Waldo Autry 1957-2013. On January 23, 2013 Waldo Autry, a skateboard legend, street luger and the definition of an adrenaline junky passed away. Waldo was a friend to everyone that knew him. He touched the lives of many and his passing away was a shock to everyone who knew him.

Waldo was best known for inventing the kickturn on an invert in the Baldy pipes. He raced in the Signal Hill speed runs and made the cover of many skateboarding magazines. He was always pushing the limits with everything he did. “If they were going to jump over a car, I was going to jump over a garage” Waldo said in an interview with Juice Magazine.

Not only is Waldo well known for skateboarding but he was also a well known street luger. Most people who don’t know much about street luging know him for his participation in the Red Bull luge launch in San Francisco.

The skateboarding he did in bowls far exceeded others of his time. Anybody who skateboarded in the 70′s would know who Waldo Autry was and anyone who has ever had the chance to meet or ride with the man has a story to tell.

My first time meeting him was at Barrett Junction and it was obvious that he was willing to push the envelope. Waldo only knew how to charge into things hard.

At Barrett Junction I saw him crash twice and both times were crazy. I know he liked the way I told the story of his crash. I was street luging right behind him and almost got tangled up in his wreck with Niko Kroha. “It was probably better to crash there then to make it,” Waldo said after I told him my recollections about watching his crash and how crazy it was. I pretty much had first row seats to the crash following right behind him down the hill.

Waldo Autry’s crash with Niko Kroha was one of the gnarliest street luge crashes that I have witnessed in person.

Niko was out in front of Waldo, I was right behind them and Tabitha Mitchell was right behind me.

Waldo went for the pass on Niko on the inside. Niko was pretty far inside though and there wasn’t much room for him to pass.

Instead of throwing his feet down and braking Waldo was trying so hard to pass Niko two of his wheels left the road for a second. As soon as this happened he got the speed wobbles and wobbled straight through the right hand turn before Docs corner.

As he wobbled through the turn he clipped wheels with Niko causing him to lose his line.

Waldo hit the rock and dirt covered wall at around 45 mph and the wall exploded around him.

After his wheel was clipped Niko was also headed to the dirt and rock wall. As soon as his luge left the road the front dug into the dirt and catapulted him into the wall.

Me and Tabitha Mitchell threw our brakes down because we were right behind them when all this went down and the crash looked pretty intense.

I looked up to the crash scene and waldo was laying on the side of the road not moving. His street luge was flipped upside down on top of him.

Niko was also walking towards Waldo. “Waldo? (no response)…….Waldo are you there?” said Niko.

All of a sudden Waldo started shaking around and shoving the street luge off of himself. “I was just checking everything out, making sure I was alright” said Waldo.

Waldo Autry was a man, a legend and a friend to everyone who knew him. His passing is definitely a big blow to the community but he is a man who will never be forgotten.
The stories about him will live on forever. – Lee

Bonelli is always a fun time but as far as all the racers are concerned it’s a super lame race…..yet they still come.
The course used to be a straight line until quite a few years back now they added the right hand turn into it.
The turn is kind of technical though. It is pretty flat after the turn so riders must hold their speed as much as possible through the turn to win it.

This causes many crashes since everyone is trying to take the line as fast as they can but not so fast that they slide or crash into the hay bails.
The hay bails lining the turn are the best 3rd basemen in skateboarding. I call it crash corner due to the large amount of crashes.

This actually makes for a very entertaining event for the spectators also.
There seemed to be a lot less crashes this year compared to the 2010 or 2011 races we attended. That’s not to say there weren’t a lot of crashes, but there weren’t as many.

For those who don’t already know Bonelli is a sanctioned IGSA race. It is actually the U.S. Nationals. The race is not just downhill skateboarding but also includes street luge, classic street luge and inline rollerblading.
The big story of the day is 18 year old Daniel Luna taking 1st place in the open division. Great job Daniel!

I’m surprised these guys weren’t doing any ceiling rides they were going so big and getting so much air off such a little ramp, although ceiling rides might be a thing of the future for these guys. Throwing down huge rock and rolls and just big trick after big trick on the little ramp.The contest was unorganized but went very smoothly and was run loosly. Felt like a bro down skate jam but everyone was going for it knowing there were prizes on the line. $20 was given to the winner and some schwag. A slappy curb contest was held afterwords and everyone seemed to have a good time. I’m a fan of So Cal Skateshop and the stuff they do. The grill was going, plenty of drinks. It was a lot of fun.

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This isn’t a rave, It’s a Full Moon Outlaw Skateboard Race!!! Photo taken by: Stephanie South

Boards, helmets and riders lit and seen with glow sticks embarked on a journey that most riders didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. I didn’t even know what I was getting myself into. A large group gathered at the top, Chris De Guzman shouted out the rules, what was going to happen, what the course was like and where the ending was. After a quick group photo everyone gathered at the start and go go go!!!

