Post
by Wesley Tucker » Sun Sep 04, 2005 12:43 am
SKATEBOARDER MAGAZINE, Volume 3, No. 6, July 1977
SKATEBOARDER INTERVIEW
Henry Hester
By Warren Bolster
"That guy Hester really runs a clean trip," the spectafor at the 2nd Annual Signal Hill Speed Race commented, immediately following the first of Henry Hester's two runs, prior to facing Dave Dillberg in the final run-off, leading to an eventual tie for first place.
I stood there thinking to myself just how appropriate that comment was (and also how fortunate I was for having asked Henry for this SKATEBOARDER interview during the opportune, pre-event time period).
You see, Hester really does run a clean trip; we've known it for a long time. Signal Hill was just another in a long series of successful skateboarding ventures that have added astounding credibility to the growing Hester legend. A legend derived from consistently placing in, or winning, every major competition entered in the last two years. Furthermore, his thoughtful, highly professional conduct has served not only himself, but the sport he represents, as well. The status of being the top, overall money winner, and a two-time World Champion (if you count Long Beach, that makes three), consistently places him in the public eye, be it radio, TV, or personal appearances, where, as one of the most responsible people in the sport, he represents us as well as anybody.
Surprisingly, success is a relatively new experience for Henry. Although long considered a hot surfer in the La Jolla, California, area, and at one time attaining the junior presidency of the prestigious Windansea Surf Club, Henry was still, by his own account, "a late bloomer"; a relatively frustrated individual as regards to surfletic (if you will) achievement. While he says he didn't really have his trip together then, it's undeniable that he has it together now.
In the beginning, as a highly successful slalom racing specialist at La Costa, Henry was able to prove him~ self against the best racers in the country, while gaining a reputation for winning that was to go on to become a self-perpetuating psychic device which could fell even the strongest competition.
A new dynasty had somehow begun, and the ole Hester-Skoldberg "one-two" partnership was responsible. Bob Skoldberg, early teammate, racing buddy, and brother of Henry's girlfriend, Anne, was the other half of the partnership. Having practiced together consistently, they became a team within a team, using their combined energy and determination to lift them above the pack. Figuring that one of them would always finish in the money, they devised a profit sharing plan where the winner would get 75% and the loser 25%. In the two years that followed, it would prove to be an exceptionally perceptive plan. Skoldberg, a.k.a. Mr. Consistent, the King of La Costa, was to place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in 16 out of 17 La Costa races before June of 1976; and Henry, in 20 out of 23, with 9 firsts. Let's not even mention the other pro meets; let's just let it suffice to say that their ole "one-two" would make George Foreman envious. The La Costa Boys were definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Then, around the time of the 2nd Annual Hang Ten World Championships at Carlsbad, where the cumulative point scores were to decide an Overall Champion, Henry began to work harder on improving his skills in other aspects of the sport, as it was becoming glaringly apparent that the energy, where it could, was moving toward bowl riding and the parks. Henry's fifth (overall) placing there tells a lot about his ability to adjust to a new situation. After all, it’s been said that slalom racing is the thinking man's game-if that is the case, then Henry is the thinking man; an asset that once learned, can be well applied in other areas, as Henry seems to be finding out.
Since that time, Henry has been passing time as a resident pro at the new EI Cajon Skatepark, and learning how to do kickturns on its vertical bowls (his latest challenge). His recent success at speed racing has done nothing to slow his mounting credibility, a credibility that, while not yet strong in the routinely accepted paths to gfory (freestyle and bowl riding), when considered thoroughly, places him among the best all-around skaters in the world.
Yeah, no doubt about it, "that guy Hester really runs a clean trip."
COMPETITION RESULTS
1st Men's Pro Slalom-1st Annual Hang Ten World Skateboard Championships. Los Angeles (1975).
1st Pro Speed Run-1st Annual Hang Ten World Skateboard Championships. Los Angeles (1975).
1st Men's Slalom-Orange County Skateboard Championships. Orange County Fairgrounds (1975).
1st Men's Slalom-California State Skateboard Championships, Ventura (1976).
2nd Men's Pro Cross-Country. Marine World (1976).
2nd Pro Slalom-Northern California Championships, San Francisco (1976).
1st Slalom-New York Invitational Nassau Colosseum (1976).
1st Pro Slalom-California FreeFormer World Professional Skateboard Championships. Long Beach (1976).
1st Pro Slalom-2nd Annual Hang Ten World Skateboard Championships, Carlsbad (1976).
1st Pro Slalom-La Costa Annual YMCA Championships, Carlsbad (1976).
1st (tie) 3rd Annual Signal Hill Speed Race, Long Beach (1977).
How long ago did you start skateboarding?
I started skating when I was in the eighth grade. I used to skateboard to get to school and stuff. I used to skateboard with George Tayfor, and we made these boards back then. We really idolized the Makaha team up in L.A., but those guys were about fifteen levels above us. We used to make these little boards we called platters, and they were about eight-inches around in the back, and about a four inch diameter nose with straight rails, and they were about a foot long. They were really fun, but we made them out of quarter-inch plywood, and they used to break; we'd ride them for about two days and they'd break. They sure were fun...
Were you standing up on those?
