Dew Tour Ocean City 2014 Event Wrap Up: BMX
The 2014 Dew Tour Beach Championships went off in Ocean City this weekend. Returning to Maryland for the fourth consecutive year, Dew Tour came back with a better than ever lineup of world-class athletes and music acts. Celebrating the 10-year anniversary, Dew Tour history was made as athletes young and old came to prove themselves.
The crowds gathered on the sunny beaches of Maryland to see their favorite pros throw down. Dew Tour staples BMX Park and Vert returned to Ocean City for their fourth consecutive year, while the BMX Street Session made its second appearance in the sand.
The biggest buzz of the weekend may have been Jamie Bestwick’s BMX Vert win. The reigning champion made Dew Tour history when he won his tenth consecutive Dew Cup, proving him to be truly unstoppable. Andy Buckworth shocked fans when after an already mind-blowing run he made the first-ever double flair attempt in a BMX park event. Topping off the week of BMX madness, Cage the Elephant and GRiZ headlined two amazing back-to-back nights of music on the beach, making it a weekend to never forget!
Vince Bryon, table, BMX vert final
BMX Park returned to Ocean City for it’s fourth showing. This year the list of riders was stacked with talent. Covering over 74,000 combined miles, athletes from all over the world traveled to Ocean City to prove their dominance. The semifinal was all Aussie, Aussie, Aussie and Oi, Oi, Oi as Andy Buckworth, Kyle Baldock and Logan Martin took the top three qualifying spots with banger after banger.
Coming in to the final, the Aussie trio was on fire. Baldock laid down bangers like a flair whip, triple whip over the hip and a frontflip tailwhip up the step up. Martin, who’s relatively new to Dew Tour, masks his young age behind massive tricks including a flair whip and double backflip over the box. Before Buckworth was able to put together a solid run, it was defending champion Ryan Nyquist who wowed the judges with an insanely technical run and an incredible 270 over a giant gap, his fellow competitors had only aired.
But in the final run of the event, it all came together for top qualifier Andy Buckworth. Buckworth dethroned defending champion Nyquist and took the top spot with an incredible run that included not one but two amazing double backflips. If his no-handed double backflip, front flip and handplant flip weren’t enough, Buckworth went ahead and threw the first-ever double flair attempt at a BMX Park event after his run, as the icing on the cake for the crowd. Although, he wasn’t able to land the trick, Buckworth had already put down a solid run and taken his first-ever Dew Tour victory.
1. Andy Buckworth
2. Ryan Nyquist
3. Dennis Enarson
Click to see BMX Park article, photo gallery and highlight video.
The BMX Street Session was stacked with heavy hitters. The top names in BMX street came out to the sand to hit Dew Tour’s 9-stair set, handrails and hubbas. Making its second appearance on the beach, the BMX Street Session and Best Trick contest consisted of ten riders taking turns in a thirty-minute jam format.
The session was filled with intensity as the riders and friends pushed each other and delivered some of the most technical bangers out there. Pulling double duty, Dennis Enarson, who had just taken third in BMX Park, managed to go through the entire street session without touching his pegs once! He pulled a tire slide down the rail, switch tailwhip down the set, a tailwhip down over the rail and then a 180 tailwhip right after time.
The real impressive moment came from last year’s champion, Dan Lacey, who put down a 360 over the rail to ice pick – rightfully winning him the Best Trick title.
The true champions of the session were young guns Sean Ricany and Stevie Churchill. Ricany threw out solid tricks like barspin to smith to nosebonk barspin out. Ultimately, it was Churchill who took the win, the 19-year old laid down bangers like a suicide no-hander, truckdriver over the rail, 180 barspin over the rail and an insane suicide to ice pick on the rail.
1. Stevie Churchill
Best Trick – Dan Lacey
Click to see BMX Street Session article, photo gallery and highlight video.
As the Dew Tour Beach Championships came to a close, there was one event all of the fans were dying to see: BMX Vert. As Dew Tour celebrates its 10-year anniversary, so does BMX Vert. Reigning champion Jamie Bestwick was out to do the impossible, win ten consecutive Dew Cups in ten years. If it was possible for anyone, it was Bestwick, but it wouldn’t come without a fight.
Australian Vince Byron set the bar high with his first run. When the Aussie put down a solid run with a huge flair tailwhip right into a double tailwhip and rounded it out with 540 tailwhip straight into an opposite flair, it was obvious he had locked up the top spot. But the 90 flat wouldn’t be enough to hold off Jamie Bestwick.
Bestwick’s second run included his signature alley-oop 540, a downside whip, flair tailwhip and a dialed frontflip flair. It was just enough to bump the champion 0.75 ahead of Byron and do the impossible: win ten consecutive Dew Cups.
A humble Bestwick collected his Cup with son Sam by his side, making it a weekend to remember.
1. Jamie Bestwick
2. Vince Byron
3. Simon Tabron
Click to see BMX Vert article, photo gallery and highlight video.
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