FLATLAND QUALIFIERS - SATURDAY AUGUST 17, 2002

Once again ESPN won't be showing this stuff inside so I can't get this all to you live.  The information that is up now should have been up about 15 minutes after the completion of the event.

Let's start things off by saying that almost every single rider has been complaining about the surface.  Last year they had the flatland contest in one of the best locations ever.  This year they obviously thought that it made it to easy for the riders so they moved the flatland area about 500 feet over, put it on a hill, with a few potholes to just make things interesting.  At least the ground is asphalt...  then again, it's about 95 degrees out here right now (about 33 centegrade folks)

UPDATE:  All Scores Are Now Accurate & In Order For Results @ Bottom

As I sit here and try to type about 10,000 variations back to back live you will see a ton of typos and a few missed tricks.  York is starting things off with a solid first link on the fropnt wheel.  Second linnk is a hang 5 combo to a tomahawk sequence.  Steamrooler to hitchhiker - no-handed..  he comes out and dabs.  Inside circle K- to htomakak and out.  He doesn't seem to be fighting the hill at all.  Inside circle k to tomahak barflip.  He falls out and gets back on with a steamroller to tomahwak to coasting no-handed wheelchair glide.  Pulled clean for the first time (I think) at any comp this year.

Aroya Morisake it up next and he throws down the coasting dork wheelie ghetto flip to an upside down mega spin out.  A decade straight to the pedal  then a halfhiker barflip to cross footed half hiker kickflip to halfpacker.  He jumps it up to a wheelchair glide, dabs, then can't pull it off... calls it a trick.  Next he tries a half whopper to mccircle.. but misses.  He is back on the front whwel with a few timahawk variations along with some crazy inside throught the frame scuffing stuff.  One last trick, not as clean as he wanted it but no touch.

Art Thomason is up next.  He got in through the wild card and I'm sure he's psyched.  He starts witha steamroller and barflips it then over to a wheelchair glide.  A barflip to sideglide out and around the bike with a couple of barflpis and he finishes up with a full barflip out of squeakers on the pedal.  NExt trick a hitchhiker to a sideglide then out - shorter than he wanted, but clean.  A turbined fire hydrant to mccircle to spastic hitchhiker and out clean.  So far a perfect run. A hitchiker again to the cross footed side glide barflip to side glide to 360 barflip to squeaker on the pedal to half barflip to side glide and he ffinishes up with a hitchhiker slightly over the top and he can't quite pull it off as the buzzer sounds.

Ed Nussbaum is up next and he is also in on the wildcard.  He's wearing a nice green shirt and is ready to rip things up.  A hang five BARFLIP to  ahang 5 coasting 1 handed.  Barflipped out.  Steamroller coasted one-=handed to a turbined wheelchair glide twisted out to a wheel walking side glide.  He comes out clean but then touches on the link.  A firehyrdnat to... cross footed then he foots down.  Now he's doing a upsdie down wheelie to a upside down wheel walk and out clean.  That was new for him since last we say him ride.  Turbined firehydrant  and touched.  A hang 5 one handed in circles to a turbined steamroller twisted aroun and stepped over to - some crazy freakeing flips of the bar and around the bike to a sideglide wheel walk and out pulled clean.  That was the combo of the contest so far.

Nathan Penonzek is up and starts quick with a mccircle combo to the back wheel and into a megaspin cross footed and out.  He is up on the back wheel and switches throughe entrie bike with a full bike flip with scuffing.  He turbines his upside down stuff so much and coasts all over the place.  He coasts a deork wheelie ina circle and jupms it around to a gerator full bike barial to a upsiide down wheeliie to megaspin upside down to out.  He went around the bike about 5 times in that combo.  On the back wheel again he does a dork wheelie holding both pegs and takes his feet off the prear pegs.  Kind of liek a no-footed death truck.  He finishes up with a hitchhiekr link but touches as the buzzer sounds.  Very solid run.

We aren't seeing any scoring as things are going along so I will only be able to put up scores after it's all over.

Trevor is up next and starts with a side squake to e-squeak combo and a fully kickflipped one handed steamroller.  He flows through and around ont ehbars and finishes up with a nice barspin out.  He is up on the backwheel in an upsdie down pedalling megaspin which he tricks to pull through to a upside down pedalling blender.  BAut he diesn't get there.  Anotehr front wheel combo for him which is his normal fare and is very consistent.  I think he is trying to play it all safe, but even that is fighting him and he touches in the middle of the combo and can't pull it.  He pedals stairght into a death truck on the pedal and then coaster it one footed and then takes it to a blaner and over the front wheel to a pedalling stick bitch and he drops to the pegs to call it a run.  Pulled clean at the end.

