[2004] The Farm 4.0pen

[William Tway]

Ok racers, Joe and I met with the Bethel town board last night and they voted in favor of us racing on their turf. There’re even going to promote The Farm on their local cable access channel. I just listed the event on the Contest Calendar so we are set to race. It's On!! See you there.
http://www.ncdsa.com/contest_registrati ... testID=150




The wheel is turning and you can't slow down....

[William Tway]

Slalom boarding to debut at park

Photo by William Tway
Wes Tucker of Summerville, S.C., races a slalom board in Vista, N.Y., last summer.
By Marietta Homayonpour
THE NEWS-TIMES

BETHEL — Francis J. Clarke Industrial Park may be a great place to do business, but its wide, curving roads also are popular for sports.
People often walk or run for exercise on Clarke Circle, Trowbridge Drive or Turnage Road. Every year bike races and soap box derbies are held on special weekends.

Soon, another sport will be added to the roster. "Slalom boarding" makes its park debut in August.

"We're all a bunch of old guys," said slalom boarder William Tway. The 40-year-old Westchester County resident is organizing the event.

On Tuesday night, he received the Board of Selectmen's blessing to hold races Aug. 7 with a rain date of Aug. 8.

"It sounds like a lot of fun," said First Selectman Alice Hutchinson, adding selectmen were impressed with the "great job" Tway did in explaining the sport and were satisfied the organizers had enough insurance for the event.

"This is absolutely the perfect spot," said Tway about Clarke Park. "It's not too steep, there's no traffic, it's quiet and the roads are wide enough to have head-to-head races."

Races are free and Tway encourages spectators to bring lunches and spend the day.

Part of the proceeds from the $50 racers' entrant fees will go to Bethel animal control, which will use the money to help spay and neuter cats and dogs.

Slalom boarding is skateboarding without the tricks and the ramps, the rails and half-pipes that make up a skate park. It's competitive racing around cones. Most participants are between 35 and 45 years old, said Tway, adding "we're trying to get the youth of today into this sport."

That sounds good to Nancy LoBalbo, who is on the committee that manages the Bethel Skate Park, where pre-teens and teens try to "ollie" high in the air or "grind" their boards across an iron rail.

"I would hope that our kids would check it out," said LoBalbo.

Racers in the Bethel event will cover a roughly 800-foot course, going about 20 miles an hour. They must wear helmets and knee and elbow pads.

In the giant slalom race, cones are spaced 8 to 10 feet apart and in the tight slalom they're about 6 feet apart. A "vintage race" with pre-1978 boards and with cones widely spread out also will be held.

Tway said slalom boarding races began in the mid 1960s but were most popular in the 1970s when urethane wheels replaced clay wheels and gave the riders better traction. In the late 1970s, ABC television aired the world championships live on the Wide World of Sports, he said.

But interest waned in the early 1980s, when childen began doing tricks with the boards and slalom racing lost its appeal. Around 2000, however, interest revived because enthusiasts found each other on the Internet.

Today, about 600 slalom board racers are registered around the world and a World Slalom Championship is held each year in Morro Bay, Calif. Slalom boarding "is huge in Europe," said Tway, adding some racers from Europe may come to the Bethel event.

As of Thursday, 22 competitors had registered for the Bethel race, including some from Virginia and Colorado. There will be a maximum of 50 entrants.

The Bethel race, called The Farm, will be the fourth in the American Cup Slalom Series that started in mid-April in Jackson, Miss., and will end in Morro Bay, Calif., with the world championships from Oct. 8 to 10.

Slalom boards are between 28 to 32 inches long and about 8 inches wide. That's a little narrower than the skateboards used for trick boarding but the big difference
between the two types of boards are in the shape and material used, said Tway.

"They're very specialized," said Tway. Slalom boards are flat and don't have the kick tail of a trick skateboard. Instead of wood, they are made of carbon fiber or "foam core," similar to a surfboard.

Tway is a snowboarder and used that sport to describe the thrill of slalom boarding. "It's the same sensation as a deep carve on a snowboard."


Contact Marietta Homayonpour

at mhomayonpour@newstimes.com

or at (203) 731-3336.

[John Gilmour]

Tway- you got some killer info into that article congrats.

[Matthew Wilson]

Tway, that was great!! Thanks for all the time and energy, buddy.

