Da' Farm 3.0

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:21 pm

Well 'da Farm 3.0 was another great event- despite any rain….now when it looks like rain…we don't worry like we used to.

I actually liked the rain let me sleep in and try to beat this cold I had..btw I hope no one caught it. I wasn't sure I was going to make it this year let alone enter. I did get a handy new chigger collection. In between coughing I do remember those cool beers with the champagne corks- where can I get some of those? Great to see so many smiling faces- I have to say that the vibe at the after party was the best I have ever experienced- the camera shows it all. I almost missed the vintage race while trying to dial in my new Roe bottle rocket in the bagel shop soaking up as much air conditioning as I could. Gareth hit the flex perfectly and TK drilled it spot on. Terence set a Vintage course while the rest of the road was drying- in fact he set all the courses this year and did a great job.

The Ts was short and sweet- much shorter than the TS of the previous year and with fewer technical features. The cone spacing was irregular but not overly tight. Traction was required…but not so much that a precision truck was a necessity I ran a Seismic 110mm front and a TTC rear and had plenty of traction to spare even while running 90a and 86a Cambrias. I screwed up my first qualifying run and posted a safety run.10.9?.which actually was decent time. I figured I would try and knock a second off of that and almost managed. Michael Dong again had a blistering cyberslalomesque start proving that Cyber slalom actually makes you faster. For Keith Hollien- Team Radikal, this course was a walk in the dark and likely he would have posted about the same time if his hands were tied behind his back- I think he also suffered from reaction time and his course time is likely much lower. TK tossed in a fast run on Roe Full Tail unlimited, likely he would have been faster on a TS set up and didn't even change the geometry of his PVD's for the course. Mollica shocked everyone with a fast TS run- I think he learned TS in Paris. Troy Smart arrived as the first Dark Horse beating out his nearby slalom rivals UR13 and Noah Heinle. Troy said to me just a few months ago "I'll never catch those guys" well congrats Troy…you just did. Mark McCree had a little too much Grey Goose Vodka the night before and ended up with 8th yet edging out Mike Ohm and Chris Stepanek. Claude managed to narrowly edge out the DC boys. Tway was too worried loosing sleep over the weather reports to be on his game for this one- yet still managed to finish ahead of the Vermont Posse.

The Gs was a totally different game altogether this year.
You did need a lot of traction for the GS to run it at speed and every gate was exciting- criddling options abounded and there were many different lines to take. Noah Heinle had a super fast GS run in practice where you could see him fighting the inertia of those huge Avilas to stay on line. Brian Parsons put in a fast run showing a DC over Florida victory in the GS which Keith Hollien returned in the TS. Micheal Dong's GS run was great as he really triple pumped the hell out of the top of the course. Tk and I talked about last years GS and we decided that instead of putting large offsets on the steepest part of the hill and soaking up speed instead we would set a faster line through the steeper section so the entire course carried more speed. It worked. Micheal Dong was one of the first to recognize this "speed chute" and took full advantage- he was up to top speed within the first 6 cones.

Noah really had the screamer run- I only got Noah with a faster lead in- but I'm sure he killed my reaction time. TK was posting super fast reaction times and good fast pushes, he was some worn wheels which for sure cost him- but he stayed on his line with nary a chirp from his wheels. Mollica self handicapped himself by wearing Sandals and a loose Hawaiian shirt for one of his runs- had he gone aero he would have done better, but he was just there to have a good time with Robin after a week of island hopping and partying. Parsons stunned everyone- are we going to have to do a urine test on this guy? Where the hell did all that speed come from? Other surprises…Shaggy…the new improved Shaggy. Much much faster- must be his family cheering section that drove him- he was also sporting a nice Madd snowboard Tattoo (BTW Shag- I talked with Madd Mike- we are digging up the artwork from the 158 for you) Cheri apparently now owns one of these Madd Snowboards- we'll have to wait to see this winter. Shaggy actually took down the guy who taught him to slalom PSR! Eric Moore also was super improved- you'd never know it was the same guy I met last year. Wentzle turned in a fast run- but wasn't aware of the reaction time and wasn't trying to hit the tape on the buzzer…but he will next race. He did charge the GS and held the line without skidding- great show for a first race. KMG also steadily improved- he was probably going at least twice as fast as he did two years ago. But that was no surprise as he was already cooking at G3. Henry J now has another rival…Jim Seiner also the new improved model. Henry also got to beat one of his teachers John Friends- who coaches at Deerfield Academy and will help to involve secondary schools this coming term. Joe I lost to Henry this race- mostly due to a very slow start. The course was fast and a lot of people including myself underestimated the speed- I blew out my first run. Many had double DQ's- hey but at least they put it all on the line every time. Dong's expert criddling blew minds.

