Top- Standard’s Tommy Crail lit up the course with fast runs and big flairs. A fourth place in the ultracompetitive Expert Class for him.
WORDS: tonyd / PHOTOS: Kyle Carlson
The fine folks at SK8 Cary welcomed us to their world class park, which is located just outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. Special thanks to the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance for lining everything up and getting the amazing city of Cary hyped on USA BMX Freestyle.
Riders from 17 states arrived to have fun on a course that is perfectly set up for a contest. Almost every top level Elite/Pro rider, many who are Olympic medalists, use the SK8 Cary course as a training tool to prepare for the world stage, and upon arrival, we understood why. Every possible obstacle is present, and placed in a way where anyone from three to 60 years old can ride them. In my many years traveling the world, this part of the country, and this park in general, both rank really high on my personal list. There’s no doubt the USABMX Freestyle Series will be returning to Cary in 2022. There were a couple of “firsts” at this contest that we’d love to breeze through, if you don’t mind:
l This was our first outdoor comp. We’ve been very spoiled in our partnerships with Woodward and Premises Park to be able to have our comps indoors - until now. As a dry-weathered SoCal native, you quickly realize that “the beautiful green landscape” in other states comes at a price. ...and that price is rain. On Friday, we nearly made it through the entire practice schedule before the skies opened up on us.
42
USABMX.COM H VOL. 11 / ISS. 8
It didn’t stop raining for the next 16 hours. After a few attempts at drying off the course, the rain officially stopped around 1p.m. and we utilized six squeegees, two brooms, three leaf blowers and two miniflame throwers (yes, you read that correctly) to prep the course for the comp. By 2p.m., the riders were doing their thing. Riders and families knew what we were up against, and not once did anyone complain. We love you guys. l Quite a few first-timers showed up. The list is too long to call out individually, so a massive THANK YOU to each and every one of you who chose Cary as their first competition. l T-shirt Merch Table. We had Kate on hand to help us with T-shirt sales. Anyone who missed out, they will again be available again at Round #5 at Woodward Camp. The contest itself was a great one. Completing the contest in the four and a half hour window of no rain was an accomplishment only outshone by the level of riding itself. It really seems as though the riding level across all the classes increases with each passing round. Let’s do a recap: l Lilly Voss and Saraya Chanadet represented the female competitors at Cary. Both of these ladies upped their game with new tricks from the last comp. It’s great to see the female riders progressing so quickly.
