Super BMX and Freestyle, july 1985: The third installment for the 1985 Freestyle Masters Series is slated for Venice Beach, California, on June 22-23
Freestylin' november 1985: Saturday consisted of amateurs battling it out all day long for spots in the flatland finals on Sunday. Heavy shredding occurred and a LOT of dudes got eliminated. Sunday featured the best of the best dueling it out on the ground, plus the ramps. Here are a FEW highlights of the day: Relative newcomers to the freestyle competition scene that shredded were many. In the younger classes, Greg Macomber of Whitinsville, Mass., was a standout. At eight years old he blew people's minds with incredible moves like Wiltons on the small ramp. Trevor Hernandez was ANOTHER young 'un who showed a lot of promise. Don't tell anyone, but he was ridin' a Mongoose freestyle prototype. Movin' up to the older classes we run into SE rider Craig Grasso, who completely blew his competition off the concrete in the fiercely competitive 16 Under Expert flatland class. Second went to member of the Sure Footed freestyle team Karl Rothe, who hardly put a foot down the whole weekend. San Diegoan Jason Parkes came in a close third with STRONG runs this guy jams. Karl Rothe's brother Chris, also on the Sure Footed team, won the 17 Over Novice ground event. The highlight of the whole weekend had to be a move that Josh White of Ashton, Oregon, unveiled. You're not gonna believe this: a 540 air FOUR FEET OUT OF THE RAMP! And yes, he pulled it off almost every time (and he must've done it 15 times). We were so shocked we didn't even think to get a picture. You've got to believe us. Another amazing aerial artist was Steve Broderson. He had his bike stolen on Saturday so he borrowed a Patterson and won on Sunday. Oh yeah, it was a 24 inch cruiser Others who ripped were Maurice "Drob" Meyer of the Skyway team he shocked HIMSELF by pullin' off a second in the VERY difficult 17 Over expert class. Robert Peterson finished just behind Maurice after some hectic ground controlling. Who won? Dennis McCoy of Kansas City, Missouri. This kid is a joy and a blessing to behold on his Haro some of the fastest footwork you'll ever see. He shreds ramps too. Two guys who I'd have to give medals of originality are John "Dizz" Hicks and Ceppie Maes of the CW team. They pulled off tricks that nobody else even came close to matching. Dizz was all over his bike and moving at all times. No poseur tricks for this dude.
13 & UNDER OPEN GROUND: Scotty Freeman Greg Macomber Trevor Hernandez Josh Rohal
RAMPS: Tony Peroquin Mike Golden Greg Macomber Billy Swoope
OVERALL: Greg Macomber
16 & UNDER NOVICE GROUND: Bernard Schenider Justin Bickle/John Whithead Scott Roberson Larry Nanayan
RAMPS: Scott Roberson Tim Rodgers Jeff Latimer Kevin Schaub
OVERALL: Scott Roberson
16 & UNDER EXPERT GROUND: Craig Grasso Karl Rothe Jason Parkes Randy Machuca
RAMPS: Steve Broderson Donovan Ritter Eddie Roman Marc McGlynn
OVERALL: Craig Grasso
17 & OVER NOVICE GROUND: Chris Rothe David Reddick David Crissinger Mike Perkins
RAMPS: Mario Agguire Gary Gonzales Vince Torres Donald Steele
OVERALL: Mario Agguire
17 & OVER EXPERT GROUND:Dennis McCoy Maurice Meyer Robert Peterson John "Dizz" Hicks
RAMPS:Todd Anderson Josh whiteJohn "Dizz" Hicks Dean Palacios
OVERALL: Dennis McCoy
THE PROS.