Yeah. And we rode slalom a lot then too. We used to paint dots in the street and ride slalom; we rode more slalom than anything. We didn't do kick-tricks and stuff; in fact, we couldn't even do 360's and stuff at all.
Did you ever compete In contests back In those days?
No
I vaguely remember you or Bobby saying once that you guys tried to think six or seven cones ahead in a slalom race. Explain how that might be possible.
Well, during practice, obviously you check out the course and stuff, and you get to know the course like the back of your hand. And then when you're riding down the course. . . like if there's a real tough cone about six or seven cones away-it's really about three to four cones-you're only looking at the cone you're riding at; you don't look ahead, 'cause you'll never make it. You're looking at the cone that you're training on, but you're thinking about the cone two cones down. That's how it works. It's just a matter of getting used to the course, and realizing what the course is going to do. [/b]
Your crow-hop start has been credited with being the best starting technique. It's been said that the start is one of the most Important aspects of a successful race. You might explain the start, and how you think it's better.
Okay, what the crow-hop start is . . . those guys were just goofing around, Neal Graham and Danny Trailer, or in that slalom, we were just goofing around. They called it that, so I guess that they named it. That's just getting a real fast start on the clock. When the guy is saying, "get on your mark, get set. go," you know, you gotta slide your board back on "get set"-I've said it a million times-you just take off, right before he's saying "go." Theoretically, right when he's saying "go," you want to be on the starting line and be moving. But one thing that's really happened is I've gotten busted for doing that start a few times when they have an electrical light in front on the timing, on the start line. I've gotten probably 25 percent bad starts. But the start is the most important part of the race, I think, especially in track slalom where you're racing across the arena floor or something like at Long Beach or New York. II you can get the start on the guy, he sees you in front of him, and he's thinking about you, and he's not thinking about the course. He's thinking about how last he has to go. That happened with me and Piercy. You think about the guy in front of you, and you don't think about what you're doing, and then you start blowing it; your back wheels tend to slide in that situation, 'cause you're leaning forward, and you don't have your weight on your back wheels. What you'll usually find is a guy spinning out with his back wheels when he has a guy in front of him, 'cause he's trying to reach. Forward and trying to get past that guy, which is almost impossible on an arena-floor-Iength course.
That's interesting. That brings up the question of … are there any other psychological devices that you might employ in a race aside the actual race itself?
That's what's so neat about slalom racing; I consider it one hundred percent psychological. Me and Piercy have psych-out contests in every race. I mean, we have psych-out contests that get so heavy, they get doubled up; I psych out his psych, and he doubles back and gets me, and I get him, and by the end of the day we're just flustered messes.
Give us some examples of this. What might you say to him, or what might he say to you?
Oh, it's nothing you say to him, 'cause it's all on our plane. It's so hard to explain; it's the way you look at a guy, if you look at him a weird way. Piercy will look at you and give you that headshake look, as though you don't really exist, and you've gotta give it right back to him or he's gotcha. It's almost like scoring points against each other during the course of a race. That's the fun of the whole thing, not the racing. The racing's just going-it's all mechanical-going down the hill. I think the fun part's betting with the guys; you know, Piercy coming up, or Tom Ryan and those guys coming up and wanting to lay down more money 'cause they think they're having a hot day. 80 you lay down even more, and they go, "Hey, maybe he's really feeling good today." It's all psych-out.
Well then, how important Is the equipment?
You have to have a good skateboard to be able to win a slalom race. You can't do it on a bad skateboard; it can't be done.
Then what you're saying is equipment is a basic essential, but mental is what makes the difference. . .
Equipment is something you take care of weeks ahead of time. All that is is material things, you just get the equipment, and you got it, and you don't have to worry about it. The thing you worry about on race days is your personal stuff.
I know a lot of racers do adjust their equipment according to the track or the course. Do you do any of this yourself, or do you pretty much use the same... ?
Last year, I used the same board, like my model, the G & 8 model. I used that board in about live or six contests, and I've won all of them except for one. I just made a mistake in my final heat . . . spun out. It's easy to spin out on your first turn-this is the hardest turn, 'cause you're just standing on your board, and you've got to do your turn blindly; you don't have a set up turn to do. Anyway, back to equipment. The things I use are a Henry Hester model with my wheels, my Road Rider wheels. Those wheels are narrow for slalom, 'cause you don't want a wide wheel; they slow you down too much. You want a narrower wheel; in fact, you could go to even a narrower one than my wheel, to an inch wide. When you get to a certain level in slalom, traction isn't even a problem, 'cause you've got your traction so down physically, that you can do it. You don't have to worry about your equipment; you just want something to just groove along.
Also, you're riding pretty wide trucks, aren't you?
I ride Trackers; you know, the wide ones. Half tracks are a little bit too narrow for me.
Why do you feel that the widetrack trucks are the best for you?
Well, the way I discovered that I wanted wide trucks. . . I was riding Bennett's, and those Control Products wheels, which are about three-inches long, really long, wide wheels, and I had the width of a Tracker, but I wasn't cuttin' the times; the wheels were so long. So I liked the width, but what it was was basically changing the wheels, making the wheels narrower, so I changed to 4's at that time-that was all they had-and that left a nice open space in between the wheels to work with. I think that open space in between the measurement from inside one wheel to inside the other wheel is a real important thing-not so much the outside measurements, but the inside measurements. I may be wrong there; I'm not sure, though it seems to me that that's true. That's why I think you can feel drag with wheels that have the cut out on the inside.
