We just want to give a huge thank you to the people from Ryders Eyewear. They hooked up the office with some really awesome computer/gaming glasses. These glasses have been developed to help enhance your vision, but at the same time protect your eyes from harmful high energy blue light. If you are interested in getting yourself a pair head here. They are perfect for people that spend the majority of their work week in front of a computer.
Cheers Ryders!!
Landyachtz Scratching Post
The life and times of a cat and a dog in a longboard factory.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Australia 2013 - Palm Trees & Pits Tour
Sorry if we have been slacking here on a scratching post, check out this video from our trip across the pacific to the lovely land of Australia. Check out the Palm trees and Pits tour video now!
Friday, December 20, 2013
Friday, December 6, 2013
Breaking in the van : Behind the scenes
In the spring of 2013, Landyachtz purchased a 15 seat van, and what not a better way to break it in, then a mission down the pacific coast. The trip consisted of Nick Breton, Travis Craig, Dave Rudgers, Kyle Martin, Jon Huey taking photos, and Dave Leslie on the video. Some of the photos you see below are those that were featured in the Breaking in the Van artical from the SkateSlate early summer edition, plus a few extras that weren't included. The footage captured on this trip was injected into different product videos, but there was still many hours of behinds the scenes footage, that had yet to be edited and seen by the public. Check out this awesome 10 minute video that shoes the chaos and awesomeness that goes on during these road trips!
Breaking in the van SkateSlate Article- Here
The Breaking in the van crew.
Photo: Travis Craig.
Travis and Dave not wasting anytime.
Photo: Jon Huey
The boys taking advantage of the remote back country roads.
Photo: Jon Huey
Kyle Martin made this corner his slave!
Photo: Jon Huey
Here is why.
Photo/Gif: Jon Huey
Dave Rudgers and the Loco in their natural habitat.
Photo: Jon Huey
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Longboarding for Peace
Michael Brooke, has created a movement, which he hopes one day will help
bring joy and happiness to some of the most volatile and dangerous areas around
the world. Whether it's the ongoing geopolitical war in the Middle East or if
it's the rough neighborhoods of Houston, Texas, he has found a way to help
kids in these communities become more confident, and has given them an
opportunity they would not otherwise have.
The foundation is called Longboarding for Peace. Michael first started
off by flying to Israel with $10000 worth of gear for the local children to
use. The major goal here was to help show this younger generation within these
areas that there was no differences between Arabs, and Israelis and that we are
all human beings and we should all get along. By having everyone working
together, without the bias of religion, the children eventually learned to
balance and also roll around on these boards, all with each other's help.
Michael saw this amazing transformation and ever since has been on a path,
sharing the importance of harmony and understanding, throughout the entire
world. By giving these types of opportunities to less fortunate people around
the world, Micheal hopes to decrease the amount of pain and suffering that goes
unseen in parts of the world.
This is just one of many missions that Michael Brooke has accomplished recently, and we just want to say that we couldn't be happier to be involved with such an amazing cause. Longboarding for peace is only possible from donations so please go show them some support and e go follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Read more about Longboarding for Peace HERE
Here is a manifesto from the man himself.
Longboarding for Peace is a movement forward.
We embody the spirit of all that is good and pure about Longboarding.
We empower people to step on, step up and make great things happen in
their communities.
We strive to increase joy and happiness, and decrease pain and
suffering.
Our goal is to build a global Peace Army of 50,000 people.
Each of us will commit at least one act of kindness every single day.
This will generate over 20 million acts of kindness per year.
Through kindness, camaraderie and the true spirit of Longboarding,
we'll make the world a better place.
Check out some of the pictures of recent Longboarding for Peace trips.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Billy Bones Selfie - Landyachtz
Billy is a fun guy to skate with. Whether he's at the park, a hill, or a parking lot it's a guaranteed good time.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Katie Neilson Q and A
So how was your 2013 season?
2013 was great! I
started the season knowing I didn't want to be overly competitive and just do
the events I wanted to do. I also wanted to skate and get involved in some cool
projects that would have more of a lasting effect than a World Cup Season
would, I think what I mapped out worked great!
