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Kevin Robinson had a contest (part of the Impact Contest Series) at Skater Island skatepark in Middletown, RI. I had never been there before, and it's a pretty nice park: there's a bowl (which was unused for the contest), a vert ramp, and a mini ramp area that curves around to a street setup (with various jumps, wedges and rails). Surprisingly, flatland classes were also going to be run in the part of the park with the fewest ramps in the way.
The flatland area was slick and kind of small. The size didn't really affect the new school riders like Gabe Kadmiri, who do a lot of slow, front wheel links in a small area. But it didn't help guys like Rich Upjohn and Brian Chapman, whose riding style prefers more open space. Most people had a hard time adapting to the floor and area — not a whole lot of consistency going on. But the hardest part was trying to ride while avoiding the practicing street riders who kept zooming in and out of the area, once again showing how little respect flatlanders get. (Thank to Kevin for getting things cleared out.)
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