Akman Atılgan 17.08.2018
Recent steps taken for progression of BMX by FIBERA BMX in Cyprus is well appreciated by BMXTR and the Turkish BMX Scene. For us the Altıntaş family has taken a big load on their shoulders which is giving them big responsibilities. The 800m2 indoor skatepark, offices and cafeteria they have built in Haspolat is really worth seeing. We have been watching the building stages of the FIBERA Skatepark for a long time and the construction has been very recently completed and they opened their doors to the riders with an international Jam. As BMXTR we were also invited and we could not miss it. 
As soon as we arrived to the skatepark we were welcomed by Bora's mother's-Besime Hanım's warm hospitality. Bora's father-Fikri Bey was very busy with preparations for next day's event.
Naturally we wanted to give a hand...
We spent the first day sniffing the skatepark's atmosphere, and later went to our hotel. Next day all preparations were over and the riders started arriving to the skatepark. The event was not only heard by Turkey or Cyprus, there were also riders from Greece, Ukraine and Russia, even one rider from Ireland 
The number of participants from Turkey was not less, Arif, Samet, Talha, Taner, Batuhan, İsmail Emre, Ferhat, Can, and İbrahim had come all the way from different cities of Turkey. 
First contest was amateur street. As BMXTR we also wanted to support the management of the contest. So sometimes we held the chronometer, sometimes calculated the scores, sometimes we became the jury or we became the announcer of the contest. We would like to thank again to FIBERA for giving BMXTR the opportunity to support their contest.
It was big pleasure to manage the contest with Chris Giles fom Go4It.
The jury of the amateur street were Bora, Arif and İsmail Kılınç. 
The winners of the amateur street were Ferhat, İsmail Emre and Berkem Darbaz. Ferhat and İsmail Emre were not surprise as they have a constant success in the contests; Ferhat had became third in 2nd Turkish BMX day and İsmail Emre has been taking podium in almost every contest he has been competing. We are certain they will continue their success. 
We have been following Berkem Darbaz for a long time and from his social media we knew he was a good rider. But during the warm up he got our attention. Ediz coached him a little before the contest which I had witnessed before in other contests and I recommend our riders to listen to his advice before the contests to get motivation and tactics. With a very good performance Berkem became the third which wasn't a surprise. 
Pro Street contest was a big competition by all means between Turkish, Cypriot and Greek riders and the level of riding was top. Ertan Üçkumru, Chris Giles and Serafeim Papadopulos were the jury. Arif Gül, Alexandros Bika and Bora Altıntaş shared the podium. Bora had a great performance despite his recent recovered wrist injury and got the third place. Jason Efstathiou got the Best Trick award with his Smith Ice Hard 180. 
The last contest was Pro Park. Chris Giles, Ediz Tenşi and Serafeim Papadopulos became the jury. It was to our attention that Arif and İsmail Emre Dalgıç attended the Park contest although they are known to be street riders. İsmail's performance was just like a park rider although there are no skateparks in his hometown-İzmir. He became 6th out of 10 with a remarkable performance. Arif had an outstanding performance and got the third place in the podium! He made a superman seat grab as best trick which was great and impressive. He took the podium twice in the same contest which was extraordinary. Panos Manaras from Greece who is also a RedBull rider got the first place with an amazing performance and also became the best trick winner with his ice pick rail. John Stefani whom Arif has been competing with very often this year became 2nd in the podium. These competitions are bringing the best friendships as well!
The event was great and we were all exhausted at the end of the day. But Mr. Altıntaş was the one who was tired the most alost with no sleep for the last 72 hours trying to prepare the skatepark. He gave a nice speech in the award ceremony.
2018 has been being a year with full of BMX. Competition and friendships are being carried from country to country. We are seeing familiar faces in all contests and this is making us very happy. We made this event immortal with a family picture like we do at the end of all our events.
As BMXTR there is something we have to say. These events are organized for the progression of BMX, to strenghten the relationships, to give riders an opportunity to exhibit their talents and to make them known. There is big amount of sacrifice and effort in every second of these events. Turkey and Cyprus are still young in terms of experience in BMX event organization but we have gone a long way. Although this was FIBERA's first event it was very successful and fun. Like in every contest some riders take the podium whereas others don't. It is not possible everyone to be happy but it is very important to us that our riders appreciate the efforts the organizers are making. We advice our riders to give the priority to enjoy the moment, and then focus to the podium.
Fikri Bey, Besime Hanım ve Bora's (FI-BE-RA) hospitality was unforgottable. For BMXTR Cyprus is now a second address. We thank FIBERA for their efforts for the BMX scene and their hospitality!