What were some of your favorite events this year?
This was my first year at Guajataka
in Puerto Rico and that was a wild event! I've never seen a race course with
that many people scattered on it before. Ponce in Puerto Rico was my kind of
road too. One of those places where you’re just on the end of traction, hauling
ass but not quite drifting. I even got to go back to Puerto Rico a second
time in April to compete at a smaller event and get a better local feeling in
San Juan, which was super cool too.
Back in North America, I had a blast
at the 2 Maryhill events I attended, both the Festival of Speed and the She
Ride. I also had an undeniably good time at the Mayhem of Danger Bay and
Brittania. My favorite trip, hands down though was the road trip from Vancouver
to Southern California and back for the Catalina Classic. Catalina is already
on my to-do list for next year!
Did you go on any awesome trips?
Yes, aside from all the madness I
just mentioned, the highlight from this year would have to be my trip to Israel
with the Longboard girls crew!
Israel? What was happening there? How long were you there
for?
I was there late August/early
September with 13 other female riders and a production crew filming OPEN. The
movie is directed by Daniel Eutera who was documenting our experiences
exploring and skating throughout the country. There are a lot of fantastic
downhill runs there, I had a blast and I skated pretty good when it was my turn
on camera, so I'm excited to see how the video comes out.
What was your favorite part of that trip?
My favorite part of the trip was
just the general van life that I am so accustomed to. I ended up driving
quite a bit which is awesome, because I am a race car driver at heart. I get a
lot of satisfaction in not only mapping out the skateable roads, but the ground
I cover behind the wheel as well. We had some really cool locals showing us
some great spots, I think the road that led to the sea of Galilei was my
favorite spot to skate. Another cool thing about driving around living the van
life, is that you get to see and hear a lot of history that way. I wasn't
raised in a political family nor do I have ties to a region so it was
interesting to see firsthand what was actually happening in Israel.
Also, on the way home I had an 8
hour layover in Rome. I was lucky enough to meet up with my new friend Mary, who
happens to be an awesome Facebook fan. She picked me up with her brother and
gave me an amazing tour of the Vatican City at midnight. That was quite the
experience.
Did you smoke lots of shisha?
Lots, no, but on our day
touring old Jerusalem a pack of us went to go get some coffee in the Arabic
quarter and the guy there hooked us up with a hookah of his own special blend,
it was delicious!
Did you enjoy all the prayers on the
loudspeakers?
Enjoy? Not really, but it's not like
it bothered me either. Being from Vancouver I'm pretty exposed to a wide range
of cultures so it was just background noise even though come to think of it, I
did have a rooftop moment with multiple loudspeakers and bells chiming that was
rather epic.
What was the weather like there? Did you get a little sweaty
in the leathers?
It was beyond hot! I flew
straight to Israel from Southern California so I was pretty heat adjusted upon
arrival, especially since the van I was driving around in got double as hot as
the Israeli sun.
Plus, those who know me, know that
I'm pretty much dressed head to toe in black all day, every day, so I was
cracking jokes that I had been training for the heat my whole life. I tried to
put on some lighter colors for filming though. When I wasn't skating I spent a
lot of time in board shorts and tank tops; I won't skate anything serious
without jeans and a t-shirt or my leathers, I guess it's a comfort thing but I
also don't skate slow roads. You should have seen how much road rash all the
other girls were getting on their hips and bodies. That’s what happens when you
hit the pavement in short shorts and a small girly tee. I like going out and
dressing up but when I'm on the roads I'm dressed for the occasion. The only
leather skate I did we had to be at the hill around 5am so luckily it
wasn't too hot yet. That was the desert run in the south, there's going to be
some good footage there.
Did you go float in the Dead Sea? Do you float really well?
