Garrett Reynolds, the second place finisher in the BMX Park event, got the crowd into the action by giving a thumbs up to the fans as he completed his trick. Chicagoans going to Grant Park saw a lot more than just food this weekend. As part of Chicago’s efforts to boost its bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, it opened up the Dew Tour with the 2009 Nike 6.0 BMX Open. The event featured contests in dirt, park and vertical competitions. The BMX Open took place Thursday through Saturday.

Josh Hult won the BMX Dirt Finals with a score of 92.50 points after finishing seventh in the Dirt Qualifiers. Hult clinched first place with back-to-back double whips in both directions. His creativity was just enough to push him in front of runner-up, Brandon Dosch (92.31). Ryan Nyquist squeaked out a third place finish in the contest (91.38) with a suicide no-handed 360. The trick put him .07 points ahead of Corey Bohan and Dennis Enarson.

There was just no denying first place for Dave Mirra during the Park event. Even after a rough practice nearly kept him out of the event, Mirra could not be beat. He followed a half-point victory over his biggest competitor, Reynolds, in the preliminary round, with another first place finish (93.38) also over Reynolds. Mirra’s no-handed 360 back-flip, which he calls the “Air Traffic Controller” won support from the fans as well as the judges during his victory on Saturday.

Crashing on the first attempt isn’t typical of Jamie Bestwick, especially as a veteran who has won four Dew Cups in recent history. But despite an unusually disappointing start to his performance in the Vert Finals, he picked himself right back up with an ally-oop downside whip to record a first place finish (92.88). Simon Tabron finished in second with 91.50 points, narrowly beating out third place finisher Steven McCann (91.25).

The tour continues in Boston for the Skate Open Skateboarding World Championships on July 24 and 25. Stay tuned to The Mash in the upcoming week for a multimedia feature on Red Bull Daniel Dhers’s career, going from a Venezuelan kid just learning how to ride a bike at 12 years old to a professional BMX rider trying to bring his sport on the main stage. The defending Dew Cup Champion finished ninth in the Park final (88) by landing a 720.