Many thanks to Mrs. Yvonne Gamble and Mrs. Iacovelli (Time Goddesses)- Kevin and Joe married smart capable women, who were able to get the job done perfectly.

The Awards ceremony was different this year because we weren't allowed to harass the time keepers ( no hover clause was in effect- resulting in a DQ) so no one knew the times or the winners until the end. Since reaction time was a factor you couldn't judge by course speeds either. I thought I had a good GS run- but lost due to a bad start. So when the names were called off for GS there was a lot of suspense. The started at 3rd place and went up so every time your name wasn't called you were relieved…but also nervous. Tk took 3rd, Dong second leaving Kenny and myself as contenders for first. I thought I was going to be out of the running for running too short of a wheelbase as well. In b-pro Ohm took the honors followed by Ur13 (who was probably after the prizes in b-pro anyhow all along) and great finish by Shaggy in third.

The TS results in b-pro had Claude going home a winner followed by Brian Parsons and Wes E.

Really cool trophy jars were awesome. Also a smattering of great prizes most notably a Winterstick Snowboard direct from Winterstick (hopefully we'll see more involvement from these kind folks) a Tierney rides Complete as well and a Bozi Complete. T-shirts from Pocket Pistols, Omegang Beer, Firnspiegel Longboards, Glenn from Solidskate.com sent a very generous bunch of prizes as always- you've got our business, and yes there were even some cash prizes, and a special thanks To Steven Hayes for throwing the killer bash every year. You should check out some of Steve's projects. Steve has a killer place with stocked lake, stocked bar, full fledged hot tub Jacuzzi cabana, heated pool replete with diving / ladder climbing dogs, multiple fire pits, barbecue, disco barn, pooltable, and parking for about 100 cars- and if that wasn't enough Wentzle Ruml IV brought along enough clams and oysters for everyone for BOTH nights- those guys seemed to be shucking Oysters 'til dawn. A final thanks to Alyssa and Isabelle and Connor Tway who put up a zillion people camped out everywhere…on their lawn, in their livingroom, bedroom etc…and all the extra trash that had to go out. Must say though…the house looks great and it didn't seem like Connor minded all the extra attention.

Definitely a great time- a not to be missed party- even if you are coughing up dogs- don't miss the next one- any internet lurkers out there…don't wait to get better…just come out and race.

Terry Kirby · Post by **Terry Kirby** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 3:28 am

All I can say is wait till next year. Bigger faster and tighter. From the top of the hill to the run out. The back hill will be an easier course complete with a timer for anyone who wants race it. Henry J will run that side, Tway and I will run the big hill. Vlad will be there too. Its gonna be off the charts.

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 5:22 am

How about a "Bambi Skate?" Any girl who runs the cones topless gets free drinks at Steve's house?

No, Henry doesn't qualify

Henry Julier · Post by **Henry Julier** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 10:43 pm

WHAT? Why am I excluded from the festivities?

Dan Mitchell · Post by **Dan Mitchell** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 4:10 am

More pictures from 'Da Farm can be seen at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/slalomdc/

Untitled and unedited, but enjoy anyway.

PS. I think you need to join the group to view pictures

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 4:37 pm

Hey, Tway!

