The Matchup: Dave Mirra vs. Ryan Nyquist

The Event: Bicycle Stunt Street Finals

The Time: Saturday, June 26 at 3:30 p.m. PT

The Question: Who will win gold on the streets of San Francisco?

Ryan Nyquist, left, can win his first street competition this week, but he'll have to dethrone Dave Mirra -- his roomate, teammate and three-time X Games street gold medalist.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Predictably enough, the friendship was made on the deck of a street course three years ago. Dave Mirra is the established star of bicycle stunt riding. Ryan Nyquist, the 17-year old new face on tour, is competing in his first professional event.

Were it not for a common love of bikes and abundance of talent, the two never would have met. But the New Yorker and Northern California native soon became teammates -- then roommates. Now they are among the favorites to take home gold in bicycle stunt street at X Games V.

Mirra arrives in the City by the Bay fresh off three gold medals at last year's X Games in San Diego. Nyquist comes to familiar ground off two second-place finishes at the X Games Trials in Louisville, Ky., and Richmond, Va.

"This year has been especially good at the X Trials," said Nyquist during Thursday's first practice session on the street course on Pier 30/32. "Things have just been going really well for me. This course is a little different, so I'm kind of having a little trouble adjusting. I was really psyched about how those (courses) where at the Trials and I was kind of expecting this course to be similar. So I'm kind of just trying to adjust a little."

Nyquist is a rising star in bicycle stunt riding. One of the few riders who compete in all three disciplines -- street, vert and dirt -- the the 20-year-old Nyquist finished fourth in street last year at the X Games and second in dirt jumping. He has won four dirt jumping events over the past two years -- including the ABA King of Dirt in 1996 and '98.

Nyquist has yet to break through and win on the street. And he knows who he'll have to unseat the favorite this week to claim his first victory.

"I'd say Dave is still the guy to beat," Nyquist said. "(But) the last couple of competitions have been really close. But when he's on, he's on, and you can't touch him. I mean that's all that really needs to be said about him. He's an awesome rider, just insane.

"I'd be honored to beat him at some point, but I know I still have a lot of work to do."

"(But) as a person he's a good guy. Being his roommate just works out awesome," adds Nyquist, who shares a house with Mirra in Greenville, N.C. "We ride together, hang out together. So you can't beat it."

Mirra has been all but impossible to beat the past three years on a bike at the Summer X Games. Last year's triple-gold medal performance, which included a double-vert win with Dennis McCoy, gave him three straight street golds and two consecutive wins in vert. He was second in vert in 1995 and '96.

One of Nyquist's second-place finishes was to Mirra in Richmond. But in Louisville, Mirra slipped to fourth in one of the closest competitions in X Games Trials history.

"We're good friends and Ryan is a great rider," Mirra said Thursday. "I feel like I'm stronger in vert, but I feel good about street. You never know, it's all about how you ride.

"But (The X Games) is the big one. You have to be excited."

Known as the "Miracle Boy" for his comebacks from an assortment of riding injuries -- which include tearing his spleen in half in 1995 -- Mirra has avoided serious injury the past few years. And when he's healthy, he's nearly impossible to beat wherever he rides.

One factor Nyquist has going for him is he's at home. Nyquist grew up in the shadow of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Los Gatos, south of San Francisco.

"It's always rad to be home. My family is going to come up, and all my friends are coming down," Nyquist said. "So, I'm definitely going to feel more at home than at any other competition. Usually before a competition I'm pretty nervous. But right now I'm kind of like just hanging out and not feeling it. It's more like just being at home and just riding.

"I've never won a street comp -- but I'd sure like to sometime in the future. You never know."