Protest Skateboards full length video “Diversity” was filmed in over the year of 2017, and edited while I was unable to skateboard. I filmed my own part about 6 weeks before going under the knife for ACL replacement and High Tibial Osteomety in which I didn’t skateboard again until June of 2018. We premiered the video at SBC (Smiling Buddha Cafe) in downtown Vancouver in January of 2018 during a Protest Best Trick Contest on the ramp, the place was packed and everyone had a blast. The video was made to showcase the newest team of Protest Riders, how diverse they all are from one another yet still so similar in what they love – skateboarding. With an age range of 7 years old up to 45 years old, this video is what skateboarding is all about, being yourself, doing what you love, and sharing your passion with others. Each rider (except for young Kaelen) only had 1 day to film their part…
Starring: Big Rip Kaelen Faux, Ryan Brynelson, Jay Mykyte, Eve Feaver, and Hippie Mike
Filmed and Edited by: Hippie Mike
Kaelen Faux loves skateboarding, which was pretty much inevitable since both me (Hippie Mike) and mom (Carrie Williams) are skateboarders for life. It’s Kaelen’s 3rd birthday on Sunday, November 11th and I asked him if he wanted me to get a Clown to show up at his Daycare on Friday, and he said he wanted Ryan Brynelson to come instead and do a Freestyle Demo for all his classmates. I talked to Ryan and of course he was down. Kaelen really loves watching Ryan skate and I figured this might be a great opportunity for Kaelen to join in to the Demo and show off some of his skills in front of all his friends that know absolutely nothing about skateboarding. And so it happened. Everyone was super stoked!
Here it is – Kaelen Faux’s 1st Skateboard Demo – with his idol, Ryan Brynelson
Welcome to Episode 5 of GLORY DAZE with Hippie Mike. Today we are hanging out in North Delta with a very unique skateboarder. He’s one of the only Freestylers in Canada, his pockets are overflowing with tricks, and he’s always ready to put on a Demo. Sponsored by Protest Skateboards, Kilian Clothing and West 49, he’s the Number 2 ranked Amateur Freestyle Skateboarder in the World – give it up for Ryan Brynelson!!
Hippie Mike: What’s up Ryan? How’s it feel to be on GLORY DAZE with Hippie Mike?
Ryan Brynelson: Oh, I was very surprised when you called me yesterday and asked me if I wanted to be on GLORY DAZE. I thought it was so great, I watch it on Youtube every now and then and I definitely enjoy it, so thank you so much for having me
HM: Cool. First off, can you tell us a little bit about the history of Freestyle Skateboarding and how many people actually still do it?
Ryan: Alright, so Freestyle Skateboarding is the essence of skateboarding. It came out first in the 1970’s and people would nail 2×4’s to roller skates with clay wheels and they would just kind of ride around on that. It was Freestyle Skateboarding but it was definitely not the same compared to what Freestylers do today. They were mostly just doing tic-tacs and handstands and it was very limited. Then of course the urethane wheel came out and that changed a lot. But it was still pretty much the same. People were still doing tic-tacs, maybe a little more fancy footwork you know if they did have the urethane wheel. And then of course came Rodney Mullen, the Number 1 Freestyle skateboarder in the world ever, the number 1 skateboarder in the world ever in my opinion on the planet. And so what Rodney did was, he sort of saw Steve Rocco doing like 50-50 tricks and then he started doing that, but he made a ton of variations that I’m sure you’ve all seen in videos like Almost Round 3 and stuff, so, pretty much like all truck variations, caspers, that all came from him and then Freestyle started to become more than just footwork and handstands and people were starting to like ride their boards you know on the truck, on the side, upside down and things like that
HM: So how many people in the world are Freestyle Skateboarders?
Ryan: Laughs… Ah ha, yeah so it’s funny, ’cause I get called like the 2nd Top Amateur in the world, but really there is seriously like about 120/150 Freestylers in the world. Very few of us, so…
HM: How old are you, and when did you start skateboarding?
Ryan: I’m 20, and I started skateboarding when I was 8. I got my first board you know like most kids, at some point in their life they get a skateboard for Christmas, and of course it’s a Walmart Skateboard, and uh, so I just started puttering around on that. I would just kind of ride around on that you know goofing around and stuff, and then when I was 14 I saw Lords of Dogtown and Dogtown and Z-Boys and something about those movies just made want to start doing tricks and stuff. It showed more of a community in skateboarding for me you know where normally I’d be skateboarding with the kids up the block, but then I was introduced to the Dogtown Movie and I kind of saw more of a community there and it was very attractive to me. I saw that and I thought it was really cool you know.
