I have to thank Eric Otto because my camera messed up and I got no photos so I got
some from his collection. I only took a selected few he has a lot more and you should
check them out. Http://www.monolithic.us thank you Eric
The Flat jam contest is a really good example of what happens when you are passionate about
something. Chris Poulos has been riding flat for as long as me and as of this contest he has
competed in 413 events. Many people may not know that he is in fact a former world champion. In
the early 90's Chris won the worlds contest over in Europe. He has always been a very consistent
rider and deserves the respect of all the new school riders because for his time he was a very
talented rider and of course still is. He has decided to give up competition, but wants to stay
involved so for a few years now Chris has been putting on his own events. Flat jam is a well
organized event with good sponsors and categories that fit every skill level. It is obvious that a rider
is behind this event. So I start by thanking Chris for his many years of riding and what he has given
to the sport of flatland and I look forward to his involvement in flatland that has yet to come.
Well I decided to take the scenic route to Rhode Island and drove up through Canada and up state
New York. Upon arriving I was pleased to find that the hotel was in fact right down the street. I had
heard that there was to be a practice session starting at 11pm on Friday night and would last till
1:30am. I showed up a little before 11 and found Terry, Justin, Matt W and Cory F already there. As
soon as I started to ride I found out that there was a ten dollar charge to ride. Justin and Matt
decided to save there money and called it a night. Terry however was on a mission and was busting
out one combo after another, slamming Redbull to keep his strength. Terry was doing pedal death
to jump down to double foot dumps and combo back in to pedal death again, along with Katrina to
what ever in the heck he wanted. Not to long into the session Jeff D showed up and took over a
corner in the rink and busted out his own flavor of madness. Jeff is just out of hand he is one of the
true artist in this sport doing his own thing in a way that no one else can. Cory F well this boy has
been shopping in the big trick department because he is unreal. I am beginning to think he doesn't
know you can roll forwards also. He is getting dialed and is pulling things like backwards boomerang
to backwards backpacker and then switching to x-footed hitch, need I say anymore. We all rode till
1:30am and then went back to the hotel to get some sleep before the long day ahead of us.
Contest day, Registration was 10am -12pm. The actual contest spot was different from the previous
night. The space was huge and although it was a little bumpy all in all it was good. I personally have
learned that there will never be a perfect spot. (unless your name is Matt) We all have different
styles and some of us like slippery floors and some of us do not. The one thing about this contest
was it was very much so on a schedule. Every class had a given about of time and there was no
going over. First up where the beginners there was Six riders and the first to ride was six year old
Ian hicks this little guy was on a 16inch bike and doing all kinds of stands on the pegs and frame it
was really cool to see a kid that young doing tricks. Luke Malone got 1St with Evin Williams in 2nd
and Alex Evora got 3rd.There everyone in this class has obviously caught the bug and deserves
credit but there is only so much I can write. Next up was the intermediate class with six guys
competing. These guys are definitely on their way to becoming experts in the near future.I
remember when a intermediate was doing hopping tricks and lawn mowers now they are doing
rolling tricks time have definitely changed. Eric Rivera got 1st, Alberto DelValle took 2nd and Alex
Caps rounded it out for 3rd.
Next up was the Seniors class and the sand bagger of the year award goes to Brian Chapman who
no matter how much he does or does not ride anymore is still a bad ass. Brian obviously won with
tricks that are not in any way old school. My personal favorite is his dump truck stubble duck to
upside down pedal wheelie. Coming in second was the one and only Rich Upjohn the only man alive
still rocking a spin tech. If you don't know what that is it is an old gyro stem combo. Don't let the old
parts fool you though Rich is a bad man. He can do death trucks better than almost anyone alive
and he rocked out the old school radatood with the best lawn mower I have seen in 15 years Martin
Apraho would be proud. Rounding out the top three was John Cote the oldest rider of the day and
obviously a guy who still after all these years still loves to ride. Chris P got fourth and said this will
be his last contest so con grad's to him for a impressive run and I am sure we will still see more from
Chris in years to come..
Experts
Now for the experts we had the dynamic duo from Canada, Simon Marson and J-Francois
Boulianne. For those of you who don't know, these guys are unreal. They are pro level already.
Expert class had 11 riders in it and everyone was busting. It is crazy to see how advanced everyone
is now a days. The other stand out is my fellow Scion owner and a bad man on two wheels, Jeff
Smee. He is doing peg nose wheelies to whip lash with no brakes he has alot of style and is always
progressing he got 3rd. 2nd place went to J-F Boulianne and this guy has a really smooth style with
alot of flow. He is all over the front wheel pumping tricks and is fun to watch. No diss to anyone else
but Simon Marson is the man. He got 1st and it was well deserved. He is so smooth and already has
a huge tricktionary. He does all kinds of back packer juggler stuff along with a ton of original
x-footed over the bar stuff. He is a force to be reckoned with and I am sure it will not be long till he
is placing in the pro class.
Pros
Pro's well there was a good turn out. 13 pros showed up and everyone was top notch. It was a bit of
a shocking contest because three of the most obvious top guys did not place. Terry, Justin and
Alex. Both Terry and Justin just had a hard time, In practice it seemed as though there would not
even be a question as to who would place but things happen. Terry did however come back and
win best trick with katrina and a combo nothing short of amazing. Alex just did not get into the
groove he had a long trip over and got to the contest hours before his run. It was a honor to have
him attend a contest here and I hope he returns. Justin is my favorite rider and who cares if he hit a
run the boy is simply unreal!!!!!!! We all have bad days. Raphael Chiquet made the trip over with
Alex and though he did hit alot of crazy stuff he dabbed alot and missed some ride outs. But the
boy can pump the hell out of anything. Him and Alex are definitely style cats. I rode pretty good but
was just so worn out I had no energy to put into my combos and just felt bland. Scott Ditchfield
made the drive all the way from Texas and pulled backwards decades out of pedal death
trucks.Dane as usual busted out his methodical style and I thought did very well. Stephen Cerra is a
dad and has been away from contest for awhile but obviously not off his bike he rode very solid.
Dave Petrin showed up with all kinds of x-footed tricks that he made look so easy. Dave has come a
long ways and is getting very dialed at what I consider impossible tricks. For the top 3 you have
Cory Fester in 3rd the boy is making a name for himself he was killing it hitting impossible tricks all
day he did all kinds of backwards backpackers and his own crazy boomerang tricks. I have a feeling
Cory is going to win a major contest some time soon. I have yet to see anyone do tricks like Corys
and have them dialed enough to do in a contest, It's just not right. Jeff D the legend continues the
boy is simply not right. Jeff got 2nd and well deserved his tricks are not supposed to be done
without brakes and someone should tell him that. There is no one as aggressive, talented and
creative as Jeff If he hits half the shit he tries he should place. The guy was M.I.A for the finals when
they called his name then out of no where he shows up removes his back pack and coat and goes
right into a crazy combo no warm up no rolling around, just right into his link, The boy has skills.
AND finally 1st place and well deserved was none other than Matt Wilhelm. He was spinning and
grinning all the way. Matt is by far the most consistent rider ever. My personal favorite trick is his
pumping spinning steam roller looking thing. All I can say is he deserved 1st.
