OFFICIAL Guinness Slalom Skateboard World Record - New event

[Martin Drayton]

Well, China's largest TV company (15 stations and 1 Billion viewers in Asia!!!) wanted a new skateboard GWR record for their Recordbreakers show and contacted the Guinness World Records organisation for ideas.

They came up with an idea:
- 50 cones @ 1.6m (5ft 3ins) centre-to-centre on the FLAT with a CLEAN run! Timing starts behind the first cone and ends when the whole of the board passes the last cone.

I think they trawled the ISSA section on SS.com and saw flatland distance discussions.
They also made it clear that they were NOT interested in cone penalties, only perfect runs and wanted an event that was more accessible for people to try, more so than the 100 cone record.
The event took place at Hyde Park in London on 2nd October 2007.

On the day, we unfortunately had steady light drizzle continuously following rain the night before, so the original location was too wet and treacherous with some pools of free standing water. It was clear with the high humidity it was going nowhere. Luckily Curt found a spot under some trees that had ALMOST enough room for all 50 cones.The pic below shows me doing a helmet-cam run and you can see how wet the start of the run is.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v204/ ... metcam.jpg

This was the only day they had set aside to do it, so I figured I would just go easy for the first couple of runs.

The rest of the pics are here:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v204/ ... n/?start=0

It meant a run-in with wet wheels and a very wet first 7 cones, a dryer section with a few wet slippery sections and a wet run-out. The end result? 12.83sec clean and a new world record-IN THE WET! There will be video footage available soon!

I was a little dissapointed as I had done 11.22sec clean in the dry last week off a shorter run-in, so was planning to shoot for a sub 11sec on the day after a 'safety' run. After a clean run on my 3rd attempt the event was over as far as the Officials and the TV company were concerned, so my plan of a conservative run followed by a flat-out run never materialised! I was bummed!

Well, the Guinness officials were there on hand to give me my certificate so I was happy to have something to show my daughter in my old age (not that far off)!
I would like to thank my Support Team, Pig City's finest -
Curly Curt, Munchh, Mark the Weatherwitch, Frank N, Niall, Ellis and Kane.

I would also like to thank my sponsors for their support and encouragement -
Gecko Decks - Jeff Sacre, for making the lightest boards EVER built.
Seismic Wheels - Dan Gesmer, awesome wheels from an awesome guy.
Nitro bearings, Khiro hardware - Khiro Bob is probably one of the unsung heroes supporting our sport...Thank you Bob for mindblowing bearings!
Bolle eyewear - Supporting me on snow and concrete since 1995.
Vans shoes/Protec pads - Thank you Derek Voit for going out on a limb.
Skullcandy headphones - Simply the best, thanks Rick Alden.
Decent Hardware Bags - Thanks Jonno for the best skate luggage ever built.
Octanesport - Thanks Michael for always helping a brother out.

[Jani Soderhall]

...and now 1 billion viewers in Asia will think that 12.83 is the record to beat on a 50 cones course.

I don't know if this is good or bad, but it gives me a sour taste.

To be honest I'm really disappointed by this whole deal, their part and yours. OK, you got into the show, and you've got that diploma, but are you proud of it?


- And if it was meant to be beaten, couldn't you have talked them into using a standard of timing that could be reproduced? I don't mind having a 50 cone record, let's do it! But why does the whole board has to go beyond the last cone. Do we adapt the position of the timing strip for every racer(s length of board)?

- And apparently in the Guinness world of accuracy you measure hundreds of a second with a stop watch around the neck of some TV staff?

I used to like GWR, but I've definitely had it now.


Apparently they value your fun event here, on a newly invented "whatever" format higher than Marcus 100 cone record, challenging a internationally recognized longstanding record? If it's for TV, there's apparently no need for ISSA recognition, just bring a TV camera and a stop watch and we'll hand you a diploma. And by the way, don't invite anyone else.

Maybe I seriously misunderstood something...

