Interviews

When you think of motocross you usually think about guys racing and maneuvering dirt bikes through various different obstacles as fast as they can. The first time we met Laura and watched her ride it was very impressive. The 250cc dirt bike she rides is just as big as the boys and she definitely knows how to ride and maneuver it. She had recently moved to California from France and communicating was sometimes difficult but we managed to get an interview with her and her english is really good actually. She has many sponsors that help her out and is a big part of the French motocross scene.

Laura Bruneau (LB) – Bonjour!

Adrenaline Fueled (AF) – So you just moved to Riverside, California from France. What made you decide on Riverside?
LB – California is so far the best place to ride motocross, and Riverside is perfect because all tracks are like 30 min from my house.

AF – What is your favorite track to go riding at?

LB – I like Cahuilla Creek

AF – Is there anything you miss about France?

LB – I miss the food so bad! And my family for sure!

AF – How did you get involved in riding and racing motocross? How long have you been riding?

LB – My brother was an ex professional rider. I still wanted to do the same thing, but i was competing seriously in jumping with my horses, and my dad was scared to buy me a bike, but at 17 he told me. Ok, lets buy a bike, and it really started!

AF – What kind of bike was your first one? What are you riding now?

LB – My first one was my scooter at 14 years old. (laughs) I did jumps with it! I actually ride a 250 Kawasaki now.

AF – What is it like to be a female in the motocross world?

LB – I have two brothers, and I had grown up in motocross tracks, so I’m more comfortable in a guys world, they are more funny than girls. (laughs)

AF – What is your favorite thing about riding your motocross bike?

LB – I think it’s the same with every sport. You feel bad when you stop. Its like a drug.

AF – Have you ever had a bad crash?

LB – I already had 9 fractures, so yes I can say I had bad ones. The worst was when I broke my hip, collarbone and my hand in the same time. I had to spend one month in an hospital bed.

AF – Is there anyone that you look up to? Who’s your favorite rider?

LB – I’m not really a fan, but Travis Pastrana is the coolest dude I think!

AF – I understand Motocross is not the only sport you enjoy. What other sports do you participate in? Do you compete in anything else?

LB – I ride in Snowscoot. I did my first competitions last year, and it’s a lot of fun! I also like Mountain bike, wake boarding and I still like horse riding.

AF – Are there other sports you’d like to try?

LB – I would like to ride in downhill mountain biking, but it’s as expensive as motocross, and it’s impossible to do everything.

AF – Cheese rolling is very popular in France. Have you ever participated in a cheese rolling event?
LB – (laughing) It’s a legend, I’ve never heard about this before.

AF – How is the food in America compared to France? How do you like Americans eating habits?

LB – In America there is a big problem with the products, it’s too fake, apples looks like plastic, milk have no taste, in France we eat a lot Organic food, and cook. Fast foods are really occasionally for us!

AF – Who do you ride for? Would you like to give any shout outs to friends?

LB – I want to say thank you to all people who support me: Troy lee Designs, DC Shoes, RXR protect, Isaw, Maxima Racing Oils, 100%, Matrix Concepts, Nost suspensions, OP designs and Blackmountain Snowscoot.

AF – Thanks Laura! What do motocross people say?

LB – à bientôt, see ya in french

You can become a fan of Laura’s on her facebook fanpage.

Sitting on his board feet first, long grey mustache trailing him in the wind, Jesse Swalley came flying past everyone at around 40 mph. But this isn’t always how he skated, “I skated up until the day I got my injury. I even had my skateboard with me the day I got stabbed,” said Swalley.

Swalley was born in 1962 and skated throughout the 70′s. “The first time I skated I was 7 years old,” said Swalley. “I think my first skateboard was made by the Red Wagon Company. It was one of those wooden ones with the metal wheels on it.”

It was around 1973-74 when Swalley really started getting into skateboarding.

It was 1980 when Swalley joined the Navy and set off to sea. Swalley worked the flight deck of an aircraft carrier moving airplanes around for a majority of the 2 1/2 years he was on the carrier. He also did some firefighting for around 6 to 9 months.

Swalley brought his skateboard onto the aircraft carrier with him while he was out to sea.”I would skate on the carrier and they used to laugh,” said Swalley. “Everyone from back east used to trip out because they were like, you’re like the typical California stereotype. You got the skateboard and your always talking about going to the beach.”

