Californian Riders Rule Ride to the Lake event in Meersburg, Germany

---

---

The “Ride to the Lake” event is here to stay! That’s the unanimous opinion of all visitors and participants who attended Germany’s first Freeride/Slope Style Event. The historic town of Meersburg hosted an event that from this day forth should be a must for the big names in freeride. The setting is extraordinary. Imagine a romantic little German village you would normally only see on the travel channel, complete with a castle, high stone walls, wooden-beamed houses, and – the best freeriders of the World ripping it up.

Gareth Dyer with three points off.

---

The course itself was a masterpiece, designed by Canadian Cory Moore and with over 200 hours of his time. It had it all - old-school, new school, wall rides, step-ups, step-downs, gaps, drops, even a Flying Fox (whatever that is Ed.) Wade Simmons had this to say about the course: “Just wicked, plenty of lines to choose from, the unique setting, great flow, and an incredible crowd.”

And an incredible crowd it was indeed, even the fact, that it rained throughout the whole weekend couldn’t stop thousands of spectators from
all age groups to watch the spectacle. It was the youngest participant, the 17 year old Californian Kyle Strait, who did the best job of beating the course into submission. “It was incredible, I’ve never seen anything like it, and the people are just great. Even with the bad weather. I guess, I’ve given more autographs this weekend than throughout the whole year” Kyle commented.

---

---

Right from the start the international field had to prove their mettle. The course started with a big drop-in, leading the riders into a step-up, step-down section with plenty of lines to choose from. There was no time to rest, because the Dirt-Jump-like Gap Zone was right ahead, and here the guys just ripped it up. John Cowan got the crowd going wild with backflips over all three gaps, but the Sick-O award of the event did go to Frenchman Titon Piccard, who managed a sweet 360 over the biggest gap. Next, the judges were awaiting the riders at the Drop-Zone, where you could choose between a 5 or 7 meter drop.

---

---

This lead into the Castle Zone and once again riders had their choice of line, before they encountered a huge wall ride, some kickers and then the final zone, called North-Shore because of the 5 meter high skinny leading you into the final drop of the course.

Each section of every run was judged for difficulty, style, flow, and creativity.

Throughout the weekend the crew worked on making the course as safe as possible, and they succeeded. “No big injuries during the whole weekend, particularly in these conditions, that’s pretty good,” added organizer Tarek Rasouli.

The second youngest participant, another Californian, 18-year old Cameron McCaul, grabbed second prize, beating Kyle Ebett from Vermont, who rounded out the podium.

---

---

Michael Marosi waved the Euro flag in fourth. Some of you may recall his great 4th place showing at the Red Bull Rampage in 2003. Wade Simmons showed with a 5th place, that he still has a bag of tricks to compete with the young guns. However, the event showed one more time, that the “changing of the guard” has already begun, and that the new school riders are the ones ruling this type of event.

It was good for all the young rippers in Germany to see that the sport is growing and limits are being pushed. I do know from my own experience, how many talented and highly skilled riders there are in Europe, which are - for the moment – not receiving the coverage they deserve, but events like the “Ride to the Lake” will certainly help to promote the sport here in the “Old World” and fill this gap. And, after all, this is what it’s all about, to promote our passion, and introduce mountain biking to more and more people.

Phil Claus

Rank	Rider	Country	Points	Plate no.
1	Kyle Strait	USA	47,96	26
2	Cameron McCaul	USA	45,15	7
3	Kyle Ebbett	USA	44,65	25
4	Michal Marosi	Czech Rep	43,65	29
5	Wade Simmons	Canada	43,05	36
6	Cedric Gracia	France	40,95	9
7	Carlo Dieckmann	Germany	40,38	23
8	Joscha Forstreuter	Germany	39,5	17
9	Guido Tschugg	Germany	38,92	14
10	Gareth Dyer	Canada	38,85	14
11	Kamil Tatarkovic	Czech Rep	38,8	24
12	Benoit Stoclet	France	37,93	5
13	Fabien Pédemanaud	France	37,38	13
14	Samuel Zbinden	Switzerland	37,18	33
15	Chris Smith	UK	36,25	10
16	Niels-Peter Jensen	Germany	35,95	31
17	Marcus Wallborn	Germany	35,78	27
18	Seb Carré	France	35,3	34
19	Georg Engel	Austria	34,55	15
20	Aaron Chase	USA	33,98	1
21	Daniel Trenkle	Germany	33,45	12
22	Titou Piccard	France	32,85	35
23	John Cowan	USA	31,8	20
24	Bruno Penone	France	31,68	6
25	Jim Dechamp	USA	30,48	19