/Jani

[Jani Soderhall]

... and you put OFFICIAL in the title of your topic...

I just don't get it.

/Jani

[Jack Smith]

Just take it for what it is...some fun for Martin and a ton of exposure for slalom.

The record that Marcus set will not be tarnished due to the GWR deal, who knows maybe a couple of million Chinese kids will go online and discover Marcus' record.

Martin has been, and still is a great ambassador for the sport of slalom.

[Donald Campbell]

what jani says is understandable,absolutely.
sorry martin,but those things should not be done as a one man show.
besides that there are a few folks out there who could easily destroy
this record,so what's the use?
where is michael's timing system?
a stopwatch? this is stoneage...
is there any value in what you did besides for yourself?


no offense meant,just wondering...

[Jadranko Radovanovic]

A fun thing with this GWR... The chinese will like the sport for shure !!!

The question is, does we need GWR to set a record on 50, 60,70,80,90, or 100 Cones ?

The main thing should be that there is the possibility every where in the world to do a new record.

It can't be fair if you say the cone distanz is 1.50 or 1.60 between the Cones, because of the slope or flat spot where you try to do it. You need to do it both way's, but which time will count ? That's a big problem.

If you say 100 Cones, 10 Cones DQ, tapeswitches which are 2.5 cm width in front of the first cone and after the last cone you can mark it on the street with some geometrie knowledge from the sixth school year.
Than make unofficial results for people who like to try it in a practice or whatever.
And make official results if there is an invitational event just for the 100 Cone WR or if it is a part in a santioned slalom event.

Publish the results on a website for the public. This can be the whatever Cone Slalom WR.
Perhaps the GWR will be interested in to implement it in this way, if not, who cares about GWR ? It should be correct for us who want to try it.

It follows more to the GWR rules ("It have to be possible to break the WR everywhere in the World") than to have a fixed Cone distanz.

/J-Rad

[Michael Stride]

Personally ANY format where the course has to be run clean is my preference. Slalom is about NOT hitting cones. And the original 100 cone record set by Martin Sweeney was exactly that. No cones!

I cannot stand the Cyber Slalom format, but this format looks like one I'll want to have a go at beating. And thats a good thing.

Oh...and the cones come from China anyway.

[Jadranko Radovanovic]

My post above is exactly about the ORIGINAL WR.

If you want to bet it, you need to go at the exact same location with the exact same placing of the timing system and the exact same placing of Cones like it was when Sweeney did the record.

A thing that is inpossible.

To not have 100 diffrent ORIGINAL 100 Cones WR and to not have the slalom sport seen as kindergarden it needs a way how we can do it everywhere in the same format in the whole world.

clean or not is just one issue which need to be claryfied.


PS: Hitting Cones is a Element of Slalom Skateboarding if you like it or not...

[Michael Stride]

clean or not is just one issue which need to be claryfied.

It WAS clarified. It WAS clean.

You lot changed the 'rules!' . I ALWAYS said it should be run clean. The orignal 100 cone was clean by Martin Sweeney.....how many times do I need to say that! Thats why the current 'record' is sneered at by most UK riders.

Martins record is easily replicated, and having been involved in the timing of the jet Luge record earlier this year and involved in the veification process for GWR you will not find it dificult to apply or achieve a record on the same basis as Martins. (Draytons or Sweeneys)

If the course is not flat you average two-way runs. Within an Hour window (for jet luge)

As for hitting cones on a World Record attempt I'll have to repeat until I'm blue in that face... Slalom is about NOT hitting cones. Adding a time penalty should always add more time to a racer than IF they avoided the cone. A World Record attempt of this nature is about showcasing the sport, and about perfection. Clean runs are what we should be striving to achieve and having a no cone rulle is easy, understandable and acheivable.

[Vincent Berruchon]

But the real question is:
can one attends a record if not called Martin?

[Jadranko Radovanovic]

I know that Sweeney’s record was clean.
And I know that there was 3 people there. I don’t know how they installed the timingsystem and I don’t know if all cones have the same distanze.

