THRASH! Let me just start off this post by saying that the Bake and Destroy skateboard “riot” was both rad and bad.

Having an event that gets this many skateboarders in the community together is rad no matter what. This video premiere didn’t have skateboarding included in the schedule of events. Nor did it have a riot planned, but that doesn’t mean an adrenaline rush wasn’t about to be experienced by all 500 eager skateboarders waiting in line to see the Bake and Destroy video. The excited skaters lined the streets to see Baker Skateboard’s first video in 5 years.

I’m sure that being among the crowd of 500 skateboarders with 100 cops in riot gear and 3 helicopters hovering above, that had to have been a pretty rad time.

Now with that being said the whole thing kinda makes the whole skateboard world look pretty bad. As far as riots go this was extremely tame. Cops showed up and people for the most part didn’t know what to do.

Usually when you see a riot on TV cars are being flipped, burned and cops are forcing people off the streets with their riot shields. This DID NOT happen here.

Unfortunately people will not look at it that way. They will see the videos of everyone chanting “fuck the police, fuck the police” and just think we are all punk kids. There were also kids running over cars, shop windows were broken and bottles and rocks were being thrown.

Here’s how the day went…

Saturday October, 13 2012 The Bake and Destroy video was premiering on Hollywood Blvd. A crowd of around 500 skateboarders waited outside lining the Hollywood Blvd, some of them there all day. “I got here at 7:30 a.m. If you get here 2 hours before your fucking up,” said the guy in the front of the line.

With 2 showings planned, the first was an industry premiere for all the pros and company owners. As the first showing was underway kids in the back of the line and people who had been waiting all day started to get bored. Unfortunately bored, skateboarders and kids don’t all go together too well.

Laser pointers were being flashed into apartment windows. Someone in an apartment started shining a laser pointer right back. There were then kids throwing rocks and beer cans at cars and buses.

It wasn’t long until police were dispersed. 2 police helicopters arrived to spotlight the happenings and 100 officers in full tactical swat gear arrived making a perimeter and shutting down Hollywood Blvd.

People threw rocks and bottles at police officers and it took officers around 3 hrs to disperse the crowd of 500 skateboarders. No injuries were reported and 2 cars were reported damaged during the incident.

As all this was happening outside the premiere, inside the industry viewing was underway. “This is a fucking skateboard video! You live and die for skateboarding! You want some? Get some! Bake and fucking destroy!!!!” and with that being said the “play that shit” button was pressed and the video was under way.

In the middle of the industry viewing the people inside the theater started to hear about the riots outside the theater. At the end of the video security started to let everyone out the back doors of the theater.

As people filed out the back doors a police helicopter spotlight lit up the back exit. “That’s when we knew it was going down out front.” Police officers in riot gear quickly shut down that exit figuring that letting these people out would only add to the chaos.

After all was said and done this was just another night in the skateboard world. Bake and Destroy will be sent out with the next issue of Thrasher Magazine and it will be available on the internet in a couple months for free. Skateboarding rules! – Leecifer

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“Think we should give a card to those cops and tell them to go check out the police encounters section of the site?” said Stephen Johnson

“I’ll leave that up to you. I don’t wanna talk to them.” Said Lee Eisler

(Stephen proceeds forward to hand them a card and to tell them to go check out the Police encounters section)

“Hey do you guys like skate videos?” Stephen asked the cops.

“Didn’t you know skateboardings a crime.” said the cop.

“Police and skateboarders” said the cop as he starts to shake his head no.

“Cops hate skateboarders” said the other cop.

“Well do you like watching cops bust skateboarders because we have a police encounters section.” said Stephen

“I hate cops too.” Said the cop

“Well do like veterans?” asked Stephen.

“Not really, it’s on a case to case basis.” said the cop.

Needless to say we gave up didn’t pursue to find out his name and had all the people around us smiling.

“I can’t believe what I just heard. Did he just say skateboarding is a crime?” said Lee

“He did, what a dick?” said Stephen.

The freebord pro team talks to this police officer who explains the laws of the city for skateboarding and tells about his fame from other skate videos. Photo by: Leecifer

You’re skating your favorite hill when “Johnny Law” rolls up on you. It turns out someone called reporting skateboarders on “their” hill. After a lecture explaining the laws (which vary from city to city) you are issued a ticket for being a pedestrian in the roadway.

“Here’s your lift ticket,” says the police officer. Your day which was going good so far just got expensive. All the fun you were having is drowned and a damper is thrown on your day.

This ticket was issued on a road with no sidewalks, no bike lane and cyclists riding up and down the road. No one is worried about the cyclists. They are free to roam and do their thing while you are treated like a criminal. Skateboarders are unfairly singled out although a skateboard can be used for transportation as well as recreation while bicycles are used for mostly recreation.

Skateboarding has been around since the 1950′s. As the sport began to increase in popularity, its sub culture grew and law enforcement looked at these kids as punks and criminals.