Yes!! The Dead Sea was awesome! With
that road rash on all the girls I just spoke of it was quite the feat for most
of them to get into the water. I just jumped in and watched them flinch as they entered the
saltiest water they'd ever been in. Truth be told, all of these girls are all
tough as nails and they turned out to be fine with it. I was expecting some
screaming. You really do float there, it was an amazing experience just kind
of hanging in the water and moving around wherever you wanted to go with very
minimal effort from your arms or legs. I made the mistake of wiping my
eyes with my hand very briefly and had to walk back to shore doing the blind
walk where your eyes are closed and your hands are in front of you making sure
you don't hit anything, it hurt so bad! We were there at 9am and the
water was already so hot, I couldn't imagine what it would be like in the
afternoon. I can tolerate insanely hot baths and showers but I don't
think I'd want to be in mid-day.
Any sketchy moments while over there?
On board, the worst was when Marisa
was filming a shot and there was a car slowly approaching her while she was
bombing at high speed. We screamed and begged for it to stop because she was on
course. No joke, this guy just straight up accelerated into Cami as she stepped
in front of him. Luckily she didn’t get hit, but she was serious about stopping
the car in its tracks. I've never experienced anything like that before. I
guess the reason why the guy wasn’t going to stop was because it's 'common' for
terrorist groups to use females in distress as a disguise on a roadside attack.
Once the car stops then the real bad guys jump out of the bushes.
Still though, the sketchiest thing was
the actual fact that we were there right when Obama was threatening to strike
Syria, the neighboring country. In return, Syria warned they would 'Put Israel
in flames' if the US Army did go forth with an attack. We were in the south
while that was going on and we could hear the fighter jets practicing and
monitoring the area, it is the loudest sound I have ever heard coming from the
sky. It's like a drag racer beside you, but you can't see where the noise is coming
from. Once you even hear the first whisper of the jet it is safe to say it is
absolutely nowhere in your field of sight. After that you have this minute or
so long hiss that just progressively gets louder and louder to the point of
pretty much shaking the ground and then gradually declines again. Hearing
something faster than the sound barrier was an unbelievable experience and a
little frightening at times. I remember whispering to Amanda in our room
one night, no matter what happened we would get home together, even though as a
rule of thumb no matter where you are, you follow the vibes of the locals.
Fortunatley for us they weren't really all that worried.
What did the locals think of you guys skating?
I think they were pretty stoked,
they have a fairly big scene there. Funny thing is, when a bunch of girls show
up to your local spot and shred it so hard, probably harder than anyone else, you’re
going to have a good time watching it. Aside from skate locals, I don't think
there were really any problems with citizens minus that one ordeal with Marisa,
usually people just want to watch because they are curious what you are up to.
Did you go check out where Jesus was born?
Nope, but we did go to the
western wall in Jerusalem where many travel to say prayers and leave a page of
prayers behind for their loved ones. We did get to hang out in the sea of
Galilei (which is actually a fresh water lake) where Jesus walked on water.
Foreigners are forbidden there but skateboarders are forbidden in a lot
of places. We saw a beautiful sunset there.
Did you skate with Jesus?
No, unfortunately he didn't
appear while we were in the country. I did however, have a couple really good
soul jams, where I just skated on my own in my mind and enjoyed every minute of
it.
Did you shotgun any beers while you were there? Did you
shotgun beers with Jesus?
Oh man, I didn't really drink on
that trip so I didn’t really have the opportunity to hit a shotgun, the boys
might be a little bummed to find that out. We only really went out
drinking one night there and I was the driver so I wasn't drinking anyways.
We did however, get Michaela, the sweet little grommet of the trip wasted
that night, and her shy little attitude disappeared a little bit after the fact
calling the evening a great success.
Did you skate in any place that you really shouldn’t have
been skating?
Swimming in the sea of Galilei was
the actual only forbidden place we entered. The dancers and freeriders got to
skate on a rooftop in old Jerusalem that had the most amazing view of the city
behind them, the New York Times used that roof top for their future Israel
piece and as far as I know, no skateboard has ever been up there before.
Who had the worst bail on the trip? What happened?
The worst bail that I saw with my
own eyes was Jenna Russo from Australia, she is one of the coolest chicks ever,
seriously. Anyways I was shuttling a run at a downhill spot we had been filming
at all morning so when the second van of girls showed up wanting to skate I had
no problem getting behind the wheel for them. Jenna just kind of
miscalculated how fast this one left was and smacked the pavement with her t-shirt
rolled up resulting in a gnarly belly rash, her belly button looked like an
eyeball on a face after that. Another super bummer bail was Amanda going down
on one of the first shots of the first day when someone took a bad line
shutting down in front of her. She was wearing jean shorts and hit some
gravel on the side of the road basically eliminating the skin from one of her
thighs, it's a good thing she had her G-forms on to protect her knee caps.
