Brian Kachinsky, round 12-stair rail manual. No joke.
Well, here we are done with prelim Thursday. Today was prelims for both street and park, and although a lot of awesome riding went down, the day dragged on slower than some of my own flatland links. This was due to street prelims. Here's the scenario: three separate street sections against 12 riders, who get ten tries each on every section. I am not a mathematician, but well, it was a lot of tries on the street course, amounting to a qualifying round that lasted for approximately three hours and ten minutes. It was exhausting to watch, and that's just watching it. Imagine the athletes, who were giving it their all in the hot sun!
Regardless, there was a ton of good riding. Garrett Reynolds took the win, Nathan Williams took second and Van Homan landed in third. I gotta hand it to all twelve competitors though; they seriously gave it their all. As for some firsts, Corey Martinez landed a smooth as butter truckdriver to opposite smith grind and Kachinsky nollie icepicked the steep 12-stair. There was a lot more action, but I'll keep this brief since I know that no one reads anymore. Check the full results here.
Cody York/ESPN Action Sports
Dennis Enarson, flip whip at height during park prelims.
After street, we had to run over to park, which after everything was said and done, ran smoother than any of us could have ever imagined. Riders flowed from one to the next, and everyone seemed to be enjoying the heightened flow of the new format. (Five riders, 15 minutes, 30 second runs each until the clock runs out.) In the end, Gary Young proved that he's got a third eye for concrete lines with a first place finish. In second was Rob Darden, and in third was Scotty Cranmer, who amazingly circumvented the majority of the concrete and stuck to the wooden section of the course for most of the comp. Check the full results here. And no, I don't know who Chris Dillewaard is.
Tomorrow, we've got finals for both street and big air. I'll be covering street from Home Depot Center, while Cody covers big air from the Staples Center. Good night and give it up for the pro street class. They will rest well tonight.
Cody York/ESPN Action Sports
Van Homan's first trick of the day. Tailwhip over the rail to flat.
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Brian Tunney
This is Brian. He lives in Jersey City, rides BMX bikes often and somehow ended up in the X Games a few times. Facebook him if needed.
Cody York
From Cleveland, Ohio, Cody was raised on a steady diet of backyard jumps and skateparks and his photos have graced the pages of Ride BMX, BMX Plus!, Ride UK, and Dig magazines. Got something to share? cyorkphoto@me.com
Mark Noble
Mark is from the U.K., and has over 28+ years experience in BMX. He has launched, published, edited and written for more BMX mags than you can shake a bike at. He also runs Deluxe BMX.
Nick Ferreira
Nick Ferreira is a BMXer, photographer and zine maker from Taunton, MA. He has been extolling the merits of tucks and tabes in print and online for the better part of the past 10 years.
Pat Nugent
Born and raised on Long Island, the only outlet to BMX that Patrick grew up knowing was racing. For a while, he got into all those weird forms of BMX, but eventually returned to the race scene. He enjoys shooting races and snaking practice laps.
Steve Crandall
Hails from Ithaca, NY, created FBM in '93, paints pictures of eggs, soup and pigeons in his spare time, throws down a mean tabletop.
