ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

$100? So you're not rich, but does also take care of the stinkin'?

Chris,
it’s $100. Less then 10% of what is needed to make the trip at this point. If I find a good deal, I’m there.

is it enough for a flight to switzerland?

Thanks Ricky! I'm gonna be stinkin' rich! Ja!

Vlad,
The "check" is in the mail.

Thanks for hitting the LSJ and I look forward to a bigger better race next year. Red Bull is already onboard.

Vlad!
I've got some more prize money for you.
Red Bull comes through again!

Let's talk...

Vlad , it was great racing you at the end of the night, you where on fire all night long.
It was funny how we started the night off qualifying together and then ending up meeting in the finals. I think any of the top six riders could have had it that night.

Noah, it was you who said I was a marked man .I love comments like that. You can bet that I will only get faster. I along with my friends will push myself to get to the next level. You and Vlad will have to meet me on a hill soon. And I look forward to it.

Rick thanks for the good words. I read somewhere you got my back, good to know.
A couple of us have arranged head over to you race. Soon to add a couple more to the list when we start hyping it up. Be ready you know we tend to bring a whole crew.

Jeff M (chainsaw) Bro you ripped all night. Jeff did not hit one cone in his four qualifying runs not bad for someone who only came out to a couple of slalom sessions this year all on a brand new Ick Stick.

John H, you where right there all night. I look forward to seeing you race 100 cones.

Keith H, would have liked to see you on a dialed in setup. St. Louis will compliment your riding style well, you should have a good time. Can I recommend a pistol? No I mean a pocket pistol. No I mean a pocket pistol skateboard.

Mark M, to bad for you. Oh well better luck next time. (Time,thats funny) I think you got off easy, it could have been worse, you could have had to race me, and lost. Will I get my trucks before the St. Louis race?

On 2003-04-15 15:56, Adam Trahan wrote:

...snipped for brievity.

Jeff Goad, a privelege to watch you get fast - the St. Louis crew deserves a forum here on SlalomSkateboarder.com.

Is this true?
Ask and you shall receive...

Check the new St.Louis forum.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Adam Trahan on 2003-04-15 16:06 ]</font>

o.k. I did not ask, but that would be cool to have a spot for the st louis guy.

This post is way over due. Its been crazy since I got home more than a week ago hockey, Easter, family, skating , and work. The madness never ends. Not enough time in the day. To top things off my wife had multiple projects going on the computer last week and I was not aloud to touch it. But now it’s a new week and here we go.

Ricky, you can bet on me coming to the next race you hold. Each time I come to Jackson I have great time. The people I ride with when I come down are top notch. Not to mention the friendly people of your state. Don’t expect the same if you come to St. Louis most people are rude, and proud to be so. Sorry, just a little warring. Ricky I know you worked hard; putting in time, money, and labor, your effort did not go unnoticed. I see Red Bull help out a lot; it is really good to see them in there second year of sponsoring the sport slalom. We all should appreshate what they are doing and try to support their products like they support us. The people at the local skate shop (SWELL) were really cool, we let one of the guys ride one of are decks, he like it so much we are sending him one. So it looks like you just pick up a new rider to add to the list of Jackson riders. All of the local riders that where at the last race showed improvement. The only way the Jackson crew can get any better is to get more people. The coneheads did a great job, all cone in place. Thanks to the timekeepers and to all sponsors. Thanks to Jeff from Bozi Longboards for my new stick. To all my new friend, hope to see you all soon. Keep up the good work Jackson.

Beautiful river shot Vlad!

Finally more pictures of the Luna Slalom Jam in Jackson, MS are up on SkateMS.com. Thanks Tate!

Check them out at:
http://www.skatems.com/gallery/LunaSlalom01

Thank you, Byrd, thank you Mississippi, we’ll be back!

Sorry for the delay in this post. I've dragging a** since the event. Did you guys hear my voice Saturday night? Sunday and Monday it was gone. Been sick. Better now.

Thanks all of you so much for your comments. I'll work hard to make next year even better. Did I say next year? It doesn't hurt to hear those good comments to make all the memories of hard work fade away and all the good remain to push you to do it again.