HM: And that’s why you leaned towards the Freestyle?
Ryan: Well part of it. I saw them doing like the Burt Slides and stuff like that, but of course everybody’s doing street skateboarding and not many people skate that 70’s style and whatever. So at that time I thought, Okay I have to learn how to Ollie, so I learned how to Ollie. So then it was like, now the pressure’s on, you know, you gotta learn kick flips and pop shovits, and then I kept kind of going but I didn’t really like that aspect myself. I was still just kind of doing Burt Slides and just playing around with that and then I saw Freestyle Skateboarding when I got invited to a barbeque at Kevin Harris’s house and it was kind of like a Jam Session for the 2007 World Freestyle Championships of Skateboarding and since then I’ve just been doing Freestyle Skateboarding and yeah, I enjoy it very much
HM: How much has Kevin Harris taught you over the years and what other influences has he had on your life?
Ryan: Ohhh, Huge, Huge. I mean, you know, Kevin has always been such a great mentor to me. He showed me Freestyle Skateboarding and because of him I am doing this. I would say my spins and any kind of my footwork, flow work, that all comes from Kevin, and then truck tricks and everything after that, you know, that’s just me wanting to be just a rounded skateboarder.
HM: You are very into Japanese Culture. You work at a Japanese Pub, you study Japanese at school, and usually have Japanese girlfriends. What sparked this interest and where is it leading you in life?
Ryan: Laughs… Oh that’s very interesting… Well, skateboarding you know, you’re always using your body and stuff and I was very into that using my body thing, and then at school my marks were always low and people started thinking I was like stupid or whatever, and um, then I went twice to Japan on Exchange Trips and I liked it very much, so I took a Japanese Course and I decided to make it as much of a passion as skateboarding is to me. So skateboarding, I’m using my body, and then Japanese I get to use my brain and stuff, so I thought it was cool to do both
HM: So therefore you’re always learning both
Ryan: Exactly,exactly. Yeah, yeah
HM: And the girls just came with it, right?
Ryan: Laughs… I don’t really think of it like that. I just study and stuff. Laughs…
HM: Say your favourite sentence in Japanese
Ryan: My favourite sentence, ohhh, I got a few. それはたわごとの価値がありません。 “It’s not worth shit” – Laughs…
HM: There are so many skateboarders in the world, but so few of them are into Freestyle. It’s a whole different way of life. Do other skaters treat you different because your strictly a Freestyler?
Ryan: Yes. They do actually. You know, a lot of it’s been very positive, and I go to a skate park and I kind of stand out and stuff. There is times where there is a little bit of a negative side of it and I think that it’s kind of weird because so many skateboarders got into skateboarding because society kind of pushed them out and then they started skateboarding. And then I’m doing Freestyle Skateboarding. I’m doing skateboarding, I’m just doing a different style, and then by that group I get pushed out by them because of it. Not all of them, but there is definitely a group for sure and I feel like it’s kind of hype-critical…
HM: Right. Do you think people don’t respect Freestyle Skateboarding, or is it just a sign of insecurity?
Ryan: You know, I feel like it is a sign of insecurity… I feel like a lot of people respect it, but at the same time, it’s not taken as seriously
HM: They don’t understand it
Ryan: They don’t understand it, that’s exactly it. Like when Longboarding came in at first that was very like separated from skateboarding, and this is very much the same
HM: Yeah, except Freestyle created what skateboarding is and Longboarding just….. I mean like, I’ve skated 26 years and I don’t even attempt Freestyle
Ryan: Laughs…
HM: Who’s better – Rodney Mullen or Kilian Martin? Right now?
Ryan: Ohhh, that’s a hard question… Uhhhhhhh. You know, rodney is just so tech tech tech, and as far as being the tech-master it’s Rodney, but Kilian with his creativity. I mean, damn. Honestly I gotta say hands down, my favourite skateboarder is Kilian Martin. I have much respect for Rodney Mullen but my absolute favourite – Kilian Martin.
HM: What do you love the most about life?
Ryan: Life… just so many great people, so many great people.
HM: Alright – Shout out to anyone?
