Posted by Anthony on October 22nd, 2011 — Posted in Uncategorized
First I need to thank Dan Oliver for his time and effort into putting this on. It means so much to the entire community that you are willing to put this on again regardless of losing money last year and getting yanked around by the town. We all appreciate your hard work and the work of all the other volunteers so much.
Bainbridge, Ohio is a town you’ll never visit ever in your life. You have absolutely zero reasons for coming here other than Soldiers of Downhill. But that is the best reason you could ever have for going to a tiny town that offers nothing to passers by. Soldiers is the fastest race course in the U.S. and one of the most technical. When you combine those two aspects it is probably the most gnar race course in the U.S. So why weren’t you there? It’s a little hard to get to but I drove 9 hours by myself through the night and then 9 hours home. Needless to say I didn’t make it to work on Monday but this event is that worth it.
Bainbridge is typical small town America and it’s an eye opening experience for people that aren’t used to it. The Virginia downhill guys spend the majority of our skate trips in places like this so we’re kind of used to it but man I love the Queebs reaction to Murrrica. The town doesn’t even really like the race particularly. Someone almost started a fight with Buono outside the bar after calling the racers “queers.” Regardless of this we hit the town hard. The skating is great but for some reason this town brings out the rowdyness in everyone. The one honky tonk bar we went to got inundated with skaters yelling and cheersing everything while old locals jumped on the table dancing or humping. Buono made out with a mom and daughter that night. Corn fields were run through, under age kids were fucked with at a house party, it’s kind of insane. Congrats to Georges for not winning the party again this year, I’m proud of you!
The course demands your respect though. I’m not sure how many people I saw go into the hay but I’d guess all of them or at least close. Niko probably didn’t crash all weekend but he’s a beast and that’s why he ended up on top of the podium. I never hit hay at all on Saturday but because of stupidity I fell trying to look good for the Team Quebec camera at the fastest part of the course coming out of the chicane where you should not fall because of how bad it could be. Sometimes you need those 55mph crashes to keep you in check and remind you of the consequences of your actions. Sometimes that shit goes worse like it did for Jraw. Hitting hay head first at 55mph is no way to go through life and it was the scariest speedboard crash I’ve seen in person. The eruption of hay was incredible and it gave Jeremy the worst concussion I’ve ever seen. Having to explain what happened to him every five seconds was so painful. Hopefully this new head trauma will get his sense of smell back though. Send your love to Jraw as he heals up, but I also heard that he skated the Harrisburg gnar on the Monday after like a fucking lunatic.
Racing happened and was fun. There’s probably awesome highlights that should be mentioned but I don’t really care about racing that much. Racing this run in general is gnar as shit no matter who you are, going into these turns in a pack is heavy. Things that you should note though are that: 1) Will Royce is from Florida and faster than you plus shreds street harder than you can skate downhill so check yourself. 2) Will Seal stepped shit up and put on his big boy leathers and got a couple rounds further than I did and I can’t wait to see that kid skating next summer and blowing minds. 3) Jraw has been killing it at races this year and needs to travel off the east coast and go show his steezy ass off else where and get some recognition. No one was sliding as stylishly as the mofo.
To see all the awesome photos and where that video came from check out www.teamquebec.org
Broadway Bomb weekend was incredible. Ohio was…insane. Recaps of those will be up soon but in the mean time check some of the slide action from before the Bomb. Take note of how much more style Steve Kong has than anyone else you see ride a skateboard and I don’t just mean in this video.
I’m not sure how many headlines have gone through my head while thinking about writing a recap of this past weekend. Best Event Ever is pretty up there but in the end it all comes down to how grateful I am for having such incredible people as a part of our community as Will, Jake and Tom (in no particular order). They set the bar so high with this event that I don’t think Dean would want to top it and his freerides are probably the most hooked up you could get. Anyway, you guys rocked it so hard and if there is anything you ever need I’m sure anyone will take care of you.
I got out of work at 5:30pm on Friday and had a load of laundry in the drier from the morning but nothing packed. While halfway out of town, on my way to borrow a gopro case I realized that I had no sleeping bag or quality sweatshirt or jacket. I was smart enough to remember extra clothes, socks and shoes because of rain in the forecast and that was more crucial than anything else. I said fuck it and went on my way. Hell, I made it through a week in New Mexico with just a backpack and a weekend in Portland/Washington with that same backpack so I should be fine with a car and great friends that are more like extended family than acquaintances through skating.
