Durban's beachfront park was once again graced with ghetto obstacles made from pallets & plywood, extending the already big quarters, wall rides & a new "teacup" made things fun & opened up many different options.

Friday was a warm up day & the AM competition. The level is definitely on the up & the young guys were throwing down all over the park.

Saturday was time for the expert class & Nati was standing out pedalling hard at everything & blasting tricks on everything he could see. Julian had a hard slam right at the end of the session, trying a down whip out of the teacup, but ended with his face on the floor & smashing his wrists. Luckily no broken bones, but the blood was coming thick & fast from his chin & was rushed off to hospital.

The pro class was meant to happen on Sunday, but there was word of heavy wind coming, so it kicked off on Saturday too. The park was packed & spectators were ready. Colin blasted into the park on the buzzer & got things started. Long jam sessions were on the cards this year, which let riders focus on what they wanted without rushing & because of it guys were flying & taking turns with rests in between. Boyter had his pilot gear on & was going higher than anyone, Buddy was flowing with his trademark style & Colin was whipping all over & clicking lookbacks like he's a yoga instructor. There was a new kid on the block that was making the big guys sweat & have towork for their money, Murray Loubser has progressed so fast & his name was on everyone's lips all weekend. He was blasting the big quarter to wall with massive tables & toboggans, millions of tricks out of the teacup & just generally destroying everything he touched. It was good to see a new rider get to that level so quickly.

Last comp for the day was Ledge Legends where all the street cats could shine. Stuart Loudon was killing lines longer than your shopping list, Brandon Blight was trying 360 smith over the channel to ledge & got so close, but didn't manage to get it in before the buzzer. Jason Prins took it with a steezy nose manny to manny 180 into the quarter.

Sunday the wind came & just a few games of BIKE went down to keep things going & then it was off to The Winston in the evening for the after party, prize giving & Above/Below Premiere.

1st Murray Loubser

2nd Colin Loudon

3rd Darren Oatley