Ryan: Shout out to anyone, oh my gosh, I just want to say Kilian Martin I’m seriously so stoked to be riding for you on Kilian Clothing, thank you so much, uhh, I appreciate all the advise you’ve given to me before, and um, Kevin Harris, absolutely one of my greatest mentors and it’s because of him I’m even doing this, so thanks
HM: Okay Ryan, I’d like to thank you for being a guest on GLORY DAZE and I’d just like to say I have always had respect for you as an individual. From the moment I met you many years ago you were a Freestyle Skateboarder, and no one was going to change that. You’re an artist, you’re a solid skater, you’re a leader and a role model. A rare fish that swims alone in a massive sea of followers
It was the first closed in bowl with coping in Surrey, and when it was in the planning stage for the Guildford Park I was very adamant that we got a Bowl. There was too much of the same street stuff popping up everywhere and those parks get boring after a while. So Guildford Bowl was built, along with a tiny, somewhat pointless Street Section. Of course now you have to be thankful for the street section because that’s all that will be skateable for the next year and a half until the construction is complete. Once this Lap Pool is built then New Line will come back and build something fresh for us to ride in the remaining footage between the building and street section.
This Park helped to teach a lot of the young kids in Surrey how to hit coping. I remember when it was new and at my Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey Contests there the young kids would all avoid the Bowl and just ride the street stuff, and now almost everyone focuses completely on the Bowl at those events. It also created a group of friends that localized that place, Allen Handley, Myke Johnson and Randy. These guys all know how to shred this spot. It’s a shame that we’re losing it, but life goes on.
Here’s the Video by Protest Skateboards of our Final Film Session at Guildford Bowl. Lots of people showed up including Andy Anderson, Brad “Fighter” Muscat, Jordan Strong, Dale Kind, “Giver” Michael James, Riley Allen Clerihue, Adam Lewis, Josh Lewis, “Hasbrown” Mike Shulze, Dustin Locke, Derek Mayer, Stephan Burke, Matt Cook, Ryan Brynelson, Bachouch Michael, Myke Johnson, Randy, myself and Allen Handley who absolutely destroyed it all day. No one will miss that Bowl as much as this guy.
I’m not completely sure when the fence will go up and the Bowl will come down but it could happen at any given moment, so take your chances and get there for one last session
So it’s finally over, but what a great summer for Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey, hard to believe that this was the 8th year and there are still some of the same people showing up to all the events. Awesome.
This day was long anticipated by so many people, the first ever full lenght contest at Chuck Bailey. Since I work there, and part of my job is to be outside in the park, I skate it quite a bit. And every day there are multiple people of all ages there skating hard, and constantly learning. So many of them wanted to be the first to win at Chuck Bailey Park, I knew we were in for a wicked show…
The day was sweet, one of the nicest days of this so called summer of 2011. There was between 100 and 150 people at the park and they were all having fun. The Mini’s started off the competition in style by shredding everything in sight.
JR went off in his first run pumping up the crowd, so awesome to have him back. I missed JR soooo much last summer when he had moved away. He spent all summer at Chuck Bailey skating with Adam and Josh Lewis and they all ripped it up at the comp. The big surprise in this category was Justin Fiorante who came out flying over the 3 block and ended by almost kickflipping it. I love seeing that point where a kid all of a sudden gets real good. Justin always had a bit of talent, but I could tell at the last few contests that he has made it to a new level in his skating. Sick runs buddy, and I believe his first ever win!!
The Beginner category was owned by Luke Thodus, undoubtably. 180’s over the 3 block, gap lipslide on the ledge to ledge, and some mighty big boardslides for a tiny dude. Killed it. The rest of the 27 Beginners also had amazing runs. There were so many tricks landed in Beginner, we could’ve gone home right then – show over.
The Intermediates got to skate one at a time, lucky for them.Sky and Brandon both showed that they’ve been hanging at Chuck Bailey every day for the past couple months, Cole Thodus impressed all with his super skills and big ledge and rail skating and Tanner and Jackson Hawthorne both came out with solid practically flawless runs both times. Sick category, tough to win. The ladies all skated together – Brianna, Cali and Erin trying there hardest to show there skills, and Gen and Sam carving the place up. Not many tricks, but still a good competition. Too bad Carrie was sick and coudn’t skate.
Then finally came Advanced – 20 people all wanting to be the first ever “Champion of Chuck.” Fighter and Calvin got to start it off together, and start it off they did. Both of them tore the park up completely different from the other. Calvin demo’d on the rails and 3 block while Fighter went fast and huge everywhere. It was already ineveitable that being judge in this category was going to seriously suck. Baba, Coddi, Ryan Barron, Nick, Cisco, Jaden, Brendan, Dominic, Damon, The Jigga, Giver, Jordan Repin, the list goes on telling you all the people that skated amazingly and still didn’t place. It came straight down to the king of switch stance – Adam Fontaine, and the outright King – Andy Anderson. Adam hits hard switch tricks on the rails and even I have to double take to confirm that it wasn’t regular – because of how flawless he skates. Switch back tails, back lips, back smiths, whatever. But Andy was untouchable. He camped out the night before at China Creek for the Jacks Contest, but skytrained to Chuck to compete in Advanced. Both of his runs were amazing and if the Original Bones Brigade was looking for a sixth, Andy woud’ve been the one. Untouchable!