What kind of bearings do you use?
The stock Road Rider bearings; I don't even know what they are. You know, we take the seals off.
What does taking the seals oil do?
Well, what we do is flip those little black plastic seals off, and put WD-40 in there, and get all the grease out. Last time I took an air hose and sprayed out the thick grease and put WD-40 in there; that makes it roll faster, but they just collect dirt. They're good for five runs, and then they're all dirty. They still roll good after that, but I wouldn't suggest doing it for the average rider. The bearings are a buck and a half each; they go out fast, but they do roll fast for a day's worth of riding.
What does the cutaway board achieve in the way of performance?
What the cutaway does is make the back act much more subtle. You don't have that leverage in the back; you have a quick leverage, but you don't have a lot of leverage. The wider the board is, the more back and forth movement and leverage you can get. When the board's narrower, you have more control, but you don't quite have the leverage, so you don't find yourself turning the backend as much, but you're turning the front end, and the back end is just sort of following behind, and thrusting behind, plus it torques a little bit. . .
So It follows the lead of the front better...
It kind of follows the lead of the front, yeah.
How do you feel about high-camber slalom boards?
Like Turners? Turners are pretty good. There's a few reasons why I can't get into Turners, and that's the fact that they're a little bit too stiff for me, and they ride a little bit higher off the ground; they're thicker, so you're farther away from your wheels. They have a roll to them on the deck; it's like a rolled deck, and you can't feel the edge. I like to be able to feel the edges and contour of the board with my foot, so I know right where that edge is all the time. The turn is slowed down like a turned-down-rail surfboard, and you can't feel that edge, but the guys that ride 'em, dig 'em; there's nothing wrong with those boards at all, as far as being a tough, top board. The only problem is they can't make enough of them.
Do you see any new equipment Improvements In the near future?
No.
What do you think the future holds for slalom if everyone has the same equipment?
I think what's happening is that boards are getting more and more like. Fibreflex boards, like the Sims board; there's all kinds of copies of my board; there's one in the new magazine-last issue there's a board that's a direct copy of my model, a couple. And they're just gonna get more and more alike, just as the racing snow skis get more alike. Everyone's finding what works works, and what doesn't work doesn't work. It's gonna stay pretty much the same. I have a feeling that guys are gonna go to narrower wheels than my wheel. My wheel is a narrow wheel. I think guys are gonna go to a narrower wheel than that, especially for straight slalom, 'cause you don't need any traction. Not that they don't have traction-they work kind of like radials-they bend and stuff on turns; they're really neat.
How do you think camber should be determined for each Individual?
That's been a problem for me because I've never been able to really ride a stock Fibreflex; I can now, but seriously in a contest, I'd have to get a stiffer one because I am heavier than the average skater, and they make it for the average skater who is about 15, or something like that; they make the camber just right for them. With the camber I ride in my board, I can stand in the middle of the board-sideways across it-and as hard as I can push down, I can bottom it out.
Without jumping?
Not jumping up in the air, just sort of weighting and unweighting, giving a good snap down.
With a wood board and a little practice, Tony Alva visited La Costa on three different weeks, and won the races there twice, getting a second once. How would you explain his victories under those circumstances?
The thing is, Tony is just an insane rider, that's all there is to it. He's one of the top riders in the world; he's the best skater in the world, probably, and he can do slalom too.
But he did it on a wood board.
Yeah, he did II on a wood board. There's guys that ride wood boards that do pretty good, like Pete Tholl. He rides a wooden board, and does all right in the amateur class. Tony did that on a giant slalom course where you don't need a flex board quite as much. On those same days, he could probably run a slalom and he wouldn't even make the cones. But in giant slalom, he just has the perfect. . . you know, you find a niche every so often, and really do good. You know, I'm not knocking him at all; the guy's hot.
Tony was one of the first people I saw do sort of a little squiggling motion between cones. What does that accomplish?
Well, what it does, is it . . . okay, when you're riding giant slalom, some guys ride from cone to cone; other guys ride pointed straight downhill the whole way, and just sort of edge themselves over and go around the cone, and edge themselves over and go around the next cone; what that does for the guys who are like Tony and Tommy Ryan is move you sideways on the hill to go around the cones. Fantastic; it's an unreal way of skating. Skoldberg is a perfect example of a guy who doesn't do that. He goes around. . . he just snakes around and rides straight from cone to cone.
Who gives you the toughest competition In slalom, and why?
The toughest competition comes from different people on each course. Tighf slalom, Bob Piercy. I think Tommy's better in the giant slalom; I'd say Bob Piercy is the only guy I really think about in tight slalom. In track slalom-where the cones are six-feet apart, as opposed to tight slalom where the cones are four-feet apart-the best guy is Paul Engh. He can just work through those cones, but Piercy was the guy at Long Beach that I had to race, so I can't count him out. I still insist Paul's got a really good gyrating maneuver.
How about in giant slalom; who's your toughest competition?
