Scarborough Beach bowl, right on the beach, perfect for a bmx bowl battle.
The Groundswell festival was an amazing event. Right on the beach with a amazing bowl just perfect to a bmx bowl battle to take place. Freestyle Now hosted the first BMX bowl competition in Perth and it was fitting that is was at the biggest bowl this side of the Simpson Desert. Everyone took home a plethora of prizes thanks to the Groundswell Festival, Colony BMX, Sneaky Wholefoods and Local BMX. There were two classes that the riders could enter, The RAD and The RADDEST. Very easy to work out who should be in which class. The format was a battle final. Qualifying was super important, qualify in first and the other riders have to battle their way to take you on. Two riders would go into a battle round, each rider would have two 60 second runs back to back. If you won your battle round you would take on the next place rider. The three judges would vote who would progress into the next battle round. It was an exciting final to watch, with each class taking alternating turns so rider got to have a rest. You had to be in top form or you got the cut. Keep the radness flowing and you would progress into the next round.
Luke Tooze floating it over the hip, one of the great lines that he was taking around the bowl.
Such a rad video of the competition, this one is really worthy of a play and then a replay and a replay.
The RAD class.
It was great to see Noah Campbell-Ward drop into the bowl for the first time during practice and then come up and enter the comp. 7th place. In the battle finals it was a battle between father and son. Corey Brown (5th place qualifier) was challenged by 6th place qualifier Levi Brown. The two riders went back to back for two 60 second runs each. With three judges voting who was the best of the battle. Two votes for Corey Brown and moving up into the next battle round. Levi Brown 6th place. Rowan Cosh (qualified 4th) was waiting for his challenger. Rowan rode well in the qualifiers but somehow lacked the same level of riding in the battle finals. Corey was flowing the bowl which could have been why he got two votes from the three judges and he moved into the next battle. Rowan Cosh 5th place. Roman Depiazzi (qualified in 3rd) is 11 years old and he was waiting for his challenger, over 40 year old Corey Brown. This was the third time Corey had to ride in the battle, but he was still looking good. Was he as good as Roman? It was a tight one to judge, with the judges taking a while to cast their votes. Corey had speed and power in his run but Roman did a rad 360 out of the top waterfall and also did manage to manual across the waterfall hip. That could have been the deciding factors that gave Roman the two votes needed. Corey Brown 4th place. Albie Livesley (2nd place qualifier) is 7 years old. He sat waiting for the results of the previous battle to see who is challenger was going to be, Roman Depiazzi. These two young riders are definitely rad and it could have gone either way. It was super close. The judges took some time to cast their votes weighing up all the rad factors of each of their two 60 second runs. But it was Roman who took the two votes, could have been his 360 up the waterfall that was the deciding factor. Albie Livesley 2nd place. Tyler Gayski had been waiting for his challenger after qualifying in 1st. Tyler has been riding bmx for a lot longer than Roman and is a lot more powerful in his riding. Roman put up a good challenge but it was a unanimous decision from the judges, three votes to Tyler Gayski. Great riding, good airs and lots of flow gave Tyler the win. Roman Depiazzi 2nd place, Tyler Gayski 1st place.
Clockwise from top left – Tyler Gayski took the win in the Rad class with some great flow and dexterity. – Roman Depiazzi sent it hard in the battle finals, this manual across the waterfall hip help to secure the 11 year old the second place. – Albie Livesley lets his riding do the talking, he lets it speak loudly. Racking up a respectful 3rd place. Great riding from the 7 year old radical rider. – fourth place went to over 40 year old Corey Brown. Age is a number and skill is a level. He rode really well in the Rad class and it was awesome to see the father and son battle in the finals.
Jacob Kestel with one of the most raddest moves of the comp. Old school bmxers call this trick a Hanna named after motocross legend Bob Hannah other will just call it a front tyre head butt. Whatever you want to call it is definitely rad.