The standings were announced at the end, the plaques were all given out, the food and money was donated to the Surrey Food Bank (385 lbs of food and $425.75), the Most Improved Award was given to Dominic Devries (The Dominator), and the King of Surrey was named for 2011 – Andy Anderson – placed top 3 in all 5 contests, and also won King of the Bowls this year, a Historic Moment. The bad part for all the others is that, unlike Bowl Series, at Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey, you’re allowed to win the King Trophy more than once. Can Andy be the first to do that one, we gotta wait a whole year to find out…
See you then.
Results
Mini 1. Justin Fiorante; 2. Josh Lewis; 3. JR Barron; 4. Aiden Eastman; 5. Jon Schrack; 6. Sam Stephans; 7. Isiah Stroud; 8. Jack Stroud; 9. Ethan Clark; 10. Alex Mager; 11. Dylan Rossi
Beginner 1. Luke Thodus; 2. Matthew Major; 3. Morgan Skinner; 4. Matthew Forcier; 5.Adam Lewis; 6. Rob Schrack ; 7. Billy Shouting; 8. Max Stephans, Noah Eastwood & Riley Allen; 9. Matthew McCauley; 10. David Martin, Bailey Flecks, Jacob Drescher & Mitch Hudson; 11. Scott Cresine; 12. Kevin Tran, Riki Mockizuki & Evan Way; 13. Sage Van Hatten & Trystan Briggs; 14. Colton Routtenbourg; 15. Mark Melyukov, Andrew Goodlet & Austin; 16. Hayden Gordon; 17. Nikki Thomas
Wow, I can hardly believe it. I’ve worked in Cloverdale for over 8 years, and I used to complain so much when I used to teach Sk8 Lessons at their Park because of how hot it always is there compared to everywhere else in Surrey. But for the past 3 Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey contests in Cloverdale, it’s been cold and rainy. When it rained at Fleetwood this year, the first thing I thought was wow, this must mean that it’s not going to rain in Cloverdale this year. And I was right…
The ironic part was that because of another contest that evryone needs to go and try to qualify for Wild in the Parks was also scheduled the day of the Fleetwood contest. And they postponed it till August 26th, so therefore 75% of the kids that would normally be at the Cloverdale comp were not there. Too funny. But you know who was there?
Andy Anderson, Dale Kind, Fighter, Cisco, Mitchy, Jigga Jay, Allen, Andre, William, Max, Kai, Riley, and lots of others, including Quinton Salter dressed up in a Chicken Suit. Nice! Also The TV show Gen Y was there filming and interviewing people for their show, and I believe there was also a lady from The Cloverdale Reporter snapping some pictures for a good part of the day. Lots of publicity, and all the kids striving to get some were at Railside in Poco…
It was an amazing day to watch skateboarding. I think everyone skated really awesome.
Every category was a struggle to judge because all competitors had good runs and landed so many wicked tricks.Kai definitely dominated the Mini category with his technical style and smooth flow, followed close by Jon, but the big surprise had to be Aiden Eastman – 6 1/2 years old and has been trying so hard this year to get tricks down so he could place in a contest. He did it!! 3rd place buddy. We are all stoked for you, and I was very impressed. The Beginner category had 15 kids in it. They all skated great, but Best Run of the day in Beginner had to go to Dante. Hi s1st run he only landed a couple things, but then came out flying in his second run landing every trick he tried with authority. Awesome run man, too bad for the first one or you might have placed. Still took home some fresh new Knee Pads and a sweet hat though. Max took the beginner Category anyway, but then spread the icing all over the cake with a huge backside 180 into the deep end of the bowl. Uphill landing = not easy. Nice one man.
Not too many Intermediates, I can take a guess where they all were. William LeTourneau took the big win, but I still liked watching the Chicken tear up every obstacle in the park. I think some of his 1st run might make the TV.
