Rick Thorne Interview

 RICK THORNE INTERVIEW Ryan: I’m hanging out with Rick Thorne at the Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour at Merritt Island… Rick: Yo yo. Ryan: How’s the Tour been so far? How’s it been with skaters and bikers going together? Rick: The whole skate/bike thing is pretty cool, you know what I mean, like, we all know back in the day how the skaters treated us bikers. Since I’m from the Old School…(laughter). Ryan: The Skatepark of Tampa is bike-friendly. We have a “Bike Day.” Rick: I know. I know. But see the whole point…I think it’s cool because I’ve been down with Tony (Hawk) for about 10 years, all these guys, Cab, whatever, and I think it’s cool because it lets people know. We have a big problem with bikes, we’re where skating was 10 years ago; you’re not allowed to skate here. See, bikes aren’t allowed to ride anywhere. Ryan: Even the parks now, the public ones…I was in Vegas not too long ago and there was a park that bikes couldn’t ride at. Rick: A lot of people look at bikers like being big complainers, but you have to put yourselves in our position. We get charity handouts once a week to ride a park, and I understand, but I think that bikers just need to start stepping up and opening their own parks. And they are, but it’s not us against anyone else; when you’re not allowed at public parks, no one is allowed to ride street – anywhere you get kicked out, plus the skateparks…they’re so closely related (skateboarders and bikes), but they’re still not joined together. So this tour helps kinda’ join it together. Ryan: You know our course is designed for skateboarding; everything is real small. Rick: We ride that too, though. Ryan: On Wednesdays, when we do Bike Day, they go over pretty good. I notice you’re wearing a wedding band; did you just get married? Rick: I got married to Madonna, a skater. She came to the Skatepark of Tampa while she was around for a contest. Ryan: This is the one you were first dating when we went to dinner that time, right? Rick: Yep. Ryan: Well congratulations, Man. How long have you been married now? Rick: Since October. So seven months. Ryan: You’re a veteran. Rick: Dude, you don’t even know. She’s badass. Straight up, when you least expect it, it’ll smack you in the face, you know what I mean? There she is. Boom. You either act on it, or you don’t. With her I had to, she’s badass. Ryan: How does she handle you going on the road and taking off? Rick: See, that’s the thing; she’s just like me. She’s a skater, she rocks Dickies and white t-shirts and she’s not like a Nordstrom chick. You know what I’m saying, like real pricey. And since she’s got goals to compete and skate and stuff, and we’re in a band together. Our band’s called All Scarred Up. She understands. I mean, we miss each other, but she’s busy skating, kicking it with her friends. Ryan: That’s great. Rick: You got married, too? Ryan: Yeah, like two weeks ago in Vegas. Wedding Video 1 - Ryan and Lori Wedding Video 2 - Elvis shows up (Windows Media Player required) Rick: Yeah! Congratulations, Dude. Ryan: That’s what I’m saying, ‘cause I know how you feel right now. It’s a great feeling. That’s cool; I’m stoked for you. Rick: I’ve lived both lives. You know, single, on the road, doing this, that, whatever, but you reach a point if you find somebody you really love, it’s nothing compared to playing the game every night. I don’t want to live my life without her to be very honest. Ryan: That’s really good; we’ll end it with that.