Matt Wilhelm is up to defend bronze from last year and starrts with a dump truck combo...  Coasting on the back wheel holding the front wheel he jumps a half body varial twice... or three times and then pulls it out clean.  He's up into a blender and jumps it over to... no... he doesn't get it.  He falls otu of the blender before he can jump.  He does it again and this time makes the jump clean to the upside down megaspin and then up to the pedals for the pedalling upside down mega spin into a forward time jmachine at speed and out.  He then does a full barflip to coasting steamroller then into a mccircle to spactic hitchhiekr and an back into mccircles and tries to no-handed spastic coasting e-squeak out but can't hang on.  Just a couple of touches, but a fairly clean run for him.

Phil Dolan is up to defend his silver from last year and starts with a long coasting front hweel combo.  His brakes are back on and he is up on the pedal in a huge side strraddle hang-5 to a double barflip out.  Nice long combo around the entire flatland area.On the backwheel in thup on the pedal into the coasting... now peddalling rope-a-roni and coasting to out - perfect.  He does a side glide and starts walking around the front wheel... once..  now into a hitchhiekr to crossfooted backpakcer backwards and he twists back to hitchhiker again and he calls it a flawless run as the buzzer sounds.

Alex Jumelin is in from the Euro X-Games this year and starts with a bunch of side glide combos to a few quick pinky squeaks and out.  Now a side glide half hiker spun around then man... forget it he rides so fast.  He did about 10 differnt tricks by the time I typed half a sentence.  He's solidly working the front wheel and now takes the coasting hang-=5 no-handed one-footed in a circle and spins around the frame once out.  Next is the spastic cliffhagner and he doesn't quite pull it clean.  Now he takes the front wheel and does a hang-5 to a boomerang back into a hang-5.  He's all over the bike but isn't able to pull it all clean.

Stefan Cerra is up and he;s into a wheelchair glide walked around to steamroller and he keeps working around the bars  but can't hang on.  He touches and comes out of the trick.  Next he does his multiple turbined fire hydrant to a no-footed tomahawk and out clean.  He's up into a no-footed steamroller... on the pedal with a foot now.  He twists out and getins' into a side glide and coasts it backwards and around into a steamroller.  He pulls it around anends up in a cross footed sideglide with the bars backwards and then barflips out to the pedals.  I guess you would want to see it to understand.  Up onto the bcakwheel he does an inwards dustick bithc on the pedal and keeps it going intwards as he drops to the peg and then out clean.  One touch, one solid run, he's got to be psyched.

We now have a few minutes between runs as the second heat warms up and gets things ready to go.  Last years gold medallist Martti Kuoppa is back in the states for the first time this year and is coming off a win at the worlds.  We also have Viki Gomez out there after winning the La Rev contest in Toronto this year and I think he got the European X-Games gold as well.  Mike steingrabber is rolling around with no brakes and he was the guy who won both ESPN invitational events this year which has to make him one of the favorites for the day.

The first guy up in the second half of this event is rookie kickass rider, Terry Adams.  Doin' it for flatlandfule.com and fun...  He starts on the front wheel and works through some pinky squeak combos and jupms over the bars a few times spinning as he goes.  Solid and pulled.  He is into a steamroller a jumps the bars to a wheel chair glide then jumps back over to a steamroller to hitchhiker to VERY shaky... but pulled clean.  Now he really starts working around the bike.  Kicking and taking it in circles he looks really nervous...  But a fullbarflp and a thichhiker later he barflips out... dabs and keeps it going... pulling out with a nice barspin combo.  He's up in a blender an is down as he tries to strraighten it out ...  He tries again and is now pedalling the detahtruck and as he tries to pull it he falls pretty hard.  A very good debut from Terry.

Takashi Ito is the last rider from the Japanese contingent in the house.  He starts on the front wheel spinning a bunch of halfhiker to baflip to halfhiker combos pulled clean.  Up in a hang 5 rubined backward to forward to backwards to pink squeaks to barhop inside foot cross footed e-squeak thing...  what is that trick anyway?  H etries a second time and pulls it but then goes down again as he tries to link it up with some other tricks.  RForward rope a roni to backwards cross footed wheelie and he goes down when he tries to twist up to a cross footed rope.  Another forwardr rope and he just pulls it down and out - frustration on his face.  Hang 5 turbined to  half hiker from barflip.  His time runs out but he does a quick set of combos on the front wheel for fun and to try to alleviate the frustration.  The Japanese guys are fun to watch but won't do it with the number of touches they have.