Bob Skoldberg, probably. Bob Skoldberg and Tommy Ryan and Tony, equally. I'd say I'm better in giant slalom than slalom. I'm the best in track slalom, then giant slalom, then tight slalom.
Who do you see as hot and up and coming?
Mike Williams, Marty Schaub and Steve Sherman. Marty and Steve are pretty good, but we haven't been racing at La Costa, and they have been-and winning a bunch-so it's hard to tell. They're winning the races, but I don't think the hot guys have been around; they've been working for parks and stuff. It's been sorta split up.
What kind of racing surfaces do you prefer to race on?
Anything that's hard for the other guys; like Ventura is a real rough surface, really just a lousy surface. I ate it up; I loved it because I have an ability to make traction, and some of the other guys fall apart when there's no traction. I like rough surfaces, not for going fast, but for doing hard turns . . . anything that's going to make the other guys psych out. That's the fun of it.
The races you guys set up at La Costa are usually long, difficult, braking-style courses, or courses where the rhythm Is often broken up throughout the run. Why do you prefer this particular style? Just because It's difficult for everybody?
Well, they were really like that before, then they started to get really patterned. In the last six months, the courses are so patterned that they're almost boring.
But you haven't really raced much In the last six months?
No, not a lot.
When you were racing, the courses were like this? Why?
Cause I was helping set them up, and Vince Turner was helping set them up, and we used to like to see guys go around and just do these giant eight-foot slides trying to make the cones. I'd just sit on the sidewalk and laugh. We knew how to brake and make it around the cones, but some of the guys like, especially Neal Graham, oh wow, he used to bock it into these turns, and he'd go slidin' eight, ten feet sideways with his toes-you know how he rides barefoot-with his toes gripped around the board and that determined lock; and he'd go slidin 'by the cone he was supposed to be making, looking back up the hill at it, still thinking he can get around the cone. But you know our courses-the courses that I set up personally-are really hard to make, and they're slower. They aren't the fast, he-man courses; they're the slow courses. . . they're thinking courses where you have to go fast and slow and then medium, then you can get a break and punch it for a second. That's what I like. I don't like the kind where you go fast all the way.
How does the technique differ from course to course? From event to event?
Technique doesn't change quite as much. Well, Bob Piercy goes from parallel stance in tight slalom to surfer stance in giant slalom, but I don't. I keep the same stance; I just change boards. Basically, I use the exact same kind of board; but one's a little longer board, a longer wheelbase, to make a slower turn.
Does the mental technique vary very much?
Yeah, a little bit, 'cause in slalom, you're basically going from A to B; you're going in a straight line; you can concentrate -like in indoor slalom - you can concentrate on that projectile, projecting yourself forward and going fast. In giant slalom, it's more of a cone-by-cone situation. I like having to think about the cones; I like them hard so you have to think about each cone when you're going down the course. The thing where you just project yourself forward, that's nothing. You just go do the race, and you don't think about racing.
What have been your favorite races and contests so far?
My favorite slalom race was with Piercy at Long Beach, and that was fantastic. That race was professional; we had 15,000 people just screaming and yelling; I turned around and was locking up, and there's guys with posters of me, holding up posters and yelling; it was almost a European-type bobsled run, or something. It was fantastic, and we had the crowd really pumping us. I looked over at Piercy - we had been racing for two years, you know - and we were laughing at ourselves, because we knew it was so full-on; we were both so stoked, I didn't even care then. I guess he got the fastest time of that day, but I guess my added scores were a little bit better.
So you won the event?
Yeah, but it was close; they're all close. I don't think I've won a race where it hasn't been by just twenty thousandths of a second. I mean they've been close, really close.
Of all the things to take into consideration, what do you think contributes most to that twenty thousandths of a second?
The start. Like when I was coming out of the gate at Long Beach, I hit the gate, and I could feel that little latch open it up, right up against my stomach. One time I blasted through the thing, and they called it a good start, and a fair start; another time I didn't even touch it, and it opened up on its own; I went right through it, and they called it a no-fault start. They should have some kind of a beam or something. . . no, in fact, they shouldn't have a beam; that always messes me up. You've told me what your favorite races were; which, do you feel, were the worst races? Well, I've gotten ripped off. The Magic Mountain Contest. . . I was clearly ripped off in that contest. They had three events; the cross-country, the slalom and the downhill, but the qualifying preliminaries for all three were in cross-country, and you know me; I can't do cross-country. So I went through, and fell down trying to go through this Malibu tube-typing thing. I went crawling through on my stomach like my typical fashion, and I didn't make the cut, so I didn't get to race slalom. I watched five guys going through the slalom course that I could have beaten by two seconds; I guarantee it. It just blew me away.
Were you confident in winning both World Championships?
Yes. The first one was my big break into racing. I had won one contest before that, I think. I won Orange County before that.
So you were confident going in . . .