She absolutely killed it for the rest of the trip considering what was
lingering on her leg, you'd never know by her performance how hurt she
was.
What was your Israel set ups?
I brought 2 boards with me. My go-to
downhill set up is a Wolfshark on medium wheelbase, precision grizzlies, biggie
hawgs and yellow barrel venom bushings top and bottom front and back. For
cruising around the streets I had my super stock, super awesome ripple ridge
with me.
If you could sum up your Israel trip in one word, what would
it be, besides awesome, cool, amazing.
It might sound corny, but
OPEN. Going to Israel meant I was going to confront situations and ideals face
to face and potentially uncover information that could turn me into a believer
or holder of faith or an activist or who knows? Anything. There was just a
potential to turn me into something vs. all the other places I've gone to skate
before that were just hills with no real century old underlying issues
conflicting the roads. It was truly a rewarding experience. Obviously I
didn't see Christ and maybe I didn't get to see some major issues of humanity
up close, but I think the message that lays here is just that I was ready to
see some things if I had to. Hard to explain.
We, or at least I live a blessed
life via faith in my family and because of this I've never really felt
threatened by anything, nor felt the need to look for that faith in someone or
something else. For example, I can call home and MY Father is always there for
me. To willingly place myself in a situation that could become uncomfortable
was confirmation that I really did some growing up this year.
What’s in the future for Katie Neilson?
Who knows. I'm a family girl at
heart and skating will always be with me but I'm getting old, my clocks
starting to tick on occasion. For now I'm just trying to develop a solid base
for that future and the first layers of that base are really starting to come
together.
Who is your favorite girl skater?
Ooh tough one. Amanda
Powell is an all-around hill killer. Another rider I really like after the
Israel trip is Cindy Zhou she rips! On that note, I'm so freaking stoked
Elena jumped on board the EH TEAM this year because she killed it, obviously,
and totally has the right attitude to deal with everything. There aren't many
girls on the Landyachtz team so I am super stoked that she is a part of
it.
What are you most looking forward to, for the next season?
Um, just a continuation of
what I am up to right now. One of my main goals for this season was just to
have a good attitude amongst all the other girls. A lot of them are getting
really fast but don't have a lot of competition experience yet. I just want to
make sure that everyone maintained the awesome attitude that they did throughout
this last season. The girls I started racing with aren't racing anymore for that
exact reason and I think it's important for me to keep showing up to races and
showing my support. I've gone plenty fast down plenty hills and I'm not worried
about my capabilities, in fact I'm more comfortable with myself than I ever
have been. It's just that I'm finally getting beat off start lines now and the
women's field has reached a point where the start is really important. More
than anything I just want to stay on my board and preach 'slow down before you
are going to fast' so that as these fast girls get into heavier racing, they do
it safely. I've been at this for a while now, I'm not going to fall in a
race heat anymore and I don't want anyone to take me out either, that's why I'm
a little selective with the events I participate in or how heavy I push off the
start line. I've had some injuries that these girls haven't, and
hopefully won't experience. Don't mistake me though, just because my
interest isn't in being seen as the fastest doesn't mean I've lost my touch ;)
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Josh "Wild" Wright in the Canadian outdoors. Part 1
Canadian
Wilderness Expedition Day #1
Woke up at 7:30 am to Nick
grinding some coffee beans in the kitchen. Still drunk from the night before, I
staggered out of bed and began packing immediately. The Eh Team van swung
through at 8 sharp to pick me up. Guff, Jacob, Yatesy, and Frankie all greeted
me with an excited “Goodmorning Cunt!”. We ripped over to Charlie's place to
pick him up before heading over to the legendary Bon’s for an awesome, cheap
and delicious breakfast with crappy coffee. After Bon’s breaky we split and
began the long voyage north on the Sea to Sky Highway. It was my first time on
the gorgeous Sea to Sky and there were some of the most beautiful views I've
ever seen! Mountains meet the ocean in the most spectacular way. The dense, low
slung clouds seemingly consumed the mountain tops giving off a vibe of mystery.