The Advanced was insane, like always. But even more so this time Every single person in Advanced dominated. We all knew who took 1st and 2nd, but not necessarily which one took which place yet. So it was all about 3rd place. Andy Anderson stole the 3rd place prize, barely. Brad Muscat (Fighter) had 2 amazing runs, Judo blunts and blunt 180’s in the mini ramp, Crooks, Tailslides and BAck LIps on the Loading Dock Rail, and all with his left arm in a full arm cast. He won it for sure… But then Dale had his sencond run, Dude! Smith Grind over the top part of the step ledge, 50-50 up the Loading Dock Rail to manual, Nosestall Body Varial Tail stall Revert on the ledge at the top of the bank, and finishes it off with a Smith Grind to 50-50 180 on the flat bar. Stole it from the Fighter. DJ Dale!!
Best Trick in the halfpipe to finish the day – Allen Handley wins with Back Footed Heelflip Backside Boneless. Alrighty then…
Results
Mini 1. Kai Searle; 2. Jon Schrack; 3. Aiden Eastman; 4. Justin Fiorante; 5. Sam Stephans; 6. Isiah Stroud; 7. Anna Bartnik (got hurt in 2nd run)
Beginner 1. Max Stephans; 2. Konnor Cadeau; 3. Andrew Harden; 4. Riley Allen; 5. Rob Schrack; 6. Dante; 7. Joey Sinclair; 8. Colton Routtenberg; 9. Bishop Posie & Andrew Goodlet; 10. Colby Banyard; 11. Jacob Antony; 12. Ayden S.; 13. Connor; 14. Sage
Intermediate 1. William LeTourneau; 2. The Chicken; 3. Coddi Liang & Andre Bissonnette; 4. Brandon Poland; 5. Robert Wylie
Advanced 1. Dale Kind; 2. Brad Muscat; 3. Andy Anderson; 4. Cisco Gooding; 5. Jay Mykyte; 6. Mitch Salter; 7. Allen Handley; 8. Jordan Strong (got hurt in 7 seconds in 1st run)
See you all at this year’s Grand Finale at Chuck Bailey Park – the first ever competition there.
Who will take the title of being the first champion of Chuck Bailey?
Who will be this year’s King of Surrey?
Who will be announced as Most Improved since last year?
Who will win the Most Stickers on your Helmet Contest?
So many questions and only one way to answer them – BE THERE!!
A gorgeous day to be outside, glad I got to be. Sunny, clear, warm, not too hot, beautiful. We deserved a day like this for the day it was going to be. Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey at Fraser Heights and then straight over to Chuck Bailey for the Element Demo. This meant one thing, that the contest was going to have to be quick, not much time between categories.
It went well. The kids in Mini and Beginner demolished the whole park. It was solid skating from everyone.Shayle Dahl finished off his 2nd run in Mini by blasting a perfect ollie down the 9 stair first try ever. All the kids were stoked, especially him. Max Stephans in Beginner did the same thing except with a Backside 180 – it was out of nowhere and perfect. Matthew McCauley almost kickflipped down it too. It’s just crazy to even be talking about a 9 stair in the same sentence as “Beginner and Mini Categories”. The City of Surrey is just creating a whole mess of amazing up and coming skaters with all these parks. Seriously.
We had a quick break and then got straight into Intermediate and Advanced.
Coddi Ryane has some wild tricks, and let them all out of the cage at once with 2 solid, and innovative runs in Intermediate. But it was Advanced that was hardcore this time, very tight competition. Dominic Devries (The Dominator) is unstoppable in competition right now. I remember when the Decenzos started to get real good and they were at the level that he is at right now, and look at those 2 now, both getting tons of recognition. I love seeing Ryan Decenzo on TV competing against Sheckler and Nyjah and all these amazing skaters. I will not be surprised if I’m watching Dominic competing against those guys on the TV within the next couple years – that’s the potential I see in him. He is definitely worthy of the name “The Dominator”…
The contest went smoothly and quickly enough to get over to Chuck before the Element Team arrived. The Demo was very successful, everybody killed it. The kids were all stoked and the skaters that came really put on a show. Unfortunately Nyjah was injured and didn’t make it out. Maybe next year. Thanks to MARK APPLEYARD, LEVI BROWN, NICK GARCIA, JULIAN DAVIDSON, EVAN SMITH, BOO JOHNSON, BRANDON DEL BIANCO for coming out and to Chad Albert, team manager, for doing such an awesome job organizing and managing the Tour. Well Done!