I wasn't real confident going into the World Contest, but I was thinking that I could win. It turned out I won the slalom and the speed race, I had a really good night; it was one o'clock in the morning when we quit racing. And the second one up at Carlsbad, I was fairly confident about that, but Piercy had me kind of psyched out, because he did really good in a race that I didn't think he was gonna do good in. He did good in the Long Beach race where I didn't think he would be too hot, and I know he's unreal on asphalt. I also thought Skoldberg was gonna do good. It turned out that I raced Tony Alva, and I want to clear something up that hasn't bothered me, but I thought I ought to clear it up; it involves race rules. Tony and I went into our heat, the final heal and we both took off, I jumped the gun, and he went down. . . he made a good start and went down and hit a few cones and D.Q.'d, . . .I guess it was a three-cone D.Q but because I jumped the start, I got a rerun. Their rules were unbelievable. If you jumped the gun, they called it a false start, so it turned out I got another start, and I had a really bad fall. . . my worst fall ever; I fell on TV, and it was really embarrassing. So anyway, we both got a D.Q., right? He D.Q.'d his first round, and I D.Q.'d in my makeup run; so for our first round we both had a D.Q. So we switched courses, and he had a bunch of runs where the clock didn't work right, the clock was messing up on his side. Then we finally got it together, and I beat him there, but I think I told him that I didn't know he had a D.Q. on his first run, so I told him all he had to do to win was get a certain time. That might have made him ride a little slower, I don't know. I don't know if I've ever felt good about winning that race, or not, 'cause I tried to explain it to Tony, and I think I was either explaining it wrong, or he might have taken it wrong. I don't think there's any problem; he was happy to get the World Championship. But I think if that rule hadn't been in effect he would have won the race.
Have you ever really gained anything through the title?
Oh yeah . . . well not from the title itself, but from the accumulated victories, yeah; money, You make a thousand dollars when you win a slalom race these days. I guess next year it will probably be two thousand dollars, and so on. I've made some good money in race winnings; I've got my board model and wheel model, and I've gained a little respect in the skateboard world; probably more than I'm due because I'm just good at slalom.
Would you say that you make a fairly good living?
Oh yeah, I'm making about $1400 a month; that's not including royalties. I'm making really good money, and I'm trying to make it so that I keep making it. But it was a long time deserved, you know; I did good for over a year, not making a cent, not even making contingency money or anything, I can honestly say I've paid my dues in the skateboard industry.
Do you really enjoy competing, or Is It now more or less just for the money?
No, I enjoy the competing; I don't enjoy competing at La Costa that much anymore, but I do enjoy competing in different places where I've never been, especially if there's hot riders, 'cause we can test our ability to switch to a different place and see how soon we adapt to that place. One important thing is to be able to adapt very quickly to the race-surface you're riding on; that's a problem. Some of the guys are so used to La Costa that they have a hard time getting used to an arena floor or something like that.
The different surfaces bring to mind a question I should have asked before. What do you think of the wooden ramps? You've won a couple of contests on them, but most people find them rather difficult.
That even brings it back to a thing where it's hard for the other guys. It's not a gutsy race; a wooden ramp isn't a gut-level race, or anything like that; it's a butterfly race; you gotta be light on your feet. The wood ramp races have never been billed as a he-man race, I don't dig the he-man, fast races and stuff; I like the ones where you have to be light on your feet.
How does a 185- to 195-pound guy stay light on his feet?
You learn to stay light on your feet by riding fish surfboards. That really helps.
We've talked a lot about winning and competing. . . do you consider yourself a good loser?
Oh yeah, a great loser. It's fine with me. I don't consider myself a good person that's been cheated out of a race when I lose fair and square. Hey, that's what's so neat about slalom; when you lose, it's cut and dried; there's no problem there.
What changes would you like to see in contests?
Nothing much; they're looking pretty good now. I think the PISA rules are about the best rules. I like the indoor contests.
You've recently shifted a lot of your emphasis to park riding; does this mark any particular change in your Interests, or Just a further realm of expression?
Definitely marks a change in interest. I've really dedicated myself totally to learning how to do those kickturns on a vertical wall. I've been working at the EI Cajon Park as a Pro. . , I've paid my dues on that wall, Skoldberg and I went into it the same way, but he did it on the two-week plan, and he hurt his hips and stuff like that, and Mike Williams hurt his hips. That's what you usually hurt when you do kickturns. I took the three-month plan, now I can do it, and Stacy helped me a lot on it. I really felt like an oaf going up there and trying to do a kickturn, especially with photographers there and hot guys around, but now I feel like I can do it all right. All it takes is one kickturn to get the feeling down right, and then you can do it . . . yeah I like park riding a lot.
Do you enjoy any particular realm of skateboarding more than another?
I like bank riding pretty much; not speed bank riding, but going up and doing kickturns. I like everything pretty much, I like competing; I like to throw little contests at parks; you know, see who can do a kickturn straight up the line, or who can go straight up the line in the beginner bowl and do a kickturn, and go back down, . . I like little things like that, little betting things, little fun things; they aren't serious, but that's the best thing I like in the whole realm of skateboarding,
What do you think of parks In general? You obviously like them.
They're pretty good. Most of them are too tame; the guys are worried about making them radical. But we've only seen the beginner areas in all these parks; it's really gonna be interesting next summer when they start building their second phases. : Everyone has a phase one and a phase two. When everyone builds a phase two, it will be really interesting to see some of the. . . they're gonna get pretty hairy, I think; which isn't bad because you can ride anything around the bottom of a turn; it's just riding on the ridge of a turn that's scary. And they're gonna get a lot better than they are. I think one of the best parks is Reseda. That's a good park. It's got vertical walls, and all the walls are nice and smooth. It could use a bit more of a downward angle to keep you moving. I think you have to push with your feet too much to keep going at a good rate of speed.