[William Tway]

I just want to thank Pocket Pistol Skates for really stepping it up to make the Farm 4.0 the best one yet!!!!

http://www.users.cloud9.net/~wbtway/pistolskates1.wmv

[William Tway]

[Rick Stanziale]

(since i don't believe in "luck" or "jinxes")

Sat
Aug 07 Partly Cloudy 80°/61° 0 %

btw....there's a soap box derby hill in sanford, florida (halfway between daytona and orlando)



Derby Park - http://www.ci.sanford.fl.us/pk05.html

[William Tway]

Damn I just spent two weeks near Sanford. (Mt Dora area). I could have been practicing.

right.

see you soon.

[William Tway]

Twayquest

Directions to Hays Party From Race

1) Right at light (Rt 53) as you leave Frances J. Clarke park for 2.8 miles
2) Right on Umpawaug Rd. for .4
3) Right onto Marchant Rd (easy turn to miss- just past on school brick schoolhouse) go slow big dips in road .7
4) Left onto Chestnut Woods Rd (Look for white farm fence) .7 to end of road
5) Go Right onto Topstone Rd. (no sign) go .5 to RR Tracks
6) Cross RR Tracks go uphill (new asphalt) .2 to red light
7) Left at light onto Rt 7 go 2.3 miles
8. Right on Rt.102 –(many curves - follow double yellow lines until end) 3.4 Miles

9) Left onto Rt 35 South for only .1 (comes up fast)
10) Quick Right turn at large fountain -> stay on Rt 35 for 2.1 Miles
11) Left across intersection to Rt 123 to Vista go .4
12) Right onto Mill River Rd. (Stay left at fork.)
13) Left to Hays Farm @ 75 Mill River Rd.
14) Party On.

[Terry Kirby]

Sound system, power generator for The Farm provided by www.jumpinjacksports.com .
Thanks to Jack Flemming for supporting our race. TK

[Terry Kirby]

Course description for the Slalom Event.

The course will be geared towards getting the most speed from the hill and surface.

Course will start with a series of "lead in's" and speed building sections.
An example of this would be 5 7' straights to a step over to 5 7 foot straights to a step over to 5 6 foot straights to a step over.

At this point the course will seem easy unless you go balls out all 3 speed building sections. You should be moving at a good clip by now.

This will lead you into an angled line of mabey 3 cones to an off the fall line offset. Experienced racers will be able to negotiate this section at speed. Those with less experience will have to know when to back off in order to make it.

Back into speed you will hit a loose S or Hips section, again hot racers like Tway will be building even more speed by now. There will be very little cruise sections or long deep pumps on this course.

The last section will be a suprise.

Gear tips. Ride your comfort board... Ideal length will be anywhere from 30 to 36" (Roe Unlimited to Pocket 36)

Wheels will be Avalons and or Grippins.

The course will be between 50 and 60 cones.

[William Tway]

Big THANKS to Troy Smart for his excellent craftsmanship. These suckers are built to last.

Troy has earned a lifetime exemtion to the farm for his efforts.

[Matthew Wilson]

Those look pretty nifty. Thanks, Troy!!!

[Terry Kirby]

Beautiful work troy. I like the longer roll in.
Major thanks for Hauling them to Tways on your day off.
TK

[William Tway]

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to make the farm 4.0pen our best event yet:

Pocket Pistol Skates
Ommegang Beer

Radikal Trucks
Monkeywrench Machine Works
Asphalt Playground
Roe Racing Skateboards
Seismic/3dm
Fatboy Skateboards
Bozi Boards
Smartbilt Ramps
Joe I and his better half
Yvonne Gamble





let's party

[John Gilmour]

The TS will hopefully be the fastest and most difficult of the season. Unlike other TS races- you will actually NEED a TS Wheels, TS DECK and Possibly TS Trucks.

[John Gilmour]

The TS will hopefully be the fastest and most difficult of the season. Unlike other TS races- you will actually NEED a TS Wheels, TS DECK and Possibly TS Trucks.

Overheard-
from the style Monger........
"Bruno"

Cambria's? -Acht Ya!

Avilas?- Nish nish.
36 inch Pocket Pistol? Ish dont think so.

Vy iz it that Tight slalom is zo out of style .............this season?

Zis Cones could make great hats! just kidding ha ha h aha ha ha hahah- I like it..Zat was so bitchy!

Overheard from "Borat" while in USA

"NIICE! The course will be tight.............................like a ---'- ----.
Last time things so tough, Stalin was in POWer. The Party will be NIICE, my sister might be entertaining at the party- she was voted THE best. The finest wines made in Khazkstan from only pedigree horses will be for drinking. Food served will be clean without any critzollis (tik stik tik). Possibly there will be there....a skate competer wearing pink ladyboy dress. "


-------------------

For real....
Some people might actually try and duplicate the course elsewhere- and work out the kinks in a nighttime session. Those would be the smart ones.




