The six hour drive from Ithaca, NY to Burlington, VT landed me at Will and Jakes at 1a.m. with the party slowly dying and just in time to say good night to Jake. Jraw was on the porch with a beer to greet me and that turned the night into morning way quicker than you think is possible. I think we got to sleep around 5:30 and in the blink of an eye the gray, overcast light burned through the fog of my eyelids as morning shuffling flooded my ear canals. Two hours of sleep after a night of consumption is rough to skate on although fairly standard it seems but then throw in the cold rainy fall day and you’re just kind of pissed. But not this time because after a wonderful breakfast at a local espresso bar with the French Canadians there was coffee, muffins, cheese and clementines waiting under the cover of popup tents on the race hill. There was a selection of coffee at that, and not shit that tastes like ass that you get from the gas station or 7-11, but the real genuine indulgent coffee that my tastes are acquiring from the northern regions. read more…
This October officially has three of the raddest East Coast events you can attend. Each of these events is multiple things and requires the entire weekends worth of time and shred love. This coming weekend brings you to Vermont for the High View Autumn Bomb held by our great friends up in Burlington. You’ve probably seen the previous posts about it but you got to register ASAP because spots are filling up.
The weekend after is the Broadway Bomb, Style Sessions and Earthwing Tech Slide mayhem. If you don’t know what the Broadway Bomb is then you need to do some research because this sentence is a waste of my time already let alone explaining such a massive thing to you.
The third weekend of October is Soldiers of Downhill in Ohio. The race is fast with a gnarly righty, janky pavement and one of the most fun chicanes I’ve had the pleasure of blasting through at 55mph. Not to mention the party and towns people that love us. If you haven’t registered for this get on it! It’s been a permanent fixture of the site for a long time now so just do it because you won’t regret it!
There’s been talk about an event in the Catskills on the fourth weekend of October but last I checked the original hill fell through but we’re waiting to find out what’s going on with that. Regardless I hope you got an oil change, a tune up and checked your tire inflation because you’ll want the best gas mileage possible this next month! GET SOME!
Zack Viente in full Power Ranger mode pissed after getting the no go from a spotter in somewhere PA
Sometimes it’s not cool or appropriate to slide. Usually those situations are frustrating because it means you don’t get to charge balls out into that corner you’re trying to hit perfectly. Those situations that you make the right decision and footbreak can mean the difference between you or your friend in the hospital. When I started skating downhill and taking mountain trips “predrifts” didn’t exist except for the skaters in the Alps, Berklee hills and some Canadians but it wasn’t an acceptable thing to do in a race. This is even after the time period of the X Games and Gravity Games downhill races. That time frame saw hostility towards sliding in races. Jason Salfi of Comet told me a funny story about someone at a racers meeting back in the early 2000s saying “…and none of that Berklee slide bullshit, this is racing!” Hell I was going 60mph before I could shutdown slide at high speeds confidently. My point is that footbreaking, while out of style, is fucking important and is something you should still take the time to learn because you never know when it will be the faster way to corner or safest way to prevent an accident.
Posted by Anthony on September 17th, 2011 — Posted in Videos
“The 2011 Ham Jam, the original spot got blown up by an asshole in the neighorhood so instead of being defeated we just picked up an moved it to new spot. We also unveiled the TR Custom Longboards “Buffalo Soldier” Designed By: ME and the “Panty Dropper” Designed By: Bill Steinbacker, both built by Tom R. of TR-Medlar”
Thanks NSA for posting this video. I forgot about this event entirely for some reason but it’s definitely a big one. You should go next year.
Posted by Anthony on September 13th, 2011 — Posted in Uncategorized
I think I met Max at Munnsville but it could have been before then too. I remember he had the most absurd leathers and was chilling down the hill. The next time I skated with him he was shredding after riding with Pat Schep a ton. The dude is a skater all the way through and knows what’s up. If you need proof then just watch the Venom Mega Ramp spoof. This was a fun correspondence we had via email over a month or so this summer.
Anthony – Hey man, stoked to do this with you! I’ve been chilling on this article series for too long since I did the interview with Brian. Trying to do a “where are they now” sort of thing.
I guess first thing is the most recent: how was the Rado Pass trip you just took last weekend? I can’t imagine what that’s like!
Max – The pass trip was rad. I’m working on a magazine article about the Colorado scene so I can’t say too much: but those dudes definitely showed me what’s up.
Once you’ve skated their roads, you understand why Colorado dudes always rock leathers and skate with that fast racing style. The thin air and the way the roads are built, with grippy pavement and really big turns, make it fun to go really really fast.
I’ll go out on a limb and say that Colorado has better skateparks than California. They’re newer, better-built, more diverse, and more fun than most parks in California. Also, the people are laid-back but spend considerably less time on the couch than Californians. If I didn’t work in the skateboard industry, I’d probably live in Colorado or Portland.
These kids were the grommiest of groms when I met them earlier this year and now they shred so hard I can’t believe it. Keep skating guys and keep it fun! Hope you all are enjoying your non-tropical weather weekend and escaped the flooding this past week.