Making a quick stop in Squamish to buy some
flats of beer (Fuck man! Canada charges an arm and leg for booze. What the hell
is the deal man!) and some brooms from the local hardware store and we are back
on the road! As we approached Whistler I thought it was about time for a
shotgun, this sudden “Shotgun!” call became a standard on the trip. Beautiful
sights = Shotgunnism. We made a quick stop for a quick beer and a piss then
back on the road!
Yatesy is the man when it comes to keeping on
schedule. A short drive after the shotgun stop we make a detour at Ben
Dubreuil’s to say “What's up!?”. Yup, that means another beer or three. While
at Ben’s the sky opened up a little and wet the roads down. So we took a ride
up this rad gnarly highway road and my ears kept popping around every hairpin.
Fuck man this road was righteous!! Steep as fuck with tight hairpins. About
half way up the road we entered those still low-hanging clouds. Fog all around,
cold damp air engulfing us.We rip up this mountain and after a bit we stumble
across a rad river with a massive log jam spanning the width. We burn out into
the turn off, kick our shoes and socks off, roll up out pants and sprint to the
water. A solid 13* Celsius and we are freezing in the pissing rain trying to
make our way out onto the logs.
After a few minutes we
decided this was too awesome of a place to not
shotgun a beer. We throw back a beer, take a leak and run back to the van
to blast the heat.
After a good time climbing and descending we
enter a small mountain town that I can’t pronounce the name of. This town was
in a valley surrounded with breath taking mountain views and a big raging river
tearing through the heart of it.
The weather cleared and the sun started
peeking through. We hit up the market to get dinner in order. After the market
we split to find Charlie's mystery cabin in the woods. We got a little
lost but Yatesy's internal GPS held it together [because our phones had zero
service] and we found the way here. A delicious pasta, garlic bread and salad
dinner was whipped up by Frankie and Yatesy [Thanks guys it was delicious!]. A
few beers later, we were all nice and relaxed and enjoyin’ the view.
Guff was trying to nail down his
knife throwing skills and Jacob and I attempted to fish in the lake (to no
avail). The sky cleared briefly and we got a short view of the stars as the sky
darkened. The temperature dropped with the setting sun and the Fireball kept us
warm late into the night.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Adam Yates Goes to China. Part 2
Day 4.
Start the day with a stroll through the streets waiting for Shan. When he
turns up, he takes us for some food. Funny cause in the meantime while we
waited for him, Jacob went and got bulk food and had a mini feast. On the menu,
thanks to shan, was lamb hot noodle soup in a sweet little ally kitchen. Best
way to start the day eh, big feed of good food.
Meet everyone in this place that's geographically the center strip of
Beijing. We are starting our way towards the forbidden temple from the north.
It's a killer hot day and everything is sticky! We set off and head south along
the promenade and the sites of the Olympic Park and all it's stadiums are
amazing. There's the Media Tower, the Water Cube, the Birds Nest and the
accommodation built for all the high profile business associates comprises of 5
high-rise buildings, the 1st of which is twice the size and is oddly shaped.
The 5 buildings together are meant to resemble a dragon swimming toward
Tiananmen Square. The architecture is off the hook. It's been super busy as its
a long weekend to celebrate the "Mid Moon". There's people out flying
kites and riding bikes. It's great to see how passionate these people are about
their culture.
We skate for what seems like kilometers. Hours pass. We pass the Drum
Tower, The Emperor's Garden and end up at The Forbidden City. Back in the
dynasty period women weren't allowed to leave the city to find a soulmate, they
were considered the property of the emperor. If he wanted them, they had no
choice. If he didn't, they spent their lives in solitude never to be wed. At
the end of the period there was around 1000 women and girls living like this
inside the walls. Most of them chose suicide or murder if they had fallen
pregnant by the emperor, to protect their newborn daughter of living in those
conditions.