Chinese start, everyone at once jamming down the narrow path which is also the fastest part of the course. I only made it probably 500 feet before I could see glow sticks flying everywhere in front of me, the sounds of boards scraping, bodies hitting the ground and feet slamming against the concrete as riders tried to run it out. It was about 2 seconds after that I hit either a person or board and landed on someone else and then hat at least one board and two other riders run into me. After the huge pile up and everyone scrambling to find their boards everyone continued back down the hill.

The path was rad especially following an army of glowsticks tucking hard pushing and pumping. The speeds were hard to judge at night but the path was a little over cruising speed the whole time. It took several dips under pitch black bridges and tunnels. Swooped through the valley and next to a creek. This event was actually probably one of the most fun events that I have attended big thanks to Chris De Guzman for hosting it and spreading the stoke. The night ended with Max Capps winning it! – Leecifer

Riding by: Adam Smith

Video by: Christina Barea

Music by: Dimarco

This is a rad little video of Adam Smith shredding around on a cool looking longboard doing some stair drops and a few other rad variations. Looks like fun Adam! Thanks for sending this in guys. Find them on youtube at PushitProductions. – Leecifer

John Angelo hangs 10. Photo by: Amelia Freeman

Everyone has seen the simple sticks with wheels attached to the bottom that people use to “paddle” or push their skateboards down the street. The Von Bone Street Paddle is that but on steroids. “This isn’t your mother’s broomstick,” said Hurricane Von Bone (inventor/creator/mastermind) as he handed me a street paddle.

“I was riding my bike one day and I saw a guy trying to push himself with a bamboo pole and he just didn’t look happy. I did that with a broomstick when I was 12, and it just didn’t really work out for me. I was riding my bike down by the beach, and all of a sudden this light bulb came on and then I created the Von Bone street paddle,” said Hurricane.

The street paddle is exactly what the name implies. It’s basically a stand up paddle board for the streets. As I paddled down the street following Hurricane, I even noticed he was standing on the board the same way you would with a stand up paddle board. His feet side by side,  in the middle of the board, pointing straight ahead, switching side to side with the paddle.

“That’s probably part of it, you know. The standup paddle boarding thing is so big right now, and you wouldn’t believe how many people are afraid of the water. I mean, they’re scared to fall on a skateboard too but they’re even more afraid of the water,” said Hurricane.

As I paddled down the street, I noticed it was a great upper body workout as well. I have tried the other sticks people use for pushing before and this is not really comparable to them. The Von Bone Street Paddle uses torque powered by the rider to spring him or herself forward.

“With the way it’s designed, no matter how you grab it when your switching hands and hitting the ground with it you’re at the right angle. The grabbing handle’s round and the traction ball’s round so no matter how you hold it you got the right angle” said Hurricane.

Karly Freeman gets barreled. Photo by: Amelia Freeman

The street paddles come with two different pounds of torque, the 60 lb version and the 80 lb which are suitable for the majority of riders. There is version however a lighter resistance model and a heavier resistance model being designed to better accommodate riders of all abilities and strength.

For the short time I was at the booth I saw lots of people excited about the product and many people wanted to try it. Their booth was packed the whole time I was there.

“We’re getting people who have never even skated before that are looking at this going, ‘you know, I think I could do that.’ I’m getting moms and grandmothers trying it. They may not take up the sport but they’re thrilled with it, and you wouldn’t get them to walk into your average skate shop and try a board out. Something about our product makes it appealing to the general population, not just the skate kids.”

The Von Bone Street Paddle is an awesome invention that creates a way for people anywhere at anytime to go outside their house and start paddling away. The stick is light enough to easily carry around and it just further shows the relationship between skateboarding and surfing. They go hand and hand and this brings the concept of stand up paddle boarding to the land. It’s only natural that this thing was built and designed in Huntington Beach, aka Surf City USA, in the beautiful state of California. – Leecifer

www.vonbone.com

Find them on facebook.

John Angelo paddles down the boardwalk. Photo by: Amelia Freeman

Stop by their booth Tuesday’s on main st in Huntington Beach between 5-9. They also skate the boardwalk at Huntington St saturdays and sundays. Photo by: Lee Eisler

Peter Kell has a creative and entertaining way of reviewing his top 5 most kick ass boards in longboarding.

Edit By: Peter Kell

5. Kevin Reimer’s custom made carbon fiber Rayne Killswitch

4. 313 Skateboards “The Bird”

3. Airflow “Bracket”

2. WeFunk “Roadmaster” with no cutouts

1. 42″ OG Sector 9 Race deck

Check out the wheel review our homie’s from ThreeRing Longboard’s put together. These dudes live in Salt Lake City, Utah and they have a pretty cool thing going on. Also look for events in your area from these guys. They throw some super rad events. Check out the video of the event they threw in Las Vegas with this link…Three Ring Longboards Vegas Showdown

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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So I saw this video before I even knew who Peter Kell was and I didn’t know shit about going fast on a skateboard. Although Peter went 95 mph he got lots of hate because he was in the draft of the truck meaning no wind hitting you so it is way way less gnarly. Well this video was filmed when Peter was also very new to the whole DH skateboard scene.
Well he went to make a rebuttal video of himself being pulled by a car holding onto a wake board tow rope. Well he hit 80 and….. I guess you’ll have to watch to find out. – Leecifer