Toe Jam Stop #2
The top riders in the world were at it again, as they looked to take home the title at the second stop of the Byerly Toe Jam in New Braunfels, Texas. Sixteen of the sport’s elite entered the water to battle it out behind the boat.
However, the field was quickly narrowed down to a head-to-head final between heavy-hitters Brian Grubb and Nick Taylor. Grubb left the dock first and landed a nosegrab 360, toeside shove indy, backside 180 and melon body varial. Three falls ended his run before getting a chance to hit the double-up, leaving the door a bit open for Taylor. Suffering from some early technical miscues, Taylor cased the wake on his first few moves, possibly due to a different rope length than he was used to. He then made it a close race sticking a backside 360, toeside backside 180 and switch 360, then mistimed his double-up and landed in second place. Taylor apparently still had a lot left in the tank, as he stuck a switch Madonna 360 on the way into the dock just for fun.
But, proving his versatility, Taylor also entered the Rockstar Cable Jam event. Decent conditions and perfect rails set the stage for some landmark moves. Topping the list was Nick’s kickflip / switch kickflip / huge backside 360 off the TSR kicker. And his huge backside 360 / TSR kicker.
In the end, the final head-to-head battle consisted of Andrew Pastura and Taylor, who both had incredible runs in the semifinals with no falls, pushing competitive wakeskating ahead at a rapid pace. After the traditional coin toss with Scott Byerly and daughter Kirra, Taylor won and opted to ride second.
Pastura started out with authority, stomping a kickflip for his first trick, followed by a huge big spin transfer on the Oakley wallride; however, he was not able to maintain the consistency of his semis run, falling three times and leaving the door open. Taylor, who won the Rockstar Rail Jam in April, put together another complete run on his new Integrity pro model wakeskate, including a frontside flip, styie front lip wallride, huge shifty off the kicker, kickflip and a front lip big spin off the Rockstar box, sealing the victory.
This run capped off a stellar weekend of riding for Taylor, proving he is currently the heaviest hitter on the ’08 Tour.
“Having all the different obstacles at TSR is something that you won’t find anywhere else,” Taylor said. “Every round, the riding got exponentially more intense. Andy Pastura blew minds this weekend, behind both the boat and cable.”
Taylor also reflected on his current success on the tour: “To be able to win one title is insane, but it’s an honor to be able to win in two different disciplines. I have to thank Scott and Kim Byerly for everything they’ve done for me and the art of wakeskating. I’d also like to thank Integrity, O’Neill, Nike 6.0 and Oakley. Plus my family and everyone at the island.”
For his result, Taylor locked up an invite to The Byerly Toe Jam on September 18-20 in Orlando, Florida.
For more on the TSR, check out the Texas Ski Ranch online.