Being born and raised in California that’s all Swalley knew. That’s just what he grew up doing. “I was the only one on my boat as far as I knew that had a skateboard,” said Swalley. “It was cool. It was in experience. I got to go to some cool places. Skated in Australia, the Phillipines, Hawaii, San Diego. A lot of San Diego skating.”

Swalley’s life was changed on June 26, 1991. “I got stabbed because two guys were trying to jump on one of my friends coming out of a bar because they had some sort of dispute and I jumped in to help and the guy grabbed me, had some sorta knife and stabbed me and that was it,” said Swalley. “I actually didn’t even realize I got stabbed at first. I just thought that guy had one really hard punch that took me out.”

The stabbing cut Swalley’s spinal cord in half at the t-12 level. “I got stabbed in the back and then they got me 4 times under here (motions to around just under the armpit area) and they said I was gonna lose use of both legs and this arm, and I was in a wheelchair for awhile,” said Swalley. “I was told the day after I got stabbed, after the surgery, they said I’d never walk again. The first thing I said is if I cant walk how can I skate?”

With a strong determination to walk again Swalley went through several different braces to get to the one he wears today. “There’s no muscle control in my leg so my bones are just resting on each other, so the brace helps me from crushing my bones. My legs slowly degenerating and the doctor says that one day it will fold backwards. I don’t know when that will be but until then and even after then if there’s still a way to skate I’m gonna do it.” Swalley said.

Swalley was 28 when he got stabbed. June 26, 1991 was his last day on a skateboard for 20 years. “I never lost the inspiration to skate, I just finally realized that there was still a way for me to skate,” said Swalley.

Swalley had entered the 2011 Venice world record skateboarding parade, before he even realized he could still skate. The 2011 Venice world record skateboarding parade actually fell on June, 26, 2011. The 21st anniversary of the actual day that Swalley was stabbed, but in order to be in the parade you had to be able to skate in it.

“I was messing around in my house and I sat on my board in the position I ride in, I pushed myself around and figured I could do it so I gave it a shot and did it. Ever since then I’ve been skating,” said Swalley.

Sitting on his board on his knees pushing himself and stopping himself with his hands, Swalley realized he would need something for his hands. “I was practicing riding with gloves and they kept falling off,” said Swalley.

He then invented a new type of glove for himself that he calls the Shoves. The Shoves are basically cut up, modified shoes with both of the ends cut off. Swalley basically modifies shoes to become shoes for your hand. Swalley uses his shoves to push himself and as brakes to stop himself.

“The person with the biggest smile on their faces is the winner,” David “Slash” Hackett told Swalley. You see Swalley on a skateboard with a big smile doesn’t go away. “That’s what inspires me most is that I’m able to do it now, whether I’m doing 2 mph or 20 mph. I love it it’s that cool feeling. It’s moving fast,” said Swalley.

Skateboarding is not only fun for Swalley but a great means of transportation. Without a skateboard Swalley would need a fast electric wheelchair to get places. Walking is very slow for him. “It kinda feels like I’m walking on stilts,” said Swalley.

“I mean sometimes I’ll ride the buses, and if I had to get a bus from right here, I mean I’d have to go down there to catch it. (Motions towards the bus stop about 2 blocks down the street) I’d take about a good half hour to walk that far probably, maybe 20 minutes. I don’t know, I walk slow but on a board I’ll be there in like 3 minutes and I’ll avoid having to ride a bus from here to there. It’s so cool. I love it. I mean I get around,” said Swalley.

Getting a bike was something that Swalley thought about, but even on a bike he could only do so much pedaling with one leg. “I can’t go up hills because of this leg wont pedal,” said Swalley.

Obviously sitting on your knees on your skateboard can be hard on the knees. “The hardest part is just the cramping on my leg.” said Swalley. “All my weight is on my one leg so it’s a lot of work on my good leg.”

Swalley does all sorts of skating. He started getting back into it just by pushing around town but after meeting up with local skaters like Jesse Murillo and Chritopher Angeles and they started getting him into the skateparks. Swalley learned how to 50-50 grind again, learned to ride transition, and even learned how to do various tricks in the park.