Mississippi Grass Roots Slalom would like to thank quite a few people that without, this race would have been impossible. Starting out with my family, Lisa, Josh & Sarah, who have put up with the meetings, phone calls, emails and stressed out grumpy ole Dad. I'd especially like to thank Lisa for acting as Timekeeper for the event. We all know how tough that job is. Thanks Lisa!

Our main sponsor, Red Bull Energy Drink and Eddie Tanner deserves so much thanks. He was always there with the answer to a problem and a "We can make that happen". I'll be honest, at times I didn't believe him but I was wrong. Eddie made this happen.

Our prize sponsors were generous as usual. These guys were great, talk about getting your entry fee back in stuff. The list is, in no perticular order, Pleasure Tools, Bahne, Fibreflex, 3DM Sport/Turner Wheels, Longskate.com, Comet, Solidskate.com, Flux Industries, Gravity, Bozi, Pocket Pistol, and Concrete Wave. These are the big guys in the industry that put out time and money to help us little guys have fun and promote the sport. Thanks!

Our local support is muchly appreciated also, SkateMS.com, Swell Skate, Ricksautosource.com, Que Sera Sera, The Forum and The Bermuda Beach Club & Island Grill. Thanks guys for your help. Thanks for helping and being part of this skate community.

The Fondren Renaissance Foundation was critical to us being able to secure this venue. Thanks to Camp, Mary Jo and the rest of the District. Let's do it again! And let's not forget the city of Jackson taking a chance on their first skateboarding event. I hope we did OK. Thanks Ofc. Brister.

Our volunteers were generous to take time out of there schedules to help out. I know how tough it is now days to find time for little things much less something like this. Many of these people had never seen slalom skateboarding before but were willing to be there to make it work. I won't try and name them all but a few I would like to mention is my wife Lisa, Timekeeper and her assistants Tammy Boykin (Clifton's sister) and Anita Ellis (my sister). Clifton Jennings, Annonucer, and what an announer! Also Andy Dyess, Starter, Kenny Jennings, Head Course Marshall and his crew, Rick Murray and Wally Byrd. Line Judge, John DiLonrenzo, Tate Nations, Greg King, Frank Henn, Laura Bissell, Tim Higbee, Michael & Jeana Yost, Matt (SNT Skate Shop), Matt (Hops), Justin and all the Florence gang, Madison Ridgeland guys, and all the other skaters from the area I saw at the event. I know I'm leaving people out but I warned you. Thanks for coming out everyone.

Thanks to all our local slalom racers. Austin Cannon, Nate George, Will J, Jeremy and Cory, Alan, Jeremy H. and of course Josh. You guys represented us well.

The course proved to be a challenging one for most. The first four cones were the deciders. How you hit those could have decided the rest of the race. I had trouble with how to handle the beast when it came to our newer slalom racers. They worked hard and learned alot in those few hours. We were lucky enough to have racers make the trip and skate in such a manner as to inspire racers to be better and newbies to take up slalom. One word...Vlad. Whew!

Thanks to all of our out of town racers, which were most of them. Thanks for coming your distance to participate in this event. Without you, what would it be? I hope I can count on you again next year. I promise to take what I learned at this event and use it to make the next better for everyone.

Advanced Division Results:
1. Vlad Popov
2. Jeff Goad
3. Keith Hollien
4. Noah Heinle

Junior/Beginner Division Results:
1. Josh Byrd
2. Will Jolly
3. Jeremy Ward
4. Alan Allred

Here's the qualifying times:

1. Noah Heinle 14.882
2. Vlad Popov 15.147
3. Keith Hollien 15.486
4. Jeff Goad 15.979
5. Johnathan Harms 16.011
6. Rick Stanziale 16.121
7. Ricky Byrd 16.311
8. Jeremy Jones 16.401
9. Tom Thompson 16.957
10. Nate George 17.211
11. Austin Cannon 18.229
12. Marcos S. Monroy 18.626
13. Jeff McCullar 18.852
14. Will Jolly 19.724
15. Josh Byrd 20.960
16. John Seeger 20.289
17. Jeremy Ward 20.059
18. Alan Allred 20.770
19. Jeremy Hilton 21.173

Some pictures are posted here:
http://www.skatems.com/gallery/LunaSlalom01

Thanks again to all,
Ricky

P.S. Can I have one of those little pictures by my name now?

