The good folks at Madrid Skateboards and Venom wheels sent me down to Puerto Rico to take some photos and race in the Guajataka Downhill. I’m not very good at racing, so enjoy the pictures.
There were more spectators at this event than any other I’ve ever been to. Thousands of people lined the course 5 deep to watch us skate. We enjoyed watching them as well. Rayne team rider and proud Floridian mongo-pusher Cam Frazier rolls down the windows in the $100 longest-slide competition.
The race was in Quebradillas, a little town on the coast.
Kevin lays down some urethane for the skate-paparazzi at Saturday’s slide jam. Spectators kept creeping into the road, making the skatable surface narrower and narrower. Note Jeff Budro’s Sector 9 tattoo and repurposed shirtsleeve sweatband steez.
Stickers work well as band-aids when you’re in a pinch. The owner of this bloody shin, Serge Berig, pushed across most of the US by himself with no support car because he’s a badass like that.
Louis demonstrates what happens when you try to run out of a slide at full speed and accidentally step on your board. There was blood. The crowd went wild.
You don’t see too many Landyachtz Urban Assaults these days, especially with such snazzy grip.
I would rock this T shirt.
Skinny ginger-kid .50 Cal Staub got heatstroke at the slide jam and had to take a nap before deploying his precision photo-bomb skillz.
This stinkbug tip-’n'-rip triple pendy was the rawest thing I saw all weekend. Shredding.
These booth babes were sent by the bread company that sponsored the race. Notable Portland skater and vest enthusiast Billy “Bones” Meiners was fully stoked.
Billy has the best sticker-jobs in the game. Click through for the NSFW uncensored version.
Zak Maytum is a big fan of putting gangster rap lyrics on his grip tape. This one is extra appropriate in light of the fact that Zak used to be deeply involved in slalom, which is basically the Dungeons and Dragons of skateboarding.
Kevin Reimer is a big fan of polyester basketball shorts. For the last couple years he’s rocked the same 2 pairs of red swishy shorts so consistently that when I see someone in red shorts at an event, I just assume it’s Kevin. I saw a photo of him with gray shorts in an Abec 11 ad and swore it was photo-shopped. Turns out he just bought a couple new pairs this year.
Mullets, rat-tails, and heavily groomed eyebrows on dudes were EVERYWHERE in Puerto Rico. This dude actually had a Vanilla Ice eyebrow on the other side of his face. I have no idea how the thoroughly bangable female population puts up with this.
These kids were all kinds of hyped to get a photo with James. I hope homie in the yellow T-shirt took a hot shower as soon as he got home, ’cause that helmet has about 3 years of accumulated sweat in it. Gross.
Sheldon from Florida is east coast as fuck, and don’t you forget it. Hugh from Vancouver is unimpressed.
Who wants to shotgun? Zak might be spilling; but he can still beat you anytime, anywhere.
Calvin models his new glasses. Until recently, Calvin could barely see. This made bombing hills extra exciting.
This is a bad idea.
In true skate-dirtbag fashion, hugh stayed up until sunrise and passed out on the deck of the pool. Meanwhile, I forgot my camera out there and woke up at 6:30 am deeply concerned for its safety. Fortunately, Louis had my back. Dude’s the boss.
Epic hesh dude bombed barefoot, rode out some speed wobbles, and was instantly the raddest dude on the hill. Just look at that vest. Killing it.