(All photos by Matt Lingo).
Staying true to the name, Cult Classic 2 was an exceptional sophomore freestyle event comprised of good vibes, laughs, talented riders, and exciting events. The now bi-annual event, organized by Dan Arel (DNA Fixed / Leader Bikes), went off without a hitch last Saturday at San Diego's Embarcadero bay-front.
CC2 was well attended--approximately 175 people, including riders from San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Long Beach, came out to support, compete, and/or to simply have a good time.
The first event was footdown; my personal favorite. About 40 kids straddled and saddled up for one giant game of footdown. I ended up coming in 6th-ish; a personal disappointment after winning the SD Fixed.com Two-Year Anniversary Footdown last fall. Per usual, I employed my defensive tactics; but alas!--Congo screened me up against the border line and then I was derailed by Chris Foneseca shortly thereafter. As a defensive footdown player, I enjoy playing with offensive players. The most offensive player of all is my boy Robert Reyes. Robert throws down. He's the only person I know who has a special type of footdown named after him--the aptly named Robert Reyes Footdown. Here's Robert looking slightly bummed, shortly after hearing that Cult Classic Footdown would not allow feet/hands to come off the pedals/bars:
(Have you played Robert Reyes Footdown? Robert, who formerly worked at a security guard in Tijuana, brings feet down; Other peoples' feet, to be exact).
There was no denying that Long Beach riders were in the house and were in it to win it. It all started with footdown where Long Beachers Matt Spencer nd his buddy Corey came in first and second.
Footdown
1st Place: Matt Spencer
2nd Place: Corey
3rd Place: Andy Compton
Andy Compton (Fast Pace Zine) claims that the only reason he finished 3rd in footdown (judged by Morissey-lover Dan Arel) was because he was wearing a Morissey shirt at the time. Dan is so Morissey-core that he has 4 Moz tattoos to prove it.
The 2nd event of the evening was the Trackstand Comp.
About 30 riders entered Trackstand, but only one rider held it down to the fullest--SD's Isaac Gibbs, who won Cult Classic 1 last summer. I was pretty stoked to come in 5th-ish, which is a better placing than I expected.
Long Beach was right back in it, w/ Congo staying strong w/ a 2nd place finish and Corey in the top 3 once again.
Trackstand Comp
1st Place: Isaac
2nd Place: Congo
3rd Place: Corey
Up next were the races.
The SD ladies held it down in the women's race. San Diego's Yvette and Paulina came in first and second:
Women's Race
1st Place: Yvette
2nd Place: Paulina Goodman
3rd Place: Maya
Long Beach swept the men's race.
Men's Race
1st Place: Matt Spencer
2nd Place: Congo
3rd Place: Corey
Up next was the event I was most anticipating--1 Minute Freestyle.
North County's Gus Molina has been absolutely killin' it lately. I was really looking forward to his 1 minute session. Unfortunately, a few days before CC2, Gus hopped off a dock and slammed his face into his bike's stem:
(Face versus stem. Gus Molina's face collided w/ his stem days before CC2, rendering him injured. Poor guy. The good news is that, according to Andy Compton, Gus may have an especially brutal intro in the upcoming fixed film Revoked set to premiere in March).
(SD's best: Gus Molina and Joe Kelley, some of the best people and riders in the SD area. Joe Kelley, who came in 2nd at CC1, did not compete last Friday due to a crank problem that he could not fix in time).
As mentioned, some extremely talented riders made the trip to SD for Cult Classic 2. One of said riders was Congo, who has a section in Kareem Shehab's upcoming Death Pedal 2. Kareem had some great things to say about Congo's riding abilities and Matt Lingo had some documentation to support those claims:
If you're a detective or if you just like to read bike blogs, then you probably know that the above pic was not taken at Cult Classic. The reason I've included this pic is to demonstrate Congo's hopping caliber. When I first saw this photo of Congo I couldn't believe that anyone could hop that high straight off the ground. It looks like he's flying through the air...Or, perhaps that's one of the visual effects of a rat tail. On Friday, I not only got to meet Congo--a great guy, by the way--but I got to see this trick w/ my own eyes. Congo is a down-to-earth dude, who can leave earth when he wants (as represented above and below):
(Congo bar-spin hop off ledge).
Congo's 1 minute freestyle sesh was definitely one of the highlights of the night.
Using Nick's footage, Marcus (Chula Vista Fixed) put together a nice edit of the nite, which includes Congo's hop:
Cult Classic 2 from Marcs CVFG on Vimeo.
After Congo, Matt Spencer responded w/ a super clean 1 min sesh to narrowly surpass Congo in points. When Matt Spencer wasn't placing in every category (except trackstand), he was filming:
Cult Classic 2 from Matthew Spencer on Vimeo.
1 min Freestyle
1st Place: Matt Spencer
2nd Place: Congo
3rd Place: Michael Chacon
The nite concluded w/ Best Trick. Those who placed in Best Trick went big.
Unlike CC1, which was only about 6 months ago, CC2 featured a ramp which changed up the game a bit and, perhaps, represented a sign of a rapidly changing freestyle culture. Not gonna lie--the ramp was pretty damn entertaining.
San Diego rider, DJ, placed 2nd in Best Trick w/ a mid-air toboggan he landed.
(DJ goin' big on Cult Classic's first-ever ramp).
Despite the stem-bashed eye, Gus Molina found some last minute inspiration to compete in Best Trick, after hanging out on the sidelines throughout the nite. His trick put him in tie for 3rd place!
Michael Chacon took first in Best Trick:
Best Trick
1st Place: Michael Chacon
2nd Place: DJ
3rd Place: Mike Dinh / Gus Molina
Overall, Matthew Spencer took 1st, Congo took 2nd, and Michael Chacon took 3rd.
(Matt Spencer (above) was the overall winner of Cult Classic 2).
Congrats to all the riders! It was awesome to witness Long Beach talent in full effect. Fixed freestyle is definitely blowin' up in L.B.C. and that was abundantly clear last Friday. Most importantly, those L.B.C. riders who came down seemed like great and friendly people who realize that the most important part of fixed freestyle is to just have fun with it.
Big ups to Rocco (pictured above, right) for grabbing the mic and helping to coordinate the nite. Biggest ups to Dan Arel (pictured above, left) for organizing this exceptional Southern California fixed freestyle event.
See you again in September for Cult Classic 3!
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