Dave Mirra falls from the top spot as Bruce Crisman does the nearly impossible and brings home gold.

Philadelphia, PA...  The weather proved to be absolutely perfect for the park finals.  The course was setup with two box jumps.  One average size, and another big one...  double backflip big.  There was a wooden bowl that had been created in the center of the course that had a spine-like transfer line into it.  Along three edges of the course there were smaller ramps to platforms that had been setup in a typically ESPNish style.

Practice began early in the day and the ten qualifiers were mostly taking it easy and having a good time.  Top spot qualifier Dave Mirra was flowing through the park area and doing some of his smaller tricks while other riders, like Allan Cooke were busting backflips over the big box jump at least ten feet above the ramp.  Other riders were focusing on the technical tricks that they wanted to get down in the contest.  Jay Miron was working on some G-Turn transfers around part of the bowl and Bruce Crisman kept insisting that he could do a manual all the way around the bowl... he never pulled it.

After a couple hours of practice, all video cameras were supposed to be turned off and only photographers were allowed to shoot.  The finals got underway and the ten qualifiers, from the prior day, got under way.

Markus Wilke, Allan Cooke, Jay Miron, Alistair Whitton, Ryan Nyquist, Rob Nolli, Tom Haugen, Colin Winkelmann, Bruce Crisman, and (of course) Dave Mirra were all in the top ten and shooting for gold.  The hands down favorite had to be the top spot qualifier Dave Mirra, but Bruce Crisman had qualified second.

For about half an hour there were things going down that had never been seen at the X-Games before.  Most notably was Dave trying a double backflip in both of his runs, and missing a double backflip in BOTH of his runs.  This really seemed to take the steam off of his runs and left him without the gold...  in fact he only was able to manage sixth place..  It didn't stop Dave from throwing in some very big tricks, but usually it all flows and works together to create a complete package.  With a fall in each run and his flow blown, Dave was didn't even make it up on the podium.

The top three spots were up for grabs at this event and third spot honors went out to none other than MacNeil Bikes owner Jay Miron.  The Canadian Beast has been out of the circuit for a while now but this year he showed he's back - with a vengeance.  Big airs and transfers were only part of what he was about today.  He worked every inch of the course going big and going off.  His big 360 no-footed can-can seat grab was possibly the most original trick that actual happened in the contest.

Second place went to seventh place qualifier Alistair Whitton who threw together two very consistent and clean runs.  The bottom line for Alistair seemed to be his ability to stay on his bike and make the most of his time on the course.  Alistair stayed away from a lot of the big ramps and worked the fringes of the park course with a ton of style.  Tailwhips over small hips that should not have been possible and a full speed wall ride that covered at least thirty or forty feet.  Unreal.

Top spot finisher Bruce Crisman didn't do a single trick over the big box.  He rode over it a couple of times to make a big transfer from the box into the bowl, but he never just hauled ass and did a big trick to make the crowd happy.  Regardless, he made himself happy when it was announced that he had top spot honors for the year.  Bruce simply flowed through the course hitting the smaller jumps and going higher than possible, then landing smooth and going straight into the next obstacle.  He worked about every inch of the park course and his one-handed fufanu on the hitching post by the bowl was beyond dialed.  Huge gaps to controlled manuals, and nice hip transfers that were smoother than possible.

Other things that were definitely worth mentioning included Ryan Nyquists backflip 360 which he did AFTER his contest run was completely over.  He ran out of time because he kept falling, but the crowd got behind him and he pulled it perfectly on the first try.Tom Haugen seems to be pretty good at tailwhips and showed it during his runs with a big tailwhip tailtap transfer out of the bowl.  Jay was going for 90 mile per hour nose wheelies across the huge wall and almost pulling them back into the ramp.  Finally, Ryan was hitting some big 360 tailtaps over the hitching post.  Definitely tech!

Tech seemed to be it.  No longer is it good enough just to do the big trick and stay on the bike to win.  The big tricks are still good, but the technical tricks are what will win the big contests.  No, it's not as fun to watch, so ESPN may not air as much of those riders as you would like, but the skill level is beyond belief.  This is the beginning of the next level of street/park riding where simply going big and fast won't cut it.  Bruce Crisman is paving the way.

~P~

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