Belco comp recap and the current state of BMX

Above: Russell Brindley didn't take part in the comp, but he did rip a mean table in the bowl jam afterwards. Photo: Karl Cottrell.

We were very lucky to have held our first of the 4 round BMX comp series on the 22nd of March - right before COVID-19 tightened up yet again just hours after the comp was held. 

Belco park was the home for the first stop and people arrived from all over to take part. It was a great turn out and everyone in attendance seemed appreciative of some normalcy, despite adhering to the social distancing guidelines that was being called out over the microphone. 

Belconnen skatepark is not the easiest skatepark to judge due to the separate street and bowl sections, so the decision was made to split the park into two runs in each section. This was done to see who was the most consistent overall rider, rather than segregating riders.

The 12 and under class was packed with riders!

It was one of the highlights to watch for sure. It's so rad to see new riders push themselves into uncharted territory, with new tricks and lines being tried by all riders. It's especially rad to have the young, next generation being cheered on by the older crew, it no doubt means a lot to be a 10 year old rider having their name applauded by the local hot shot. 

Young Riley Williams stepping down. Photo: Karl Cottrell.

Some highlights were locals Riley Williams & Sasha Kiselev blasting the spine out of the snake run, with out-of-towners Miller Ruks, Jaxon Philp and Jackson Presbury jumping the box jumps (at 11, 9 & 8 years old..) and popping high, smooth airs. Sarah Nicki was also blasting airs in the 8ft bowl, the only girl competing on the day and shredding hard.

Jaxon Philp takes the cake for the youngest rider over the channel on a BMX at Belco. Photo: Karl Cottrell.

The 17 and under class was a real mixed bag of talent. With a variance of predominately BMX street riders and flowy jumpers, it was cool to see what was on offer throughout the park. Canberra local Flynn Sierant took top spot in the end with hard moves mixed with a unique, casual style. 

Open class with wild! 

Plenty of backie flyouts and again an eclectic mix of riders, which kept both sections of the parks interesting. Plenty opting to rip the infamous Belconnen box jumps and lay low on the streets, while the more tech savvy riders kept it to the mini ramp portions and found their spots on the street section to get busy on.

Arthur Birbilopoulos, cranked turndown in the 8ft bowl. Photo: Karl Cottrell.

A couple of things that stood out were Reece Ashton's unique lines in both portions of the park, he definitely did things that no one else was even looking at. Sam White is a new Canberra BMX local that, while he's lived here, has done several tricks I've never seen in real life, all mostly first try. It wasn't his day on comp day, but he did manage to 360 tailwhip the tiny volcano up the top of the street section, which is only about 2 foot tall.

In the end, it was the long-haired, moustached, weaponized Weaponhead Danny Stevenson that took top honours. Danny put on a display on the box jumps and quarters, going higher than everyone else and doing it smooth as. He then bolted on some pegs and went hell-for-leather on the street section, doing all sorts of hard moves first try. It was rad, and a good reminder that riding everything is a real plus!

Danny Weaponhead Stevenson kicking out the jams! Photo: Karl Cottrell. 

Thanks to everyone who came to the comp, it was an awesome day and made us all for normal for a bit! 

Let's not forget that now is still a great time to ride BMX. While skateparks are officially closed by the government (as today 30th March 2020), you can still use your BMX bike to get the exercise that's needed. Both physical and mental.

All you need is you and your bike.

Practice manuals.

Practice wheel rides on the gutters.

Get your hop whips dialled. Or learn them.

Search for spots.

Build a jump, or a ramp.

Use the creativity you already have (you are a BMXer, after all. That's one of the 11 reasons why riding BMX makes you a better person) and put it to use. Make something out of nothing. Turn a bad situation into a better one. After all, you could be complaining about being stuck at home, with nothing better to do. 

At least you can still go for a ride (just do it by yourself). 

Please see below for final points standings from round one. These points will carry through to all other rounds, meaning it could be that the most consistent rider takes the title!

At this stage we're not sure whether round two will go ahead at Tuggeranong on the intended date, but we'll keep you all posted.

Thanks to Karl Cottrell for the photos!