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The first to get us underway is the Rhythm X Jam hosted by Monsieur Leon Dove at Crewe BMX track. As a brief summary Rhythm X is 4- man boarder x racing, but on public BMX tracks. Get the full low down on rhythm x here.

We arrived to at Crewe BMX track, to find Leon setting up his pull in gates at the top of the drop in and Ian cruising around, getting his legs warmed. In typical boarder fashion, the riders started turning up in their drips and drabs, arriving fashionable late. As this was just a one-day jam format, it was mainly local riders that turned up, with guest appearances from Team Trampa’s Jolly Tom and Sonnie D.

With the tunes rolling, all we were waiting for was Nath, who’d called to say he was stuck in traffic (that’s code for “I woke up late”).

As the races were being organised, Jamie D (of Cheshire Scrubbers fame) fresh from a trip to the US, was doing his best George Michael impression, rolling down the track in double denim complete with a straw cowboy hat. Using his unique bingo number generator technique, Leon set up the two qualifier races, with Skully being paired with Sonnie and Jolly Tom being paired with Leon for some tasty action.

With 12 riders, the top 8 went through to two 4-man semi-finals, but first the bottom four raced it out for the final positions, with Nash, Nath, Stu and Ian, taking 9^th, 10^th, 11^th, 12^th, respectively. The Semi’s were seeded with the top two qualifiers, being split up, then the next two and so on (you get the point). With top seed having gate choice.  

This paired heavy weights Leon and Skully with Ash and Joe Shields in the first race and the 2 Trampa riders Jolly Tom and Sonnie, with Jack D and Ste Laing in the second race. With Skully and Tom going through to the final in top place, closely followed by Sonnie and Leon in second place, the final was set. But first we had the little matter of the small final to settle, it was a close race between ATBoarders team captain Ash and his minion Jack, with Jack taking fifth place and Ash in sixth overallm closely followed by Ste in seventh and Joe in eighth.

Then onto the final, and what a final, consisting of the Two trampa boys Jolly and Sonnie, ATBoarders team rider Skully (fresh from his inspiring workout) and RX maestro Leon Dove. Jolly Tom in the first lane, Skully in the second, Sonnie in the third and Leon in the last lane. It looked like Skully got the pull on the gate, but all four riders were neck and neck going into the first corner. Jolly took the holeshot into the first berm, with Skully battling away and trying an overtaking manoeuvre. It looked like it had all worked to plan until Jolly squeezed his way past into the second berm, with Skully again trying to over take on the tighter inside line. Going wheel to wheel Skully tried to force Jolly wide in the berm, but once again Jolly shut the door, making Skully miss a pump which proved costly, allowing Tom to take the gold. While all this was happening Leon and Sonnie were stealthily waiting in the wings, battling it out, waiting for Jolly or Skully to make a mistake. It looked like this plan might have worked, but Skully held on just enough to take the silver. Meanwhile, Leon and Sonnie were battling it out for 3^rd and 4^th place, with Sonnie proving to be the bridesmaid this time and Leon taking home the bronze. That is the cruel reality of fourth place, you work your arse off to get to the final, and end up with no bling to show for it.

So, with Jolly, Skully and Leon taking gold, silver and bronze, respectively, they received their bling 90’s hip-hop inspired medallions.

Overall is was a nice chilled day, the weather was a beauty, the riders got some good racing and some excellent battles, showcasing this sport to the public.

Can’t wait for the UK champs now. More of this please!

Check out the video of the day and the full results below.

Results

1st	Tom Reese	Trampa Boards
2nd	Skully	ATBoarders
3rd	Leon Dove
4th	Sonnie Dibben	Trampa Boards
5th	Jack Dudley	ATBoarders
6th	Ash	ATBoarders
7th	Ste Laing
8th	Joe Shields
9th	Nash	ATBoarders
10th	Nath	ATBoarders
11th	Stu	ATBoarders
12th	Ian Cooper