Sep 4 2005 4:15PM

Schaefer, Clements, and I are at the Vans Downtown Showdown at Universal Studios in Hollywood right now. The clock tower that you need 1.8 jigawatts to back in time with is right next to us. How many people out there older than dirt like me started skating because of Back to the Future? Anyway, this contest has a unique format where each team gets to design and build their own obstacle. More on that from Clements later. Some of the obstacles include a shark fin pole jam over a water pit and a huge teeter totter manual pad between a bank to bank. Today is just practice and the Contest is tomorrow. There's $85,000 up for grabs here. More coverage coming later.