No one will be able to say "Gilmour set the course so he could win it." ......................................................................Suckers. Maybe....... I should toss in a push section.?

Hasta La vista ....Babies.

[William Tway]

Don't worry folks, I'll sneak behind JG and make the course a bit wider than his vision.

One good turn deserves another.

[John Gilmour]

Buyllsiht-


no vey.

It will be a typical tought TS practice type course.

Don't plan on tons of cone spray to save the unpracticed.... the idea is not to get ejected from the course.


The Women and possibly the kids will get cones pulled in. Actually The Kids are Alright....but we still might make it a lettle easier.

[John Gilmour]

Course is dropped. Hybrid is down as well as the TS.

TS

Is fast- but I would like to make it faster and yet a little more tech. So far the COSS guys have it wired. The kids are working on it. I had a lot of curves- to diagonal transfers in it- very tech....but opted to take most of them out.I think I'll put at least one back in. Tempting in this course is a fast straight pumper section.....which if you pump- likely will cause you to blow out.. (many will make this mistake in head to head racing....some smart ones will trick their opponent into that same mistake)

I still want it to be super tech......I ended up making it easier than I wanted...but the cones aren't down yet. It's hard to set a course you can't skate yourself. The surface is good- but not as good as I would like for super tech TS- hill pitch is great.

Only a few will be able to pump that straight and survive. Pirnack- had one sick practice run. (Soft cambrias)...sounds like---------

"Rolling Thunder"

[John Gilmour]

Pirnack met Fluitt in an early round and eliminated Pirnack- Fluitt went on to win. Both rocketed past me at the finish like fighter jets. Both posted sub 19 sec.raw times.

[John Gilmour]

The tight course????I have no idea what it was like. I started out setting a really technical course....but people were skating it while I set it so it mutated into a simpler course..Unable to skate...I couldn't even test it. At little resetting was needed to get around a manhole cover so everyone raced a fresh course.

I still didn't get to set the course I really wanted- about 50% of the difficulty was stripped out of it....but there is always next year for that.

Fluitt took it in style...IF you see that pic on ncdsa.com you couldn't imagine a more sincere smile on anyones face- Fluitt looks like a ten year old kid on Christmas day (only the new x-mas Fibreflex has been substituted for a Giant super Magnum Champagne style beer)- slalom keeps you young.

[Matthew Wilson]

Well, despite a porr showing on my part the the Farm, this year's race was killer. We all got treated to some fast action in both the hybrid and TS events, where it really looked like everyone--practiced and unpracticed--gave it their all once up on those ramps. BTW, TROY....GREAT job on the ramps. If you raced at the Farm and didn't thank Troy for those ramps yet, you should. The man worked hard.

TK, Tway, Joe I, and others: Fantastic job planning this event. Thank you for all of the HARD work. Thanks to our timing team and all the cone marshals.

The race was great and that party was top notch. Mrs. Tway and the Hays....THANK YOU. The band was great, the food and drink even better. And the Company, well, we could be here all day.

Anyway, thanks to all who made it possible.

BTW, I have a digital photo of Joe I's bare butt for sale to the highest bidder. I will also accept a set of Grippins as a trade.

[Matthew Wilson]

Joe,

Are you still tipsy from the party?

oh, and Joe...have some respect--take your future, offensive remarks to the Dark Side. I'll meet you there.

[Rick Stanziale]

good people good vibes

my hand is feeling better, i'll type more later this week (got teary eyed on my flight home thinking that this is all coming to an end soon!)

[William Tway]

Not sure which is worse, chiggers or stiches...

Anyone that has a group shot would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Tway.

[William Tway]

Overall Hybrid Results + Qualifying Times/Position

A-Group
1)Mitchell 23.719 (3)
2)Mollica 23.238 (1)*
3)Barker 23.673(2)
4)Fluitt 23.786 (4)
5)Pirnack 23.873(5)
6)Heinle 24.463 (6)
7)Hollien 24.561 (7)
8)A. Morris 24.608 (8)

B-Group
1)TK 24.732 (10)
2)Parsons 24.611 (9)
3)Ohm 25.995 (14)
4)Mandarino 25.357 (12)
5)66 -> 25.982 (13)
6)Tway 27.522 (17)*
7)WesE 27.525 (18)
8)Werner 28.005 (22)
9)UR13-> 25.237 (11)
10)Goad 27.248 (15)
11)Smart 27.322 (16)
12)Gamble 27.556 (19)
13)Favero 27.661 (20)
14)Brammer 27.956 (21)
15)B. Chapman 28.652 (23)
16)Schippert 28.780 (24)