Lately Swalley has been getting into downhill skating and has been loving it. There is even a video of him laying down face first going around 35-40 mph on a skateboard. “I wish you guys could see it if my leg was good. you would see how much into it. I would be doing pools, downhill all that shit,” said Swalley. “Dude, I did 19 miles the other day. That’s cool, none of my friends skate 19 miles just for fun. Most people are like; your crazy dude. But It’s something to do and it’s fun. I don’t lose interest.”

“Marc Juvenile, he skates across the country and stuff, because it’s a cool feeling and it’s a lot of work but it’s fun. It’s fun to be able to say I did that,” said Swalley. “It’s just something I won’t stop doing. You know skate until I die. I really like that saying. It’s really a true saying.” – Leecifer

Jesse is supported by The Pharmacy Boardshop in Palmdale and Victorville, Ca.

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We had the immense pleasure the other day of sitting down with Rayne Longboards Team/Sales/PR/everything Manager, Mr. Les Robertson. If you’ve been on the Rayne Facebook page, or really dealt with the company atall, you probably know and love him. Read on to see what he had to say about working at Rayne, products from the company, and the future of longboarding!

A-F - Aight, Les – let’s start with you. Who are you? Give us your resume – I understand you have some impressive degrees under your belt.

Les – Ha, impressive. My degrees don’t make me – I just get bored easy and enjoy book learnin’. Suffice to say, I have a lot of expensive paper hanging on my wall. I usually value the stamps in my passport more than the letters after my name. But then I lost my passport in Puerto Rico a couple years ago… so I need to start all over with the stamps.

A-F – For sure. Well, just for the sake of getting to know you, what’s up there?

Les – I have some undergrad from University of Victoria, Certificates from Vancouver Film School and British Columbia Institute of Technology, and a Masters from the University of British Columbia/Copenhagen Business School.

A-F – Awesome. Going into all that, did you ever think you would be applying any of that to skateboarding? When did you start getting into skateboarding/longboarding?

Les – Well, maybe not skateboarding, but I have played sports my whole life and working in the outdoors and in sports was the stretch goal. I worked for a few big sports teams, both internally and as a consultant, but they’re corporations and I am far from being “corpo”.

I’ve been “into” skate my whole life. I remember just drooling as a kid watching some of the older kids… but I was more into BMX. Something about my foot-eye coordination just wasn’t there for street skate and longboarding was not really around in the ‘80s as we know it today.

Anyways, BMX was fun, but I was a power hitter in baseball, a solid football linebacker, and I skied competitively into high school. I eventually chose football over anything and played that into college, where book learning and women were more interesting then contusions and concussions…

A-F – For sure. How did you end up working for Rayne?

Les – I got in with Rayne when I met Graham in like 2004 or so. He was making boards on the East Side of Vancouver, a few blocks from where I was managing a scrap metal company. I liked business and was more interested in skateboards than metal. He gave me a new board and I offered some business support. Graham moved Rayne to North Van and we kept hanging out, and when I left my old job to go back to school, he let me use Rayne for a lot of my Masters work.

A-F – Very cool. Graham is an awesome guy. When I caught up with him at the Catalina Classic, I was super impressed with his enthusiasm and just overall level of stoke for the scene and the products you guys are making.

Les – Totally, Graham is great. Incredible vision, hardworking, and he takes a skirplush really well.

A-F – Hahaha forsure. I hear the boys up at Switchback know a thing or two about the infamous skirplush (kersploosh?). Anyways, what is your current job title with Rayne, and what are your responsibilities?

Les – Wow… my current job title… we don’t really have them… haha. I was hired to manage marketing and sponsorship. Now I manage sales as well. Rayne is life, life is Rayne. Hard to need or want hobbies when I have Rayne. Video editing – Rayne. Photography – Rayne. That’s not a complaint, that’s a brag. Sometimes the ruby slippers cut, but for the most part there’s no place like home.

A-F – Sounds like a lot. It definitely seems like you’re the go-to guy over there.
Speaking of sponsorship, let’s move on to the team. Who are some of your favorite riders and why? Let’s hear some shoutouts or funny stories about these guys.

