Long Island NY Slalom

North American Slalom Races & Results

Moderators: Jonathan Harms, Lynn Kramer, Chris Cousineau, Maria Carrasco, Russel Cantor

Troy Smart
Posts: 206
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2002 1:00 am
Location: Hampton Bays, NY

Post by Troy Smart » Sat Nov 25, 2006 2:17 am

Yes, it's a completely paved tarmac on either side of the course. No seams, transitions.
Peeling off to the right might be a little tough on the very bottom because there is less room but I actually did'nt try it nor did I "size it up" last Sunday.
I'll look closer this weekend.
Whatever. There is plenty of room for both racers to go left.
I'm kind of psyched. I've been to quite a few race hills and this definately compares to the best. The very best.

Got to do a 2007 outlaw at least.

trish erickson
Posts: 223
Joined: Mon May 23, 2005 5:40 pm

Derby-LI style!

Post by trish erickson » Thu Nov 30, 2006 2:14 am

Oooh, I might have to take a trip and visit my family in New York! That hill looks sweeeet! Sorry Troy, I just need an excuse to visit and you found one for me! LOL.

change the sheets for me!

Utah Trish
ts

Troy Smart
Posts: 206
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2002 1:00 am
Location: Hampton Bays, NY

Post by Troy Smart » Sun Mar 18, 2007 3:29 am

Gonna start doing Wednesday evening slalom sessions starting this Wednesday, March 23 and continueing (hopefully) every Wednesday of the summer, weather permitting.
Start time is around 5:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Directions:

LIE exit 63 north, to Bicycle Path road. Left at the T. First left into Brookhaven town Ampitheatre parking lot. (huge, 6 lane entrance. can't miss it). Parking lot to the right is it.
This is a soapbox derby hill. Perfect pavement. Nice pitch.

C'mon out if you like. The more the merrier. Right now it's just me.
I've got lots of cones and a few extra boards.

John Gilmour
Team Roe Racing
Team Roe Racing
Posts: 1207
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2002 2:00 am
Location: USA

WOW

Post by John Gilmour » Tue May 08, 2007 7:57 pm

you are the best East Coast hill hunter I've ever met- amazing
Maybe I will summer in the hamptons again to coach.
One good turn deserves another
john gilmour

Troy Smart
Posts: 206
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2002 1:00 am
Location: Hampton Bays, NY

Post by Troy Smart » Wed May 09, 2007 11:47 pm

Yea, it's sweet but has one catch...

No skateboards allowed.
I called the town of Brookhaven to ask about having a race.
They said no.

It went something like this:

Me: Hello, I recently became aware of the soapbox derby hill and am calling to find out the
possibility of perhaps using the hill for a race. A skateboard race.

Them: Skateboard race? There's no skateboarding allowed on that hill.

Me: Well, it's an absolutely perfect venue and I have attended many races in various parts of the country that were held on Soapbox derby hills. Could this be a policy that you might reconsider? Could I send you information on other races that were held on soapbox derby hills? Is it a question of insurance?

Them: No. The policy stands as it is. You could send information on other races but there is no skateboarding allowed on that hill. It is not a question of insurance it is just that skateboarding is not allowed on that hill.

Me: Is there anything that can be done to change that policy?

Them: You could try but there is no skateboarding allowed on that hill.

Me: How?

Them: I dont know. But what I do know is that there is no skateboarding allowed on that hill.


I got nowhere.

John Gilmour
Team Roe Racing
Team Roe Racing
Posts: 1207
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2002 2:00 am
Location: USA

Sorry officers, I had no idea......................

Post by John Gilmour » Thu May 10, 2007 1:56 am

ahhhh.....ehhhh.

Well, that starts an uneasy precedent.

You see ...young weed hopper...have I taught you nothing? Or perhaps the lessons have faded over the past 5 years.

Never ask. Never.

cuz it places the responsibility of remote disaster and lawsuits directly upon the person who said "Yes". So they always say "No"...even if skateboarding is allowed there-

Litigious America hates responsibility and LOVES legal Precedents.

Best way is just start skating there. Get kids riding it. Shoot video, force kids to wear pads to run the course and have the kids sign a waiver freeing the town of liability (good to show cops if there was a bust and you really were hassled) .

Point out the existing A"Skateboarding as hasardous sport LAW" that releases towns from lawsuits due to skateboarding. Involve some influential local parents.

Then point to the Dual usage of the hill. By the time they figure out you are there..... well you have about 6 months to a year of history skating there...perhaps with one regular cop who says

"I never saw you here, be careful".