What I want to say is, that we need to have only one system how this record needs to be done.

We have now one from the 100 Cone record in Paris 1995 and now another one from the GWR, which is very questionable because of the stopping with a timingwatch by a human.


The point is, that if you have cones with a specify distanz you will have advantages on a slop than on a flat spot.


The timing system needs to be installed at every attempt in the same way.


The questions are now:

Where starts the timing ?
Where ends the timing ?
Does the Cones have all the same distanze or not ?
Does it need to be a clean run or with cone penalty ?
Does it need to happen on a official event or not ?

Just five questions to be answered and you will know how it will work.


The big question is, what we want to say with the record ?

He/She has the World Record over 100 Cones with a distanz of 1.60 meters center to center ?

Or

He/She is the fastest Skateboarder arround 100 Cones.


The slalom sport has cones and the cones were hitted in every event. It’s a part of this sport. Should we exclude this because the GWR want’s to have it in this way ? It ist impressive all the time when someone race the course clean. Will it be impressive if every time the racers run clean ?

Are we representig the sport of slalom or are we selling Slalom to the GWR ?

[Martin Drayton]

OK...While everyone else on various sites have sent me nothing but congratulations, here on my favourite site there is a shitstorm! Well, I will try to answer your queries Jani and anyone else who doesn't like what I did.

1) I was a fairly last minute substitute going along with what had already been arranged. I am not rude enough to go to a party someone else has arranged and ask them to change the music. The event was scheduled for this one day and this one day only, so i could either do a slower time in the wet or not do it at all.(Out of interest I wonder if the original skater, someone you respect would have got the same amount of flak?)

2) They came out with the criteria, not me (I can send you the PDF), FLAT GROUND and CLEAN were important to them. As I understood it, Marcus in a recent post said he didn't get much help from the ISSA at the time:

JBH, I tried to submit the time to GWR but they replied with that ISSA should be the sanctioning government (I think thats the how they said it). In other words ISSA representatives should acknowledge the record and talk to Guiness in order to get it in. So I sent some emails to Claude (being the president at the time) and some others and nothing happened.

If you wanna break a record I think you can either get some GWR guys to the place or get some other trusted official to make it valid. That is unless there is something like ISSA.

For me it took quite some time to submit all info and basically I put a lot of time into something that gave nothing.

But perhaps a clean record would be nice. Some day when I get some time of from work and so, I'll give it a try. I even painted a course (in June) but haven't had the time to try it...

My record is NOT meant to bring detriment to Marcus's herculean effort or George Pappas or anyone else going for 100 cones, in fact the TV people may have opted to have that attempted if Brand's hatch hadn't asked for around $8,000 for the track!

3) As for the timing, I got quotes from timing companies but they told me they do their own timing. Incidentally we used stopwatches in pairs WITH GREAT ACCURACY at the Wasteland race, the timing seemed OK for Corky and his ranking site didn't it? Incidentally the people with the stopwatches were very experienced Guinness adjudicators used to timing events, not TV crew....

4) Yes of course it can be beaten IT WAS DONE IN THE WET!!! In any event do they have the same saying in Sweden "records are made to be broken"? Hell, I can beat it myself, this was the slowest 50 cone run I have ever run, but I wouldn't normally do it in the wet!

...and now 1 billion viewers in Asia will think that 12.83 is the record to beat on a 50 cones course.

/Jani

Well, it is at the moment...

5) I also had my own personal reasons for doing this, reasons that involve my family and that are bigger than skating. Reasons that I am not going into in a public forum. Maybe I'll send you a PM if I can be sure our friendship means that you can keep it private.

6) Is this going to harm slalom? Personally I don't think so. If one day someone asks me what I did to try to bring Slalom to the masses, I will point to the GWR book, the DVD of the Chinese Show and the number of views of the video.How many of the almost 300,000 people who have watched Sweeney's video on the net had heard of slalom skateboarding before they saw it? If this sport is to gain credibility in the 'real world' and attract sponsors from outside the industry we may well have to bend from our lofty ideals and partly play by 'their' rules.

