flatland Tag

16 Sep

Posted at 20:48h in archive by

Battle in the Rockies is a flatland contest taking place in Colorado Springs, CO on November 15. From my understanding, riders qualify for the contest by entering a 1 minute long video of themselves for a flatland video battle of sorts, which a panel of judges deliberate and determine your placing, and people are flown in to compete live for the event. Montreal’s Jean-William Prevost and Edmonton’s Cory Fester both took the top two spots respectively (Cory tied for second place with another rider) by entering these two amazing videos. Unfortunately Cory had to withdraw from the contest because he cannot make the event, but the combos they hit are incredible nevertheless. Check out Jean-William’s 1st place entry above, and Cory’s 2nd place entry below.

26 Aug

Posted at 21:34h in archive by

To further get the word out about his big flatland contest, Real City Spin, taking place this weekend on August 30-31 in Montreal, Jean-William Prevost got on Global News to explain to the general public what flatland is all about and this weekend’s big event. Professional level contests taking place in Canada are few and far between, and even fewer are flatland contests, so if you ride flatland and you live in Eastern Canada you don’t want to miss this event. You can find all the info you need on their site here or on our post last week here.

16 Aug

Posted at 10:05h in archive by

Check out this promo video for the Real City Spin flatland contest taking place in Montreal at Le Taz on August 30th and 31st. Montreal’s flatland scene has produced some amazing riders that hold their own in the international contest scene in the last number of years, and it’s great to see Jean-William Prevost (Dub) throwing an event like this in his home city and putting a big push on up and coming riders.

This contest will also be the third stop in the Am Flatland Circuit, with categories in novice, veteran, expert, and pro, and they have confirmed riders from Costa Rica, Japan, USA, and France. If flatland is your thing, no matter your skill level, you should be at this event. I think this line from their website summarizes it nicely:

“We are offering a competition to the North Eastern American Flatland scene to stimulate the up and coming riders in setting and achieving their goals by showcasing their tricks at an official Freestyle event.”

17 Mar

Posted at 16:43h in archive by

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France’s Alex Jumelin up on the back wheel.

This year the Flatland Unlimited contest at the Toronto International Bicycle Show celebrated their 10th year of putting on Toronto’s foremost flatland competition. I’ve visited the event for well over a decade, and even competed (albeit not very well) back when it was put on under the Metro Jam umbrella. I shot a few photos of the activity going on in a far corner of the building. Not much of the competition or the riding, but flatlanders are a different and unique group and you can’t help but notice that when seeing these riders that largely practice their craft in solitude come together as a group for an event. Check out a few more photos after the jump.

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13 Feb

Posted at 17:27h in archive by

Saskatoon’s Peter Olsen may arguably be one of the tallest flatlanders out there, and he’s also one of few flatlanders supported by S&M Bikes. He has been talking about filming for a new web edit for them for some time now, so it’s great to finally see all his hard work come to fruition. For the unexperienced viewer (namely, people that haven’t ridden much flatland before), Pete’s riding pushes the realms of technical and complicated cross-handed and cross-footed rolling tricks. The link at 1:12 with a cross-footed turbined hang 5 to a backwards cross footed whiplash is unbelievable, and the death-truck ender may be short but I had to watch it a few times to wrap my head around it. A solid video through and through.

11 Dec

Posted at 10:32h in archive by

Two flatland posts in the span of a week? Crazy I know, but I spotted this video on flatmattersonline.com and it definitely warranted a post. Eric Otto put together a compilation of all the Canadian riders that showed up the the AM Flat Tuner Evolution contest from earlier this fall in Philadelphia. This video is a solid who’s who of the Canadian flatland contest scene with riding from Jean-William Prevost (DUB), Jason Plourde, Jean-Francois Boulianne (JFB), Prasheel Gopal and Percy Marshall. The video is a bit lengthy, and some of the music might be questionable, but the riding throughout is pretty incredible.

06 Mar

Posted at 13:16h in archive by

With all the recap coverage of the Toronto Bike Show this year let’s not forget about the flatland contest. Toronto’s Justin Eastman put together this video to cover the event this year for Alli Sports. I managed to catch a number of different riders’ runs and it was a great turnout of spectators and high level riders. Edmonton’s Percy Marshall put on a mind bending run/performance, and there was heavy international talent competing, but in the end Montreal’s Jean-William ‘Dub’ Provost took first.

22 Feb

Posted at 06:36h in archive by

Terry Proveda has been telling me about this short documentary he has been working on for a while on Winnipeg flatland veteran Bill Borys. He just finished it and sent it over to me, and after one watch I’d have to say it’s a very compelling and powerful piece on the obsessive nature and sacrifice some people (i.e. bike riders) can make in their lives. Billy has devoted nearly 20 years of his life in the pursuit of flatland, and it has taken him from highs to lows. I’ll leave you with what he wrote and ask you to give it a watch and form your own opinion.

“At only 14 years of age Billy Borys left home and began a quest to become one of the best flatland BMX riders in the world. After a few years of riding, he got sponsored by one of the biggest BMX companies at the time, started entering pro class at competitions, and moved to the states to pursue his dream. ‘Going to X-tremes’ gives a glimpse into Billy’s life; from growing up with nothing to being on top of the world living his dream- and then having everything stripped away from him again. But one thing that will never be lost is his passion for riding. It doesn’t matter to Billy if he has a bed to sleep on or not, all that matters is that he can ride his bike.”

02 Dec

Posted at 14:06h in archive by


Most people would question why a flatlander would travel to different spots. Aren’t all parking lots the same? Not really, nor is the scene beyond the parking lot. Back in October, Prasheel Gopal traveled from Ottawa to Paris to ride with Matthias Dandois and enter the Urban Vibrations contest in Pessac. After a respectable third place in the master class, he returned to Canadian soil and sent me these camera phone photos. Click below to check them out.

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