Ticket 2 Ride Review

If you weren’t at Stoke City Extreme Park on Saturday, you missed out. Amped Distributors put on one hell of a Wakeboarding contest that saw some of SA’s best take on some of the world’s best in the Ticket 2 Ride contest.

The contest featured 3 “wheels of fortune” that the judges spun before each heat which determined the trick that the riders had to land off the kicker. The first wheel of fortune determined a Frontside or Backside trick, the second determined the degree of rotation and the third determined right foot or left foot first. The judges added extra points to each trick depending on the amplitude and if the riders threw in grabs and extra steez.

SA riders included Justin Mitri, Craig Eygenberger, Ryan Durham, Devon Nassiff and Jacques Labuschagne who took on Robin Leonard (Liquid Force Rider) from Denmark, Shawn Watson, Kevin Henshaw (Liquid Force Global Team Riders) and Jimmy LaRiche (Hyperlite Global Team Rider) all from America. The contest ran for a duration of 2 hours and saw some of the best riding we have ever seen off a kicker in a cable wake comp.

SA’s very own Craig Eygenberger (Liquid Force SA Team Rider) was impressive and landed a huge Backside 720 and Toeside 360 which earned him 4th place overall. Denmark’s Robin Leonard went huge in every heat and added plenty of steez and unique style to his tricks. He was also one of the first to land a Toeside 720 which saw him finish in 3rd place. Shawn Watson and Jimmy LaRiche went huge throughout the contest battling for the overall. Shawn threw long Nose Grabs into his rotation tricks and landed a big Toeside off axis Backside 360 which put him in 2nd. Jimmy took top honours with his massive amplitude and boned out tricks, which he added grabs into. He also landed a massive off axis Backside 360.

Ticket 2 Ride was definitely one of the best and unique Wakeboarding contests we have seen. Spectators were treated to a day of perfect weather, insane riding, cool beats from the Red Bull sound car and DJ’s, Beer tents and all out good times. There was even some Freestyle Motocross thrown into the entertainment with Alastair Sayer and a select number of riders joining in the open day style FMX session.