Police officers, security guards and concerned citizens are constantly harassing skaters. A fun run down a hill shouldn’t turn into a lecture about the danger of the sport and how many people are killed participating in it nor should it become an issue about who owns the street. The amount of cyclists killed every year is far greater than the number of skateboarders.

A stereotype about skaters is that they run around spray-painting everything and destroying stuff, breaking into places and stealing. Sure there are criminals and punks who skateboard, but this doesn’t mean that all skateboarders fall under this category.

“Stop skating immediately” bellowed the police helicopter flying above Michael Melone (left) and Jordan Hessler (right). Photo By: Leecifer

It is a sport that requires a great deal of balance and athleticism. Most people will have a hard time standing on the board let alone riding it down hills and flipping it in controlled spins through the air.

Southern California has a thriving multimillion dollar action sports industry, yet people still want skateboarding banned in their cities. They want the streets to themselves for the few times they drive up and down each day.

We view the world differently than most people. Each city is its own playground.

“Go home” said the cop to a group of skaters ready to bomb the 50 mph rollercoaster ride. Photo by: Leecifer

Every skateboarder shares one thing in common. We have all felt the pure thrill and joy of riding around town with nothing but a piece of wood and wheels between you and the road. It is one of the best feelings in the world. The adrenaline is flowing, you can feel the wind whipping against you as your shirt flaps behind you and at that moment nothing else matters.

Skateboarding in certain areas is like being in a war zone. It is you versus everyone else. No skateboarding signs litter city streets. “You are not allowed to have fun here,” is how I read the signs. You must be ready for any situation, even the occasional pissed off parent.

The sport is rapidly growing and acceptance for it is slowly increasing. Skate parks are being built so people have designated places to go. Skateboarders are still looked at as punk kids, when in reality it is just your normal everyday person trying to enjoy their lives and the sport they choose to participate in.

What is better than a sport with no rules, where you are free to do what you want all while having fun doing it? – Leecifer

Photos by: Leecifer

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R.I.P Jamboree Garage Sessions

Ok, so we knew that the event would be rad. We have always been fans of Xtreme Boardshop and the way they do things but the event ended up being more fun than we expected.

The mountain runs in the morning to the shop party after the slide jam. Skating of all kinds went down. The slide jam was technically the main event but we went for the party of course.

The slide jam was not a contest but rather a big bro down jam. Everyone having fun and killing it. Tickets were handed out for rad moves which were saved for the product give away at the shop. The slide jam ended when the piggies showed up. One by car and one by helicopter. “Vacate the area immediately, this is your final warning” could be heard blaring from the helicopter. The thing even had sirens!

We all headed back to the shop and it wasn’t long before Will got back with plenty of pizza for everyone. After everyone finished stuffing their faces full of pizza and soda it was time for the product toss. Everyone got their tickets they received earlier out and hoped to hear their numbers called as decks, wheels, shirts, more decks, more shirts, hundreds of stickers, footstops, all the sponsor product you could thing of was passed out through the raffle.

After that more pizza was eaten and footage from the day was reviewed. The flat bar was set up outside the shop and slowly people started heading home as the sun went down. All in all it was a great day. Thanks to Will and Xtreme Boardshop for everything! – Leecifer

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Austin Nicassio leads the pack into the second part of the race course.

July 10, 2011 The crew was again gathered in Temecula, Ca for SDDRL #31 “Mob Rules.” It was a nice, sunny and warm day for everyone meeting on a secluded street that ended in a dead end.

Max Capps a blur crossing the finish line first

There was a Mens class and a Juniors class for the racing. Juniors being under 18. There was also a special luge race held in the midst of it all.

That rubber you smell isn’t from any car tires. It’s just our shoes.

Left to right: Joe Marshall leading Justin Tolman, Ronnie Iverson and Kody Young in the final luge heat.

The hill was fast and there was lots of very exciting racing. Lots of tight packs and neck to neck finishes.

Jimmy Riha (left) and Ben Hryn (right) in a close finish.

Ben Hryn (tye dye) Tim Del Rosario (green) and Key Dougherty (leathers) zoom past the camera at high speeds

The cops did show up to make us leave, however we still managed to run the final heat.

Hello officer

 RESULTS

Mens Division

1st- Max Capps

2nd- Taylor Riley

3rd- Ben Hryn

Winning comes with a bucket of water dumped on you

 Junior Division

1st- Daniel Luna

2nd- Austin Nicassio

3rd- Brett Ciabattini

Stoked

Luge

1st- Joe Marshall

2nd- Ronnie Iverson

3rd- Justin Tolman

Congrats to the winners. Rad new trophy Ronnie!

Special thanks to the Pulverizer joining us all the way from Canada.

When you have a growing and innovative sport like freebording, gather up all the best riders in the sport and take them on a trip, epic times are to be had.