7) Why did I put 'Official'? Because I have seen people post theirs as 'Unnofficial'....nothing snide was meant. It also lets people know that it was ratified by a world renowned organisation. Yeah there are many rediculous records on there, but there are also records by Richie Carrasco, Danny Way, Jack Smith, Dave Cornethwaite and hopefully soon James Peters...do you mock these too Jani?

8) The event also allows me to say thank you to my sponsors in a way I hope will be beneficial to them. In our little sport sponsors get little enough publicity in return.

9) The GWR people always make it a one-man-show. They are interested in one person making a record attempt, not a competition on the day. Time is money (Guinness don't pay any money by the way) and once I had done a clean run, they were all done so I didn't get the opportunity to better it on the day as risky as this would have been.

To be honest I'm really disappointed by this whole deal, their part and yours. OK, you got into the show, and you've got that diploma, but are you proud of it?


/Jani

I don't plan to get into a long to-and-fro discussion on this going no-where and making me feel less than happy with my achievement, yes I AM proud of it!

[Martin Drayton]

But the real question is:
can one attends a record if not called Martin?

No, and you have to be in England too or it doesn't count!

[Jack Smith]

I would bet that the, hopefully millions of viewers who watch this, will come away from the program impressed with what they have seen.

Like the saying goes, "records are made to be broken".

There are numerous "world record" attempts each year where there is only one contestant.

[Peter Klang]

Just got back from a late lunch race. Had to do some 37 cones.
Clean run 7,85 sec, guess it´s a world record.

Yours fastest
worlds fatsest klangster

[Gustavs Gailitis]

CONGRATULATIONS for you Peter !


I tried to break 37 cone record for several years but I didn't get such a good result !!!

[Jack Smith]

Peter, where should I send your certificate?

Later today, I will attempt the five cone record!

[Spike Taylor]

Peter, clean runs? Looking back, should you be throwing stones from that particular glasshouse...

Perfect weather with blue skies, 20C and light tail wind greeted us at the hill. Everything was set up @ 9.15 so the race actually started a little early. Now that's not very common for a slalomrace is it?

The rest of the race was also a little special with a new 100 cones world record (19.73) already in the first round by Marcus Seyffarth. The record was then pushed a little further and ended up at 19.22 seconds after a run on 18.32 with 9 cones hit.

Results:
1. Marcus Seyffarth 19.22 (18.32+9)
2. Peter Klang 22.23 (19.93+23)
3. Per Gustavsson 25.93 (23.73+22)

[Martin Drayton]

[Mark Roberts]

...and now 1 billion viewers in Asia will think that 12.83 is the record to beat on a 50 cones course.
Never mind the billion viewers in Asia 12.83 IS THE RECORD TO BEAT!

I don't know if this is good or bad, but it gives me a sour taste.
That would probably be the sour grapes!

To be honest I'm really disappointed by this whole deal, their part and yours. OK, you got into the show, and you've got that diploma, but are you proud of it?
Well done Martin - you should be proud


- And if it was meant to be beaten, couldn't you have talked them into using a standard of timing that could be reproduced? I don't mind having a 50 cone record, let's do it! But why does the whole board has to go beyond the last cone. Do we adapt the position of the timing strip for every racer(s length of board)?
It can and probably will be beaten - go for it

- And apparently in the Guinness world of accuracy you measure hundreds of a second with a stop watch around the neck of some TV staff?
Actually in the Guiness world of accuracy they time with two CALIBRATED stopwatches
dont get me started on how electronic gear is effected by temperature

I used to like GWR, but I've definitely had it now.


Apparently they value your fun event here, on a newly invented "whatever" format higher than Marcus 100 cone record, challenging a internationally recognized longstanding record? If it's for TV, there's apparently no need for ISSA recognition, just bring a TV camera and a stop watch and we'll hand you a diploma. And by the way, don't invite anyone else.