We didn't get to Tiananmen Square because it's getting dark and we still
had to visit the first longboard store in Beijing. This is where it started to
get really interesting. As if it wasn't busy enough already on the roads, it's
getting dark and there seems to be even more traffic, cars, susses bikes,
carts and humans that just pop out for behind parked cars! That's another
thing, car parks? Not likely! Wherever there's room, there's someone trying to
force a spot, most times not even being off the road???? All this aside we belt
into a shitty little alley and went right down the end. It was at this stage I
would've felt uneasy if it wasn't for the company. The Longboard Store is a
tiny little outfit with a shit load of gear. It's got a great variety of all
boards, wheels and trucks. It was this that concreted the seriousness of the
local scene here in Beijing. Great shop, great crew, great city!
Dinner is on the cards and its become part of the norm to expect
something different. On tonights menu, Donkey! Fair dinkum. We were asked if we
wanted to try organs or meat. Both Jacob and I were keen on meat but thought
we'd sample a bit of donkey organs as well. We had Donkey meat soup, rotten egg
that was cured in mud as a side, some beans, radish and slaw and a Donkey
Intestine burger. Surprisingly, it all tastes pretty nice. I'd definitely try
it all again!
More skating is on the cards after dinner and we head back toward the
Olympic Park. They built an access road and a tunnel right in the middle as a
means of accommodating the excess traffic for the Olympics and presently don't
use it at all. This is Beijing's “secret” session spot as the locals put it.
It's cool. Outta the way from prying eyes, and u can play longboards all night!
Get back to the hotel at 2am and after 3 days of skating in the
longboard.cn Festival 2013 and some kilometers traveled turning wheels, we’re
both cactus. Shower and hit the sack. Goodnight Irene!
Day 5.
Final day in Beijing and I'm thinking that I haven't seen this country to
its full potential. There's so much out there that's assumed to be undiscovered
gold. I hear of random stories from one group to the next of the surroundings
of their individual cities. Good thing for me, I've made their acquaintance and
we are now good friends. Offers have been thrown at us to come and visit them
in their respective cities. Now it'd be stupid of me to share these places, I
guess ya'll gonna have to see it as it gets uncovered by LY. I'd like for
this to be the case anyway.
As I lay here in bed, listening to Jacob snore, I can't help but think
of the good times that we've had here in Beijing. Joe and Shan from XWing
distribution are throwing bulk dollar into the community of long boarding,
spurring growth within the country, growth such as longboard.cn which is
primely ran by our man K (Haohan). He represents both these brands well
and together with a great support network, China's longboard scene is on the
way to great things. It's already achieved so much in such a short time. It
pays homage to its people, hard working at sustaining a lasting culture. These
guys are the newest in this massive family of people that share a love of
longboarding and its an absolute privilege to have spent this short but very
intense look into their scene, their language, their culture, their country.
Already lookin forward to the next time I get #dragonpitted with these guys.
Till then, it's been Niu Be!!! Xie Xie, zai jian! (...it's
been awesome!!! Thankyou, goodbye)!
.......yatedawg.......
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Adam Yates Goes to China. Part 1
Photos by: Jacob Lambert
Day 1.
Day 1.
After 20 hrs of traveling I arrive at Beijing International airport. The
size of the city was hard to depict from the air as the pollution was the worst
I’ve ever been witness too. I'd have to say the visibility is in the range of
150 meters, not an inch more. The thorough work that went into planning for a
visa I was expecting a pretty full on time passing through customs. The first
sign of how intense it was gonna be was the Heat Transfer u have to pass
through, for what I don't know? The lineup is off the hook and it’s got to be
in 85-90% humidity. Peeps everywhere. Guess it’s just a small look at what’s to
come, at least this is somewhat organized!
Joe from XWing Distribution picks us up from an incredibly busy
terminal. It's so spread out between the place you land and go through customs
to the place you get your bags, then it's another massive hike to the car park.
You wouldn't want to be late!
Is no so much of a drive to where our accommodation is for the night.One
thing for sure is that the city is busy and is massive. There's no real
structure of where to drive or who to follow. More of a case of every man for
himself and to have eyes in the back of your head!
