Thursday, June 18, 2009
Craig Mast has steadily moved up the rider charts in his three years.
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Of all the maneuvers he’s mastered on a bicycle, Craig Mast hasn’t figured out how to play a guitar while riding.
The recent Champion High School graduate does, however, perform a 1080 and a front-flip flair on the action sports circuit.
Mast will rely on those maneuvers and more routine moves when he competes in the Nike 6.0 BMX Open on June 26-27 at Chicago’s Grant Park as part of the AST Dew Tour season opener.
The 18-year-old Mast placed sixth in park in the final 2008 Dew Tour standings.
Since Mast is among 20 pre-qualified riders based on last year’s finish, the son of Craig and Pam Mast advances directly into prelims in Chicago.
He said 50 or 60 riders enter the open qualifier on the first day of competition. After eliminations, the top 13 join the 20 pre-qualifiers and two wild-card entries in the 35-rider prelim field. Twelve advance to the finals.
Chicago’s open qualifying will be June 25.
“That’s the first thing that happens the weekend of the contest,” Mast said of next week’s action. He added, “There’s only one open qualifier this year instead of two like last year.”
When Mast realized that the park prelims and finals are on the same day — June 26, he said, “Prelims and finals on the same day? I didn’t know that. It’s going to be rough.”
Only BMXers — and not skateboarders — will compete in Chicago.
The Dew Tour’s first two stops of 2008 — Baltimore and Cleveland — have been dropped in favor of Chicago and Boston.
“That would have been really nice, but it’s all good,” Mast said of not stopping in Cleveland this summer.
Louisville, San Jose and Denver were also on the schedule in the past, while Salt Lake City, Portland and Orlando have been Dew stop mainstays.
This will be Mast’s fourth Dew season. He started traveling at age 15.
“My parents were OK with it because they knew what I was doing,” Craig said of his involvement which necessitated his absence from school.
However, it didn’t interrupt his education.
“Actually, school let me do it through the Internet from then on,” Craig said of missing school, physically, since the middle of the 10th grade.
Although out of the school loop, Mast didn’t skimp on studies.
“Mom wouldn’t let me do anything if my work wasn’t done,” he said.
As a youngster, Craig had the motocross bug until a wreck put him in a coma.
“It was my life,” he said of dirt bikes, “then I ended up in a coma for two days. That was the end of that. I said, ‘This is too dangerous and expensive and I was in a coma.’ That’s when I turned to bicycles.”
Mast had two friends who rode with him and they spent time at Section 8.
“It was a big part of our lives,” Mast said of the indoor skate park in Hubbard. “Then high school hit and cars, girls and football took them out of it and it was just me from then on.”
Mast’s Dew progression is evident: 35th overall in 2006 as a 15-year-old, 17th at age 16 in 2007 and sixth in 2008.
“Hopefully, there could be a first this year,” he said.
Finishing ahead of Mast last year were champion Daniel Dhers, runner-up Mike Spinner, Rob Darden, Ryan Nyquist and Garrett Reynolds.
The park event comprises quarter pipes, box jump and rails.
Mast said it’s everything found at a skate park, but on a bigger scale.
“It’s a really, really gnarly skate park,” he said of comparing a skate park’s 6 ft. quarters and 5 ft. box to Dew Tour dimensions of 10-foot quarters and 15-ft. step-up.
Mast, who purchased a house in Greenville, N.C., three weeks ago, competes on other tours and gets invited to contests throughout the year.
Recently, he filmed a team video for Eastern Bikes of Charlotte, N.C. at The Flow in Columbus.
“They took a trip to Ohio to film and I had a featured part in it.”
Mast’s last competition was the JoMo Pro in Joplin, Mo., April 3-4 where he finished fourth after third-place finishes the previous two years.
In Melbourne in January, Mast won the Australian BMX Games.
“It’s Australia’s biggest contest,” Mast said. “It’s like our X-Games.”
Craig says he’s getting better and stronger.
“I added a 1080 to the trick library, so this should be a good year,” Mast said of the maneuver during which the rider spins or rotates his bike three times (3 x 360=1080 degrees).
Mast said his spins are to his left side.
Why?
“It’s just my natural direction. Some people turn to the right, some to left. If you jump and spin, you’ll know which feels more comfortable to you. It’s a personal preference.”
Mast considers the front-flip flair his signature move. He saw it done last three years, but not in competition.
“I’m the only person who does it in competition.”
Mast’s primary sponsor is Eastern, but he also rides for D.C. shoes, Fender guitars and Bell helmets.
Mast also plays guitar, but he’s not going to trade riding for music.
But, using his dual talents, he may develop a double chord, fret flair, 360 in D minor.
bassetti@vindy.com