Arnaud de Bluze (green shirt) leads with Bently Anderson (blue shirt) Tom Macfarlane (black shirt) Tyler Murgo (grey shirt) Nicolas Gaillard (blue sweatshirt)

Traveling south through L.A and finding a great hill with fresh wet slurry on it was fustrating. It was time for the team to head farther south to Orange County.

Arnaud de Bluze (left) and Arnaud Blin (right) shredding down Summit

After finding some of the best hills in Southern California it was not long before the cops came to tell us to leave. They told us about a ban on hills in the city and gave us a pamphlet showing all the banned hills.

The cops came to try to stop all our fun telling us about the roads being banned

Thinking we had won after finding a hill that wasn’t on the list the Dethbox (Freebord van) crashed into a parked Mustang.

The Dethbox eats up a Mustang

It was time to move on to other hills. Heading down south to a popular road in San Clemente everyone got some shredding in without being hassled.

From right to left. Corey Lucero followed by Bently Anderson and Richie Verost shredding Talega

The trip wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the skate park. The shreddage and elbow/hip/ass carnage was exhilerating to watch.

Nicolas Gaillard does a 360 at San Clemente skatepark

After another day of shredding the team was headed back up north.

Arnaud de Bluze takes the best right hand turn Modjeska Canyon has to offer

Epic hills, cops, car crash, more cops, shredding, getting yelled at by the locals, camping, more shredding, road rash, swell bows, skate parks, and more shredding. Wouldn’t be a Freebord trip without all of this.

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35+ People and a police chopper hovering above

Photo by: Tim Del Rosario

Video and Pics by Lee Eisler

Hiking up the steep trail and turning the corner the course was finally visible. Two canopies marked the beginning and end of where the slide jam would be taking place.

There was no cars on this road at all making it the perfect spot to hold a slide jam. Also the area of the road we were on was not visible to anyone from the streets or neighborhoods below.

Riders threw down their best stuff, many of them able to conquer the kicker ramp. As the slide jam was coming to an end the cops showed up ensuring the end of the jam. As people talked to the cops shwag was handed out and winners were announced.

Joe Marshall Picking up a gnarly rattlesnake

Video shot and edited by: Lee Eisler

With an eclectic mix of big name riders and free agents – some hailing from as far as the Philippines – present, the Talega Halloween Slide Jam once again proved that SoCal can provide a world-class course.

It was fun seeing people dressed up and pushing the limit doing absolutely gnarly maneuvers on their skateboards. With the two kicker ramps set up riders had plenty of launch to help them go big. Both kicker ramps were big, however the large kicker ramp was just massive. This ramp made for both big tricks and big falls. 

Everyone got plenty of runs in and before we knew it, it was time for the contest to begin. Hot dogs were consumed and the plenty of grilling was getting done while lights and generators were set up. Darkness was falling and as the road became less and less visible a police chopper flew in and provided  light for some riders. After about 20 minutes of the spotlight as the only light, the generators were fired up and the course was back to daylight.

With a police chopper still circling over head with their spotlight the event began. Run after run, trick after trick, a spotlight from above and tons of riders ripping created a really cool atmosphere. Forty minutes to an hour went by when three police officers came walking up the hill with their flashlights. “Do you know how much money it costs to put a chopper in the air?” one officer said. “We honestly thought you were just helping us out with light,” a skater replied.

Due to a stupid law in San Clemente the event was shut down by the 5-0. Apparently due to the powers of darkness you are not allowed to skateboard at night in the city of San Clemente. The cops were nice about it and let us pack up and leave, with no citations..

We all met at a park right down the street from where the slide jam was. Awards and swag were handed out to anxious skaters. Everyone got a hat, dvd and plenty of stickers. Many riders got trucks, wheels, gloves and several other prizes were handed out to the winners. Three lucky winners left with brand new Sector 9 decks.

1st Place- Duke Degan

Check back for other winners. I have forgotten in all the mayhem.

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Enjoy this video shot by the GravityMagnet himself during the security guard chase.

“Jamboree”, a local parking garage favorite for many OC based skaters has always been a top choice when inclement weather was around or if we’re just looking for a fun session down ramps with an elevator access back to the top.

Last Thursday  (10/14/10) evening the crew met for another fun night of railing “Jamboree’s” right-hand corners. There was about 15  of us. Some of these kids traveled all the way from San Juan Capistrano and Laguna Beach just for this garage session so a few runs were definitely in order, but after about 10 runs, the security smelled us and decided to go for a chase.

We saw his car racing up to the top level to meet us. Everyone started pushing to get away, but he soon caught up. He snuck in between pillars to keep up with us and drifting the corners in his Prius. I watched as he recklessly tried to run some of use into the wall.

When we reached the ground level split-up through different exits, six of usjumped into an SUV to try and get away from the enraged security officer. He then proceeded to speed into where we parked to exchange some words. “It’s going to be a scary thing when your generation takes over,” the security guard said.

One week later Thursday 10/21/10 everyone joined back up for round two with the security guard. This time he was with superior back up, the Irvine Police Department.