Marcos Jesus is in fro m Brazil and has been the guy to watch this year...  Way fast long rolling combos incluidng turbined death trucks.. multiople turbines.  A halfpacker steapped ovewr to inside scuffing tomahalwk jumped and barflipped, to sketch...  It's been his problem all year.  Again on the back wheel he goes for the turbine death truck...  but he sketches before it gets going.  Again:  1, 2, 3 turbines but he can't pull it.  He wants it though and tries again - he doesn't have it today though and that's the end of his run.

Aaron Frost is a rider favorite for sure and his nice frosted blonde head is ready to go.  Halfhiker to bike walk around to a LONG coasted forward side glide on the pedal... 20 feet plus at least and out.  He's up into a time machine on the pedals but can't pull it...  He's up into a half hiker and starts working arond the bars from haflfhiker to wheelchair glid to steamroller and half hiker and around and around and around the world again.  He pulls it clean.  40 secons left and he is back at the 'top of the hill' here on the flatlnad course and throws out a copule more around the world variations clean.  One last time he takesit around on a steamroller and tries to take it up to the pedal but can't do it.  So he triesk again and finikshes it off clean this time. I don't think it will get him into the finals but it was definitely good to see him hit a pretty good run for a rider that tends to get really nervous.

Aaron Behnke is up now with his super slow super weird style.  On the front wheel to beflipped coasting fork wheelie. and out clean.    He really works the fork wheelie but on his second combo he sketches and touches.  He works th e backwheel with a twist toa cross footed  rope-a-roni twisted around to a walkover out.  Fork wheelie again and a cross footed pinky squak variation to out.  Now he is up on the back wheel and tries to cross things up a lot but he dabs once before pulling the bike up to an upside down wheelie and out.  He totally touches on the next trick and then finishes off with one last trick that he also sketches.  Wow, he's usually a lot cleaner than that but he may be fighting the ground.

MARTTI:  Here we go - a cross footed half hiker to bakick flip halfpacker kick flip halfpacker kickflip halfpacker to a hang ten to a coupld of pinky squakes to a cross footed halfhiker kicflip to halfpacker and then out really quick - super good super clean.  A cross footed hang ten holding the seat kickflipped to a wheelchair glide (read that agiain).  He sketches a little on the out but is way abouve the other guys right now.  Fork glide  to peg onteh ground to a front wheel under taker the opposite way he was doing before.  Hang ten holding the deat kciflip to halfpacker and then around to a hang-5 but he's a little off and sketches again.  This was not the normal Martti run, but it was the normal difficulty.  Way up there!

Viki Gomez has an open door to qualify if he does well.  Halfpacker to barfl,p to around the bars to many times to courn to cross footed backpacker turned around and he sketches.  He touches again on the next trick and then goes up on the front wheel to a steamroller cvombo  to bike upmp to halfpacker aand then drops to a steamroller which he steps up to the pedal and coasts.  Karl Kruiser to turbine to hang-5 and out clean.  Kar Cruiser again and full boomerang vover the bike and around again he is clean as the back wheel touches the ground and he does a quick over taker out...  a little sketchy on the ride out, but no touch.

Chad Degroot is back again.  He will probably be here forever with the skills he has and he starts things off with a full barflip to halfpacker in a circle to e-squeak to miami hopper full barflip out.  He sketches a coasting wheelchair glide  and then decsides to have some fun with the bike.  A no footed cyclone (yuck) and then a few whiplashes which he sketches.  He knows he's not in so he is all about fun now.  A barhop to wheelchair glide to an armchair (no footed wheelchair holding the seat) then a full jump as he throws the bike under him.  About eight touches this time out though probably won't allow him to advance.

Mike Steingrabber is up and starts on the back wheel with a upside down wheelie taken to a time machine on the other side of the bike.  No brakes and no pedaling in most of his tricks make them just totally under control.  He's up into a hang-5 combo and pulls it around to a side yard and then a halfpacker  now kicking the side yard and flips around to side squeaks and out.  Up on the back wheel he starts his dump truck stubble duck combos.  Working stubble ducks on both sides of the bike with both feet it all just flows together and he pulls it clean.. 20 seconds left.    He whips a whiplash to hang 10 holding the seat and then a hitchihker and works the front wheel around to finish it off perfectly clean.  No touches, that was first place no matter what Phil may wish.

Effraim Catlow is up next and starts with a hitchhiker combo that he dabs on once but the link lasts about 20 seconds, not to bad.  Next a rear wheel combo with a very similar switch up to a dump truck to Nate he throws it around then into a cross footed megaspin and throws the bars arond twice before riding out of the spin.  Up on the rear wheel in an inwareds dump truck he pulls it clean.  His first set may have bveen the only sketch if all goes well.  Nope, he coasts a dump truck holding the tire and bails, then tries again,,,  In tight circles then to the toher side and he touches again on the ride out.  Just enough for Effraim to grab the number 10 spot and the last qualifying location.