Freestylin' november 1985: First, a few quick details: Yes, it was the biggest pro class ever. And the biggest pro purse too 1,500 smackers. On the ground there were Dave Vanderspek, Ron Wilkerson, Dave Nourie, and Woody ltson, plus Eastern pros Dennis Langlais, Paul DeLaiarro, and Matt Bennett. Not to mention newly turned pro Oleg Konings. On the ramps it was Vanderspek, Dominguez, Gonzo Gonzales, Wilkerson, Langlais, DeLaiarro, and Bennett. Flyin' Brian Blyther was out with a severe sunburn. He'd fallen asleep on the beach jeez, Brian. The missing pros were all out on tour: R.L., Ron Wilton, Eddie Fiola, Martin Aparijo, etc. Mike Buff helped judge the pro event. The rules for the pro ground competition were as follows: Take as much time as you want (maximum ten minutes, minimum two), but use it well. Woody wanted ten minutes to show all his tricks. He got it. What did some of the pros think about the whole deal? "I always thought that contests were a showcase for your best tricks, you know, not so much the MOST tricks you can do, but the BEST possible tricks. Woody's got SO many best tricks I guess he needs a lot of time." DAVE NOURIE, Team Haro. "I think there should be a set time limit. The AFA didn't even have a set of rules when we had the meeting before the contest. I feel Woody did some stuff in his ten minute routine that could have been thrown out. He could have done all his best stuff in three minutes. We ALL did that, none of the rest of us went over four minutes. I also think the judging is a little biased. If you've already been in the magazine a little, your name adds a few points to your score." "I like the AFA and freestyle, but they should have it better organized. Back home in Massachusetts, our contests are dialed." PAUL DELAIARRO, Team Haro. "I think it's pretty stupid. I think there should be a time limit, but it doesn't really bother me. Woody can go out and do whatever hewants. I'll probably go out and do about three and a half minutes. That's PERFECT. He's just trying to psych us out, I think." "The judging still stinks, but almost all the pros are competing now, so hopefully they'll start thinking about how to do it right." RON WILKERSON, Team Ham.
"I thought the ruling was pretty good. I like the idea of giving us as much time as possible. I'm used to a three minute run, and when I found out about the ten minutes I had no time to come up with a longer routine. So I was out there for three. Woody was READY for ten minutes. They also said they wouldn't score us by the amount of time we took, but I think they did." DENNIS LANGLAIS, Mountain Dew/GT Team. "BOGUS! They have no organization. They call us the day before the contest and ask us how we want to do it. It shouldn't be how WE want to do it, it should be how the organization has it
planned. They should say, 'These are our rules and if you guys want to compete this is the way you've got to go about it,' instead of asking us to make their jobs easier for them. This ten minute, two minute stuff, I don't go for that. I think they should have head-to-head competition. The time limits should be determined by your song, with a maximum of five minutes." "My whole attitude towards the sport right now is not to necessarily come out and win but to make everybody smile and have a good time. I don't care whether I win or lose as long as the crowd goes, 'YEAH, that was RAD!' It doesn't matter if these five dorks on the truck think I'm good or not, it's the 5,000 out there that's happenin'. The photos talk." DAVE VANDERSPEK, Team Dyno.
"A few of the other pros were whining about the time saying, 'Oh, that's too much time ...' But I told them that they were looking at a definite advantage. Have you ever freestyled straight
through for ten minutes? Two or three minutes and you're huffin' and puffin'. I told them I was gonna do mine for ten minutes. That leaves more time for me to get tired, and more time for me to mess up. BUT, on the OTHER hand, I have a complete repertoire of tricks. No boring ones and no repeats. If I hit my routine, ain't nobody gonna beat me." WOODY ITSON, Team Hutch.
Nobody beat him. Woody blasted his ground competition with a ten minute run that saw some hectic new moves: a backwards gut lever, and a surfer that started out with Woody standing on the chain stays, moving up to a frame stand and then up to the seat and crossbar while rolling forward (TOO rad). Nourie had enough aggro moves to snag the second spot five points behind Woodrow, and Wilkerson tied with pro newcomer Konings for third, one point behind Nourie. Oleg rode the Venice contest as a novice last year. He's
not an up-and-corner, he's already there. Delaiarro showed true talent with smooth moves. For a 15-year-old, Paul shows a lot of promise. Wilkerson won in the air with an AMAZING set of aerial attacks. Second went to Mike Dominguez, who was logging MASSIVE air time, but a couple of hefty bails while trying to 540 over the canyon between the ramps put him out. Bails or not, Dominguez always delivers. Hugh Gonzales flew in for third after almost nailing a dog that had rambled out in front of the ramps. CONCLUSION? Check out the pictures for the rest of the story. One thing's for sure, it was an off-the-wall and insane couple of days. The advancement of freestyle in just over a year is beyond belief. The increase in talent and AMOUNT OF RIDERS is incredible. The AFA should be following the example, if not HELPING the sport grow. No more excuses, guys, it's time to get serious. The sport is.
PRO GROUND: Woody Itson Dave Nourie Oleg Konings,Ron Wilkerson Paul Delaiarro Dennis Langlais Mark Bennett
RAMPS: Ron Wilkerson Mike Dominguez Hugo Gonzales Dave Vanderspek Dennis Langlais Paul Delaiarro Matt Bennett
OVERALL: Ron Wilkerson
Mike Dominguez
Freestyle's heavy-metal maniac John "dizz" Hicks grabs mega-air at the Venice Beach Freestyle Masters on the cover of BMX Plus! october 1985.