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Nissan Qashqai Urban Challenge Finals - London
19th June 2008 - Jim
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I'm sure many people can remember Nissan starting off a whole new urban mountain bike adventure in Newcastle with the Nissan Qashqai Urban Challenge, and for 2008 they wanted to do it all over again but build on the success and make it bigger and better. Roll forward to the finals and I'm outside the Tate Modern in London on the banks of the Thames, a country bumpkin in the big smoke armed with a camera, flashes and a can of a certain fizzy caffeinated beverage.
A big line-up of hopefuls ready to take on the course
The course started off on a start platform with a drop into a wooden landing, over the first kicker into another wooden landing.. then another kicker and wheels touch down on dirt, pump the bike hard and into the final kicker onto another big ol' pile of dirt with a quarter pipe at the end. The course wasnt really the best use of the space, as the first few jumps werent really used.. they were just not big enough to pull the crowd pleasing tricks on so the action was spared for the last couple of dirt landings.. and it went off!
Roll forward a few hours and the arena would be packed out!
There was riding all day long to get the long list of entrants down to 12 finalists. Unfortunately Dan and Gee Atherton didnt make the cut, Dan with an injury from a photoshoot a week before and Gee just wasnt on it for the weekend. Fortunately Lance McDermott and Sam Pilgrim made the cut, along with the big freeride names, Lacondeguy, Basagoitia, Pokoj and Korthaus to name a few. In the end it was down to McDermott and Korthaus to fight it out for the overall series win, and Pilgrim looked set for the win in London!
Rubbish photo but insane twist from Pokoj
In the first runs the highlights would be McDermotts run with a score of 317 with a no hander, backflip, tailwhip and an oh so smooth flair he had been practising all day. Many of the other riders came through but it wasnt till Pilgrim that something special came out of the bag with a 360, no handed backflip, a superman seatgrab that Andreu would be proud of and finally if that wasnt enough a 540 on the quarter!
Lance mid-flair. At this point I thought he'd land on top of me..
In the second runs I thought we'd actually lost Lance McDermott to the hard wooden decking as he fell off the drop in and slammed hard but somehow managed to walk away. Paul Bas was up to his usual tricks with awesome tailwhips. Jamie Goldman put together some solid runs, always popular with the crowd but still didnt manage to really pull up a high score. But then again 17 year old Sam Pilgrim showed the local crowd why he deserved the top spot with a tailwhip, 360, one footed backflip and another 540 on the quarter. Consistently big tricks and smooth riding meant he had it in the bag with a huge score of 677.
McDermott flipping his way to victory
However there are always doubts about the judging.. after McDermott pulled together a run of no hander, backflip, front flip and a textbook flair on the final quarter but only managed just over 300 on the scoring. But that wasnt relevant at the end, as it was Lance who took the overall series title, and Sam Pilgrim the win in London. A perfect end to the tour and a great result for all the thousands of people who'd come down to watch. Standing on the quarter pipe and just taking a look around, the Millenium Bridge was packed with people all vying for a glimpse of the riders, the entire area outside the front of the Tate Modern rammed full of people. It might not be up to Crankworx, but this is certainly taking it to the people.
The crowds were huge!
The sheer investment put in place by Nissan to put on events like this with organising powerhouses like Rasolution really shows there is a future in the sport. On that day thousands of people saw mountain biking progression. Anyone who thought mountain biking was whippets running around woods in full lycra has really been shown the new developments in the sport. This event was never going to challenge the Fort William World Champs for the riding level and the atmosphere but its brought our sport to the mainstream. And that can only be a good thing.
Paul Bas checking the weather, wind had a massive effect on the first runs
Phil keeping it real for the groms
Ah y'know.. just kicking it in London..
The winner on the day, Sam Pilgrim
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