../events/2001 King Of Concrete

Flatland Riders Organisation: The area itself at the King of Concrete was big and it got a little hetic with 20 plus riders trying to practice but when you had your run you had plenty of room to ride and Mutt was out there getting his bullwhip out and whiping people to get back against the fence so to give riders the most room possible-way to get people in line-yeeeehaaaaa. The surface was very smooth but again it was slippery too and some of the riders were sliding out on some of the faster spinning tricks and it reminded Mutt of the Toronto La Revolution Comp. surface but the area at the King of Conocrete in size was way bigger.
The riders as we can see in Europe pretty much rule over alot of the U.S. riders and Canadians and of course the Japanese riders are right there with the Euros riders and it is funny flatland started in the U.S. and now riders outside the U.S. are ruling flatland. Mutt was very impressed with the talent there in europe and riders like Alex Jumelin, Phil Dolan, Jorge "Vickie" Gomex, Jimmy Pettite and many more are setting the tone for flatland at the moment. Some of the younger english riders like Lee Musslewhite, Paul Tout, Sam Foakes, Mathew Sedon etc are making big steps in their riding and we will see them in the near future ripping it up in the pro class and Lee Musslewhite already in the pro class and doing quite well for himself even tho he didn't do too well at the KoC.
The number for flatland classes and they were three flatland classes were good but not as good as years gone by AS WE HAVE HEARD so hopefully next years comp will be even bigger in flatland comp and there were 15 in "c" class,10 in "B" class and 9 in "A" class and C is beginner/intermediate,B is expert and A is pro class.
One of the best things about this comp is that they treated you like kings all through the comp and this was in effect because saturday night, the sponsors put on a buffet dinner for all the riders, press guys(like me) and helpers and I never seen so much food out. I was very partial to the vegetarian casseroles and pasta and I really ate too much as it was all good food. This was one class act as I felt really at home and everyone was very respectful and well behaved during this dinner/buffet type gathering and it almost felt like we were a big bmx family which I think we were and it was really something special in my eyes. later on when we could get wild and get really pissed or drunk as the english say pissed or knackered and alot of us did but during the buffet it was all good.
OK the only thing I can say about the super chaos is that it was a drunk fest and they had three different rooms setup in a club and you can go from room to room and listen to different types of music and just pretty much go crazy. I think the funniest moments had to be Effraim dancing the nice away with different girls and just ripping off clothes and dancing and I dont think anyone really wants to see Effraim get that knackered as it is somewhat scary. There was so much crazy stuff going on and you had to be there. Mutt got really hot and bothered and decided to get out of there and walk along the beach since the club was right on the beach. English beaches by the way has no sand at all except in and around the water breaks and is rocky beaches which I think doesnt make it a real beach but then again this is the english and I'm use to the baywatch type scene of crystal white sand and babes in tight red bathing suits running down the sand...wake up Mutt.......he's California dreamin again. Well it ended a great day of flatland comp, dinner/buffet and then mad clubbing and drunk fest and I guess you couldnt ask for a better day-if only english beaches had white sand!!
Some of the harder tricks that some of them pros were doing at the KoC...
Phil Dolan-hitchhiker to hangfive on pedals
Lee Musslewhite-no footed crackpacker with him holding back pegs(two handed) and puts foot on pedal and then does no handed crackpacker.
James White-no handed hitchiker and does a quick handflip one handed quick back around-very quick jugglers one handed.
OVERALL THE KING OF CONCRETE WAS ONE OF THE BEST CONTESTS THAT I MUTT HAVE BEEN TO AND IT GOES DOWN WITH THE TORONTO LA REVOLUTION COMP AS ONE OF THE FUNNEST IN COMPS AND IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON GOING TO ANY COMP THEN TRY TO GO TO THE 2002 KING OF CONCRETE COMP AS I WILL BE ATTENDING THE 2002 KING OF CONCRETE AND THEN TRY TO GO OVER AFTER THAT EVERY OTHER YEAR AND YES IT IS THAT WORTH IT TO GO TO THIS COMP. GO TO THE KING OF CONCRETE AND YOU WONT BE DISSAPOINTED BUT WATCH OUT FOR THE CIDER THERE-IT WILL GET YOU KNACKERED QUICK.

