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Oct 11/12/13, by Attila Aszodi
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If one single year was ever to be judged by the
amount of progress and momentum of a simple 70's
pastime that was re- introduced just a little over 2
years ago, 2002 would certainly rank as the most
memorable and it will.
The recent FCR slalom world championships which were
held over a 3-day weekend on October 11/12/13 in
Morro Bay and Avila Beach, California was the follow
up to last years very successful world championship
which was also held in downtown Morro Bay and
orchestrated by racing veteran Jack Smith of Los
Osos.
This year, legendary racing powerhouse FCR, Fat City
Racing's Don O'Shei, John Krisik and Jack Smith
took last years official global reintroduction
to competitive slalom racing to yet another level by
forming the TLP , Tri Lateral Partners and
announcing an 8-Race FCR tour leading up to the
grand finale in Morro Bay and Avila Beach.
Although the setting in Morro Bay 2002 was similar
to the previous year, it obvious that much had
changed; The tremendous variety of new slalom
products, unheard of lat year, the much broader age
range of competitors, the amount of racers
(over 100!!!), TV crew and cameras on cranes
and dollies, the much improved level of skill and
speed !!!
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It was obvious that slalom had truly spread
nationally and sparked worldwide interest. Racers
from England, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Trinidad
could be found here.
Slalom and skateboarding legends such as Henry
Hester, who just a little over a year ago got a
slalom wakeup call from me, showing up in race
condition., Steve Olson, Dave Hackett, Duane Peters,
John Hutson (finishing top 5 on the GS),
Jamie Hart, Cliff Coleman an many others who
back in the day inspired the skateboarding world
showed up in top shape to reinspire and blow away
spectating and competing minds.
Friday’s qualifying race was held at Avila Beach;
16 racers in each category would move on to
Saturdays & Sundays official races to compete
against the top 16 ranked FCR point leaders. The
hybrid style and fairly symmetrical course,
set by last years world champ Gary Cross, was
displayed at a steep and freshly paved and super
smooth hill which ran parallel to the beach
providing a spectacular view.
Speeds ran in the mid 20's and the choice of
wheels was a large setup- namely Turner
Avalon’s and Abec11 Flashbacks. The well designed
race proven 4 foot starting ramps worked flawlessly
and provided even first timers with plenty of
confidence and speed rolling out of the gates.
Overall, the course was easy and not very
technical so nobody would feel at a disadvantage. A
perfect day to meet everybody, talk to some of the
spectators and study your potential rivals
technique.
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Saturday’s GS race was held at the same location.
The course was more technical and pretty sketchy on
the top with some very wide and compressed offsets;
It took most racers most of their practice to figure
out which line to take into the course and also
which setup to ride. A perfect line into the course
would insure good speed throughout the course. A bad
line basically meant either scrubbing your speed and
sliding and snailing through the reste of the hill or
dque'ing!
The Swiss arrival to this race was highly
anticipated as it was them who shuffled up the top
10 spots last year.
And although they; especially Maurus Strobel
and Chris Hart did look promising during the
qualifying runs, Saturday was a different story and
their lack of practice on US style courses/hills and
lack of improved slalom gear was painfully evident.
Their long wheel based skinny boards weren't
designed to pump this type of course which required
less soft board pumping but more involvement of the
hips/knees and arms on stiffer boards. Saturday's
GS course showed how much
the US skaters had improved and progressed in one
year and the European skaters (except for a few who
made it to other FCR Races) well,... didn't!
The usual suspects did their damage. SSS Teammate
Barrett Deck aka Chicken would finish 3rd against
FCR overall series points leader Paul Dunn finishing
4th. The finals were decided between Badlands Ick
Sticks saboteur Charlie Ransom and last years world
champ Gary Cross, with Charlie taking the world
title for the Pro GS division. Racing legend
JohnHutson, 49, finishing 5th showed everybody how
it’s done and that slalom indeed is not just a
physical but mostly a mental challenge!
The open division was dominated by Fibreflex Racing.
Paul Price (Fibrelfex), who had won most of the
races on the FCR tour this season battling Michael
Dong for 3rd & 4th. Fibrelfex’s 16 year old
Siale Saili, a natural with a super smooth surf
style and almost no practice showed everybody why
the name Fibreflex is in the history books and will
remain there by taking 1st place against Clayton Scott.
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The women's division was decided by racing veteran
Terri Brown-Benko against Sharon Sidlo; Terri
taking the gold. Other top 4 finalists
included Sandy Kirby and Judy Oyama.
Sharon's recent 2nd place finish in Switzerland
also proves that the US female slalomers are
definitely an international force to be reckoned
with.
The boys racing was probably the most exiting to
watch, technically these kids are already at a point
where many of the adult racers haven't arrived
yet. Watching them compete erases any doubts
about the future of the sport. Turner Team kid Dylan
Gordon took first, followed by a close 2nd by Swiss
Marvin Kory, then Josh Byrd and Russell Weber.
The tight slalom event was held in Morro Bay on
Sunday. The road and course were quite different
from Saturdays venue; The race as last year was set
on Main street in Downtown Morro Bay -the course
much tighter but not as fast as the GS- this
particular event showed how much racing had
progressed in the past year;
A year ago there were perhaps only a dozen slalomers
who displayed total dominance- forward to this year
and you realized that middle of the open bracket was
already on par with last years top pro performances.
This was every bodies race, a fairly simple
course which required the ability to pump like hell
and one more thing; you had to fly like a bat out of
hell out of those gates or perhaps more
appropriately "A chicken out of a cage"!
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For the Pro division is was Chicken's day,
no doubt- all year long he’s been hovering around
the top 3 spots, only missing that top spot by
hundredth of seconds each time. Not Sunday, on the
day everybody rode their short boards for the 6 ft
tight stingers, Barrett pulls out his 36" Pocket
Pistol longboard and attacks the course with
ultimate prowess and determination, never
flinching or showing any signs of distraction.
Paul Dunn micro surgical precision was consistent as
always but was simply overpowered by the SSS
captain.
Gary Cross, who made a late comeback in the regular
season took 3rd, Maysey 4th respectively. But
overall the big enchilada went to Chicken winning
the combined world championship. A very happy moment
for camp SSS indeed!
The open tight was finished off by Fibreflex
teammate Paul Price whom we will most likely see in
the Pros this coming season- his consistent finesse
and calm hard to match by even most pros, an
expected and fairly easy (looking) win. Clayton
Scott was the big surprise on both days finishing
2nd. Michael Dong and Badlands skate veteran Curt Kimbel
mixed it up for 3rd & 4th. I susepect that
we’ll see at least 2 racers out of this batch
going pro next season.
The womens race was once again decided by Terri
Brown and Sharon Sidlo, Terri being the technically
more experienced and refined racer winning 1st and
1st overall.
The success and turnout of the 2nd slalom world
championships in Morro Bay is testament to the hard
work FCR and the sponsors have put out all year long
to get organizd slalom racing to this level. It is
safe to say that with this type of large
turnout, so many new slalom products out
and frequent exposure on EXPN - slalom has sealed
itslelf as a permanent sport which
keeps growing strong and pushing the envelope
regarding skills, technology and thrills. The
race schedule for the 2003 is already in the works
and should be well in place as you read this issue.
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