North Park BMX Jam

Jesse McCollum, Ivy Melvin, Justin Mann and friends organized one hell of a BMX contest at the Pleasant Valley Skatepark in North Kansas City last night. Hundreds of kids from around the midwest met up for an evening winning some loot thanks to Red Bull.

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Above: Ben Hartman , alley opp double peg grind transfer. View all the photos.

Jesse McCollum, Ivy Melvin, Justin Mann and friends organized one hell of a BMX contest at the Pleasant Valley Skatepark in North Kansas City last night. Hundreds of kids from around the midwest met up for an evening winning some loot thanks to Red Bull. The contest format was awesome. Old Man Kenny, Phil Wasson, and Fredonia Dave were given something like $4,000 in “funny money” to hand out to riders that pulled sick tricks. At the end of the night, eveyone exchanged the “funny money” for real money at the Red Bull booth. I’m not sure who took home the most loot, but a handful of riders took home enough for one-months rent.

Highlights from the evening included Tom Dugan going super high on everything in his path. Dennis McCoy did an abubaca on a 3.5-inch wide piece of wood. It was great see lots of old friends on familiar turf.

I also got a chance to meet some new friends, all doing equally amazing things on and off their bikes. Jeremy Schutte, a bmxer and art director for a major creative agency in Kansas City, blogs about BMX culture at bmxroots.com. He posted a great overview of the night’s antics. Trevor Hawkins was shooting video for Red Bull. Peep his site at butterfilms.com

The BMX scene in Kansas City has always been an melting pot of old and new. From the BMX Brigade in the early 80’s to all the teenage brakeless whippers, Kansas City is a place where the grasshopper and the crooked grind get along. If you don’t ride, than you won’t understand.

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Hey Thad,

Your pics from our event are awesome. One correction though, Jesse McCollum organized this event from top to bottom. Just want to make sure props go to the right people that worked hard!

thanks for the post!

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