Flatland Riders Organisation: HERE IS SOME OF THE BEHIND THE SCENE THINGS HAPPENING AT THIS YEARS KING OF CONCRETE CONTEST...
- Mutt and Alex Jumelin stayed at the most rundown and "k" hotel you would ever see and nothing really worked and the water didnt work half the time, the bathroom door stuck all the time because of a warped floor, and this is just half of it and oh no showers and just a bathtub which was stained and old. Ok you getting the picture and on top of this all it was mega hot and the room had no air conditioning so they had to open the only window to let fresh air in and of all things thses guys down the alley were hammering away at all times of the night which really annoyed both Mutt and Alex. The wallpaper in the room and everywhere in the hotel were pealing away, the hotel was beyond dirty and then the door didnt work so the manager had to literally break the door and most of the wall near the door to let Mutt and Alex in and they didn't even thrash the hotel like alot of freestylers do and the place was destroyed. Mutt and Alex could only laugh at all this going on and this was just the beginning of the madness called King of Concrete.
-The King of Concrete was held the same weekend of the Festival of the Sea and this meant fighter f-15 and some other jets roaring overheads doing manuevers and it wasnt it was really loud and annoying but it was quite interesting too at the same time. I think alot of people were checking out the planes more than what was going on at the comp at times and they had all kind of colors being let go in the jetstreams so it was quite a show being put on and this happen on the hour all day. The festival of the sea also meant very few hotel rooms and this was one of the reasons Mutt and Alex stayed at the coachroach hotel but atleast it was right across the street from the skatepark.
-Friday and Saturday because of the Festival of the Sea and the KoC contest meant drunk fest 2001 was on and never in Mutt's life did he see so many drunkards in one place and they were carrying around cases of beer and liquoir and staggering down the street with it. It was almost comical the amount of drunk people carrying their liquoir around the streets and all the crazyness going on.
-Effraim Catlow and a few others who lives in Southsea are very lucky indeed as they ride in some very nice basketball courts and Mutt really enjoyed the sea breeze blowing that day and it was almost a perfect spot except the brits have rocky beaches instead of sand and Mutt twisted his anke jumping onto the beach. Mutt was heard saying about the rocky beaches "that would never happen in Cali and baywatch would be such a drag if they had rocks on all the beaches and that means no melons watching." I dont think Nathan P. had a great session at the beach spot as he fell once and cut up his wrist pretty bad and the ground there if you fall is not very nice but overall I think everyone had a great session and it was very laid back.
-Dino Jefferies is from Northern Ireland and has been riding for like almost ten years and what makes it very unusual for him to ride flatland is he totally deaf and has a real struggle to communicate with people and very shy in getting in front of alot of people to ride and compete. But Dino is a very good rider and has been amateur champion of Ireland several times and if you saw him ride then you would even know he was deaf til you tried talking to him. Dino does alot of the harder scuffing front wheel and back wheel tricks and once he learns how to do the rolling front wheel and back wheel stuff he will be very very good rider. Mutt and Dino while Mutt was in Southsea have become real good friends and Dino is one of the nicest guys you can meet and very open and honest.
-Some wild man and we say that mildly....a wild man rode in his underwear during his flatland run and we been told every year he does that and does real old school tricks. Now riding in your underwear is bad and it is really really bad when the underwear is pink and on top of that he does old school tricks. Mutt was really getting annoyed and was shouting thru his run-get some clothes on ya ninny and heya wanker stop being like Chase because your never be him" well to put it mildly, I think Mutt really pissed some people off nad it was quite surprising he didnt get his ass royally kicked.