ASR, CrossRoads, & Hanging Out in CA
Posted on Monday, September 14, 2009 by Ryan
Words by Ryan Clements
Photos and Captions by Ryan Clements and Rob Meronek
The rest of that evening was spent at hipster joints in the North Park section of San Diego, which was just a preface of the epic days to come because Tuesday morning I rode up to (more name dropping) Jesse Fritsch’s house and we went out to lunch with none other than Birdman himself, Tony Hawk. Being all full of BBQ meant that it was the perfect time to skate a mini-ramp, specifically Cara Beth Burnside’s mini-ramp. That session included a nice view of the Pacific I might add.
Later on in the afternoon I was a privileged guest on the Tony Hawk Demolition Radio program on Sirius, where an hour is spent talking about pretty much anything that comes to mind. Jesse and I finally ended the day with a little session at the Oceanside Skate Park. Not a bad second day. It really felt like a vacation.
I must admit that I wasn’t feeling the free burgers and dogs, so Rob, Jorge, and I headed out for some lunch and ended up back at (name dropping warning) Tony Hawk, Inc., the warehouse that houses Birdhouse, Tony’s gigantic vert ramp, and everything else that is part of the Tony Hawk empire. The vert session was absolutely going off with the likes of Bucky, Sandro Dias, Zak Miller, Andy Mac, a few others, and last but not least...Alex Perelson. Alex’s skating will blow your mind. Rob was so psyched that he shot photos of vert and I commented that the session was better than the last five Tampa Pro Vert Contests!
We couldn’t resist, so us non-vert skaters ended up on the street course where Rob nearly broke his hand, indicating that we should break out and head back to CrossRoads for the Best Trick Contests. The Best Tricks got started at 6pm and weren’t over until 10pm. That’s pretty crazy. There were four of them total:
Besides the meetings, we had some damn good skateboarding to witness on the mini-ramp the first day of the show. Since I’m on a roll with dropping a lot of names, I will continue by letting you know that Justin Brock, Dan Pensyl, Stevie Reeves, Louie Lopez, and stylish Australian Jack Fardell were all in attendance and performed some great stunts on their skateboards. We had $1,000 courtesy of Volcom and ASR to give the guys for their efforts, but the main event was the next day.
Photos and Captions by Ryan Clements and Rob Meronek
Clem's Photos and Captions |
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Rob's Photos and Captions |
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Two Days in Southern California
After the long-ass ride to California on my motorcycle, I spent the remainder of Monday hanging with my pal Derewenko. We skated a park in San Diego called Memorial and ran into (I’m about to name drop) Matt Mumford, Peter Raffin, and Ed Dominick, marketing dude at Adio. Come to find out, Matt Mumford rides for Adio now. How about that?
The rest of that evening was spent at hipster joints in the North Park section of San Diego, which was just a preface of the epic days to come because Tuesday morning I rode up to (more name dropping) Jesse Fritsch’s house and we went out to lunch with none other than Birdman himself, Tony Hawk. Being all full of BBQ meant that it was the perfect time to skate a mini-ramp, specifically Cara Beth Burnside’s mini-ramp. That session included a nice view of the Pacific I might add.
Later on in the afternoon I was a privileged guest on the Tony Hawk Demolition Radio program on Sirius, where an hour is spent talking about pretty much anything that comes to mind. Jesse and I finally ended the day with a little session at the Oceanside Skate Park. Not a bad second day. It really felt like a vacation.
Crossroads
I got my third epic morning in southern California started right with a nice motorcycle ride up to Black Box for CrossRoads, which is their version of a skateboarding trade show. Hands were shaken, backs were patted, and deals were made. It was a good vibe with all of the right heads in attendance. The Chief himself was out shaking hands and kissing babies to make sure that everyone felt at home while visiting his home.
I must admit that I wasn’t feeling the free burgers and dogs, so Rob, Jorge, and I headed out for some lunch and ended up back at (name dropping warning) Tony Hawk, Inc., the warehouse that houses Birdhouse, Tony’s gigantic vert ramp, and everything else that is part of the Tony Hawk empire. The vert session was absolutely going off with the likes of Bucky, Sandro Dias, Zak Miller, Andy Mac, a few others, and last but not least...Alex Perelson. Alex’s skating will blow your mind. Rob was so psyched that he shot photos of vert and I commented that the session was better than the last five Tampa Pro Vert Contests!
