Words/photos courtesy of Ken Paul
In the 20 years that I’ve lived in Vancouver, I can’t ever recall a BMX jam taking place downtown with the main drag closed, flanked by Sunday shoppers on both sides of the street. On August 14, that all changed when the Battle for Granville took place on a spectacular summer’s day in the heart of downtown. With the help of a few friends, Wade Lajlar built the roll in and two jump sets on his homestead up on the Sunshine Coast of BC. Trucked everything down on a ferry and set up shop early in the morning to get the battle going. A set of heats eliminated the riders down to five for the finals with a quiet Brandon van Dulken taking first place and $1,000 back home. It was a comp with the majority of spectators stumbling out of stores, unbeknownst to what was going on, but excited to stick around and catch some good riding.
He placed third at the inaugural Red Bull Joyride at Kokanee Crankworx less than a month ago. (One of mountain biking’s biggest contests of the year.) At Battle for Granville, Anthony Messere dug out the 20' and placed third yet again.
With all the riding he’s been doing this year, 15 year old Anthony Messere was somehow able to slip this comp into his schedule.
Norco’s Ben Kaufmann made the trek all the way from the Nation’s capital of Ottawa to put in the most consistent runs of the day. No-handed flip to second place.
Was it a double? A triple? No matter, he pulled them both. Brandon van Dulken - first place and a whole lot of recognition.
The winner of Battle for Granville: Brandon van Dulken.
He may not have made the finals, but David Laliberte definitely kicked things up a notch.
Dillon Lloyd is one of many riders now calling Vancouver home. I think things are about to explode for this guy '“ in a good way.
Norco had two riders in the top five, and this guy, James van de Kamp was one of them. 360 turndown on the second set to fifth place.
Canadian bike manufacturer Norco has seriously stepped things up with their BMX line in recent years. A glimpse of what they have in store for 2012 was on display at their tent.
Hey, I’ll go to any contest that has beer as a key sponsor.
Wade Lajlar definitely had the Sunday shoppers behind him with moves like this big 360 and a 720 to boot.
You would look like this too if you spent a week building ramps, trucking them over land and sea and setting them up in the middle of one of Canada’s larges cities. Wade Lajlar.
Huge Superman tailwhip and fourth place from Verde/LRG’s Wade Lajlar.
