Gravity Games


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On September 7-12 NBC television held the inaugural Gravity Games in Providence, Rhode Island, and it will go down as one of the best BMX contests ever. Modeled after the X Games, the event included three BMX competitions—dirt jumping, street riding, and a vert ramp competition. The top riders in the world came to compete, including Team 1-800-COLLECT’s Doyle, Walkowiak, Winkelmann, and Ramsdell. Here’s how they did:

Chris Doyle and Todd Walkowiak couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the course. The NBC crew trucked in enough dirt to rebuild Mount Rushmore and constructed an elaborate course with over dozens of lips, lines, and landings. There has never been a better dirt contest set-up!

Todd’s Experience
Todd was team 1-800-COLLECT’s biggest standout at the Gravity Games. The giant course was just what Todd needed to showcase his endless array of tricks. Each of his four qualifying runs were jammed with new moves. Sometimes the judges even stopped the competition in order to comprehend the runs that Todd put together. He pulled off four great runs and qualified 2nd overall.
Todd Walkowiak

The pressure was on during the finals and it almost proved to be too much. A tense first run resulted in a mistake, so Todd chilled out and kept his head together for the next three runs. "The jumps were so good that it felt like I was just riding back at home," explained Todd. He dropped to 4th place through runs two and three, but came back with a solid final run to capture 2nd place and the silver medal overall. Todd also won $10,000. "I’ll probably buy a motorcycle, pay ahead on my car, and pay some of my student loans," he said.

Chris’ Experience
Chris Doyle has his 360s wired and used his arsenal of rotating tricks to qualify for the finals. His runs were very clean and consisted of turndowns, supermans, bar-spins, and numerous 360° variations. He pulled the cleanest double-truckdrivers (a 360 with two bar-spins) of the event. "I do a double-truck everyday at the trails. That way I don’t lose it," says Chris.

Chris turned it up a notch for the finals and improved from 7th to 6th place overall. A slight mistake forced him to ride more conservatively than he’d hoped, but he still came through with his best 360° trickery. His strategy was much different than Todd’s in that he concentrated on tricks that he knew he could pull 100% of the time. "I couldn’t risk taking another fall." Todd risked it and went for the win. Chris won $2,500 for 6th place.

The Gravity Games street course was huge and this was good news for 1-800-COLLECT’s Colin Winkelmann. Colin has an assortment of skills and this was his playground.

Colin’s ("the crowd pleaser") Experience
Despite spending the past few weeks off his bike with a separated shoulder, Colin looked quite comfortable on the course during practice and qualifying. Despite feeling winded, he managed to put together two solid runs and qualified in the 9th position. His runs had plenty of flow, originality, and difficult moves.

The finals didn’t go as planned for Colin. He crashed on his first trick (a 720° spin over the jump box.) He hit his head, but got up and attempted a bar-spin back-flip. He crashed hard on this trick and knocked himself out. The huge crowd went quiet as the medical staff strapped Colin onto a backboard and wheeled him off the course. He claimed to be okay, but the medics insisted that he stay on the board. "I wanted to finish my run, but they wouldn’t let me," explained Colin. "For some reason they cut my helmet off me too."

Two riders later Colin pedaled back out onto the course. The crowd went absolutely crazy and so did the TV crews. Despite the cool comeback, Colin realized that no matter what he pulled off, he had no chance of placing better than 10th. He completed some easy tricks then took a break before going for a huge finale (a 180° back-flip called a flair.) Colin hadn’t landed one in several years and pulled this one perfectly. The crowd went nuts. Colin ended up in 10th with $600 for his efforts.

		NBC invited the twenty top vert ramp riders in the world to compete at the Gravity Games and Leigh Ramsdell’s name was on the list. Unfortunately Leigh broke his arm at the 1-800-COLLECT sponsored ESPN B3 contest in Oceanside, California. Leigh’s healing, but he sports two plates and six pins that keep his arm together. He spent most of the Gravity Games working in the NBC TV trailer showing the producers who was who. Leigh will be back on the ramps in late October.
			Even without the on-ramp antics of Mr. Ramsdell, the vert contest was a riot. England’s Jamie Bestwick taught the crowd and his competitors a lesson on how to ride and claimed the Gravity Games Gold Medal. Summing It Up The 1999 Gravity Games were an amazing competition.

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