Results
Mini 1.Shayle Dahl; 2.Cody Laing; 3. Jon Schrack; 4. JR Barron & Aiden Eastman; 5. Josh Lewis; 6. Mitchel Young
Beginner 1. Jaden Dahl; 2. Max Stephans; 3. Josh Almeda; 4. Riley Allen & Matthew McCauley; 5. Rob Schrack; 6. Bryan Benanides; 7. Matthew Major & Jacob Drescher; 8. Adam Lewis; 9. Anthony Harris; 10. Andrew Goodlet; 11. Joey Sinclair
Intermediate 1. Coddi Ryane; 2. Mick Bey; 3. Andre Bissonnette; 4. Zuri Vankevich; 5. Alex Savage; 6. William Savage; 7. Malek Salem
Advanced 1. Dominic Devries; 2. Jay Mykyte; 3. Ryan Barron & Andy Anderson; 4. Weston Granger; 5. Calvin Dignard; 6. Jaden Easton-Ellett; 7. Trevor Greig & Brad Muscat; 8. Dale Kind &Allen Handley; 9. Brendan Nielsen & Barnadon Baba
Best Trick on Bump to Rail – Brendan Nielsen (Feeble Grind Frontside Bigspin)
Hippie Mike`s Tour de Surrey 2011 – South Surrey Finally! – Summer has arrived.
It was so different being out in the hot sun, but everyone was loving it. A beautiful day, and the park was jumpin`. There was already 30-40 people in the park when I arrived at 11am. I could tell that it was going to be quite a contest by the faces that I recognized. Luke and Cole Thodus, Jaden and Shayle Dahl, Mike Groves, Dominic Devries, Fighter, even Damon Kerr was in the house, and of course the park local Andy Anderson.
I`ve taught a lot of people a lot of tricks over my 26 years of skateboarding, but I think Andy is the one that learned the most. This kid rips any tranny and now he`s totally hittin`up street obstacles all the time too – and all on a fat nasty 1989 style board; rails, risers, rat bones. Andy goes straight from rail sliding the big rail and the double kink rail right into the bowl for a complete demo of tricks. He`s one of my favorite skaters to watch and I`m proud to have been a part of his life as he grew up.
The contest was insane, 15 kids in the Mini section, 17 in Beginner, and they`re all killin`it. JR and Josh Lewis skated really solid in the Mini category following each other up. They both skate Chuck Bailey all the time, so it was good to see them out at a different park. But all eyes were focused on Luke, Kai, Shayle and Jon. It was tough judging between these kids. They were all ripping, but Kai took it home with Jon and Shayle right behind him, somehow leaving Luke in the dust. Hard thing to do.
The Beginner category was just as tough.
So many kids had awesome runs, Max Stephans layin`down tricks all over the park, Jeff Williamson hittin`the gravitron frontside, Matthew F. smith grinding around the corner quarter pipe, Jaden Dahl with his heelflips all over the place and Riley Allen just flying out of the bowl. But all of those kids still coudn`t catch Matthew McCauley, Ben and Cole. For Beginners, these kids are amazing. Can`t wait to see what they bring to the table at Fraser Heights…
Things slowed down a bit during Intermediate, maybe they were all still in shock and stunned after the anialation session that the Mini`s and Beginners put on. Best dudes to watch were Cody G., Coddi R. and Mike Groves. Both Cody`s ripped it hard, but Coddi Ryane was inventing his own insanity on the quarter pipes, boneless fastplant seran wraps on the J wall – What! But still, tough to beat the park local Mike Groves. I remember when Mike used to come to my City Sk8 Camps back when I taught them. He was one of those quick learners who practiced a lot and you can tell he keeps with it. Lots of creative and technical tricks around the park. Good job man.
We had a Ladies Section. Sarah Bennett, who was in Jaden`s Sk8 Camp all last week in Cloverdale was there all day practicing. My guess is she is around 8 or 9 years old and had just started skateboarding. Carrie showed up around 3:30 and had to borrow a pair of shoes from the Jigga, which were 2 sizes to big, and then try to compete against Sarah in her first ever competition. Andy`s sister Alex, another one who took lessons from me many years ago, jumped on a board as a late entry and we actually had a contest. Unbelievably, Sarah won it all, taking home a fresh new Protest Deck. Awesome!! I`m guessing we`ll be seeing more of her. Then came Advanced – Da da da Daaaaaaa!!
A lot of big time guys that are tough to beat, Dominic, Andy, Jay Mykyte, Quinn, Jaden, Damon, Fighter, the list goes on. All guys totally skate different from the others too so the judges had a serious task on their hands to decide the top 3. Unquestionably, Andy Anderson had the whole place beat, probably didn`t even need to do a second run his first one was so good. So it was really a competition to see who else could win prizes. A few people choked a bit in their first runs, but all seemed to come through strong in the second heat. You`ll have to read the results below to see who took second and third. All I know is my favorite trick that went down in Advanced was Allen Handley – backside boneless out of the J wall quarter foot on the top deck of the blue wall behind and leaping all the way back into the quarter. Nastyyyyy!