Maybe I seriously misunderstood something...
The whole spirit of skating it looks like!

/Jani

[Toby Warg]

I've seen 20, 40 and 100 cone runs before. Is 50 cones a new thing or has it been run before?

Congrats on the record, Martin!
Since I don't own 100 cones, this would be something I can try myself.

[Jani Soderhall]

Martin,

You're one of the nicest guys on the whole circuit, but this was just too much for me.

But, yes, let's do a whole lot of records. I'd love that! But it's gotta be using some common sense rules and should represent whatever is possibly the best out there. We're a small community and we all communicate really well. We also regularly meet and we know the level of ability out there. Take that into consideration Mark and may you understand why I strongly object to this record.

It is also clear to me that GWR is NOT a serious organization. They're obviously just media hungry.

Let's hope that the ISSA will put World Records on their agenda to set some standards.

/Jani

[Martin Drayton]

I've seen 20, 40 and 100 cone runs before. Is 50 cones a new thing or has it been run before?

Congrats on the record, Martin!
Since I don't own 100 cones, this would be something I can try myself.

Exactly Toby, thats the whole idea, you can try it yourself, it could be the new Cyber! How many of us have access to a suitable venue for 100 cones?

But, yes, let's do a whole lot of records. I'd love that! But it's gotta be using some common sense rules and should represent whatever is possibly the best out there. We're a small community and we all communicate really well. We also regularly meet and we know the level of ability out there. Take that into consideration Mark and may you understand why I strongly object to this record.

It is also clear to me that GWR is NOT a serious organization. They're obviously just media hungry.

And yes Jani we should table some criteria, but when Guinness approached the rider I took over from, there were no official ISSA criteria...So I bet Richie Carrasco, Danny Way, Jack Smith, Dave Cornethwaite and hopefully soon James Peters will be pissed that their efforts mean nothing in your book....
And as I pointed out, IT WAS IN THE WET, so of course it was slower than i would have liked.
Are we done now?

[Joe Iacovelli]

Congratulations! I agree GWR is media hungry, they've got books to sell, but I think we can use this as a promotional tool in the US. If we can quantify it correctly and release that we are trying to break a Guiness record, it will attract media attention for our sport.

Whatever, however, I now know two GWR holders, you and the Brown Bomber. Well three if you count Sam for "World's sexiest accent", but I can't until Bridgette Bardot dies.

[Jani Soderhall]

- 50 cones @ 1.6m (5ft 3ins) centre-to-centre on the FLAT with a CLEAN run! Timing starts behind the first cone and ends when the whole of the board passes the last cone.

Can you tell me how to set up the timer to let anyone have a go at the record?

I would love an official 50 cone world record to be set up, I just don't like the way this was done.

So I bet Richie Carrasco, Danny Way, Jack Smith, Dave Cornethwaite and hopefully soon James Peters will be pissed that their efforts mean nothing in your book....

Richie, Danny, Jack (the only ones I know) did something that can be considered best in the world. That is very honorable and deserves recognition. That you were the first to time a 50 cone course doesn't mean anything to me. That it was in the wet doesn't make it any better. You even admit it wasn't at a high speed. Then what use is such a record?

Sorry, Martin, but I just couldn't enjoy this news of yours.
I hope you can convince me to change my mind one day.

/Jani

[Pat Chewning]

It is a pretty rare thing to have a World Record! And good publicity too!

I hope you will generate a write-up with more details about how this came about, what it feels like to hold a record, etc....

-- Pat

[Martin Drayton]

- 50 cones @ 1.6m (5ft 3ins) centre-to-centre on the FLAT with a CLEAN run! Timing starts behind the first cone and ends when the whole of the board passes the last cone.

Can you tell me how to set up the timer to let anyone have a go at the record?