C-Group
1)Smith 29.508 (28)
2)Seiner 30.137 (30)
3)G. Chapman 29.021 (25)
4)Wallgreen 29.188 (26)
5)Sidlo 29.403 (27)
6)D. Morris 29.619 (29)
7)Joe I. 30.264 (31)
8)Shaggy 31.231
9)Whalen 31.436 (33)
10)Kati 32.241 (34)
11)Boswell 32.962 (35)
12)Ruml 33.200 (36)
13)Parrish 33.900 (37)
14)Lisa Woodward 34.735 (38)
15)Elisa Campbell 35.738 (39)
16)Cheri Schroeder 38.270 (40)
T17)Ringel
T17)M, Chapman
T17)Barbagallo
T17)Burns
T17)Jul ier
T17)Wilson
T17)Delaney
T17)Simsuangc o
T17)Farrell
T17)Holden

*Class Act
*Tway takes friendly rival WesE by .003
Next year I'm toast. WesE rips.


Overall TS Results + Qualifying Times/Position

1)Fluitt 21.430 (7)
2)Hollien 21.123 (5)
3)Pirnack 21.226 (6)
4)Mandarino 21.499 (8)
5)Mollica 20.129 (1)
6)Mitchell 20.998 (2)
7)Heinle 21.007 (3)
8)Barker 21.078 (4)
9)Kirby 21.793 (9)
10)Parsons 22.180 (10)
11)Smart 22.291 (11)
12)A. Morris 22.564 (12)
13)66 -> 22.634 (13)
14)Ohm 22.933 (14)
15)Goad 23.052 (15)
16)UR13 DQ (16)

Note qualifiers 1,2,3,4 finished 5,6,7,8

[William Tway]

Vintage Noah

[Rick Stanziale]

Not sure which is worse, chiggers or stiches....

me neither.......but what bums me out the most is being "not pictured" in the farm group photo two years in a row

gives me a good reason to be back



tway the group pic isn't mine, i think it's pete's (?)

[William Tway]

Classic GeezerX

[William Tway]

Thanks Sixty Sixty for this killer pic. Next year we'll get the cop to take the pic.

Mark your calendar

August 6th 2005

2 day event?

[William Tway]

http://www.users.cloud9.net/~wbtway/farmvid.wmv

Link is a thank-you vid for all the sponsors that helped make this the best farm to date.

[Kevin M. Gamble]

Any farmers have pics of this old skater on the hybrid course? The wife has a digital cam, but she's usually busy with timing and recording and can't take the time for snapshots.

Thanks,
kmg

[William Tway]

Bomb Squad Live @ The Hays Farm

http://home.comcast.net/~slalomracing/bombsquad.wmv

6mb

WesE, There is a program for mac users that will allow you to play WMV files.

[William Tway]

Custom Farm Deck by PocketPistolSkates

[Jeff Boswell]

Very cool

http://www.bombsquadonline.com/

[William Tway]

Yo Jeff, I checked the bombsquad site this morning and noticed they're opening for Blue Oyster Cult at the Milford, CT Oyster Festival this Sat. The show is free. Since I can't go to Break, I'm dragging the fam to the show.

party on.

[Wesley Tucker]

Tway and TK,

I missed this year's Farm for the first time in two years and that means I also missed the vintage event.

Since I didn't get to talk to you during the event, here's just a quick point. Since the Vintage event started, the cut off point has been 1980. Next year will be 2005. Any chance of maybe moving up the cut off date a little? Maybe 1982 or '83, when slalom died the first time?

This would allow some plastic base plate Trackers, a few more varieties of Kryptonics and some later model Turners, Icks and Santa Cruz's. If nothing else, racers can use boards a few years younger and safely retire some of the more prestigious classic 70's SummerSkis and FibreFlexes.

Besides, I'd get to ride my black Full Nose and really have a chance of doing decent!

[Kevin M. Gamble]

Having attended all of the Farm vintage races, I enjoyed the 2004 vintage race most. I think the pre-1978 rule helped to emphasize the "vintage" rather than the "race" spirit of the event, and really seemed to increase the level of enjoyment and entertainment had by racers and spectators alike. Extra points were awarded for style, loose-ball bearings, and plastic decks. Having John Gilmour emcee the event was "icing on the cake". I vote for keeping the pre-1978 rule.

[William Tway]

Tucker must still be high on steroids. Next year will be Pre 1975.

[John Gilmour]

hang ten