What kind of terrain would you like to see In parks?
Well, if a guy went out and bought himself a real nice pipe, like the ones in, the desert, or like the ones that are in the current issue of the magazine; if he went out and bought four of those pipes and put them together, he'd make a million dollars just letting kids skate in there, and that's all he needs.
Have you ever been In a pipe yourself?
No. I'm waiting.
Do you think that there are any best all-around skaters?
Oh yeah, I'd say the best all-around skaters are Mike Williams-we call him the Scarecrow, 'cause his hair sticks out-I think Bob Biniak is one at the top five in my book; I think Tony, obviously; everyone says Tony, so I'll say Tony. I haven't seen him in a long time, but I've seen pictures of him, and he's really hot. And Stacy, you know, all the same guys. I think Bob Skoldberg is one of the top skaters, even though he's not really into pools and banks quite yet; he can learn anything; that guy's just got such a sense of balance, it's unbelievable. I think the best freestyler in the world-the flatland freestyler-without question is Weed, Mike Weed. I think he's just untouchable. He does his maneuvers so fast, and he just comes around. . . he does everything, you think he's gonna fall off, and he does a backwards walk-the-dog, and lands on his board; he makes every maneuver, and he just does everything so perfect. But one more rider that I think is probably the best in the world, and one of the best guys ever for skateboarding . . . one of the guys I have more respect for than any of these guys is Chris Yandajl. I've seen him skate the park, and he doesn't do the flashy maneuvers. The things Chris does are a lot more subtle than everyone else. He doesn't stand out, but I'll tell you, if there was ever a perfect skater, in my book it's Chris Yandall . . . perfect, 100%.
How do you feel about safety gear?
Well, I haven't skated without safety gear. . . I was the first guy in slalom racing to ever wear kneepads, I think, and I was the first guy to ever wear a helmet at La Costa. I'm not a safety gear fanatic, but I don't skate without it. I don't like to skate with guys who don't wear safety gear, because you just have to pick them up off the ground and ruin your day; drop them off at the hospital, and stuff.
Have you ever ridden pools?
Yeah, I rode one pool in La Jolla called the Punchbowl. It was a doublebowl pool, and it took me about. . . God, it was weird at first; it was kinda scary. It took me about 25 runs to get up and go on the tile; alter about 20 runs, I went up and rode on the tile, and it made that sound like you hear in the movies. So I got tile there, and I went home and got Bob Skoldberg, and he'd never been to a pool. In about two runs he goes up and hits the tile. I almost felt like killing myself. But later on, I got so I could go under one bowl and get tile, and shoot at the next bowl and get tile there. That was in the days when they weren't really kickturning, at least on our end. In other areas they were.
So after participating to some degree in almost every aspect of the sport, which aspect do you think has the greatest spectator appeal?
Speed racing. Signal Hill has more spectator appeal than anything else I've ever seen. My girlfriend's mom was stoked; it was hot.
What, for you, brought about the recent Interest In speed racing?
Well, we went up last year with Bob, and watched the races at Signal Hill. It was a real hot day, and we took our shirts off, put on a hat, and just walked around and cased the whole joint out to see what was going on. We helped push Tommy Ryan; we got into it like that. We were the guys that talked him into laying down prone, 'cause no one else was doing that, and we figured he could win if he did that. He went a mile an hour faster, which I've found since then is a big difference at Signal Hill.
This year, for a sell-professed chicken, you did pretty good at Signal Hill. How did you overcome your fear, or did you?
Okay, that really wasn't me as much as Gary Keating writing that article to make sure that the little kids knew that we weren't going too fast and stuff, and to create a good image, which it did, and it still is. I never go any faster than I can basically run off when I'm standing on the skateboard. It's just stupid to go too fast; why would you 1 want to do that? The fear involved at Signal Hill . . . boy it was a six-month gruel in making that board, and I kept thinking about Signal Hill; dropping off, dropping down on that hill inside the shelf. I took it to the Stroker guys and . . . well it's a long story in the way that it was set up, but I got over the fear through laying down, basically. My ankles are unstable going really fast. I can't ride fast standing up. So lying down took care of that. It just took a bunch of practice runs to work up the hill and get used to it.
You say you can't go last standing up, and yet I've seen you in those giant slalom runs go faster than most people would ever want to go. How do you explain that; Is there a certain point where you don't feel you have control?
Well, maybe I'm just trying to stick to the thing that all manufacturers dig the theory of me being a tame rider. Truthfully, how can I say I'm a tame rider when I win a bunch of races, and races are actually fast. I guess I have to say I do ride fast once in a while.
How did you feel about going down that hill, a hill that you'd never ridden before?