Les – At Rayne, sponsorship is about giving back to the community and being a great person. Being a good skater is something almost anyone can do if they work at it. At the same time, if we don’t appreciate the person, we don’t sponsor either. Not to say we only sponsor our friends, but when you get a sponsorship, you interact with your sponsor – races, road trips, product development. If we can’t sleep in Tiffany (the Rayne RV) with you for a weekend, we’re probably not going to want to sponsor you. This is as much a family as it is a partnership.

Hard to pick favorites and make shout outs. These are people we truly admire and appreciate. I’ll try:

Robin Sandberg – Busted back and low on stoke – send him some love and let’s get that guy back at events and working in the sport! (Maybe IGSA could use a rider rep to help smooth things out?)

Kevin Reimer – Busted-ass ankle last year and still such a competitor. He came back early and is fighting hard every race to get back on top.

Daniel Hawes – The perpetual nomad skater, he’s all around the world all the time, but no matter where he is, he is setting up events and spreading the stoke. He also sends me the longest emails with the most detailed ideas and request. Keeps me on my toes.

Luke Melo – Always a smile. Always thinking smart thoughts. Killing it with the Oracle! First World Cup podium in Europe, YEAH LUKE!

Aidan Lynds – Just solid. Aidan kills it on his board, in the office, at events, in the community. I mean, watch it, he’ll slap the crap out of you if you get out of line, but otherwise chillasfunk.

Funny stories are many and endless. I feel guilty already for my shoutout selections. I have something to say in appreciation of each person we sponsor, for real.

A-F – Noble of you. I know Rayne’s sponsor list is long – it’s good to see you guys supporting the people who support you. It’s always good when people are sponsored for what they give back to the community, not just the way they ride.
I know you guys had some big news this year with P. Swiss joining the team. Tell us a little about how that went down?

A-F – Patrick has been involved with Vicious since early on and that’s all Graham Buksa too. Over time, I started managing Vicious sponsorship and marketing along with Rayne because it made sense and that brought Patrick and I together. He knew what we stood for, how we conducted ourselves, and what kind of design and production we are capable of and we saw a great fit. I know Patrick had a very hard time leaving Fullbag, they were awesome to him and make great product. Ultimately, the thing I think we offered that was attractive was the Rayne family. Money is a weak motivator and we’re not a big company, so Patrick could have found more cash likely elsewhere. We share the belief that for riders and the sport to develop, more outside sponsorship is needed, so money again was not the question. I like to think it was the bottle of maple syrup and pound of bacon we offered as a signing bonus that made it all happen. Or maybe all the amazing sushi in BC?

A-F - Hahaha I heard Patrick is pretty big on the bacon strips too. Solid.
Kind of a broad question, but what is next for Rayne? I know you guys are testing the waters and expanding into the wheel market. Are there any other new products we should look for soon?

Les – Dildos, epic w-concave, radial drop, urethane dildos? And speed cream. Or not. We’re still working on the Saviour. The Oracle kind of got in the way.

A-F – Dildos. (Dildoes? I’ve never had to pluralize “dildo” before. o.o) RIGHT. I’m gonna take that as there are lots of cool things under top-secret development. hahaha

Les - We’ll always be looking to innovate on our current lineup and look to the next generation – I think the Avenger coming out is a great example of that. I also see that as making a better work environment and planet, so Graham and I are working on a waste recovery project. You’ve seen some of this on the Next Level Risers – they’re made of our cutoff materials or “upcycled” scraps. We’re looking to expand the lineup of products we can make from our excess and we’re doing it with at-risk youth here in Vancouver. Skateboarders/ing is pretty accepting – we don’t wear business shirt collars, and swearing is accepted, so these youth have a great opportunity to earn money in an open work environment while we help teach them business and life skills. And they can do it on their own time without being tied to a schedule.

A-F – Awesome. Very admirable. It’s amazing to see skateboarding as a positive force in a community. I take it the Rayne Mini’s are another wing of that? Any more info to be shared on those?

Les – Minis are part of that, yes. We make minis from our production screwups – we don’t have many, which is why we don’t sell them right now. We’ve been hoarding them for a while (still sending them to events though) and we might be ready for a sale soon.

A-F – Anything else about the new Avenger’s development? I’ve noticed a lot of experimentation with 3-D concave. That’s some cool stuff.

