A gnarly narration of the latest races and events.
RACE REPORT FORECAST
September 6th 2023
TOP 10 Race Report Forecast
~ League Commissioner Shredder ~
Coming in at top 10, Alladin I’ve heard may not be in attendance which opens up opportunity. In my opinion, Matteo stands the greatest chance of jumping up in the standings the most, breaking into the top 10, even taking out Matt N if he misses another race.
9th place- If Matt N attends Lil O Wet skate Dreams in North van he could easily make finals, putting pressure on those nipping at his heels.
8th – Fitter heavy hitter only has to attend to do well. A natural with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd under his belt with 4 races attended. If Fitter shows up he could push past Raggie and maybe Hannigan.
7th – Raggie attends nearly every race but doesn’t always compete. His years of experience could keep him in the top 10 as he is only 2 pts away from fitter if he races North Van.
6th Hannigan has a 25 pt spread from 7th and 16 pts away from 5th which he could turn into a top 5. He’s our most winningest racer so far with 2 wins, a 2nd and a consi final win (5th). Alex charges. Lets see if he’ll mix it up.
5th – Kat has been steadily working up the leaderboard and is underrated. An underdog attending 7 of 8 races look out for Kat the hill killer. She got here by putting in the hours and she’ll come for you too. The series ain’t over yet.
4th – Clayton has attended 6 of 8 races, and made podium half of those races, winning once. A seasoned outlaw racer and a force to be reckoned, not to be underestimated especially on his home turf of North Van.
3rd – Aaron is in stiff competition with fellow Abby local Ajay who have both been to every race. He’s 19pts away from 4th and 25pts away from 2nd so attendance and making podium at least will be of utmost importance.
2nd – Ajay has worked very hard to earn this spot. His win at PooGnar helped push him up the leaderboard. There are many North Van locals and otherwise who could show up to give Ajay a run for his money. He’ll have to perform well to maintain near the top.
1st – Cody has been defending the top spot since May when he took the W and the Kits Klusterfuck. 3 months leader, with 24 pts separating him from 2nd he’s earned his spot. If Cody races, it will take a lot to dethrone the YARDWASTE BAIER!
Race Report – Shredder.
On a crisp January morning, after two days of rain and 100% humidity the wind picked up and blew the storm clouds away, revealing a near perfect blue bird day. The best a skater could ask for. Road conditions could be described as wet with a chance of patchy.
At the previously agreed upon time, skaters put their name in a hat with their peers to be randomly chosen to compete against one another in honest grassroots outlaw downhill skateboard racing. There are many ways to randomly sort heats. Given this duty, firstly I was thankful that 32 breaks down into 4/racer heats perfectly and I chose to just ask nearby people to give me random numbers between 1 – 32, assigning heats of 4.
On the days ambitious schedule was a downhill race, a dirt race, a longest slide comp, a chili/buns lunch break, LHL and disc golf. Everyone would need to be efficient to pull it all off. So we hoped for the best.
Organizing this event began by Some key members of Team Pizza seeing this downhill route in a quiet area inside a park away from traffic. These sorts of places and people can offer skaters places to race for glory, money and prizes. From corner marshals to hay bails to promoting and making food and more, it takes a community of people believing in their right to gather in public places and safely skate with their friends while being respectful of one another and their surroundings.
Thanks to Stumanchu, Nic, Lou & Clay, Bean, Bridge, Tessa, Cory, Raggie, Diane, Grizz and more. With the help of the most seasoned OG Coasties around, we ran our radio checks, placed marshals at their posts and started the show. Three practice rounds, a few uncontested questionable early starts later, racing was underway. With Stumanchu running the start line everyone was in capable hands.
“Can we get a course clear, start line IS clear, corner 1 do you read?”, “Corner one is clear”, “Parking lot is clear”, “Corner two is clear”, “Finish line is clear, no traffic, will advise, over.”, “Sending the first heat now!”