Set the timer the board's wheelbase away from the last cone....or use a stopwatch if you don't have one, not many people have access to proper timing equipment. The Toby Wargs of this world have both 50 cones AND a stopwatch....which is a good thing, isn't it? As I said I was not in a position to tell them how to do their job.

I would love an official 50 cone world record to be set up, I just don't like the way this was done.

Do it yourself then if its bothering you that much and stop complaining about it!

So I bet Richie Carrasco, Danny Way, Jack Smith, Dave Cornethwaite and hopefully soon James Peters will be pissed that their efforts mean nothing in your book....

Richie, Danny, Jack (the only ones I know) did something that can be considered best in the world. That is very honorable and deserves recognition (If you are going to call me dishonourable, I'd like you to save that until we are face-to-face next...). That you were the first to time a 50 cone course doesn't mean anything to me. That it was in the wet doesn't make it any better. You even admit it wasn't at a high speed. Then what use is such a record?

Can you just re-read my posts above so I don't have to repeat myself?
Oh, I forgot Joel King from that list (jet-Luge record) who thinks he can go faster next time...Guess his record is of no use then according to you.If someone sets a record FIRST it clearly means nothing to you I suppose until someone beats it.
If slalom becomes more popular, more people get involved and the sport grows more with a greater awareness with the public and maybe outside sponsors contributing financially in some way due to my effort will you still be sitting astride your moral high-horse pontificating on the 'World according to Jani?' By the way, I looked at the net and if you add all the places that Sweeney's video is posted...its over 500,000 views in the last 7 months!

Sorry, Martin, but I just couldn't enjoy this news of yours.
I hope you can convince me to change my mind one day.

Actually due to your World-Class level of stubborn-ness I'm convinced that you will never change your mind so I have given up trying. Guess I won't be the first to set that record...

/Jani

[Martin Drayton]

It is a pretty rare thing to have a World Record! And good publicity too!

I hope you will generate a write-up with more details about how this came about, what it feels like to hold a record, etc....

-- Pat

Thanks Pat,
Glad you think so. Maybe I'll do it on another forum or Jani will just pick it apart and take away even more of the enjoyment of what I achieved for me.
I learned very recently that my mother, ill in Trinidad, is not expected to last much longer, so I am retiring from this banter with jani before my current emotional state causes me to say something to him online that I'll regret and our friendship will be over permanently, which I for one would regret.
Sorry,

Martin.

ps.maybe we can do it here:
http://www.slalomskateboarder.com/phpBB ... php?t=5437

[Michael Stride]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9iXiX5EwKE

That was the pratcice run...first time, ran clean. Other runs faster. I'll wait to see what Guiness say....timed electronically, tape switch placed boards length after last cone.

I see no way that this format can be timed acurately with stopwatches. You cant see the start from the finish or vice versa...but hey ho, if thats what Guiness want.

[Toby Warg]

Congrats on the new WR!

[Michael Stride]

Id like to thank all my sponsors.

If I had any.

[Peter Klang]

Let´s stop baging on MD. Good for him he got on TV. Next time, make em fly you to an exotic island and get a free vaccation out of if. Let´s all milk the hell out off the media, they are all sharks anyway. exept concret wave off course.

YFPK

[Michael Stride]

Im not bagging on MD.

As Jack Smith said...records are there to be broken.

Please, go ahead. Literally.

[Martin Drayton]

Id like to thank all my sponsors.

If I had any.

Im not bagging on MD.

As Jack Smith said...records are there to be broken.

Please, go ahead. Literally.

And this from my friend..... thanks.

[Michael Stride]

Martin, I will say this publically once.

Records are there to be broken.

You took your opportunity.

I have done the same. There is NO difference.

PLEASE break my time. I know you probably can.

Slalom is for everyone, it is not your show. You must be prepared for someone to beat your time. I have done that.

The fact you did it in the wet was not MY problem. Thats yours. What you did is set a benchmark.

Understand that and see it for what it is. A race of sorts, and having been screwed over in the last two races by you and Paul taking more runs than I had and was told I was allowed to take, and secondly have a race where the times were taken by stopwatches to be beaten by Paul OPERATING one of the stopwatches, then I find that the times are submitted to corky.....