We couldn’t resist, so us non-vert skaters ended up on the street course where Rob nearly broke his hand, indicating that we should break out and head back to CrossRoads for the Best Trick Contests. The Best Tricks got started at 6pm and weren’t over until 10pm. That’s pretty crazy. There were four of them total:
- Stairs/Handrail – this was complete and total chaos and went on for at least an hour
- Andrew Pott – I think he won it with a hardflip feeble down the rail and a switch flip body varial down the stairs
- Aquil Brathwaite – told me he got 2nd with the double kickflip to fs boardslide on the rail
- Barrel Jump – a very entertaining carcass toss to say the least and Kechaud Johnson told me that next day that he jumped 14 barrels, taking home $2,000
- Flat Bar Over the Water Gap – I completely missed this one because I left at the end of the Barrel Jump, but I heard that it was good
- Rainbow Rail Over the Water Gap – missed this one, too
ASR
The progression of our purpose of attending ASR has changed drastically in the past decade. We used to come and hit up sponsors for Tampa Am and Tampa Pro funding. Then the party years ensued where we spent a lot of time drinking. Now we’ve ushered in the age of mostly work and a lot of meetings. I had obligations from early in the morning until late in the evening pretty much all three days. Not complaining…just saying.
Besides the meetings, we had some damn good skateboarding to witness on the mini-ramp the first day of the show. Since I’m on a roll with dropping a lot of names, I will continue by letting you know that Justin Brock, Dan Pensyl, Stevie Reeves, Louie Lopez, and stylish Australian Jack Fardell were all in attendance and performed some great stunts on their skateboards. We had $1,000 courtesy of Volcom and ASR to give the guys for their efforts, but the main event was the next day.
Volcom Mini-Ramp Jam
The prior night ended with a meeting until 10pm and started bright and early with a meeting at 7:30am. Oh man. But next it was time to witness some great skateboarding and give away nearly $7,000 in the process. Not a bad purse for a couple of 20-minute Best Trick Contest, right? There were two obstacles: One was an escalator that abruptly ended with a 3’ gap and then continued with an extension. The other was simply an 8’ tall Volcom Stone positioned next to the tallest extension of the ramp. There was a big crowd ready to see some great skating and Volcom kept the scene hyped:
Escalator Best Trick
- 1st - $1,000 – David Loy – smith grind up the escalator to gap to tailslide on the extension…and he really slid it
- 2nd - $800 – Andrew Langi – he did several grinds up the escalator to gap over the channel onto the extension, including fs 5-0, nosegrind, and feeble
- 3rd - $500 – Shawn Hale – gap from extension to fs feeble down the escalator
- 4th - $400 – Dan Pensyl – gap from extension to feeble fakie down the escalator
- 5th - $300 – Ryan Reyes – gap from extension to bluntslide down the escalator
Volcom Stone Best Trick
- 1st - $1,000 – Andrew Langi – as if the fs pivot, nosepick, and smith on top of the Stone weren’t enough, Langi took the smith to fakie...so gnar
- 2nd - $800 – Jack Fardell – fs 5-0 transfer from low to high and using the Stone
- 3rd - $500 – Shawn Hale – feeble grind frontside 270 out from low to high on the tall extension
- 4th - $400 – Neal Mims – fs smith and regular crooks from low to high on the extensions extension, but the ollie from the extension to the Stone and then into the ramp was the kicker
- 5th - $300 – Chaz Pineda – nice to see him back and give him some money for the fs 50-50 all the way across the extension to fs grabber in
Thanks
Now it’s Saturday morning and the meetings are all over...and we head back to Tampa this evening. Hats off to ASR for taking such good care of us guys at Skatepark of Tampa and SPoTlight Productions. We truly appreciate the respect. Volcom, you guys did it again. The “island” theme got us all in a jovial mood and provided for good times. See you again in January, San Diego...
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