By Leigh Ramsdell
The contest season is underway with the first big event of the year – Simple Session. Held in beautiful Tallinn, Estonia, this year marked the 20th anniversary for Simple Session. It also marked the return of Sister Session after a brief hiatus, which is the Women’s Pro Class contest.
Mongoose had two riders competing this past week, Cam Peake in Men’s Park and Nikita Ducarroz in Women’s Park. During the first few days of practice sessions, both Cam and Nikita looked at home on the course figuring out the best lines and dialing in tricks. Practice is always hectic with everyone trying to get as much riding in before the main event, and there was a pretty big head on collision between one of the guys and Angie Marino. Luckily both were ok other than a few cuts and bruises. Sometimes practice is more dangerous than the actual contest.
Men’s qualifying was first, and with 36 riders being cut down to 12 the competition was fierce. Cam was in the first group of riders, which is always tough because you don’t get to see what anyone else is doing. He had a great mix of tech tricks and big moves like his hang-five on the deck and can-can tire grab over the hip. Cam had a solid first run, but a few bobbles in his second kept him out of the finals since qualifying averages both runs for the score.
The next day was finals time! Nikita has been working hard with pro rider Daniel Wedemeijer to help her find good lines and to push her a little harder. After her first run you can tell the hard work was paying off. Dropping in Nikita did a nice no-hander to x-up over the box, and she didn’t slow down from there pulling a super clean run filled with other moves like a barspin up the step-up, one-footed x-up, and ending with a 540! After her first run Nikita was in first place, and that’s where she stayed throughout the Woman’s Class. What a great way to start the year!
“Coming out to Simple Session after having watched it online for so many years was pretty amazing. Checking off a new country, experiencing the legendary contest, and just being out here to have fun," said Nikita. "There wasn’t really any pressure other than what I put on myself because I always want to at least do well and nail my run and see the results of all the work I’ve been putting in, especially recently with Wedemeijer coaching me. Somehow I nailed my first run, including the 540 which I usually save for run 2. I think it’s the first time I’ve done that."
Nikita added: "I was the 3rd rider to drop so waiting for all 13 to go twice, was nerve racking but somehow that score held up and here we are, with my first Simple Session resulting in a win. Insane. So happy and thankful for my team I had with me this week supporting me."
After the awards were given out, it was time to head back to the hotel to take bikes apart and pack. This was a great Simple Session to be at, so if you missed it live you can check out the highlight videos on ourbmx.com and rideukbmx.com to see all the impressive riding that happened. Until the next event, go ride and have fun!