Wasn't it Parsons (who, by the way, eeked his way into 6th place in the GS,) who was telling us something about a picture from the 1980s? A pic of a YELLOW-HAIRED guy carving who weighed about 140 pounds? A pic of a guy who'd we'd NEVER recognize as Bahne Skateboards' fastest rider who lives in Leesburg?

Where is this mesmerizing photo?

William Tway · Post by **William Tway** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 8:40 pm

Back by popular demand....MORE FARM PICS....

Ohm concentrates on beating Parsons in the TS...

<img src=http://www.users.cloud9.net/~wbtway/ohmdf.jpg>

[ This Message was edited by: William Tway on 2003-08-11 14:40 ]

William Tway · Post by **William Tway** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 8:58 pm

Virginian Brian Parsons concentrates on beating friendly rival Ohm on his way to a 6th place finish in the men's GS pro division.

<img src=http://www.users.cloud9.net/~wbtway/bpdf.jpg>

_________________

[ This Message was edited by: William Tway on 2003-08-11 14:59 ]

William Tway · Post by **William Tway** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 9:07 pm

Here we have DC area rider WesE saying to himself "don't be scared...it's only my shadow"

Seriously, Wes is thinking, "Tway is going down"...

<img src=http://www.users.cloud9.net/~wbtway/wesedf.jpg>

Dan Parrish · Post by **Dan Parrish** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 6:59 am

I want to thank everyone for donating for the drinks I had at Da Farm. $31.oo was gathered in the donation jar for Lowe Synd. I thought it would have been more, so I rounded it off to $100.

Thanks for a great event.
Hope y'all come back now -- y'hear!

William Tway · Post by **William Tway** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 10:20 pm

UR13 sportin" his sweet new 3DM ride...

<img src=http://www.users.cloud9.net/~wbtway/chrisdf.jpg>

<a href="http://www.users.cloud9.net/~wbtway/sf.MPG"><img border="0" width="50" height="25" src="http://www.users.cloud9.net/~wbtway/sil ... g"></a>

<a href="http://www.users.cloud9.net/~wbtway/bmts.jpg"><img border="0" width="233" height="162" src="http://www.users.cloud9.net/~wbtway/bmts1.jpg"></a>

<>

[ This Message was edited by: william tway on 2003-10-10 19:36 ]

Wes Eastridge · Post by **Wes Eastridge** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 9:17 am

Tway, thanks for posting these images, especially the one of me. I have recently been in dire need of online pictorial respect, as you might already know.
Thanks for the spectacular event too.

Check out thoze wheels on Ur’s board. Different colors on different sides. Crazy, Man, crazy. Now where is that Rit dye that I bought...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 6:57 pm

wheels...yup...soft where you need it for grip, hard where you need it for roll. Best of both worlds....

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 1:59 am

Tway can you repost some Farm footage- so Jani can save it? The criddle king vid is cool and perhaps some of Da farm 2 ts footage that was good.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 3:35 am

John Gilmour wrote:Tway can you repost some Farm footage- so Jani can save it? The criddle king vid is cool and perhaps some of Da farm 2 ts footage that was good.

John, tway, Jani......I have ALL of the final runs from Da' Farm 1.0 as .MPGs. Gilmour vs. Chaput run 1 & 2, TK vs. Martin Drayton run 1 & 2....would you guys want these clips for slalom skateboarder.com. They are part of the east coast slalom history now!

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 12:43 pm

Of course! Lets get them on. We have tons of bandwidth. Video will drive this sport. Stills are neat but the video consistently is what makes people go out and start practicing. I do hear from newer racers that they saw video on the web of slalom and that is what made them pick up the sport.

Now imagine if we caught the vibe, not just the racing on video.

William Tway · Post by **William Tway** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 2:26 pm

Adam/Jani, I would like to keep all the vids I shot on this site but my server space in very limited. Please advise if I can post on your server or forward them to you so they be viewed at all times. Thanks.

Join the ISSA 25 cone series. One cyber race every second month!

Regular sessions allow newbies to join our community and discover slalom racing.

Da' Farm 3.0

More farm

Re: More farm

Fire them up Chris.

mpgs