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Sunday
Woke up and went for breakfast at Henry's. I think
this was around the time that Grant discovered that pressing B2
on the jukebox plays The Maccarena. After finding this musical jewel,
it's all that got played for the rest of the trip. Constantly. Actually,
I tell a lie - 'I'm the Scatman', by Scatman John would also
make an appearance every now and again.
Got to the Metro Jam and found out that Mike hadn't
made the finals, but that he had managed 21st place. Considering
that there were 85 pros in this comp, this was a pretty big deal
- he beat the whole Kink team (except for Jim C) for Cliff's sake!
He was only five places off qualifying for the finals! Mike's a
machine! Here's what Grant had to say about his protégé:
Mike did Pretty Heavy proud by shredding the
course like the rough northern monkey that he is. The 360 handplant
over the spine was just the trick cherry on the top of a week of
far much more mayhem than you could imagine. In my opinion his best
trick had to be where he floored one of a gang of crazed crackheads
who were chasing us down the street in downtown Toronto - that was
pretty heavy!
Back to the finals.
As expected, the finals were nuts. Jay Miron later
said: 'Thank you all for making it to the Corey Martinez Show'
and I think that that just about sums it up. Martinez was doing
things that were just plain wrong - 180 gap from the Jersey barrier
to manual down the grind box, 450 barspin/wallride thing from the
pagoda to the flat bank, barspins and old school
no-handers over the jump box to ICE-PICK down the rail - clean as
a whistle. I'm not ashamed to say that on several occasions I screamed
like a little girl. Martinez finished 2nd.
Gary (Dirt Bros!) Young rode amazingly, came first
and, as ever, proved that riding fast is the best style. Huge tricks
everywhere, tons of speed, innovative lines and he even mowed down
a photographer. Gary was also sporting a beauty of a scab on his
face (which was, no doubt, obtained by riding fast). I love the
Dirt Bros.
Everyone else rode superbly, but I can't remember
all the tricks, so you have to just wait for the videos to see what
else went down.
In the Best Trick comp Mike was trying to 50/50 up the rail, to
barspin off, to manual, to tailwhip. He actually pulled it in
practice, but couldn't quite get it, so the $1,000 was not to be
his. Ah, well.
After the street finals, me and Grant went and chilled
at the flatland section, which had been a bit of a haven all week.
Their music's way better than the street section and the riding
was superb. Grant was also psyched that
Chase Guin is now riding a BSD
chainring. He was trying to talk to the Japanese
guys, but communication proved difficult. We both left blethering
on about how we should ride more flatland.
When the comp finished, I met back up with Yeti and Grant, who had
been piling into a huge bottle of champagne and more than a few
beers. I think that it was about this time that I cracked inwardly.
On the way home Mike suddenly pulled over to eye
up a rail. Grant pointed out that he had his bike in the car, so
he got it out (ahem) and went off to conquer the beast. Let me picture
the scene - it's dark, wet, there's snow and ice on the ground.
The rail is flat, but slow as hell and has sod all run-up. It's
also very long and is kinked in the middle. The last foot has no
supports, so it flexes like hell. It took a few attempts, but in
the end he pulled it perfectly. It was great, and when he hopped
off the end, the bit that wasn't supported went 'DOOIIIIINNNGG!'
like a ruler that you hold on a desk and flick. When he got back
in the car, I said:
'Do you know what the best thing about that was? It was in the
snow! That's ****ing hardcore that is!'
But I was proved wrong by Grant who piped up with:
'Nope - the best thing about that rail was that whilst he was
doing it I had a sh** down the side of the steps! I couldn't hold
it in any more! Didn't you see me go into the building to get some
toilet paper?''
I ended up staying in that night. Grant was in two
minds as to whether to go out or not:
'Hmmm…Yes? No? Yes? No? YES! YES! Oh Yeti, I shouldn't go
on holiday with you, you're a bad influence on me! Hahahahah!'
Him and Yeti went out until the early hours and I woke up to
find Yeti in the bed next to me, snoring loudly, with his hands
down his trousers.
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
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