Well- I missed that one- looked like a good time. Chalk one up for DC.

The ramps were extremely user-friendly. Very ergonomic. Enough space to get into the “spring” mode before the start, wheel stop at the end, great handles- low enough for a grab, nice transition. I’m not a ramp-start person, as we don’t have/use ramps in DC, but I didn’t have any problem with the starts.

Maybe the owner would comment on the construction and specs. If we decide to build ramps in DC, we might just copy those (for a fee?). They are that good.


Vlad.

I am banging my head against the wall as I type this message. I wish I could have made this event. It looks like everyone had a blast.

I am going to go crawl back under my rock.

Ricky, sorry I was a no show.

...snipped for brievity.

Jeff Goad, a privelege to watch you get fast - the St. Louis crew deserves a forum here on SlalomSkateboarder.com.

Is this true?
Ask and you shall receive...

Check the new St.Louis forum.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Adam Trahan on 2003-04-15 16:06 ]</font>

What about those ramps? Were those new? How'd they work out?

In addition I want to comment on the safety of the course. As opposed to “the real man’s course” that could leave a man …a woman after a fall, this one was pretty safe. It was possible to run off the board at any point.
The course was fast, yet safe. Several people fell and walked away with just a couple of scratches and bruises. And only because they didn't wear any protection besides a helmet!
This is a great example of safe racing for slalomers of any caliber.

Vlad.

Story telling. Chapter 1. The race.

The hill.
Great slalom hill. Steeper start, flatter end. The course required a good balance of angulations (first 3-4 offsets and the middle section), wiggling (middle) and pumping (end section). The pavement was great. Smooth surface, consistent, calling for 80-86 A durrometer wheels. I’ve tried 90A wheels, and they would have worked, but the first 4 gates insisted on softer wheel compound. The harder wheels were MUCH faster in the bottom 2/3 of the course.
The course.
The course setter knew what he was doing. His layout was good enough for beginners and advanced skaters alike. Only one (or two?) people didn’t make the course. On the other hand, the fast guys didn’t complain about the gates being too wide or the course being slow and not technical. There was something for everyone. A rare case. There were a couple of interesting sections, one with a negative offset, and two or three with very arrhythmic cone spacing. Timing the pump was important in these sections, which made it especially interesting. In terms of difficulty, I didn’t find the course difficult at all; the top guys’ times are pretty much clustered together. I’d rate the course low-medium difficulty and give it a solid A.
The ramps.
Extremely friendly. Full strength push was no problem, so the position relative to the course was perfect.
The crowd.
There was plenty. Considering the duration of the race and the time of the day, spectators were many. Pretty cheerful too. Many asked questions, some got answers Kids wanted autographs. Which made us look like “real athletes” . Cool!
Cone heads.
One word- superb. I asked some skaters to help me piss them off by not hitting any cones and leaving the cone heads sitting there getting bored. No one listened. The cone heads were pretty busy. Keith was clearly trying to get them mad by running clean all day long. But he was alone in his “anal fight” for cleanness.
Atmosphere.
Race-day. Great music, heavy, catchy, AC/DC type of stuff. None of this modern day shit. The lights, the Bull’s horns, the announcers, the police, the security, the heybails, the restrooms, the restaurant, the racers. All for $25? <b>How do you do that?</b> And why can’t slalom racing that is <i>that</i> good can be <i>that</i> inexpensive?
I would certainly try to support races like that one in the future and encourage others to do the same. This is the way to move slalom to the masses. Cut the entree fees and lower the winnings if needed.
Qualifications.
4 runs were given instead of two. The idea, I believe, was to make sure everyone qualifies. Another good move considering the field.
Delay.
There was a delay between the qualification runs and early in the race. Probably due to the software malfunctioning. It resulted in two things: half of the crowd thought the race was over (or it was getting late for the kids) and left, and the racers weren’t able to stay “hot”. Everyone was in the same situation, so it’s Ok.
Race.
Beginners and kids went first. Little Bird was unbeatable. We went last. And some of us lasted to the very end. It felt like last man standing would win this race. Everyone got extremely tired.
Considering software problems, the race was ran relatively smooth.
Sponsors.
Red Bull is our friend. No matter how much caffeine’s in there
Bozi, Fibreflex, Gravity, Bones, and several little thingies-sponsors. Sorry, I don’t know all the sponsors.


