Second Annual Rumble in Richmond Event Personifies BMX
By Leigh Ramsdell, Sports Marketing Manager
There are certain events that just leave you feeling good and full of stoke – the Rad Share Rumble in Richmond is one of those events! The Rumble came from the minds of BMX lifers Steve Crandall and Nate Hanger, so if you didn't leave with a smile on your face you probably didn't show up in the first place. Being the second year, they were able to work out a few kinks to dial in the jump a bit more and spread the word earlier meaning a lot more people showed up.
The Rumble in Richmond took place at Gillies Park, which is home to Richmond BMX racetrack and Gillies pump track and dirt jumps. The day started out with a boys and girls kids' jam on the pump track where they gave out a lot of prizes to those who rode. They even gave out some trips to Camp Woodward! After that everyone headed back to the BMX track where a single jump was made in between two straights. You had to roll around a berm to the top of it, drop into the runway and start cranking until you hit a little roller to pump and blast off the jump! It took some people a few tries to get over it but once the contest started we saw so many amazing tricks go down!
Some of the highlights included 15 year-old Major Gehrke redeeming himself from the gnarly front flip crash to pulling it smoothly this year! Also seeing Julian Molina getting towed into the jump again, but pulling it second try and with steeze brought tears to the eyes! Mongoose pro Mykel Larrin took second place with big, stylish tricks like a griz, a griz flip, cannonball, supermans, and more! First place went to Mason Ritter who had some mind-boggling combos like a barhop to no-footed can-can. It didn’t make sense!
Once the contest was over people started slowly leaving all with huge smiles. I really hope they continue to do this event. If you haven’t heard of the great things Rad Share does for the community (like giving free helmets to kids) then check out the Rad Share website to see what their all about!
While the Rumble in Richmond was what a lot of people came here for, we had some riders stay the night to participate in the Pro/Am Flat Pedal Race to the Richmond BMX track. It was a fun day of racing that also included your standard motos, but seeing the flat pedal race that had all kinds of different riders go down was for sure the highlight!
It's worth repeating, when they host this event next year make a weekend out of it and leave stoked on bikes!