9/19/2004 - Well folks, Gravity for me was a bust this year - two rain and wind delays ( er...make that three ) and a final under less than optimum lighting conditions resulted in about 90% straight jumps ( IE: No Tricks ) The finals which are going off as I type this from the media center are actually pretty good ( from what I can see on the closed circut tv screens ) maybe I'm spoiled on strobe lights and temperature controlled arena's....but dagnabit, its friggin cold out there by the lake. Do these people look cold to you?
My fingers were numb after an hour out there in the late evening, cant imagine how hard it is for the riders, also...im just plain tired of backflip after backflip after backflip...Stenberg and Nate Adams are out there throwing down every variation of backflip imaginable with the exception of the double and the crowd is silent, maybe they are frozen as well but they sure aren't cheering for Bamburgs whips or Renners ultra extended strippers either....what the hell is wrong with people? This is the Gravity Games and these are the best in the world and there is NO ENERGY out there, not even the mighty Salema Masekela could pump this crowd up tonight. At any rate, here are a few images from today....sorry its not better folks but this whole trip was a wasted effort this year due to the weather not cooperating, better luck next year :)
9/18/2004 - Beau Bamburg was the first one to hit a ramp at gravity this year, two days late, however. Rain and high winds kept them off the course on Friday and Saturday the wind postponed the first practice till around 6:30 in the evening. It was a fairly uneventful first round of practice and fans who were packed in like sardines got bored of the dead sailors immediately and left, apparently they didn't understand that this was just practice and the riders hadn't yet had a chance to get used to the ramps that FINALLY adorn the GG's course, along with a few of their old school dirt hits, so far the riders seem to be enjoying the layout as evidenced by Bamburgs whip through metropolis. I wonder if any of the Browns fans were watching from the stadium in the background?
Jim McNeil paired up with Beau for that first practice and he threw down some nice extended tricks himself. Jim was nursing an injury from the Phoenix Vans Triple Crown but looks to be back on his game. Nate Adams is also on hand even though it was rumored he broke his navicular just a week or so before the VTC, he had surgery to fix it and was hitting the ramps like it never happened, backflipping a tricky section and letting everyone know he is ready to go.
Bucky Lasek, Bob Burnquist and Neil Hendrix were ripping up practice on saturday, the halfpipe is a fairly basic flat design with a big channel in the middle on one side and a few extensions on the corners, no big bowl corners or taco's, enjoy the pics
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