Just wrapped up an amazing 4 day contest in Huntington Beach for the Nike 6 HB Bmx Pro. We had 4 guys competing with Ryan Nyquist, Dennis Enarson, Marcus Tooker and Allan Cooke. Here's the breakdown of the contest format over the 4 days
- The first day (Thursday) there are 10 riders and each get two 45-second runs. The top five scores get pushed to the semifinals on Saturday.
- The second day (Friday) will be the same as the first day—10 riders (different riders than the first day) each get two 45-second runs. The top five scores get pushed to the semifinals on Saturday.
- The third day (Saturday) they will take the top five guys from each of the first days and the top five guys from last year’s Nike 6.0 HB BMX Pro, and again each of the 15 riders will get two 45-second runs.
- On the final day (Sunday) the top ten riders from the semifinals will all compete for the big prize money—$85,000.
Thursday saw Nyquist put together two average runs, the best one being an 86, and finishing 6th for the day. It looked as though Ryan would not be moving on in the competition. Ryan headed to Disneyland with his wife and son thinking he had just had his third unlucky weekend in a row.
Friday saw Dennis, Marcus and Allan looking to fight their way into the top 5 to transfer on to Saturday's semi final. Dennis killed it with ease and was the #1 qualifier with a 91.25 while Marcus wasn't so lucky, finishing up 82 back in 7th place. If that wasn't bad enough, Marcus got salt rubbed in his wounds when his boss being the last rider on deck, qualified 5th for the day with an 83.25. Pretty impressive Allan, and Marcus you are now fired. . . . kidding.
Friday evening Ryan got the call that one of the riders was injured and had to back out of the semi finals on Saturday so he was given a second chance at first place. Ryan, did you eat your lucky charms?
Saturday all 3 guys met up in the semi final where Allan would be going home early after finishing 12th. Good runs though AC Fabz you still got it! Dennis ended up 6th and Ryan ended up 7th for the day and were both heading into the final on Sunday.
Sunday was a different story for Ryan. I've been to the last three events with him and I have to be honest when I say I've wondered where the Ryan that everyone knows is. Obviously Ryan is one of the best guys ever so I have high standards for him, but he seems like he has just been cruising through runs and hasn't really looked like he was in his zone. Last weekend didn't count as he injured his foot in practice, but none the less it had been a minute since I was blown away by one of his runs. When he came out for run #1 today, it was definitely the RyNy that everyone knows throwing down flawless tricks and linking his runs together like no other. After everyone was done with their first run, Ryan sat in 3rd place. Dennis had a decent first run but needed some cleaning up and sat in 7th going into run #2. When I say run #2 for Ryan was ridiculous, I mean my jaw was literally on the deck of the ramp afterward. I think it may have been if not THE best, one of the best runs he's ever put together before. The crowd went crazy and I think all of his fellow riders were equally pumped and when his score came he went straight to the top of the leader board with a 93.25. Dennis followed Ryan and he killed it as well, and I thought if anyone would have passed him it would have been Dennis. A 91.00 wasn't enough for Dennis to take over the lead but he moved into the 3rd place position with only 4 riders left to go. In the end, Ryan took the overall win and the $25,000 and reminding everyone that you can never count him out when the money is on the line. Dennis cashed in a $10,000 for his efforts. What happens when you're Ryan Nyquist and you win a contest at the beach while being team mates with Dennis Enarson? Clearly you get a couple hand fulls of sand right in the top of your helmet. What a victory celebration for Ryan! Good job boys.
Amazing contest put on by Nike 6. Next stop this coming weekend in Portland for Dew Tour stop #2.
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Big thanks to OG Photog Mr. Peter Demos for showing up and shooting a couple photos from his shaded look out tower.