Two seasons later, Post signs, hold an outlaw race, donate a portion of the cash to some local soup kitchen or center for autistic kids and you're golden- everyone wins.

With a safe long term track record and community usage- you are certain to secure it.

BUT....NOW.....----where you are now------>>after talking to "Joe I don't know about skateboarding as anything other than a bunch of dope smoking bench rail grinding graffitti vandals" guy, who had a preconcieved notion of kids with joints in their mouths, spray paint cans in the other grinding rails while bombing down hills holding onto cars on kick flipper lound boards.... Well He said "No". Which is ok.

There is one good thing.

You have officially absolved the guy you called from liability since he said "no".

So he can relax now. I hope you did not give your name.

So you can still skate there and hope not to get thrown out.

You know the drill..break in the site.

1st day. Set up run the hill for 45 minutes.
Leave for 2 hour lunch.
return for 1 hour.

(cop gets call- goes out, sees no one. Gets second call. Waits ..goes out sees no one. Use the special 3 Dot style for marking cones in dark chalk.)

2nd day

Same drill but always at different times of the day.

3rd day
Set up
1/2 hour skate
take off.
(cop tries to catch you...again misses you)

4th day

45 minutes... take off.

By this time...the cops are starting to ignore the calls. I always wanted to call in a bunch of bogus calls early the day before... and that morning and skate at night...

I think we had one bust at our Hampton's spot... right..was it just once??

But a hill means "YES" no matter what people say.

I mean...I don't think anyone has ever been arrested on the East Coast for slalom.

So skate- and race...and if busted during a race come back later and cut to a round of 4. Lol.

Make it look good. Pads, have one nice car there (as if- I.........am "law abiding", in my Mercedes...lol) but I am sure the good image helps.

If the cop says "leave"...leave instantly and don't come back that day..unless you have to finish a race.

Also tell the cop that there are like 20 more groups of skaters using the hill all the time. (He won't think that he has been frustrated coming to bust your group of guys) tell him that there are parents out here most days with strollers. if he thinks that there are a hundred kids using the place..... he might start to think that it is ok.

In the end. If it looks like the community has accepted it and likes it. You can ask permission again. But only for a charity contest, and you ahve to completely ignore the guy who you asked before and go above his head. because no matter what happens...the guy who you asked first will never change his mind..He has made it up already and it is hard to change the minds of people that have made it up. The very word skatebaording...scres them. "rollerboarding" sounds more community friendly. Or tell them that it is snowboard cross training. Anything but skateboarding.

You know.... we should get a police scanner...hmmm.

I should make up some "Skate for Juvenille Diabetes" t- shirts...perhaps that is what we should dedicate a race too this year.

Get some D.A.R.E. (Drugs Are Really Expensive??) stickers and stick them on magnets and put them on the car doors. Cops are just worried skateboarding comes with smoking dope and dealing drugs and broken beer bottles.

Look at how well the Needham Longboard club has done to eradicate that image. If the Needham kids weren't constantly bankrupt from buying racing gear, they would be on smack by now. Freebasing would kill their European tour budget......uh- though I hear at least one is going to Amsterdam to race in June. They even used up a budget for a two 4:20 parties to sponsor this site for a month...so slalom skateboarding is a positive thing. A bankrupt kid can only skate.

Cops just come to look for vandalism, graffitti, drugs and booze all of which were a Z-boy staples. And lets not kids ourselves...most slalom racers in their 50's still blow their beer budget on gear and if it weren't for Joe I. they would all be stone cold sober 360 days of the year.

Some D.A.R.E. sticker magnets, anti graffitti t-shirts, .....you don't have to go as far as christian rock t-shirts.

"No" Means "Yes" in America. This country was built on saying "No means Yes". didn't the British tell us "No"?

Germany...hmmmmmmm......well you could get arrested, fined, locked up, or shot if you run.
One good turn deserves another
john gilmour

Karl Floitgraf
Slalomspot.com
Slalomspot.com
Posts: 584
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 2:00 am
Location: North America
Contact:

Post by Karl Floitgraf » Thu May 10, 2007 2:33 am

Yeah, never ask. We are doing the same thing with our freshly paved soapbox hill. It's a brand new spot for us so we are only holding practice sessions. We are slowly and surely building a presence. The people I would suggest talking to first are the local Soap Box group. These are the guys who got our spot repaved. I asked them who talk to in the government and how much it cost to put on their event. I got all the information I could want about the hill with out screwing up our chances. The info I got said we can definitely have a race there but it needs some serious cash on the start up end. Based on that info I knew we couldn't change the venue for the up coming race but we will be putting on an outlaw this summer to test the waters.