We had a Best Trick competition too on the entire centre section, ledges, rails, wedges. The prize was a Coastal Riders Deck and a Gary Coleman T-Shirt. These kids don`t even know who Gary Coleman is, What`chu Talkin“Bout Willis… Nate almost had it with a Frontside Lipslide pop to Front Board pop out on the bump to ledge, but Dominic stole it all with a Feeble to 50-50 down the big rail. Until next year, that`s the way it goes…
Results
Mini 1. Kai Searle; 2. Jon Schrack; 3. Shayle Dahl; 4. Luke Thodus; 5. JR, Cody Laing, Aiden; 6.Justin Fiorante, Josh Lewis; 7. Jacob Gallocher; 8. Tyler Dickson, Tristan G. ; 9. Preston Bitzer, Jack Stroud
Beginner 1. Cole Thodus; 2. Ben Schultz; 3. Matthew McCauley; 4. Jeff Williamson; 5. Max Stephans; 6.Zurri Vanerich; 7. Rob Schrack, Jaden Dahl; 8. Matthew Major, Riley Allen; 9. Matthew Forcier; 10. Brandon L.; 11. Jacob Drescher; 12. Brody Taylor, John Farquhar; 13. Luke “Dino Surf ”; 14. Alex Savage, Max Arntzen
Intermediate 1. Mike Groves; 2. Coddi Ryane; 3. Cody Grunow; 4. William Savage; 5. Jacob Lubberts; 6. Malek Salem; 7. Tanner Hawthorne Girls 1. Sarah Bennett; 2. Alex Anderson; 3. Carrie Williams
Advanced 1. Andy Anderson; 2. Dominic Devries; 3. Weston Granger; 4. Brad Muscat (Fighter), Jaden Easton-Ellett; 5. Matt Whatley; 6. Allen Handley; 7. Jay Mykyte; 8. Quinn Morrison, Nate; 9. Damon Kerr (Pike Bibby); 10. Sacha Shams
See you in 2 weeks August 13th – Fraser Heights (then Element Demo at Chuck Bailey 5pm)
Fleetwood Well, the day started with me peeking out the window at the rain and then going to grab Kaelen from his crib, in which he proceeded to throw up right onto my chest. Perfect start to another year of Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey…
I love these events and everything that comes with it – the relationships with all who are involved are a big part of my life, and I enjoy watching others learn and grow. I knew that at some point today it was going to be nice out, all I could do was hope that point of the day came early – like 12pm would have been nice. We showed up in the rain at 11:00 to find 3 or 4 kids there skating their butts off. The rain and wet ground were no issue for these guys. Kickflips, varialflip, grabs out of the quarter pipe, and these guys were 10/11 years old. So I knew that at least we would have some sort of competition. More people showed up and we waited patiently for the weather to change. Finally it began to clear up, and the park was half dry when the Beginners started their runs. Of course then it began to rain again about 10-15 minutes later. The contest continued with the Intermediates and Advanced in the rain, and all were skating really good. Only a few hard crashes throughout the day, but everyone was fine.
The kids were all amazing, the parents were supportive, and even all the people camping out for a swim meet inside the building watched the show. It was a strange day, with a different atmosphere, someone even stole a skateboard deck out of my prizes while I was right there, but all in all it was okay. And of course the day ended with a beautiful sunset…
Results
Beginner/Mini – 1. Will Grayson; 2. Rob Shrack; 3. Kai Searle; 4. Cody Laing; 5. Riley Allen; 6. Matt Phillips; 7. Jaylen Sandhu
Intermediate – 1. Morgan Skinner; 2. Mario Antonio; 3. Quinton Salter; 4. Sebastien Lopez; 5. Joseph Madayag
Advanced – 1. Brad Muscat (Fighter); 2. Andy Anderson; 3. Jaden Easton-Ellett
I know a lot of people are sceptical of skating Bear Creek, and some hate the fact that I always save it for last every year. But Bear Creek is such a unique place, and if you actually go there and practise, you can find a lot of funky lines to do. And every year, the contest runs are always amazing. It was a good day, a little lengthy, but not raining. We had our annual show from the band “The Pimpin’ Kings” which I thought was great. You can check out the Pimpin’ Kings in the latest edition of Ear Goggles at www.eargogglesdvd.com
We also had 2 Best Trick Contests, handed out the King of Surrey Trophy, and donated all proceeds for this year to the Surrey Food Bank – a Grand Total of $755.59 and 400 lbs of food, much appreciated.
