“It’s not every day that you get to ride with three of the UK’s biggest names in BMX, let alone at one of the UK’s hottest parks. Ben Hennon, Dan Lacey and Scott Ditchburn ride at the first Chain Reaction Cycles Expression Session at Belfast’s T13 facility, and the action was second to none.
With a prize pot featuring a signature frame from each of CRC’s team riders, helmets, grips and DVDs there was plenty on offer for attending riders to compete for too.
CRC Events Manager Simon Cordner reports from a tricktastic action-packed weekend:
“Friday night saw the CRC BMX Team arrive for what was their first trip to Belfast. Word had spread fast on the quality of the Rhythm Room at T13 with all of the guys commenting on all the good things they’d heard about the set-up and quality of the ramps. On arrival, Team riders Dan Lacey and Ben Hennon were amazed at the sheer size of T13, with Scott Ditchburn being stoked at the street section … and the sight of a nice new rail which the T13 staff were just installing especially for Saturday’s Session.
Within minutes the guys were straight into the action, checking out lines and sizing up transfers which many riders wouldn’t even dream of. Ben Hennon immediately spied a golden opportunity to gap between the foam pit and vert wall and after only 10 minutes cleared a path for what would become a jaw dropping leap of faith in front of a privileged few. Happy to have hit it, he was confident that he could tail-whip it as part of Saturday’s run.
Saturday came early and it was evident that the word had spread about the Team’s arrival. Arriving at T13 around 10am, the plaza had a great feel going on with a crowd already gathering. The team took some time to meet the local riders and pass on some of their skills in some group coaching in the morning.
Midday saw the start of the competition kick off, with Hennon, Lacey and Ditchburn taking to the park alongside 100 riders. With the warm-up over the judging began. Ben Hennon took the grandstand to oversee the Rhythm Room section over an hour long period. With competition high, it was a hard job to decide who was worthy of winning his signature Hoffman Lady Luck frame. With a few riders pulling 360’s over the boxes, it wasn’t all down to the biggest trick with the honours going to Joel Harper who pulled off a number of very stylish runs.
The action then moved to the street plaza where Dan Lacey and Scott Ditchburn would decide the honours for their frames. With some really technical riding going down, the 70 competing riders were split into two groups to ensure there was enough space to give everyone a clear run. The Subrosa Balum (Ditchburn signature) went to Mateusz Gwiazdowski (who has only been riding for seven months and is surely one to watch going forward) and Dan Lacey ‘Federal Lacey’ was awarded to Curtis Taylor – who managed to break his frame during this last competition run…nice timing!
Our thanks to everyone who came down to T13 over the weekend, to Liam, Joey and Gary at T13 for preparing the venue – we hope you all enjoyed yourselves!
You can see photos from the weekend on the Chain Reaction Cycles Facebook page, (Click Here) and stay tuned for more news on the CRC BMX Team and our video edit of the action which will be released soon!
Music:
Good Feeling Remix by DirteeFunk
Official Version:
Download “Good Feeling” on iTunes: bit.ly/q6JCYc” – Chain Reaction