We meet some of the crew from the Chinese Downhill scene and with them
is K, a young fella who really has his shit on lock down, the one behind
longboard.cn. He takes us to some little, on the street, BBQ and we chow down
on some of the local delicacies. He calls himself the "ordering
king"! I’d say it’s a pretty fair assumption with the quality that's been
laid before us.
Full and eager to hit the sack after a belly full of eats and beer, it's
off to bed and tomorrow can't come soon enough!
Day 2.
Quality!! What a sleep! Really helps sleeping with a full belly!
Comatose! Today we were to check out of our hotel and catch the train up to the
Olympic Forest Park. The weather has unfortunately come across wet with a few
more showers planned to set in over the course of the day. You'd think with
some rain it’d cool things down. Quite the opposite. Moist and needing water we
jam into the train. Epic, it's got AC! Winning. We rode the number 8 line that
was new for the Olympics and the reasoning behind using the number 8, it is in
fact a sign of fortune and wealth, I guess they thought the Olympic Games was going
to be good for their economy. For us it was the case that we were fortunate to
have our fair paid for and ride in air conditioned comfort north to Olympic
Forest Park.
The scene here is lively. Everyone is interested in who these two white
boys are! Jacob and I jam around the park in the wet while crew sit undercover
and wonder why? They soon caught on that it was all turning wheels, wet or dry!
There was a small presentation to introduce the start of the 3 day festival.
Next thing ya know, K has called me and Jacob up to be introduced. We even had
our own interpreter!
The events that were on the cards for today are the push race, flatland
freestyle and the hippy jump. Punters lined up at the start line for the push
race. Jacobs deep on the startling getting the shot and I was on the edge of
the road further up waiting to see the carnage. Crew threw down and as with any
Chinese style start, I'm pleased to say there was carnage. Boards and bodies flying
everywhere! I kicked in from the back of the field and felt the need to haul,
not far behind the lead, finishing in 5th. Jacob had a joke and said"
dawg, u shoulda entered"!
Foods been on the cards all day and its finally time to eat. The Chinese
eat big and skip breakfast apparently! By 1pm I'm munging and I'm finding it
harder to hold Jacob from tearing his limbs off and consuming them for
substance! Tasty little rice box with different treats came at the perfect
time, a little late but perfect nonetheless.
After a little lie down and re hydrate it was time for the hippy jump.
Never really appealed to me but as it is with most of the different peeps u
skate with around the world, u support those who do and get ya stoke on watching them do what they do! No haters here! It started at a pretty mellow 400mm. No surprise
that everyone made it threw the first few rounds. As it crept toward 1000mm
peeps be dropping and by the time it was at 1200mm there were only 3 punters
left. The winner jumped a height of 1300mm his name converted was
"light" from the Tiger Surf Shop team from Taiwan. He was riding the
2013 Tomahawk. Nice one bra!
To finish up the day it was the flatland freestyle. I was asked to
judge? I was down and good thing for me I've been touching on my Mandarin cause
the score sheet was hectic to say the least. These guys really get down on their
flatland stuff. No wonder when the whole of the Beijing area is mondo flat! It
was pretty cool seeing what tricks they all had dancing, spins, manuals, finger
flips, u all get the point, they were getting tricky! The girls who competed
where stylin and could have competed against the guys! The girl’s final was run
and there was one that stood ahead of the rest in her abilities. The guys, not
so much. 4 riders got thrown in to an elimination game of Skate. The winner was
last year’s champ. He skated damn well, flowing and fast.
That's the day’s events done. It's time to party. The crew have been talking
this up since we got here. On a bus and travel 90 minutes NW into the
mountains. Accommodation, dinner, beers and the bus ride is all covered! I
can't thank Joe and the crew from Xwing enough. U guys know what’s up! Thanks.
Day 3.
Wow. Epic party. Epic accommodation. Epic crew. These guys really know
how to throw down right. The hospitality since we have arrived cannot be
faulted. Dinners, Transport, Accommodation and in the case of last night, all the
hard liquor ya need for night of good times. We taught the Chinese how to
Shot-gun with the fridge full of local beer. Needless to say there were some
sorry heads at breakfast in the morning. Full buffet brekkie asian style. The
food here is totally different to anything I've ever sampled around the world,
very interesting and full of flavour.
