Travis Pastrana is all smiles with the fans. But when it comes to the showdown in Denver between himself and Nate Adams, he's got his game face on. © Mark Epstein 2006
What's Up for FMX and Skate in Denver
Jul 07 2006 / Los Angeles, CALouisville was solid. There's no doubt about it. Skate, BMX, FMX, the whole thing went off. And Louisville was only the first stop. Now on to Denver.
On July 13-15, Denver, CO will be home to the second stop of the 2006 Dew Tour. All of the pieces were laid in Louisville, the champions, the unfortunate, the let downs, and the shocking surprises. Denver promises to be pretty damn intense.
Twitch is broken. There's some speculation as to whether he'll be riding in Denver, but no one will blame him if he skips out on it - broken bones in each leg constitute his injury as slightly more than a boo-boo. But whether or not Twitch makes a valiant return at Denver, the showdown that everyone will be watching for is Nate Adams vs. Travis Pastrana. Not to build up any sort of animosity, but you can be quite sure both of these gentlemen would like to win, and judging from Louisville, they're the biggest obstacles standing in each other's way.
When Ryan Sheckler got another taste of victory in Louisville, by taking the Skate Park contest by storm, it's safe to assume his thirst for another Overall Dew Tour Champion title increased ten fold. A lot of very desirable things look & feel possible when you're skating as well as he is. But the thing about Skate Park is that anything is possible, and all it takes to loose is not catching something soon enough, or landing slightly crooked. It's an exact science that leaves the top spot open to anyone who skates well enough & with enough concentration on overtaking whomever is out there kicking ass.
Same thing with Skate Vert. There aren't many sports more tedious than Skate Vert, there were so many unfinished runs in Louisville, you could fill a warehouse with them (where do all those unfinished runs go anyway?). It's this same tediousness that makes it so unbelievably fun to watch. It doesn't have the shock value of FMX, but the whole crowd in Louisville was sitting on the edge of it's collective seat when Bob Burnquist popped out of that crazy handplant variation he was pulling on the extension - he actually pushed himself up with his hand when he let go of the coping, he floated a little bit, and then stomped it. Shaun couldn't put everything together in Louisville, and if there's anything I know about Shaun it's that he's really not happy about that and plans to completely tear Denver into pieces. He wants it badly. Postec held his own too in Louisville and maybe between Shaun & Postec we're seeing the rise of some new blood in Skate Vert. But then again, the old horses still represented hard in Louisville and attempted to put everyone in their right place. But can they do this forever?
All of these questions, it's almost too much to handle. Denver promises to be amazing. If you thought Louisville was even mildly entertaining, then wait until July 13th, because from what I've heard "Denver is the new Louisville".
On July 13-15, Denver, CO will be home to the second stop of the 2006 Dew Tour. All of the pieces were laid in Louisville, the champions, the unfortunate, the let downs, and the shocking surprises. Denver promises to be pretty damn intense.
Twitch is broken. There's some speculation as to whether he'll be riding in Denver, but no one will blame him if he skips out on it - broken bones in each leg constitute his injury as slightly more than a boo-boo. But whether or not Twitch makes a valiant return at Denver, the showdown that everyone will be watching for is Nate Adams vs. Travis Pastrana. Not to build up any sort of animosity, but you can be quite sure both of these gentlemen would like to win, and judging from Louisville, they're the biggest obstacles standing in each other's way.
When Ryan Sheckler got another taste of victory in Louisville, by taking the Skate Park contest by storm, it's safe to assume his thirst for another Overall Dew Tour Champion title increased ten fold. A lot of very desirable things look & feel possible when you're skating as well as he is. But the thing about Skate Park is that anything is possible, and all it takes to loose is not catching something soon enough, or landing slightly crooked. It's an exact science that leaves the top spot open to anyone who skates well enough & with enough concentration on overtaking whomever is out there kicking ass.
Same thing with Skate Vert. There aren't many sports more tedious than Skate Vert, there were so many unfinished runs in Louisville, you could fill a warehouse with them (where do all those unfinished runs go anyway?). It's this same tediousness that makes it so unbelievably fun to watch. It doesn't have the shock value of FMX, but the whole crowd in Louisville was sitting on the edge of it's collective seat when Bob Burnquist popped out of that crazy handplant variation he was pulling on the extension - he actually pushed himself up with his hand when he let go of the coping, he floated a little bit, and then stomped it. Shaun couldn't put everything together in Louisville, and if there's anything I know about Shaun it's that he's really not happy about that and plans to completely tear Denver into pieces. He wants it badly. Postec held his own too in Louisville and maybe between Shaun & Postec we're seeing the rise of some new blood in Skate Vert. But then again, the old horses still represented hard in Louisville and attempted to put everyone in their right place. But can they do this forever?
All of these questions, it's almost too much to handle. Denver promises to be amazing. If you thought Louisville was even mildly entertaining, then wait until July 13th, because from what I've heard "Denver is the new Louisville".
- Cody Allen
