08/08/1999   English German
  Edition # 16  
San Francisco, 08-08-1999

X-Games in San Francisco
Figure [1]: The cyclist in the half-pipe

Michael The championships in rock climbing, snowboarding, skateboarding, rollerblading, and cycling took place this year in San Francisco. At an event called the "X-Games," people keep riding back and forth in so-called half-pipes. These are half-open tubes with a diameter of about 15 feet and a length of 30 feet, where you can speed down on one side and up on the other. The cyclists, rollerbladers, and skateboarders perform all sorts of tricks, flipping and spinning, sliding along the edges, shooting over the rim, and jumping two or three meters into the air -- and whoever performs the best tricks wins. On Saturday, I went there early with a friend from AOL, and the line at the entrance was about a mile long, all people in their twenties. I think we were the only ones not wearing a baseball cap backward. I felt like a grandpa; at 34, you're not the youngest anymore, cough, cough. With the camera I brought, I was able to take some snapshots: Here you go, images 1 and 2 show the whirling bike masters -- live at the X-Games 1999! Once in a lifetime, baby.

Figure [2]: He doesn't even have his hands on the handlebars!
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