 1080 to win the vert competition.
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| Cesar Mora |
On street, the women's comp was again stolen by Fabiola, who pulled a transfer over an enormous channel and a series of progressive grinds all over the course. Fallon Heffernan drew a close second with her strong skating and creative line while Angela Arujo took third.
The men's prelim comp featured some sick stunts from Pat Lennen, Carlos Pianowski and Jaren Grob, but the real story was recent Atlanta transplant, John Starr, who skated a phenomenal pair of street runs and yet somehow still ended up out of contention for the medals. Carl Hills skated a strong run, highlighted by a 900 over the launch box, and of course, Sven skated with his usual flawless precision. Tomorrow at the finals, it's anybody's comp.
Atlanta is the first stop on the EXPN Invitational tour to be held at one of the new Woodward EXPN fusion parks. The best thing about the park is its similarity to real street - banks, ledges and rails without a whole lot of fantasy transitions. The worst thing about it is the almost perfect obstruction of every obstacle from the judges tower. While the street competition featured an exciting display of rollerblading stunts, the standings are not necessarily accurate.
Related Photos:
Skate Park Finals Gallery
BMX Flatland Finals Gallery
Inline Vert Finals Gallery
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