Les – The Avenger is pretty sick in my opinion. It brings the pressed in 3D wheel wells from the Vandal over to the Avenger AND we’ve now got Fat Bottom technology. It’s essentially a taper core where the inside is fatter than the outside edges. Rigid, sturdy, and a ton of fun. And we took away the tow-hole, so the only thing that usually broke on the old Avenger is now gone.

A-F – Oh, the infamous tow-hook. A lot of people ended up chopping them anyways, so while it was a part of the Avenger from the start, I don’t know that it will be missed haha. Fat Bottom technology sounds much more appealing.
I read an interesting article that you wrote recently, mostly about the current state of legality of longboarding, and its future. Care to recap briefly? It was pretty spot-on.

Les – Basically, downhill IS illegal, unless you obey the rules of the road. In some places it is illegal entirely. There’s too much bitching about ‘legal skating’ – if you skate like a ninja and not like a pirate, then no one would ever be the wiser. The only other point I want to make is the bullshit complaining about groms and the “I’m longboarding because it’s popular” kooks and that kind of BS – pardon me, but shut the f**k up. Everyone has just as much right to skate as the next person and no one has a right to judge. Judging is weak and lazy. If you want to make a difference in your community, stop bitching about it and do something. Otherwise, head for the hills that aren’t five minutes from your house.

The less we welcome people, the more we’re our own greatest problem. I think my mom used to say, ‘you attract more bees with honey then with vinegar’. Well, for some skaters, they don’t actually want to attract anyone, so we won’t see them and they won’t be the problem. For everyone else – you are the problem. Accept everyone and self-regulate.

A-F – Boom, well said. It is the community’s obligation to police the community. That’s the only way this sport will continue to grow in a positive direction.

Anything else you want to say or to have the Adrenaline-Fueled readers know…?

Les - Not even sure what I’ve said already. haha Thanks to Adrenaline-Fueled for the interview. We’re keeping an eye on all the great stuff coming out of Socal here in BC!

A-F – Well thank you sir for sitting down with us. I’m sure we’ll be seeing many great things from Rayne Longboards in the near future, and we appreciate you sharing your time, your wisdom, and your stoke with us.

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This is an amazing interview with a legendary skater who paved the road for modern day skateboarding. He was a part of the legendary Zephyr surf and skate team, and lived and grew up in Venice Beach, CA (dogtown). Adams was a teenager in the 70′s and skated alongside Stacy Peralta and Tony Alva.

“Jay Adams may not have been the world’s best skater but he was the man, the real deal, the original, the first. He is the archetype of our shared heritage.” – Stacy Peralta

“Jay was a natural. He would do things that you would think incomprehensible,” says Jeff Ho, owner of the legendary Zephyr surf shop. “He would do things that would look like they were going to be a disaster, and he would turn it into artwork. He would fucking flow.”

Adams was skating before there were professional riders. There was no money to be made, and everyone skated for the love of it. “For me, skateboarding started in 1965 so by the time the Dogtown era came around I’d already been skating for 10 years. When I started it was clay wheels and mostly home made decks. We were just trying to copy surfing. Everything about skateboarding had to do with surfing. It was all about fun and a way to surf when the waves were shitty.” said Adams.

The things Adams would do had not been done yet. He was an innovator of the sport, a pioneer. “Watching him skate was something new every second, he was ‘skate and destroy’ personified.” said Peralta. It was well known that Adams did not much enjoy the competition, he skated and surfed for the love of it. He was there when they first learned to carve a wall in a pool, when they figured out they could hit the ledge, and when the learned to drop into the bowls. Skateboarding was rebellious, aggressive, and free.

Adams later got tied up with drugs and partying. “Well, using drugs has wasted a lot of years, but you gotta understand when I grew up, in the ’60s and ’70s and even the ’80s, everybody I knew used some sort of drugs. And most of the people I knew and hung around never let them get outta hand. We partied, we surfed and we skated, and it didn’t seem to be a problem. But later in life, drugs finally took their toll and got to the point where they were a very big problem.” Things quickly went from good to bad. “I was thinking man, all I do is sell drugs and do dope and been to jail a couple times. And I’m pretty much a menace at this time in my life.” Jay Adams was addicted to meth, and was in and out of the legal system. He was charged for murder and assault following a gay bashing he instigated in Los Angeles, and landed himself in prison again after being caught as the connect for a buyer and seller trying get crystal meth from California to Hawaii.

