Tuesday, June 6

Bikes at B3

By Bryan Thomas

Maybe it was the copper content in the Lake Havasu water that toughened some skin; or the healthy dose of Arizona vitamin sun that boosted energy levels; or maybe it was the relaxed spring break vibe that got riders into the right groove this weekend.

Whatever the explanation, all the ingredients for a bike stunt throw-down came together for the first B3 event of the season.

"This is a great contest," said Jay Miron after Saturday's Vert final. "The fans are great and the riders have just been going off. Everyone has stepped it up, but nobody is trying to kill themselves."

The international presence also made for an interesting weekend of competition. American riders accounted for only two out of nine total podium spots in Vert, Flatland, and Street. Great Britain, France, and Spain were all in the house. In addition, the usual cast of Canadians put the smack down in all three disciplines.

Flatland

The Flatland comp was held in the far corner of the B3 venue, serving as a satellite event of the rest of the weekend's competition. This suited the riders just fine. Flatland exists in its own abstract plain. Few other athletes can match flatlanders in terms of riding time, creativity, and bloody shins.

Trevor Meyer was his usual fluid, steady self as he rolled through two runs in the finals without touching down once. He grabbed first place. Does this three-time X Games gold medalist and six-time Bicycle Stunt Series champ ever get bored with winning comps? "No," he said. "I have fun as long as I keep learning new things."

Parisian rider Alex Jumelin took second place with an impressive array of maneuvers. "I could have done easy tricks that I knew I could do, or hard tricks that I wasn't sure I could do," said Alex. "I decided to try the more difficult ones - that's why I'm so happy [with my finish]." This was the highest placing in an ESPN contest for Alex, a former French and European champion.

Dan Rigby glided to his second third place finish in a month (CFB #1, Merritt Island, Fla.), leading a crew of three Canadians in the top ten spots.

Flatland judges don't necessarily look for spin to win in competitions, but the crowds sure go nuts for it. Fourth-place finisher Matt Wilhelm whipped the crowd into a frenzy when he spun into a blur in his last two runs.

The whole field rode incredibly well, and every rider deserves some props. But, since this isn't the under-12 soccer report for the local newspaper, we'll wrap it up with these parting thoughts:

Keep your eyes on!

Nathan Penonzek- Finished in sixth place. The 21-year old already has three top-four X Games finishes under his belt, and his star keeps getting brighter.

Art Thomason- Nabbed fifth place. Working his way up the flatland ranks. One on the most improved riders of the past year.

York Uno- Check out this brakeless wonder from Japan who finished in eighth place. Hope to see more of him on the U.S. competition scene.

Bike Stunt Vert

In what many riders called the best Vert final in recent memory, and what Mat Hoffman described as "the kind of contest that I remember from back in the day," it was British rider Jamie Bestwick who flew to the top of the stacked field. Hoffman and Jay Miron came in a close second and third, respectively. Dave Mirra finished two-tenths of a point off the podium in fourth place.

"I would not want to be a judge in this one," said Street rider Ruben Alcantara. Less than a point and a half separated the top four riders.

Bestwick lit it up with an arsenal of tailwhips, two-footed can-cans, and no-handed ally-oops, but most impressive was the flair he pulled at the end of his final run.

"It's the first [flair] I've ever done," said Bestwick. He felt he had to step it up a few levels for this comp. "Just look at the guys who were performing today. I had to pull something big."

Before attempting it, Bestwick asked for advice from Dennis McCoy, who counts the flair as one of his bread and butter tricks. "Dennis told me to take it slow and just lean back," said Bestwick. DMC's help paid off, and Bestwick dropped to his knees and looked to the sky after he was safely back on the ground. But the day did not belong to Bestwick alone.

Mat Hoffman (left), Jay Miron (right)

Make no mistake about it: Mat Hoffman is back. Despite previous physical problems, the rider formerly known as "Matt" shows no signs of slowing down.

He threw a no-handed to no-footed 540, a huge front peg grab, and an attempted double tailwhip. He also attempted - but didn't quite land - a 540 front peg grab. "I first did that one in July [of 1999]," said Mat. "It's tough because when you reach forward to grab the pegs, your head gets tucked between your arms and you lose sight of the ramp."

This is the second, second place finish for "The Condor" within a month. He previously grabbed the number two spot at the inaugural CFB, last month at Merritt Island. And he's doing it all sans brakes.

Last September, Mat decided to take the breaks off his bike. He did this to challenge himself and gain a new perspective on riding. Another reason is that he was sick of working on his brakes. "I'm a terrible mechanic," he admitted. "I hate working on my bike. That's why I started my own bike company, to make bikes that don't need to get fixed all the time."

Riding without brakes puts a whole new spin on tackling Vert. "You have to anticipate three or four moves ahead, but also be flexible enough to go where the run takes you," said Mat.

Jay Miron was very happy with his third place finish. Miron, who can always be counted on to go big and burly, did not disappoint. On his final run, he launched a 540 that was close to 10 feet over the coping, then followed with a dizzying double tailwhip. He pulled this with 25 seconds left on the clock - a gutsy strategy to do such a risky maneuver so early in the run.

Dave Mirra attacked every curve, corner, and inch of coping on the ramp (and most of the airspace above it) with classic Mirra style. However, it was not enough to crack the top three this weekend.

Simon Tabron (seventh place) drove the fans wild when he landed his 900. DMC, who ended up in fifth, almost landed one as well. The "local" Arizona crew of John Parker (sixth place), Jason Davies (eighth place), and Jim Burgess (tenth place) all rode very well. Burgess took a nasty fall during his first run of the finals, but was able to walk off the ramp under his own power. Hope he heals up soon.

With the bar now raised a few notches higher, the Louisville B3 in April promises some crazy riding.

Bike Stunt Street

After Saturday's ridiculous Vert final, the prospect of a Street contest on Sunday seemed anti-climactic. But the Street riders, who watched (or partook in) the Vert madness, quickly caught the bug. The energy poured over into the Street course and the riders were going off all through Sunday's prelims and finals.

Jamie Bestwick, Vert First Place

To give you some perspective: In one 35-second span, Ryan Nyquist threw back-to-back-to-back-to-back (four) 720s, followed by a backflip and a backflip with barspin. That was only good enough for seventh place.

The day belonged to Jay Miron, who was still pumped from his third place finish in Vert. Jay qualified in first place and never looked back. He worked the spine ramp into submission and laid out a 360 tailwhip so smooth it looked like a slow-motion replay.

Jay was also stoked that he could share the podium with best friend Dave Osato, who nabbed third with his smooth tech style, which included a 360 tire tap over the spine. Good to see Dave back after a broken wrist and ruptured spleen.

Second place went to Spaniard Ruben Alcantara. His wallride to tailwhip transfer into the halfbowl was the highlight of the comp. Ruben is taking street riding to a whole new place.

Tom Haugen of Minneapolis went tailwhip-crazy to grab fourth place, and Taj Mihelich, making a rare B3 appearance, took fifth. Special props to two guys who let it all hang out: Chad Kagy, who did not make the finals, reached deep into the bag to attempt his first- ever 900 off the quarter pipe. He got some advice from 9-specialist Simon Tabron and nearly pulled it off. Mike Escamilla (10th place) took a nasty header in the prelims, then came back to make several charges at a 540 over the spine (landing fakie) - and many of those were done on Taj's bike. Thanks Taj.