When it came time to make his first run in the Freestyle motocross championship, Nate Adams decided he did not want to play the odds. Storm clouds had gathered and scattered raindrops were starting to pelt the ground.
Adams, the 2006 Dew Cup winner in FMX, did not want to stake any hopes on a second run which might never materialize.
"I went out and treated my first run pretty much like my only run to get a solid score up there," Adams said.
By the time the Arizona resident finished his initial run, he not only had solid footing in the standings, but had blown away the field. With a score of 93.33, Adams finished nearly four points ahead of runner-up Todd Potter and third-place finisher
Jeremy Lusk and easily captured the FMX title at EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday afternoon.
It marked his third FMX championship on the 2007 AST Dew Tour. With 375 points to his credit and one tour stop in Orlando remaining, Adams has already clinched his second straight Dew Cup.
Adams counted on the higher altitude factoring into how he rode. With the other tour stops at places closer to sea level, riding in the mountain air presents a new type of challenge. A challenge, he said, which is difficult to adequately prepare for.
"Everyone pretty much just knows their bike is going to be a little slow," Adams said. "There's really nothing you can do to train. You just come up here and deal with it."
Higher altitudes seemed to bring out the best in him. Adams threw in every trick imaginable during his nearly flawless run.
He kicked things off with a cliff hanger backflip and a flip whip. Then Adams really fired up the crowd with a backflip heel clicker on the 95 foot jump. Finally the defending champion sealed his winning run with an impressive nac-nac 360 backflip.
Potter, who held a high score of 89.67 before that point, expected Adams to overtake him before the day was over.
"Nate is kind of in a league of his own," Potter said. "I wasn't ready to take him down this year. I knew that."
Potter used an impressive kiss of death flip to seize the early lead and help him earn his first ever AST Dew Tour trophy. Finishing second was a satisfying result for Potter, who wasn't sure he would make the trip to Salt Lake City. He injured his ribs following a crash landing on a whip maneuver two days before the event and still felt the effects of it on Saturday.
In the BMX Park preliminary round, Venezuelan biker Daniel Dhers topped the field of qualifiers for today's final, beginning at 12:45 pm., with a score of a 92.83 in his first run. 11 other riders also advanced — including Brazil's Diogo Canina, who rose dramatically on his final run to earn a spot.
Canina scored only 74.33 on his first run, good for 33rd overall. But, on his second, he used a pair of impressive tricks — specifically a double tailwhip and a 360 spin — to earn 89.00 points and move into seventh place.
A steady stream of rain late Saturday afternoon forced the cancellation of the Olympic qualifying round of the BMX Supercross. Friday's time trials determined the final results, making USA rider Mike Day the top qualifier — just ahead of the Netherlands' Robert DeWilde and Italy's Manuel DeVecchi, who rounded out the top three.
Continued rain in the evening also delayed the Skateboard Park Finals until this morning, after wet conditions made the outdoor course too dangerous for competition.
Despite bad weather, tour officials were pleased with a spectator turnout exceeding anything seen at other tour stops this summer.
"Estimates look like today will be the highest attended single day," said B.J. Caretta, the tour's director of communications.
Schedule update
The Skate Park Finals will run at 10:15 am Sunday. Gates will open at 10 a.m. All other events are as originally scheduled.
E-mail: jcoon@desnews.com