The RADDEST class
This was going to be one rad competition with a good mix of riders of different styles. In qualifying it was Luke Tooze that was 34 points ahead of 2nd place qualifier Brad Evans who had 132 points, 3rd place was Ryan Aqulina 131 points and Jay Roadley qualifying in 4th place with 130 points. That is a super tight qualifying result. Heading into the battle finals Nick Morgan had to taking on 6th place qualifier Kieran Ramsay. With 3 judges all voting on Kieran to move onto the next round. Kieran sent flairs and good air and flow as well as a few handplants which sealed the deal for him. Nick rode good but just was airing not as high as Kieran. Nick Morgan 7th place. Going into the next battle Kieran was taking on Jacob Kestel. These two guys were only 1 point separated in qualifying. Both completely different styles. Jacob rode well in the qualifiers but in the battle finals spent a bit too much time trying to jump from the waterfall hip up and out over the coping to the top of the ramp. Had he pulled that he would have moved up into the next round. Jacob did some awesome tricks in his run though, his downside handplants looked rad just like his head butts on the front tyre jumps and drop ins. Judges gave two votes to Kieran. Jacob Kestel 6th place. Kieran Ramsey was moving into his third round and had to take on Jay Roadley. Jay had some tech skills that Kieran did not. Jay rode with more variation although Kieran did put up a good fight to progress into the next round but it was Jay that got the two votes from the three judges that sent him into the next battle round. Kieran Ramsay 5th place.
Clockwise from top left – Brad Evans or as he is now called Rad Evans did amazing job of bicycle stunting at the Groundswell Scarborough beach bmx bowl battle. Taking the 3rd place and getting rad all at the same time. – Western Australian bmx legend Aquaman a.k.a. Ryan Aqualina straight up ruled. It was amazing to watch him use his bunny nut out riggers on the coping. A 4th place to Aquaman. – Big Orse Kieran Ramsey wanted to look at the Scarborough beach bowl from every angle so he did a flair to see how it looked from that angle, when asked did it look any different his reply was definitely did. – Nick Morgan had a heap of fun and won a stack of prizes. He also got rad as well. Thanks for rolling Nick.
Jay Roadley is a technical rider with fantastic skills. He can also grab some great air and did so at the Groundswell Scarborough beach bmx bowl battle and scored himself a 2nd place in the Raddest class.
Moving into round 4 Jay Roadley was taking on Western Australian BMX legend Ryan Aqulina. Both these riders like to use their pegs and both these rider ride hard. Ryan let loose with some great rad lines and tricks but Jay just had that little bit more. The judges had a bit of time to deliberate as where their votes were going and it was Jay Roadley that would progress into round 5. Ryan Aqulina 5th place. Brad Evens had qualified in 2nd and really wanted to keep that place. Jay Roadley had moved up from 4th place qualifier and now was taking on 2nd place, he was knocking on Luke Tooze’s door whole Luke was just chillin. Brad Evan rides big transitions loves to do turndowns and one handed flatties and they were abundant in his run. Smooth flow great control and style. Jay Roadley sent it hard and threw in 540’s, flairs and 270 barspins smith stalls. Brad had it almost in the bag with one vote to each rider until the last vote from the third judge went to Jay. Brad Evans 3rd place. The final battle round was about to begin. Luke Tooze was feeling relaxed and energized while Jay Roadley had just had 3 battle rounds and was now moving into his 4th. Luke had a relaxed warm up and was ready. Jay sent it hard with bar spins, big 540 in the deep end, a 360 drop in to flat at the small section and a rad barspin fakie to half cab into the waterfall. His two runs were rad. Luke went fast, big griz airs, barspins to x ups gapping the waterfall hip, whips and flairs. At the end of his run the fire brigade had to attend to, Luke was on fire! The judges huddled together to have a chat about what they had just witnessed. They were taking a bit longer than anticipated, while Jay had the tech and tricks, Luke had the speed and flow. The judges announcement came and it was unanimous, Jay Roadley 2nd place and Luke Tooze the winner of the RADDEST class at the 2020 Groundswell festival Scarborough Beach Bowl BMX battle.
The final battle between Luke Tooze and Jay Roadley is definitely worth a watch.
Luke Tooze took the win with great flow and rad tricks like this griz air.
The Groundswell festival 2020 Scarborough Beach BMX Bowl battle was a rad competition. The format was super engaging for the public to witness, BMX was in the spotlight for many people attending the festival. Many different styles of riding were on display. If you did not attend the Groundswell festival 2020 Scarborough Beach BMX Bowl battle you will definitely need to attend next year.
Groundswell Scarborough beach bmx bowl battle – 3rd October 2020 – Official results
Contest supporters Groundswell Festival, Freestyle Now, Colony BMX , Local BMX , Sneaky Wholefoods
The RAD class – 1st Tyler Gayski, 2nd Roman Depiazzi, 3rd Albie Livesley, 4th Corey Brown, 5th Rowan Cosh, 6th Levi Brown, 7th Noah Campbell-Ward
The RADDEST class – 1st Luke Tooze, 2nd Jay Roadley, 3rd Brad Evans, 4th Ryan Aqulina, 5th Kieran Ramsey, 6th Jacob Kestel, 7th Nick Morgan