DO NOT TELL ME OR IMPLY HOW I SHOULD SLALOM. OR TREAT MY FRIENDS.
THINK ABOUT IT.....

[Martin Drayton]

Michael, check your PM's, there is no need for the world to read your paranoid rantings.....YET AGAIN.30 years of defending you from criticism wherever I go...I'm done.

[Eddie Spearing]

My oh my... Now HERE's a can of worms...

[Robert Gaisek]

I´m really a rookie on this forum, and maybe I´m getting myself in trouble for this, but..............

[Marcus Seyffarth]

[url]Other runs faster.

Nice with a WR Martin - Congrats! I guess getting the diploma was the real effort!
Nice with a new WR Michael - Congrats! But whats the time to beat then?

[Toby Warg]

12.26

[Martin Drayton]

12.26

Well done Toby! I have NO problem with anyone beating the record (I was dissapointed that I couldn't repeat my sub 12 sec times on the day in the wet, I was gonna shoot for sub 11sec), what I had a problem with was the highly sarcastic tone and mocking of my sponsors by someone claiming to be my friend...
So well done Toby. Swedeen does seem to be a true hotbed of slalom right now, so many fast guys!

Marcus, I have done 11.22sec unnofficially.Go for it! I hear you guys might be setting up a 100 cone list of rules, that'll be cool! I think we have a race on a racetrack in Feb, maybe the Brits could give it a go then.I want to try it clean too.

[Marcus Seyffarth]

racetrack like in - verynicesurfaceandlongsmoothslopes?

[Toby Warg]

12.26

Well done Toby!

Sorry, I should have been more clear.
It is not my time, but Michael's. You can read it on the display at the end of his video.

[Martin Drayton]

racetrack like in - verynicesurfaceandlongsmoothslopes?

Smooth enough for you?....Hmmmmm.....Could be perfect don't you think? 100 cones on butter smooth asphalt, we just need the weather to co-operate. Apparently it did last year, but if I'm still in the UK then....I bet it will be snow

Martin.

[Paul Price]

Michael Stride, what is your problem? I can't believe what I have just seen you have posted about me.

I am upset you have publicly posted that I am a cheat and have 'screwed you over'.

I am completely innocent of your accusations.

Normally I don't comment on your frequent lame posts on the Internet but when you personally attack my integrity on a public forum I feel I must respond.

The fact that you do this during the ISSA elections THIS WEEK in which I am nominated (people are hopefully voting for me) is another reason why I feel I have to publicly defend myself.

The fact you said nothing at the time of these events or have said nothing to me since means these attacks on me are totally unexpected. You also imply Martin, Curt and Big Steev were in on this alleged conspiracy against you.

I expect a full public retraction and apology in response to this post.

No excuses, no justifications, just a complete apology for the untrue things you wrote about others and me.

This is the full post of what you wrote:

07 Oct 2007 22:26

Martin, I will say this publicly once.

Records are there to be broken.

You took your opportunity.

I have done the same. There is NO difference.

PLEASE break my time. I know you probably can.

Slalom is for everyone, it is not your show. You must be prepared for someone to beat your time. I have done that.

The fact you did it in the wet was not MY problem. Thats yours. What you did is set a benchmark.

Understand that and see it for what it is. A race of sorts, and having been screwed over in the last two races by you and Paul taking more runs than I had and was told I was allowed to take, and secondly have a race where the times were taken by stopwatches to be beaten by Paul OPERATING one of the stopwatches, then I find that the times are submitted to corky.....


DO NOT TELL ME OR IMPLY HOW I SHOULD SLALOM. OR TREAT MY FRIENDS.
THINK ABOUT IT.....

Here are the facts:

The two races you mention were fun, grassroots events with no start ramps and no timing equipment.