Today’s event is the slide jam and longest slide comp! Yeah, finally
were hitting some hills. The hotel we stayed at was at the foothills of the
mountains to the north of Beijing. Its beautiful. Its peaceful. The green and
the air is fresh. Now this is what id imagined the outer areas to be like. Its
gonna be a great day! As we meander over to the hill with all the days goodies,
the road impresses me right away. Its not at all the steepest hill but the
pavement was perfect blacktop. Not a fault. Smooth uber butter was here in the
middle of the mountains. It looked brand new! The spot we were to jam was a
small section that was around 200 meters long and the viewing was easy from
anywhere on the edge.
There were some really different styles. Some crew got down on the hard
wheels. Some hands down. Some faster standees. There was a great mix of it all.
Some of the guys from the flatland comp where showing they could also throw
down on the downhill styles. It was really fun just jamming with all these
different styles ya know, everyone was their own, doin it their way. Thats wat
i love about this sport. Freedom of expression.
We skated for the best part of 5 hours before crew sat down to have
lunch. Meals here are an occasion and the time is spent bonding with either
your family of your friends. Its a respectful time thats part of the culture.
Same as yesterday, ricebox's were the treat. Joe brought Jacob and I over
ours and we sat down and chowed down with everyone else. After lunch it was the
longest slide comp. The way they run things is very regulated here. Nothing
like a slide comp of the US or Canada. There's a system they do things here and
it must work for them. Its 1 rider at a time, they introduce the rider to the
road and then he/she will mob in and jam a slide. Didn't really matter whether u
did it hands down or not, there was a different score for each. As with any of
the events over the last day and a bit, we are here to support the scene and
sk8 with the riders. We're not gonna just show up and take all they're prizes.
Its funny because longest slides went to me and Jacob. Jacob got me by a lousy
meter sliding his way to peoples hearts with an impressive 17 meters on the
flatter part of the hill. The longest slide was actually awarded to
"Light" from the Tiger Surf Shop Team from Taiwan. He now has won two
of the weekend's events, doin it all on LY gear!
Best trick came next. Again, 3 runs to showcase your trick, one at a
time. There were some really interesting tricks being attempted and also being
landed. Cross step slides, Hard Wheel, Shov-its, crazy foot off board action?
Its like some of them are doing martial arts of some sort while they are rolling down the hill. Epic. It was hard to pick a winner as the different styles made
the individuals tricks epic in their own right. I had to give best trick of the
girls to a hands down 360 spin. For the guys, a fella named "onion"
won it with a super stylish toeside skid into a shov-it, again to the guy that
won the flatland event. Apparently, he skates street real good? Another great
day nearly over, time to head back into the city.
As I've mentioned, the hospitality has been second to none. The Xwing
Crew have gone out of their ways to make sure Jacob and I have everything we
need and more. Dinner tonight is at a Beijing Duck BBQ that is over 600 years
old. That's right, they been cooking duck for 600 years and believe it when i say
that its been the same fire that's been burning for the whole time! Hows that
for cultural belief. That's doing it right! Shan asked us if there is anything we
won't eat. NANANANANA was the response and when the food came to that table I
could see the look on Jacobs face was one of intrigue. What are we about to eat?
All parts of the Duck done different ways, nothing to waste. There was Duck
Head, brain and all, tongue, kidney, liver, stomach, egg, wing, and yeah there
was some normal breast and leg meat as well, to go with the pancakes. These are
all delicacies of the Beijing area and its a privilege to share this meal with
our new friends. Chinese Rice Wine at 42% accommodates the meal cleansing the
palate to get the most out of all the different flavours! It was HEAVY! Its an
epic feast as always!
Back to the room for a few more beers and an interview that was sorta
funny as the translation at times can be a little weird, especially after a few
brews and that bloody Rice Wine. Tomorrow, we skate through Beijing and see the
sites!
To be continued...
To be continued...
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