That was one of my big beefs with Jim Mahoney. I called him up, and wrote a letter about practicing. He wouldn't let us have practice, and I could understand where he was coming from, 'cause he's got the hill for five hours, let's say, and he wants to get the race over with; he's renting the hill from the town, and he wants to go in there and go out. So this year they didn't have practice. This year, that was a mistake, I think, in the fact that some of the guys didn't have brakes that were good enough to slow 'em down. On my first run down the hill, I beat the record by two miles an hour, 56. I was planning on making a run of about 52, 53 miles an hour. My pusher just gave me a medium good push, not too hard at all, and I went 56, way faster than I wanted to go; not that I was scared or anything, 'cause I'm not scared riding in that thing. It's sort of like Nathan (Pratt) saying that when he's riding in his thing, all he does is lay down; it's kind of boring really. You just lay down in the thing, and it just works so perfect. You know you're gonna stop. I think the fear concept comes in when you know something is not working right. That's what the guys at Stroker told me; they said, "we want you to get in the thing, ride down the and get out." Stop it and get out. . They didn't want me to be atraid or anything, 'cause that meant that it's exciting. They didn't want it to be exciting, 'cause that means there's some kind of element of danger in it. So anyway, my lirst run was 56, and that looked like a serious run; everyone thought that that was a serious run, and in truth it wasn't. My next run was a serious run, and it was funny 'cause I had two guys pushing me full blast with a T-bar and stuff on it, and I only went a mile an hour faster. I couldn't figure that out; the only thing I can attribute that to is the fact that one mile an hour is a lot of difference. I was really going; I thought I went 60 on my second run, and I was really surprised to hear I only went 57
You mentioned before, and I want to get back to It, that practice runs were not allowed, yet I know I personally saw some people practicing back when they had the thing rained out, and then I saw people practicing the morning of the contest.
Okay, that's all illegal. I wasn't about to . . . for one thing I had a full-on racing board, obviously, and I couldn't take that thing down without the whole thing being blocked off, and the street being totally cleared. You don't get in something like that and do a halfway job, I mean, you go down. So I couldn't practice-no way-and I wasn't about to practice illegally and get a $500 fine, or whatever.
How did you practice before the contest?
We practiced at La Costa. The fastest I'd been before the contest was about 53 m.p.h. at La Costa on Black Hill.
Is Signal Hill faster, do you think?
Signal Hill is faster, but it's easier. Signal Hill is the easiest I've ever been down; it's just simple. How about the road that crosses the bottom? That's nothing. All those guys were saying that that was really hairy. Mcintyre was telling me that there's railroad tracks and stuff, and everybody was going "oh, it's hairy," so I go down, and there's a bump right where it says stop ahead, a little bump that throws you up maybe an inch or two, just a typical bump, and it bumps you. I put the brakes on right about there, and I went slidin' across that intersection, and let my brakes off, and just held on and went over the intersection; I was absolutely surprised to feel how smooth it was. That bump isn't bad at all; that hill is a fantastic hill to run speed races on because you don't really get going super fast. It's like a set hill, you know, everybody wants to be able to go 60 on Signal Hill. Mahoney was scream; ng at us, "go 60," and I go, "I can't. I can't go any faster than 57." No one else could either. I want to give a lot of credit to Dave Dillberg, too. We both had a good race, and he wasn't about to beat me, but I wasn't about to beat him either.
So the race ended up being a tie?
Yeah, it was a tie. Dave went 57 on all three of his runs. I went 56 on my first run and then 57 twice.
I was wondering how you were feeling at the top of the hill. There was a delay right at your first run, and Just before that I believe there'd been a couple of brake failures.
Okay, the brake failures came after my run, fortunately. My teammate Terry Nails' brakes worked, but they didn't work that good, and he went out and had an accident with a car, which fortunately didn't turn out to be too bad. See, my brakes worked exactly like his did because our boards were made by the same company. If he would've gone before me, I wouldn't have gone down the hill, because that would have proved to me that my brakes weren't gonna work right. Anyway, at the top of the hill, I got inside my shell. It's not a real elaborate procedure; just get in it and lay down, and the guy puts it down - there's no bolts or anything - he just puts the shell down. And I'm laying there, and the starter says" okay, hold up, hold up." It turned out that a girl had rolled her electric bumper car. [/b]
She had her trucks on backwards.
Did she really? She must have. She's a real nice girl; she didn't show any fear or anything when I talked to her later in the race. But that sorta slowed things down. Everybody at the bottom of the hill thought I was waiting inside my shell, getting all steamed up. It gets hot and stuffy in there, 'cause it is quite a tight fit, especially for me. No, I just waited outside and just sort of walked up and down the road.
Signal Hill brings up one serious question which a lot of people are asking, which Is, what does Signal Hill have to do with skateboarding? How do you feel about that?
That's a good question. What does it? I mean, it's not . . . it's a different type of thing. I think what we're doing at Signal Hill definitely stems from skateboarding, or is an offbreed of skateboarding, but it's not skateboarding. What I did wasn't skateboarding, I don't think, It was more like driving a funny car; it's neat; it's a neat thing, and it should be covered in SKATEBOARDER Magazine because it is done by the companies that are also into skateboarding. The guys that say that's not skateboarding, you know, they're right brakes. Your life is resting on a really nice braking system, and I think that's gonna have to be developed all around.
Do you feel that the fairings that you guys were employing really were effective, or do you think something less tuned, but enclosed In the prone position, would work?
