I can’t believe it’s taken over two weeks for me to post about the King of Flatland 25th Anniversary Jam. It was such an amazing and fun day…but first a quick history.
Twenty-five years ago the Cote family started the King of Flatland contest series in New Hampshire, and these contest were some of the most fun, important and memorable days of my childhood. Five or six times a year, riders from all over New England gathered at New Hampshire College for a KOF comp. These were times to see our friends (since many of us were too young to drive early on), see what tricks people have learned, and meet new people. These contests did so much to bring together and support the flatland scene in the northeast.
August 4, 2012: many of these old KOF riders gathered in Rye, NH. There was a great turnout of guys, most of us in our late-30s and early-40s. Some of us have continued to ride over the years (some more than others), some started riding a month previous to warm up fori the jam, and some just came to visit, and it was great seeing every single one of them.
Most were still from New England: Rich Upjohn (who unfortunately had to leave early), Jim Cavanaugh, Sean Maher, John Cote (of course), David Alden, Tommy Simpson, Scott Denoncourt, Gregg Macomber, Glen Gollrad, Mike Nogueira, Scott Moreau, Ken Moreau, Mark Bloom, Bevan Quinn (who took the “oldest rider” title from Dave Alden, who was all too happy to relinquish it), Steve Kiander…the list goes on. Some even traveled quite a distance for this: Denny Stamos and other Canadians, Dave Tufts from Mississippi, Jared Souney from Oregon, and Darren Pelio from California.
Back then there was a competitive camaraderie among most of the riders: though we were competing against each other, we still wanted everyone to ride well. This year it was pure camaraderie: it absolutely didn’t matter what place you got. Some youngsters (including a few sons of old KOFers) competed in the Beginner and Intermediate classes, many old-timers took part in the Veterans class, and a few hardcore entered Pro. Most of the Pros were younger guys busting the new style — Gabe Kadmiri, Sunny Singh, and Steve Jordan — but “old timers” Sean Maher and Jim Cavanaugh have adapted and grown over the many years to hold their own (and, in Jim’s case, win). I was also psyched/surprised come in first place in the Veterans class (tied with Scott Denoncourt).
Here are the full results:
Beginner Class:
1st Ian Hicks
2nd Alex Kiander
3rd Max Bowes
4th Ted Duszlak
Intermediate:
1st Shawn Markiewiecz
2nd Martin Carlton
3rd Chase Calton
4th Ryder Ireland
Expert:
1st Dave Alden
2nd Mannie Nogueira
3rd Rick MacDonald
4th Shane Reed
5th Andrew Parrish
Veteran:
1st Kieran Chapman/Scott Denoncourt
2nd Darren Pelio/Steve Kiander
3rd Ken Moreau/Scott Moroney
4th Dave Alden
5th John Cote
6th Dave Tufts/Gregg Macomber
7th Mike Miller
8th Tommy Simpson/Scott Duszlak/Shane Reed
9th Jim Bowes
10th Mike Nogueira/Airin Roso
11th Bevan Quinn
Pro:
1st Jim Cavanaugh
2nd Gabe Kadmiri
3rd Luke Malone
4th Steve Jordan
5th Sean Maher
6th Sunny Singh
I can’t fully express how great this day was for me; as corny as it sounds, my cheeks were literally sore by day’s end from smiling. You can say I’m just old and going through a midlife crisis of sorts (and you may be right) but this was a day of seeing friends from some of the best times of my life — some who I’ve been in tough with since I met them, some who I haven’t seen in 20-25 years. (The last time I saw Gregg Macomber he was about 14 years old; seeing him as an adult was a trip.) And I know I wasn’t alone — none of us wants to wait another 25 years for another jam/visit. I don’t like to think of these as an “old school jam” or “washed up riders reliving their youth”, but just old friends getting together for a good time. And for us, that just happens to means doing tricks on little bikes.
Thanks to the Cotes, sponsors, and everyone involved in making this day happen! (Not to mention all the riders for coming out.) The jam was pretty well documented; you can view my photos on Flickr here.
Also be sure to check out photos and writeups by:
- Jared Souney’s personal site, story on ESPN, and ESPN photo gallery
- Tony Long
- David Alden
- Chad Doyon
- Denny Stamos
- Fat BMX
- Flat Matters Online
Scott Moroney posted a bunch of videos from the jam, including almost everybody’s contest run. Watch them here on YouTube.
If you want to read about the original King of Flatland series from the late ’80s/early ’90s, check out my KOF 25th Anniversary ‘zine & DVD. You can also watch hundreds of KOF contest routines from 1987-1990 on Vimeo’s KOF channel.