He has been through a lot of shit throughout his life, but is now living clean and sober (and is a reborn christian). He is still surfing and skating. Understandably, Adams is thankful to be alive and still doing these things in his 50′s. We recently got the chance to meet and bomb a hill a few times with Jay. It was incredible day, we had a blast. My mind is still blown. “This is my first time bombing hills in about 30 years” said Adams. “Can’t wait to bomb some real hills, Sunday was just a taste.” said Adams.

“This is my first time bombing hills in about 30 years”- Jay Adams. Photo By Leecifer Eisler

Me lurking in the back and Dave Hacket playing the Jay Adams drum. Photo By: Key Dougherty

Well, the man that started it all isn’t done yet, so why do I always hear people telling me they’re too old to skate? Anyway,  meeting Jay Adams Sunday was one of the coolest things that has happened to me in a while. To capitalize on his presence we had Dave Hackett there as well as a plethora of other well known riders who had been in the skate game almost from the beginning, Jay Adams paved the way for everyone though. Because of him they knew carving in a bowl and hitting the coping was possible. He showed them the possibilities on a skateboard. Skateboarding rules! Thanks Jay for everything you have done for the sport! You are a legend, a hero and a skater for life. – Leecifer

Resources

Words from the mouth of Stacy Peralta- http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/peralta/thrasher.html

2001 Jay Adams interview: http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/jayadams/2001.html

http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/jayadams/law.html

Reprinted from Thrasher Magazine- http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/jayadams/

Alli Adams is a name most downhill skaters know through her brother Spencer Adams or through their random friend requesting of skaters through facebook. Most people don’t know much about her except the fact that she is Spencer Adam’s sister and she skates. We took the time to sit down with Alli and find out a little bit more. One thing I know is that I have skated with Alli several times and she’s known to be the first one’s down from time to time. Her tuck is much more badass than mine.

Alli Adam’s sits and watches the sun setting after a long day of shredding. Photo By: Amish Patel

Adrenaline Fueled- Hey Alli, can I get your number?

Alli Adams- Haha, definitely not

AF- What do you love most about skateboarding?

AA- I love the feeling it gives me going down a hill. You can release all the drama of life, it just goes away when you skate.

AF- How do you feel about all the skater guys giving you so much attention?

AA- Attention is nice in moderation.

AF- What pressures if any do you have to get better?

AA- Right now I have sponsors, so I want to rep their products and show everyone else in the skating community what my sponsors have to offer. That’s why there is pressure to skate well and attend events.

Rod Gon chasing Alli down the hill. Check out that badass tuck! Photo By: Spencer Adams

AF- Were the picture on facebook of you sliding photoshopped?

AA- Are you kidding?

AF- Yea the ones upl0aded to facebook.

AA- (laughing) No they weren’t Photoshopped. They went straight from my mom’s camera to the computer.

Pendy for the camera Alli! Photo By SPencer Adams

AF- How is it skateboarding with your brother (Spencer “The Spez” Adams)? Is it weird?

AA- It can be annoying sometimes but for the most part it’s always awesome to have a skate buddy who’s also my twin brother.

Adams family twin draft train. Photo By: Uriel Meza

AF- What are your goals as far as skateboarding goes?

AA- To continue to improve. You know, I’m not doing this for anyone else. I’m doing it for myself and so right now my goals are just to stay happy and keep doing what I love, see where it takes me.

AF- We understand that you like to enter beauty pageants also. Is it true that you are Miss Newport Beach, CA?

AA- Yes, I am Miss Newport Beach 2011 and it was a lot of fun to compete in a beauty pageant. I might enter Miss California in the future so we’ll see but it’s nice to have different hobbies. They balance each other out.

AF- What do the other pageant girls think about your skateboarding?

AA- Well I tried to get them into skateboarding but they wouldn’t touch a skateboard! Sooooooo that didn’t really work, but they are all really nice and supportive.

Miss Newpot beach 2011. Photo By: Mike Steele

AF- What made you want to start skateboarding?

