This was my first KOG and my first trip to Japan.  It was great to check out the riding scene and the culture.  The flatland scene in Japan is amazing.  To put it into perspective, there were just under 200 amateur riders competing in this event and they all had SICK tricks!   The venue for the contest was great; it was covered to prevent any rain issues, but the sides were open so all the people walking the busy streets of Asakusa could take a look.  Most importantly, it was smooth and flat. 

After an awesome Expert final on Saturday night, the Pro event took place first thing Sunday morning.  To get warmed up, any Pro that was interested could compete in the “one make jam.”  This was basically a best trick contest, but you only got 3 tries.  It was a blast and everyone was going for bombs.  A few guys were able to land their insane links in 3 tries and Martti Kuoppa was one of them.  Martti took the win for the best make jam with a link that I don’t have enough room to describe.

After the one make jam the main event began.  Each rider got one 2 min run.  The format worked really well for this event and the KOG guys did a great job of organizing the riders and keeping things moving.  The best thing about the contest was the vibe.  The crowd was great and the riders seemed stoked to be there riding and watching the other riders jam.  I know I was.

There were so many great riders that I wish I had room to talk about everyone, but here are a few words about the top finishers.  Since the contest was the day before Halloween, Martti decided to dress up as his favorite Star Wars character.  Although he looked a little different, the riding was unmistakable Martti.  He was turbining cross-footed hikers to opposite legged cross-footed hikers all in one motion, whipping all types of crazy things into crackpackers, and saving tricks the way only he can.  Kotaro Tanaka had the cleanest and most exciting run of the contest.  He has some of the best back wheel tricks in the business and finished them off with things like 360 decades (where the bike does a 360 under him, instead of doing a 360 around the bike) to smith.  Hiroya Morizaki was throwing down some of the hardest stuff out there and his half whopper combos and insane front wheel links are always fun to watch.  He recently went brakeless which makes his tricks that much harder (as if they weren’t hard enough already).  Michael Steingraber made the trip over from Germany and it is obvious that this guy has been doing some serious riding.  He was busting cross-footed backpackers whipped to hikers, all sorts of turbined megaspin links, and smooth endless links out of all of the above.

Once again, I had a great time at my first KOG.  A big thanks goes out to Yasu, Takashi, Yanmer, and the rest of the KOG crew.  It is amazing that I can show up half way around the world on a little BMX bike and meet other guy with a little BMX bikes and we all instantly understand what the other people are about without even sharing a common language!  If you get a chance to go to a KOG event, you have to go; it is an experience that you won’t soon forget.