| Date: 1989 Place: Salem, Oregon. Organisation: Ron Wilkerson | |
| The obstacle course consisted of the following items; A six foot tall spine ramp with a six inch wide platform on top. A three-sided Stonehenge influenced hunk of wood that was very nice. The ailing Submarine ramp. and the oldest piece of contest equipment Ron
owns the long rectangular box with jump ramps at each end. Oh yes, and let's not forget the Skyway portable ramp-to-wall combo. Eight feet tall, eight feet wide, and a paint job that is somewhere between surrealistic and caustic. The Friday evening practice session lasted a long time as sweat flowed. Seat posts were bent, beef jerky was consumed, and most of the things sterotypically associated with street riding happened as well. The 30-rider snake session contained plenty of aggressive facial expressions, lip tricks, vert-inspired jumping, and enthusiastic shouting of the words "Look out !" Saturday morning. Finals day. I must admit the crowd attendence as well as rider count was rather weak for a 2 Hip contest but after watching Ruben Castillo swipe food from the snack bar, hearing Spike belt out a few bars of "Country Roads" over the PA, and seeing at least 3 guys with video cameras get run over, I knew it was going to be a decent contest. First off, I think it's important that you know Trevor Hernandez was there. So was his brother Brett. In fact the GT and Dyno Teams both showed up, and almost all of their bikes made it to the contest too. Dino DeLuca's bike was quite literally missing in action, so he borrowed one for the contest and made the cut on it. There were a couple of guys who were mentioned in the February issue Freestvle Front known as the Cigar Brothers. These two gentlemen were in Oregon and have been subsequently re-nicknamed the Dirt Brothers (or the Filth Brothers, take your pick). Both run mag wheels, duct tape on various sections of their bikes, and have interesting facial hair patterns. Brad Blanchard and Ronnie Farmer are what their moms call them. If you ever see them ride you're going to call them BAD. I promise. By the way it should definitely be noted that these guys rode up to Oregon in the back of a pickup truck with Vic Murphy. Hard core. And since we're on the subject of Vic Murphy do you need re-education as to how insane he is ? Airs off the triangular ramp as high you'd care to look at. For his bravery he was rewarded with a full on Bully Factory ride immediately following the finals. Mike Kranich and Danny Schow were also picked up by Bully. Danny who finished 5th in the Great class, pulled one af the most nuts moves of the weekend ramp to ramp 360 over the long box which most people only dared to manual down. Mike Kranich is no duck himself. Decade and tailwhip jumps over the tri-Henge thing, 360 tailtaps over the Sub, 360 nosepicks on the spine, and other hair-curling stunts netted him 3rd in Great in addition to that factory ride mentioned earlier in this paragraph. Dave Voelker, reigning street kingpin, was unchallenged with the exception of Craig Campbell. Not only did they finish close in the contest but in the end of the year standings. Two points seperated Voelker from Campbell in the year-end results. Here's why... Dave is the psycho who blasts airs off everything and isn't afraid the squeeze out a clicked variation or two. Campbell is suave and calculated, lazy as a dog, and often forgets to brush his teeth. But he has natural riding abilily and proves it at times like this street contest. Flair and flow during simple items such as peg picks on the Sub, to the mildy dangerous 360 nosepicks on the spine, to spinning 360's over the spine, all were fine. But fine only counts for second place when competing against Voelker. Craig Grasso, innovator at street thrashing suffered ankle problems going into the contest so he didn't expect to make the cut. He got 10th, making the cut but missing the George Clinton concert in his hometown of San Francisco. A close personal friend of Craig's who also happens to shoot photos for a magazine was talked into signing up and managed to qualify. In fact he managed to get sixth in the Good class because he was doing channel airs from the Sub ramp into the spine, 360 lookbacks over the Triangle thing, and 360 tailtaps on the spine. The standout in the Good class is the same kid who was taught how to ride from the likes of Dave Vanderspek and the mighty Drob .Mike Golden. Wild in the streets since day one, rampaging the contest course to first place. He would corne blazing at theTriangle ramp sitting down on his seat and pop a six foot air and lay it flat into a tabletop, his butt neyer leaving the seat. Serious motocross action. Also on the serious jumping .tip, this month's cover rider and licensed Connecticut driver Trent Chavez. Nothings, no-footed helicopters (duh), and wicked no-footed can-cans were in his aresenal, seating him 5th in Good. |
GREAT 1. Dave Voelker 2. Craig Campbell 3. Mike Kranich 4. Joe Johnson 5. Danny Schow 6. Dino DeLuca 7. Eddie Roman 8. Gary Pollack 9. Vic Murphy 10. Craig Grasso GOOD 1. Mike Golden 2. Jess Dyrenforth 3. Brad Blanchard 4. Oscar Gonzales 5. Trent Chavez 6. Spike Jonze 7. Ronnie Farmer 8. Ruben Castillo |