Absolutely. I think the race between me and Dave Dillberg was absolutely shape oriented. I think that if he would have had a different shape, or if I had had a different shape, there might have been a winner in that race, or there might have been one winner in the race. I think that fairings make a lot of difference from 40 miles an hour on up. I'd race Bob and Mike Williams, and I'd just blow right by them at La Costa; my first few runs I just went right by them, and I know it makes a big difference even at 40; at 40 I started to go right by them, just sail away from them.
What do you think could be done to make slalom of more Interest to the spectator, because I feel like right now It doesn't really have as much Interest as It could?
Everyone seems to want to see bank slalom. I think that what the magazine ought to show is more of the tension and stuff of the start, the tlash of the finish. I think the start and finish of slalom is where it's happening. I don't think that during the slalom course it's actually super exciting, but I think the start is awfully exciting, and I think the finish is exciting. I think if you were to dig out some photos of starts and finishes, I think readers would really say, "Hey, these guys are really sweating; these guys are into it." You know, you look into their eyes, and they're just hungry for blood.
What ultimately would you like to accomplish from all your efforts in the sport?
Well, I guess I've accomplished everything I can imagine. I don't want to be a skate star or anything, but I'm not the kind of guy that says, "Hey, I want to be in the background and stuff." I'm not like that; I'm basically an outgoing type person. You know, I like to talk to people and have people come up to me . . . I don't mind that; I'll admit it. So I figure I've accomplished pretty much everything I can outside of physical things like skating pools. I'd like to be one of those guys from San Diego that go up and challenge the guys up in . . . I want to be one of those guys, but I can't. But if I were a good skater, I would definitely be one of those guys.
How do you feel about the Dogtown Influence?
I don't think there is a Dogtown influence; I don't think anyone's skating like those skaters up there. There's no influence; they're in their own time warp, and they're the hottest skaters, there's no one hotter than those guys anywhere-for any event or anything-there's no one doing more than those guys. They're the best there is. But I don't think they're influencing anybody, and I don't think they're trying to influence anybody. I don't see kids down in San Diego copying them, and I don't see kids up in L.A. copying them; I don't think anyone copies them; I think all the little kids copy Bertleman and those guys. I think Bertleman's got more intluence. You know, that Bert style, the kick slides, kickturn slides and stuff; they're all doing that. But no one is doing what the Dogtown guys are doing, basically because they don't see them do it. You know, they see it in the magazine, but it's hard to tell the aggression and the fierceness involved.
A lot of people were taken aback by Tony's interview. I was wondering what you thought about his abrasive behavior?
I think that it was basically someone else talking through. . . I think that he was prodded on by the interviewer, for one. You answer what the guy asks you, you know. I think he was prodded on in a way; that's his style, but I don't think that was total Tony in that interview. I think there's a softer Tony than was portrayed in that interview.
So, what do you think of rock music (laughing)?
I dig rock music. I play a Stratocaster . . . I jam with the Mellow Cat every once in a while. We play all kinds of rad music. Tony's a good guy. Last time I saw him, I said, "Hi Tony," and he didn't say anything to me, but I still say he's a good guy. Saying something more about the Dogtown influence; I think a lot of guys probably don't like them, 'cause they come off so hardcore and stuff, but I think they're good guys; I like them; I like all of them- Jim Muir, Stacy, Paul. I didn't really get to know Nathan when I talked to him, 'cause I was just hittin' him for information so hard. When I talked to Nathan, he had been doing the fairings, and I hadn't; and I was asking him about fairings and stutf . . . he was more advanced than I was, and I shouldn't have been asking him, 'cause he was on a different plane than I was at the time. Maybe he is now too, I don't know.
What are some of the advantages or disadvantages of being well known?
The disadvantages are: people call you up and want you to do stuff for free, which isn't bad, because I get paid by Gordon & Smith to do those things. But people expect a lot of things from you-like skatepark owners expect you to come out for demos for free. People who want you to do something for free are out of it. I'd never ask someone to do something for free. The advantages are neat. You meet a lot of people; I've met the nicest people in the world. There's no one nicer than skateboarders; they make surfers and skiers look like really out-of-it people. Skateboarders are good people, except for a few who are into their own trip, which is cool, but on the whole, most of them are just little kids that are just out having fun. Usually in skateboarding, it's "the more the merrier." I think it's kind of neat that way. It's no fun skating by yourself. I've had EI Cajon Park all to myself, and you skate for ten minutes, and there's nothing to it; you can't do it.
What's the most radical thing you've ever seen?
That brings to mind one of the funniest things I've ever seen, and that was Bob Piercy riding down La Costa, from halfway up, holding Tommy Ryan on his thighs in the tandem position. They decided they weren't gonna be able to make it, so Tommy started putting his hands down, and all of a sudden they decided to go for it. Tommy put his hands up, and they went down the hill in full glory.
Do you see anything happening in the sport right now that you don't really like very much?
Not necessarily. I think it's going all right. I think some of the skatepark guys are a little shaky, but they're money guys. Outside of that, everything's going pretty good. The bad companies have sort of fallen out, fallen behind, and the good companies . . . the kids are starting to ride good equipment. The kids are the ones that are so hot.
