Louis Ricard and Lou Statman – touch and go from the start.
Oceanside. Side streets. I meandered through an old military neighborhood looking for the street and meet up location. Pulling over, I spot the street being used for the race. A ‘No Trespassing’ sign in bold red letters stands angrily at its start. I smirk to myself. Don’t these city officials realize that a sign like this is not a deterrent to skateboarders?! It’s an invitation. The race organizers were setting up and getting things ready.
set up
racers prepare
Louis Ricard and friend- getting ready to go
The hill itself drops pretty steeply down into a canyon. Houses dot the ridge line above and balance there precariously. I was told that this road was built in the 1970′s as an access from this neighborhood and over to the nearby freeway. So I was told. Whatever the case may be, It starts, drops down quickly and ends at the bottom. No gas stations, no cars, no Starbucks, no cops, no freeway access. Could anything be more perfect?
the hard line
Things quickly were started up. Henry Hester was on hand to announce. Henry is about as OG as you can get. He is skateboarding royalty. Henry raced all the early downhill events like Signal Hill and also was responsible for the first real bowl riding contests in the 1970′s. The racers began and the heats thinned out. There was a great deal of speed and good old fashioned jousting going on.
Henry Hester
if you were a wheel….
Lou Statman takes the plunge
thank the Gods for the digital age
Henry Hester was announcing and he brought a really unique approach. His details of the racing were filled with different descriptions on racing styles, approaches and historical data. The announcers tent had a digital display and computer run scoring was set up. Nice. There was a food tent set up and the Vitamin Water gals came by to hand out yummy drinks… it was a much needed thing.
Vitamins are needed
yummies
The second part of the day was the head to head race, straight down the blowhole. Skatercross. This was exciting and a bit tricky as racers had to navigate with someone else drafting behind them … all the while they were cutting through the slalom gates. It was pretty touch and go sometimes.
Louis Ricard and Hackman joust for position…
Oshean Lehrmann leading Lynn Kramer
In the end, it was Ricard, Hackett and Maysey on top… respectively. That was how the slalom ended and the same is true for the Skatercross event. BLR’s David Hackett has been injured for a few weeks from a spontaneous hill bomb in Malibu. He is ruling regardless and proved his mastery this past weekend. It was a wonderful day of friends, food and racing. Skate- Ozzie
Mike Maysey leading Andrew Mercado