AA- I really did it with my brother because he picked it up during the summer while we were in Idaho and I really wanted something I could do with him that would be fun, that we could do together and share together. It turned out to be longboarding! It’s amazing to always have my brother there.

AF- How long have you been riding?

AA- About a year and a half.

AF- What is your favorite part about skateboarding?

AA- I love it all! I mean, going fast is such an amazing adrenaline rush. While there are frustrating aspects of the sport like skate drama and falling, at the end of the day, nothing beats the way longboarding makes me feel.

Soul riding. Photo By: Spencer Adams

AF- Who is the most influential skateboarder for you?

AA- Max Capps. He’s been with me through it all. From my first hill to my first time sliding to my first race. He’s such a talented skater and he has always been willing to help me and push me to be the best skater I can be.

AF- What inspires you to go outside and skateboard?

AA- There are a couple things that really inspire me. I do it for the feeling. I mean it’s an amazing rush every time I get on the board, feel the breeze in my hair and focus on the road ahead.

Outta my way. Photo By: Spencer Adams

AF- Who is your favorite skateboarder of all time?

AA- Of all time? (laughs) This ones probably gonna have to go to K-Rimes (Kevin Reimer)…..we’ll just leave it at that.

AF- So is it true then that K Rimes once spent the night at your house?

AA- Yes, it’s true. He stayed overnight with my family. We had dinner, played foosball and had a great time together.

AF- Anyone you wanted to give a shout out too before we wrap things up?

AA- Yes.  I want to give a shout out to ALL the women of skating. What a group of awesome, inspiring and bad-ass girls! Keep shredding!

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Barrett Junction October 2011 from Adrenaline Fueled on Vimeo.

Edit By: Lee Eisler

Barrett fucking Junction! If you have ever skated the road you understand this very well. This is the jankiest pavement you can find. Most people would say it is unskateable. This road has that sketchy gnarliness to it and you have to expect the unexpected. It is well known because of the pavement which grows continually worse each year.

Barrett Junction is a big bro-down with good friends and a road that we don’t get hassled at as long as we are American. Each Barrett Junction seems to be a new book of it’s own where stories are made, tales are told and friendships bond.

The first night you are there, as you look into the sky and you can see every star in the universe, a shooting star or two go by. You can see the milky way, planets and other foreign objects. A wolf howls, the branches move and then the dirt bike comes roaring back into the camp reminding you that you aren’t alone out there.

Sunday morning rolls around and it’s race time. With Mike and Joe running the show there was no bullshitting around. Practice runs were held in the morning and once the race had started heats were run one after the other. It was over in a fashionable time and the award ceremony didn’t take an hour. Straight to the point. No kissing anyone’s asses for 2 hours after the race.

If you haven’t made it out to one of these events yet then you are missing out on a great time. It was my first time there myself but I will not miss it again. – Leecifer

For the photo album click here.

Barrett Junction, October 2011 – Raw Luge Heat from Adrenaline Fueled on Vimeo.

Smooth Rolling from Adrenaline Fueled on Vimeo.

Name: Austin “Gooner” Lin

Freebord forum handle: dragoonerzerg

Board- 80 cm Avant, G3 Trucks, S2 bindings

Wheels- Slashers 80MM/80A

Stance- Goofy

Favorite type of hill? “Anything steep, long and gnarly. I prefer no traffick.”

Favorite freebord video? “Freebord:The Bay”

So I traveled out to Diamond Bar after hearing about all their amazing hills from a rider named Gooner. I met up with him at his house, and we were riding the 3 street loop with the last road being his street. He took me of a tour of the roads in his neck of the woods. We road quite a variety of roads. There are some pretty steep streets in Diamond Bar, but nothing that really stuck out in my head. Diamond Bar definitely has hills, they just don’t rate in the crazy factor. I do love Diamond Bars speed bumps however. We stopped and Gooner snapped some quick shots of me airing the speed bumps. I do not really ride much freestyle, primarily because I didn’t want my center wheels to break off or become loose. After this speed bump session I am seriously considering getting an extra bord. One for freestyle and one for downhill. Thanks Gooner for the tour of the city and inspiring me to do more freestyle riding!

Gooner snapping a quick shot of me airing the speed bumps