The hardest part of judging is pretty much all of it. You have 20 guys competing against each other, all with different styles and all with a huge bag of tricks. It’s pretty much anyone’s game. Clay Brown even told me the hardest part of judging today’s event was Rob Darden and Diogo Canina because they had similar runs. But they ended up with 3rd and 2nd, which was a huge jump from yesterday. Who won? You’ll have to wait to the end of this little story…or just jump to the bottom and see if you’re really impatient. Another thing about contests is that not placing well does not necessarily mean you didn’t do great things on your bike. Sometimes things just don’t go as planned. One of the crowd’s favorite, 13-year-old Nicholi Rogatkin, had a few falls but nailed a flip-whip over the box! Did I mention he was 13? He’s frickin’ 13 and does flip-whips! Another standout was Chase Hawk. He’s not known for doing the craziest stunts, but man he can make bike riding look soooo good. His style is something most riders wish they had.

I may have jumped the gun telling you what place Rob and Diogo got because I usually wait until this part of the story for that. So I guess we’ll just talk about fifth and fourth. In fifth, Mike Spinner definitely had some of the hardest tricks like a 1080 and triple-whips, but not hitting more of the course hurt his score some. Garrett Reynolds does so much stuff back to back that it’s too hard to write notes during his run. I actually have carpel tunnel just trying to keep up. Thanks a lot, Garrett. He ended up with fourth. And the winner—again—was Daniel Dhers, who pretty much showed the Nike 6.0 HB BMX Pro course whose daddy it was. That’s just what happens when you do corked out, no-handed 720s, no-handed 360’s over the big box, and pretty much whatever he wants on any ramp at any time.

This contest format is something that hasn’t really been done before and the riders are now getting into the flow of it. I think you will see place changes like Rob and Diogo did today, hence the title of this story, “The Tides Have Turned.” What will tomorrow bring? I can’t really be sure exactly, but I do know another amazing contest will unfold.

Leigh Ramsdell

Pics by Justin Kosman

2010/2/9 16:20:24 - Little Black Bike edit. By Ryan Lloyd
2010/2/9 14:00:00 - Chase Hawk Moto-Whipper How-to video. By Joe Rich
2010/2/9 13:15:22 - Simpel Session Behind The Scenes pictures.
2010/2/9 10:07:02 - Always chill, January 2010 edit. by Itamar Bavli
2010/2/9 9:30:00 - The ASA High School Tour expands to bring Anti-Tobacco message to 100 Schools via an Action Sports Experience in 2010
2010/2/9 8:09:32 - Simpel Session Finals video. By Robin Fenlon
2010/2/9 6:00:00 - Seeley on Duffs BMX PROgram.
2010/2/9 4:20:00 - Miles Rogoish on Osiris Pro video
2010/2/9 1:30:00 - FAT FAVs with Robert Tibbs
2010/2/8 16:20:00 - Simpel Session Best trick video by Robin Fenlon
2010/2/8 13:50:00 - 2010 Red Bull Fight with Flight. By Sulferblitz
2010/2/8 12:29:38 - BMX B-day boys this week
2010/2/8 11:10:00 - The Local Face Team video
2010/2/8 7:20:00 - Love BMX digital mag
2010/2/8 4:20:00 - "Get Laced" video. By Jon Peacy
2010/2/8 1:30:00 - FAT FAVORITE list with Kareem J Williams
2010/2/7 19:20:00 - Simpel Session results. Woowoo!
2010/2/7 10:00:00 - Simpel Session Best Trick and BMX Finals live on FATBMX this afternoon!
2010/2/7 6:40:00 - New Day Smith signature frame
2010/2/7 4:20:00 - Simpel Session practice video by Robin Fenlon
2010/2/7 1:30:00 - FAT FAVORITE list with Sean Yarroll
2010/2/7 1:00:00 - wethepeople videorama 2010 - Balazs Ivanfi (HU)
2010/2/7 0:10:00 - On FuelTV: Chase DeHart, Robbie Morales and musical guest Switchfoot - Wednesday 2.10.10
2010/2/7 0:00:00 - TWELVE - a new project of the mountain biker and BMXer Michal Prokop.
2010/2/6 22:59:46 - Qualifying results Simpel Session 2010.