Warwick, RI :: April 18, 2004
Story & photos by Brian Chapman
Since 2002 Chris Poulos has been putting in overtime promoting flatland in the northeast with his New England flatland contest series. The turnouts have been less than stellar at these events but the atmosphere is always inspiring. This year's Flat Jam competition had the best of both worlds though, a good turnout and a great vibe. A good turnout in the northeast is about 25 riders, 12 of whom ended up competing. With a pro purse of $1000 and a best trick purse of $500 there was definitely some incentive to get to this contest.
It's always good to see new riders getting into flatland. Since there wasn't a beginner or intermediate class, all the non-pro riders were grouped into an amateur class. As you can guess by the contest's title, there was a jam format during the competition. Each of the seven riders went out one at a time for a total of twenty minutes. It took away the stress of having to have one or two perfect runs and presented the riders in a more natural state. I was especially impressed by Joe Emerson's riding. He came down from Vermont to show everyone that a hard winter can't keep a good flatlander down. Matt Cormier and Dennis Yuroshek also made good appearances taking second and third respectively.
The Pro class consisted of 5 riders duking it out for 25 minutes. It was clear to everyone that the competition was mainly between Gabe Kadmiri and Stephan Cerra. Both had incredibly difficult links that that flowed seamlessly together. In the end, Stephan took the victory with tricks like his cross-foot pedal steamroller.
The best trick category had Matt St. Gelais, Gabe Kadmiri, and Stephan Cerra. Matt attempted a tweaked behind the back bike whip to half-packer. He came close but didn't end up hitting it. Stephan did a series of rad links including a pedal steamroller with his right foot going over the top tube to the other pedal! But Gabe walked away with the win today. Whatever he might have missed in his Pro run was nailed here. Long, complex front wheel strings came together for Gabe at the right time.
I was impressed by all the riders and hope they can make it to the next one. Special thanks goes out to the sponsors including Red Bull (put up the Pro and Best Trick purse), Flatland Fuel, UGP, and Vitamin Water.
Amateur
1st: Joe Emerson
2nd: Matt Cormier
3rd: Dennis Yuroshek
4th: Alex Caps
5th: Jared DiChiara
6th: Matt Hartley
7th: Matt Lane
Pro
1st: Stephan Cerra ($500)
2nd: Gabe Kadmiri ($300)
3rd: Brian Chapman ($200)
4th: Jesse Hicks
5th: Rich Upjohn
6th: Chris Poulos
Best Trick
Winner: Gabe Kadmiri ($500)
Updated May 2004
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