Reaching THE CORE audience

Mike Sciacca

Flying through the air with what seemed like the greatest of ease

over dirt hills and off the inverted lip of a half-pipe, top athletes

displayed daring airs and plenty of drama at the 2004 T-Mobile Core

Tour Sports and Music Festival last weekend.

Ryan Nyquist, the reigning King of Dirt Pro champion, was standing

atop the ramp, looking out over a two-hill dirt jump course that had

been constructed out of 80 tons of dirt at the north side of the

Huntington Beach Pier, framed by a backdrop of palm trees and the

Pacific Ocean.

Nyquist, who came to Surf City from his hometown of Greenville,

N.C. for the competition, successfully flew through his qualifying

round heat to advance to the King of the Dirt final Sunday, then went

on to a second-place finish.

He was just two points shy of tying eventual winner, Ryan Guettler

of Australia.

“I’ve competed in Huntington before and I love it here,” said

Nyquist, a veteran of the X-Games. “I mean, look at these

surroundings. It’s just awesome. This is one of my favorite spots to

compete.

“This was a very competitive field full of really cool and

talented athletes. It’s a good group and I’m glad to be a part of

it.”

Huntington Beach was the last of three stops on the Core Tour,

which first touched down in Venice before moving on to New York City.

The free, three-day interactive event that began last Friday,

featured live performances by more than 18 bands and offered more

than $200,000 in cash and prize awards.

The core sports competitions, which wowed crowds with

gravity-defying maneuvers, 360s, flips, turns and some gnarly crash

landings, were staged in a 90,000-square foot area of ramps and jumps

set up along the beach.

Amateurs, who competed Saturday, and pros, who took center stage

Sunday, battled it out in the core sports of BMX dirt jump, inline

skateboard, mountainboard and Go-Ped.

Core Tour officials estimated that the event drew nearly 20,000

participants.

“The city of Huntington Beach has been one of our best partners

from the very beginning,” said Brian Gass, one of the original

partners in the Core Tour. “We plan on expanding our tour to five or

six stops next year, but Huntington Beach will always be one of our

primary stops. This city is very progressive.”

The highlight from Saturday’s competition was Michael Clark of

Fountain Valley taking first-place in the King of Dirt amateur event.

It was only the second competition Clark, 16, had entered, Gass said,

and by winning the event, he was invited to compete in Sunday’s King

of Dirt pro event.

Also hoping to stick a landing in the King of Dirt pro final was

Todd Lyons of Huntington Beach.

The 32-year-old looked like a road warrior midway through the pro

qualifying rounds. Covered with dirt from head to toe, Lyons, in his

12th year competing at the professional level, was among the first

group of athletes contending in Sunday’s qualifier.

During a jump in his second set -- “riding for fun,” he said --

Lyons came down hard after the second hill and crash-landed. He was

literally knocked out of the competition.

“I can’t remember a thing from that ride,” he said as he nursed

the swollen left side of his face, near his eye, with an ice pack. “I

came out here to have fun. I knew I wasn’t going to set the world on

fire, but now I’m done for the day. I’ll just sit here and watch the

rest of these guys battle it out.”