Previous winners of this race are:
Mack Wacey, Troy Yardwaste, Manu Duhamel. Only Manu was in attendance. We had two Americans make the trip too, Trevor and Gibson. You needed to survive 3 rounds to make it to the finals. First round left us with Paddy, Jacob, Brick, Matt N, Gibson, Manu, Grizz, Ajay, Alex, Miles, Shai, Dex, Matteo, Sam S, Aidan and Clayton.
2nd round left us with Paddy, Jacob, Cam, Manu, Alex, Dex, Matteo and Clayton.
Semifinals: left us with Clayton, Dex, Manu and Gibson headed to the finals. The top 8 racers earned points.
Off the start line the split second Stu shouted “GO!” Dexter’s body had already begun the perfect timing as his wheels crossed the line with a commanding push start putting him in first. A lead he would need to work hard to maintain. The tight pack coming into the first right corner, a wet 100° turn, sharper in the entry than the exit with a pool building on the outside. Clayton lurked in Dexter’s draft waiting to pounce. Past the building, through the bollards and across the parking lot they held a close pack. Split the speedbumps and down the long sweeping right Dexter increased his lead, but one mistake in the uphill right to the finish line could mean washing out into the ditch. Manu and Gibson were near and looking for opportunities. A confident Dexter carved, looked behind him and took a casual but safe line to setup for uphill exit speed. Clayton took a more aggressive line and shortened the gap in the remaining seconds of the race. With 20 feet to go Clayton and Dexter were nearly side by side, the tricky uphill finish had claimed a few. In the last few inches, Dexter crosses ahead of Clayton, Manu and Gibson followed right behind.
“Fuck!” Clayton says, with a laugh to his teammate Dexter. As they all roll to a stop and high five and congratulate each other on a good race heat, the spectators cheer and the winners were announced over the radio, we met for a podium and to eat chili. The dirt race followed after that.
With the downhill race podium and lunch break out of the way it was time for the dirt race. I had scoped out a hill but it was too soft. Theobald shouts
” HEY WHY DON’T WE USE THIS GNARLY GRAVEL PATH TO RACE!”
Hardcore Coastie Theo was right it was the best option. People descended from the parking lot onto a gravel walking path down a gradual right, then the grade drops down into left /right combo, right kink amongst trees to the finish. Perfect for spectating, the racers kept going to the top for punishment. Boards tumbling off the course, people eating the rocks when they fell, the occasional soft patch ate more than enough racers. I filled in as a racer to even the heats at 8 racers. I ate shit, but it was 100% worth the fun. I will highly encourage dirt races whenever possible at future events. With heats of 2 we wound up in the finals with Old school VS New school. A showdown between Grizz and Kat!
As it went down, Kat took a spill in the fastest part as Grizz claimed the win unscathed but surfing for dear life through the final right turn on a mini evo with 90mm flywheels.
We moved onto a casual longest slide competition on the long right sweeper of the downhill track. With the wet pavement and no rules on gloves down this would turn into a limbo fest. People got low, double gloved it and slid FAR. This was about fun and wrapping up the day in a fun way. As people outdid each other everyone was given a 5 min warning then at cutoff. With only a few feet between the top 4,
With all that out of the way, the downhill race, the dirt race and the longest slide comp it appeared we just didn’t have enough time or energy for a Longboard Hockey skills competition. A few of us did however have just enough gas in the tank to go throw some discs at the disc golf course in the park. Previous Burnaby Burner champ and talented disc golfer Mack Wacey even made it out in time to participate in a round.
All in all it was an excellent day with no injuries, lots of fun, great friends and good racing. Hope to see you all at the next race Feb12th in West Vancouver bright and early.
Come for a sunrise coffee and continental breakfast for racing at the EXCAVATOR.
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About @Chasethrills
Shredder, Captain of Team Pizza. Skateboarder, loves good people.
Innovative, kind and highly recommended by close friends.
Outlaw skateboard racing attracts a unique crowd of rowdy thrill seekers.
They are my kind of people.
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