Utah's Aitken cashes in with unexpected victory

Call it the home-dirt advantage. Call it favorable judging in front of a wildly supportive crowd filled with family and friends.

Or call it a reminder that it's not always the biggest air or the most backflips and tailwhips that automatically wins.

Salt Lake's Mike Aitken, who didn't go upside down a single time, rode out of the BMX Dirt course with first place and the biggest payday of his life Friday.

"I'm a little confused to tell you the truth," Aitken said when trying to make sense of how he beat out some of the

most famous and experienced riders in the sport. "I just went out there and did what I normally do."

What Aitken, 25, did was throw as many combo tricks into 360-spins as he could. His first-round score of 90.83 was nice, his second-round score of 91.83 was unexpected and left him in the lead after two runs.

But after a few other cyclists completed their third runs with increasing scores, Aitken — one of the most unassuming and self-proclaimed non-competitive cyclists out there — was put in a position where he had to let it loose.

He did just that and completed a series of spinning, twisting and stylish rotations over the course. The judges awarded him a 92.33, and his overall score of 92.08 gave him a $15,000 first prize check plus a $3,000 bonus.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time," course designer and fellow BMX legend Tim "Fuzzy" Hall said. "This proves you don't have to ride in a foam pit and treat BMX like gymnastics to win a contest."

Yet, most other competitors were busting out backflips, front flips and double-backflip combos with triple tailwhips thrown in for good measure.

The win was a perfect cap to a day of action, thrilling packed venues inside and around EnergySolutions Arena.

And after throwing everything he had in his bag of tricks at the halfpipe inside EnergySolutions Arena, Jamie Bestwick lay down, clutching his lower back and grimacing in pain.

"When you ride a vert ramp, it's all about the lower back," Bestwick said after taking first place in a tie-breaker over Chad Kagy. "You put so much pressure on your back to keep your speed and hit the tricks. So when it's hurt, you maybe sit back more and end up using your legs more. Now my legs are killing me and my back — it's trashed."