PS The only time the police ever busted us on residential streets for cone skating is when gilmour showed up(so almost never, it was a strange coincidence)
BOSTON BAKED BEAN
HONORARY TEXAS OUTLAW

John Gilmour
Team Roe Racing
Team Roe Racing
Posts: 1207
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2002 2:00 am
Location: USA

I called that one in to the cops.

Post by John Gilmour » Thu May 10, 2007 6:32 am

I was late for a date- had to cut practice short.

Next time I'll have more time, you'll notice he didn't write me a ticket.
One good turn deserves another
john gilmour

Art Pryde
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:49 am

Classic quote

Post by Art Pryde » Thu May 10, 2007 7:27 am

Troy, I hope you guys get to run the new hill. I really liked the quote:
"Litigious America hates responsibility and LOVES legal Precedents."
.
.
classic.

It's sad that "Take responsibility for your actions" has turned into " Take, take, take".

Troy Smart
Posts: 206
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2002 1:00 am
Location: Hampton Bays, NY

Post by Troy Smart » Thu May 10, 2007 3:04 pm

Good advice.

No, I did not give my name.
I don't actually think it will be a problem anyway. The offices are nowhere near the hill. There are some maintenance shops further past but I don't think it bothers those guys.
I've only skated it 3 times though.
Once baseball ends (3 boys on 3 different teams. Every goddamn night of the week). Whoops, let me re-phrase: (3 boys on 3 different teams. Yea!)
Once that stuffs over I'll get myself a nice haircut, a D.A.R.E. T-shirt, wash the car and take the hill.
It would have been really nice to have permission though.
When I made that call I was full of Downhillbillie style stoke and just naturally assumed that the town would love to have us use the hill.

Live and learn.
From now on I'm a back door man.

Mike Ohm
Posts: 525
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2002 1:00 am
Location: Alexandria, VA

Back Door Man

Post by Mike Ohm » Thu May 10, 2007 5:21 pm

Troy, is Laura really in to that?
Damn Skippy

Joe Iacovelli
Posts: 1089
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2002 2:00 am
Location: Bristol, CT

Post by Joe Iacovelli » Thu May 10, 2007 5:54 pm

How old are you?

Troy Smart
Posts: 206
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2002 1:00 am
Location: Hampton Bays, NY

Post by Troy Smart » Mon Aug 06, 2007 4:15 am

I ran cones today and I suck.

Keepin' the forum alive.

Oh yea.

trish erickson
Posts: 223
Joined: Mon May 23, 2005 5:40 pm

runn'n cones

Post by trish erickson » Mon Aug 06, 2007 2:02 pm

Must be in our blood.

I ran cones today as well.
Gonna make a fool of myself on Colorado.

Keepiing myself alive!


Utah Trish
ts

justin collins
Posts: 65
Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2006 3:04 pm
Location: long island, NY
Contact:

cone running

Post by justin collins » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:05 pm

hey all. I live out in Nassua County, Long Island. Actually on the border of nassau/queens. Theres a parking lot near my house thats good for practicing. Anything farther out on the island. I'll commute!!
Justin
and my cell too 516 581 2262
ride with the kings
http://www.sk8kings.com/

Troy Smart
Posts: 206
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2002 1:00 am
Location: Hampton Bays, NY

Post by Troy Smart » Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:07 am

Hey Justin.

I would gladly meet up with you for some slalom.
However, anything west of Westhampton and I'm lost except for 1 spot.
This place:

Ski Run Lane
Selden, NY 11784

It's probably about half way between us (probably closer to me).
Definately worth the drive. It's nice.
Or if you have a nice spot in Nassau that might work too.
Let me know.

Claude Regnier
Claude Regnier
Claude Regnier
Posts: 1189
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2002 2:00 am
Location: Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
Contact:

trish!

Post by Claude Regnier » Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:12 am

it's mb - i ran cones on sunday and i truly suck but i will see you in colorado - brining my board but no promises - i will cheer you on at least!
Many Happy Pumps!

Claude Regnier
Claude Regnier
Claude Regnier
Posts: 1189
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2002 2:00 am
Location: Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
Contact:

ok

Post by Claude Regnier » Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:27 am

maybe i'll try the GS not claude it's mb claude will KILL the GS it's from CANADA, dude
we have mountains, too
Many Happy Pumps!

Post Reply