It was an eventful day. Cisco Gooding took the King of Surrey Trophy along with the 1st place plaque and a bunch of prizes in Advanced and then another Deck for Best Trick down the 4 stair set up – Nollie Inward Heelflip Front Boardslide down the ledge. 6 contests in total this year for Cisco and he finished with five 1st places and one 4th. Not bad.
The Minis and Beginners all skated really hard, everyone killing it. Desmond Fisher finally took home Gold in the Mini. Skated his best all day and landed a ton of awesome and difficult tricks. 2 solid runs. Luke Thodus skated pretty good but missed a couple tricks taking 3rd and Tomas Pustovalov took a big 2nd place. Kai Searle just missed placing in this one, he skated really good, but Luke barely beat him. 4th is still something to be proud of though. Good job dudes. The Beginners were all pushing for Gold. It was a tough call between Niall Proctor and Riley Allen for 3rd, but it went to Riley. Lots of funky old school style tricks and tricks that you can tell he is inventing on his own. Jacob Drescher took 2nd, which was a surprise to me because he had 2 killer runs, practically flawless, but Cole Thodus is one tough kid to beat. He was doing grabs over the big gaps grind down the ledges and kickflips down the sets. 1st place again.
The ladies category was alright, Carrie and Ilesha, just like the old days. It was great to see Ilesha show up and still try her best to ride the park. She’s very tiny and just rides around and does her best while Carrie lands as many tricks as she can. Good times. The Intermediates put on quite a show for the crowd, all landing tons of tricks. Trevor Greig and Jaden exploded out of gates with fierce energy and you could tell it was going to be between them for 1st place. Jaden had more creative tricks, but Trevor went bigger and took gold. 3rd place went to the Old Schooler, Curtis Clements over Brendan Neilsen. Brendan just had a tough second run, but he did good all year so he couldn’t be too upset.
Best Trick on the quarter pipe went to Dominic DeVries with a kickflip frontside 50-50 to fakie and Allen Handley took a close second with kickflip back smith 270. And Russia had the trick of the day when he launched the quarterpipe pyramid to flat with a huge Mute Grab and broke Barry’s board. Still rode away, but broke Barry’s board. Onward to Advanced where everyone was on fire. Cisco had 2 pretty much flawless runs with lots of variety, ledges, rails, flip tricks, switch tricks and tranny, Adam Fontaine demo’d the rails regular and switch, and Fighter went huge over all the gaps and hit up some rails and quarter pipe, Dominic Devries had an amazing 2nd run landing a ton of difficult tech tricks, but Shameless was on all the tough obstacles and beat out Dominic and Fighter to hold onto 3rd place. It was a tight contest, everyone skated really good all day, and I’m glad that rain held off until it was over.
Thanks to everyone who came out to participate all summer, thanks to all the parents for transporting the kids all over Surrey, and thanks to all the sponsors. It was definitely an awesome series.
RESULTS
MINI: 1. Desmond Fisher; 2. Tomas Pustovalov; 3. Luke Thodus; 4. Kai Searle; 5. Justin Fiorante & Schuyler Jimmie; 6. Aiden Eastman & Rene Rosie 7. Kaelen Faux
BEGINNER: 1. Cole Thodus; 2. Jacob Drescher; 3. Riley Allen; 4. Niall Proctor; 5. Alex Pace; 6. Ryan Siemens; 7. Matthew Major; 8. Matt Phillips & Dante Gullickson; 9. Andrew Goddlet & Billy Shouting; 10. Corey Weis & Biyan
GIRLS: 1. Carrie Williams; 2. Ilesha Szerepi
INTERMEDIATE: 1. Trevor Greig; 2. Jaden Easton-Ellett; 3. Curtis Clements; 4. Brendan Neilsen; 5. Andre Bissonnette; 6. Cam Head; 7. Jonathan Kampen & Justin James; 8. Barry Blatter; 9. Robert Wylie & Ross Somerville
ADVANCED: 1. Cisco Gooding; 2. Adam Fontaine; 3. Shameless; 4. Dominic DeVries & Fighter; 5. Jay Mykyte & Allen Handley; 6. Dale Kind; 7. Keegan Anderson; 8. Jordash Bouchard
MOST IMPROVED SKATER: – Shayle Dahl
KING OF SURREY: – Cisco Gooding, who won 5 Advanced Contests!