1. Bish Bash held 21 July 2007 was a jam style event,

You blew out a few runs because you were pushing so hard you were hitting cones, and did not complete the course. These runs were not written down, you could have had as many runs as you wanted.
The guy doing the start signal was drunk and his reactions got slower as the day progressed, Munch wrote his stopwatch times down as he saw them. The times were for fun. Everyone else enjoyed the event.
You did not say anything at the time or the months after.

Times recorded by Munch, times of your blow out runs not recorded:


All photos from the Bish Bash http://www.flickr.com/photos/39089904@N ... 952449156/

2. Wasteland event 19 August 2007- Fun event, no ramps, no timing, rain showers all day.

We wanted to get some times in case it started raining again, then we would go to double elimination racing.

Yes I was OPERATING one of the stopwatches, Curt had the other. Because of the bad timing at Bish Bash I wanted two timers to get fair and consistent times. I stood at the bottom of the hill with Curt and we both had stopwatch reaction times within 1/10 of a second. We wrote both our times down and cone penalties after each run. Skaters were able to see their times written down after their runs. Then after about an hour of taking every ones runs I had my two runs, stiff, cold and without practice. Curt continued taking the times with Martin to get my 2 times. Then Big Steev added the times to give an average time. I can assure you that Curt, Martin, Big Steev and I did not cheat you or anyone else. It was a fun event. Everyone else enjoyed the event.
You did not say anything at the time or the months after.

Times averaged and written by Big Steev from 2 stopwatches:


All the photos from Wasteland http://www.flickr.com/photos/39089904@N ... 558137939/

If you wanted to race with electronic timing there were races in Paris, Hanover, Riga, Gothenburg, the Europeans in Grenoble and the Worlds in North Carolina. If you had attended these events you would have got the times you deserve (submitted to Corky) as a full time professional skateboarder and skate business owner. I went to all these events whilst in a full-time office job.

I resent having to waste my time responding to your post. Listen, I don't care what you bitch about me behind my back.

However in the future if you have a problem with me be a Man and talk to my face, we can sort things out much quicker that way.

Once again, I expect nothing less than a full public apology from you.

[Michael Stride]

Ok.

At the Bish Bash I was told that all runs had finished. And after that you took 3 runs. Thats 3 runs after my 'final' run. You took more runs than me, at all times you took more runs than me, as I was cone counting. You continued to race after I was told to stop. Difference was you bitched about me having a faster time in front of almost everyone there, but not me, as I was cone counting.


Wasteland. The timing was dependent on two people with stopwatches timing to a signal from the starter. So you averaged the times. When it was your run you had a different person operating one of the stopwatches. If you cant see where multiple errors and inconsistencies occur then I can't help you. The format was everyone took runs in order. Except for the eventual winner, you, who, having seen ALL the times had two runs consecutively.


I only found out that those times went to a ranking system this week. After all, in your words it was a 'fun' event.

If it was anything other than 'fun' I'd have expected the UKGSA trackmate sysem to have been there, and functioning.


I expect to see those points removed from Corkies system. Perhaps the person who sent them should clarify how the timing was done?

[Erik Basil]

Martin, it's been said and bears repeating: congratulations and Cheers on a job well done to get slalom skateboarding on television and, presumably, in a tone far better than "mainstream skate" magazines and business interests would ever do. Now all you have to do is hope that the big broad world out there DOESN'T discover ISSA's site and see old men bickering like petty, spoiled children. Sure, it's the same jerks over and over again, but it sure ruins the party when they take the first opportunity, every time, to piss in the punch. What a great vision of this sport they present, eh?

Jack Smith nailed it, in my view. Good on you, Martin and "Piss Off!" to the bickering ninnies.

[Sammy Nogueira]

Congratulations and Cheers!

[Martin Drayton]

Thank you both, I really appreciate it!

[Paul Price]

Great Job Martin, its a top achievement and we're proud

Nice exposure for the sport as well.

I wonder how many million Chinese will start slalom when
they see it on TV. Keep us posted!