Story by Kieran Chapman
Photos by Kieran Chapman & Brian Chapman

Another sunny day, another indoor contest. While it was pretty hot indoors, at least those of us fair-skinned riders didn't get a brutal sunburn. (And indoor contests are like weddings: it's much better to know it's going to happen even if the weather doesn't cooperate.)

Since I didn't ride at the last contest here, I (and some other riders) were having a hard time getting used to the floor. It's not slippery (which is great!) but the tiles result in some "invisible bumps". Once you learned where best to do different tricks, it really wasn't so bad.

Gabe Kadmiri	Josh LaRosa
Jesse Hicks	Brian Chapman
Andrew Wickman	Gabe Kadmiri
Jim, Jesse, Ian	Kieran Chapman

Only one rider entered the Novice and Open classes, so they rode against each other. York, Pennsylvania's Andrew Wickham edged out Connecticut's Josh LaRosa in the combined Open class — both in points and driving time to get to Rhode Island — with the highlight being Andrew's perfect brakeless megaspin to decade.

There were enough old folks ("old" meaning 32) this time around to have the Seniors class. Stephen Spisak busted out with Miami hop-hops for third place. Myke Yeager had 1-handed hang nothings and fast links ending with pinky sqeaks to pegades for second (I thought he should've won). I had a touch-free — but by no means "flawless" — first run and ended up winning.

Four riders entered the Pro class. Chris Poulos rode pretty well but ended up in fourth place. Jesse Hicks' second run wasn'y going very well, so towards the end he called in a replacement: he sent his son, Ian, out to finish things up with training-wheel infinity rolls and seatstand infinity rolls. That kid's got a future...

The big "showdown" was between Brian Chapman and Gabe Kadmiri. Gabe had come down from Vermont for the contest, but had decided not to enter after having trouble getting used to the floor. Luckily, Chris Poulos guilted him into entering. Gabe was doing crazy fast front-wheel strings going all over the place — spinning, hitchhiking, steamrolling, barflipping — all while flowing nicely. Yeager also "requested" Gabe go for a blender (the pedalling time machine, not the old-school blender) at the end of his run. But Brian rode quite well, too, hitting strings like a fast hang-5 jumped and flipped into cross-handed steamroller to spastic forkwheelie into spinning hitchhiker.

I knew it would be close, and it was: they ended up tying; each rider would be given a 2-minute tiebreaker run. Gabe had an impressive runoff. If I could explain his tricks, I would try; all I can say is try to catch some video of him. But Brian also had a great run, hitting some stuff he didn't in his original runs (upside-down megaspin on the pedals to walkover, rollback halfhiker turned to cross-footed halfpacker to steamroller).

Myke Yeager

Brian Chapman

Gabe Kadmiri

When the results were being announced, Brian was prepared to walk up to get his second place trophy and was surprised when Gabe's name was announced. ("That's not right," he commented.) A fight almost erupted between Gabe's mom and Brian's mom, who were watching in the stands, but cooler heads prevailed. (OK, that part's not true...) The runoff was definitely close, and the judges had B barely beat Gabe.

But, as always, it's not who comes in first that really matters about these contests — it's the cash payout. Wait! No, it's just about having a reason to get together and ride with people you don't see very often.

Results

Open Results

1. Andrew Wickham

York, PA

Senior Results

1. Kieran Chapman		Tewksbury, MA
2. Myke Yeager		Cranston, RI
3. Stephen Spisak		New Britain, CT

Pro Results

1. Brian Chapman		Providence, RI
2. Gabe Kadmiri		Newport, VT
3. Jesse Hicks		Pepperell, MA
4. Chris Poulos		South Kingstown, RI

Best Trick
Myke Yeager