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So once again winter is in full swing, so why not head over to Estonia in the Baltic States for the Simpel Session contest. That is exactly what some of us here at Sunday did. Ian Schwartz, Aaron Ross, Karl Poynter, Chad Shackelford and myself all went to Tallinn a few weeks ago. I’ve said it before, but if you’ve never been to Tallinn then you are missing out.

The first photo was from the Barcelona airport right before we left for Tallinn. We flew over the Alps on the way to our first Cophenhagen, I was so stoked. Our first day we had so much extra time that I made it to the Kumu Art Museum and there was this room with all these talking statue-less heads. It was really strange hearing all these voices speaking in another language . It was like a giant argument going on, but between statues. The other photos is from a random artistic moment I had on the way to the museum.

We made it to the contest, the next day. I think Ian was the only person I’ve ever known to wear shorts in a contest without full pads. The practice was fully chaotic which shut down a lot of unique lines that could’ve been done. I don’t think it really stopped anyone on the team. Ian rode super relaxed, Karl rode tech, I crankslid things and Aaron did everything almost first try.

This was the first time Aaron’s Sunday frame was seen in public and by the time the contest was over the word about Aaron on Sunday was out. He still holds the title for the brightest bike in BMX, this time combining his neon red with neon yellow. It definitely stood out.

After all the qualifying was done, Karl and Aaron both made it to the finals. I managed to break my chain and Ian got hurt colliding with some one. This is one of the best contests to go to, I have the best time and you can ride the contest without wearing a helmet. Actually the only time you had to where a helmet is during the 180 distance contest. This was actually really crazy and scary. The guys were getting bucked and taking it so hard that I swore I was at a Ghetto Street contest. I think the winning distance by Garret Reynolds was over 8 meters which is about 27 feet. Crazy!

The finals came and went on Sunday. Karl and Aaron both did tricks that no one else duplicated and for that they got 15th and 16th. Aaron was riding with a swelled knee which he is getting drained real soon. Karl had a hurt chest from yesterday’s attempt at the trick below. If you can do it, come to Estonia for the next Simpel Session. You won’t regret it!