Story telling. Chapter two. My race.

I celebrated my B-Day the night before the race and slept on both planes to Jackson. All my essential slalom stuff was a carry-on luggage. If my baggage gets lost, I thought, I would still have all my slalom stuff. The security found a three-way wrench to be a “dangerous tool”, along with other “dangers” such as PVD axels, bushings, speed rings and <i>all mounting hardware</i>. The connection was short and a little box with all my tools didn’t make it to the Jackson International Airport (that has no international flights!).
Noah –a former friend (now a strong competitor ), had 4 long mounting bolts. Enough to get me through the race. None of this 8-bolts-for-2 trucks stuff! Thanks, Noah!
Gareth Roe was kind enough to build me a custom shaped Roe board called Plankk-R Roe just days before the race. I didn’t have any time to test it and thought I’d be unwise to use a brand new board in the race. But I had to return Gareth a favor. In addition, I recalled Terence Kirbi’s unlimited kindness with hooking me up with a test Roe and PVD trucks before I decided to buy them, and Noah told me a similar story about his fast Roe response and order right when he needed it most. So I felt I should use the new Roe to be nice to those who were extremely nice to me.
The board. I’ll leave my feedback in the Roe forum. In short, it was a good ride, but very different from what I expected it to be and very different from what I got used to while playing with the superior Plannk-R technology .
Practice started early, which was a good thing for everyone who needed to test the hill and tune-up the boards. I went with 88/92A wheels first, but found out that they were much faster only in the middle and the bottom part of the course, loosing a lot of speed in the first wide gates. So I switched to 85A Avalons with cut outer lip and concentrated on making my PVDs work for me (as opposed to against me, which is usually the case with incorrect truck set-up). I dialed them in only after qualification runs, but it was good enough, as my qualification times weren’t bad.

Noah was faster then me in practice, as we went head to head a couple of times and he ended up way ahead of me. I know I had to change my set-up to stay in the game. The most important changes I made were a preload adjustment that allowed for a better compression in the front truck for steering and a bushing change in the back truck for more steer and cleaner runs. I could have gone sub 14 sec when I was testing different configurations. I dunno. It felt fast.

In the fist round I faced Little Byrd who just won junior/beginner division and was trying himself against the big guys. Instead of going fast I experimented and barely pulled from the ramp and did not do ONE little PUMP on the course, only wiggling around the cones. Josh was over 1.5 sec. behind me on that run, and the guy is a strong pumper! Thas was my little experiment that says a lot: no matter how good little/light guys are, on a steep non-technical course a "giant" will always win by a huge margin. This kind slalom is unfair for the lil dudes. The only way to equalize the field is to build a very technical course where technique, angulation and pump matter, not PURE MASS.
The Big Byrd was for desert. I had to push on my first run just to build an advantage, and on the second run I let Ricky cross the line first. Call it a courtesy
Keith was a more serious competition, so no relaxing there, I pushed rather hard to crush him on the first run. The advantage I build wasn’t what I wanted and I did the same thing on the second run as well. No problem there.
In the finals I had to face Jeff Goad. Unfortunately, I had to qualify with Jeff, and I pulled him for 4 runs. When I faced him in the race for the gold I knew that my race/practice times were much faster then the qualifications times. But on the other hand, he could have gotten faster as well, and what was even worst for me, he knew my strengths and weaknesses on the course, so he could capitalize on them. So I pulled extra hard from the gate on my first run and after hitting the first three cones couldn’t make it stick and pulled out. Jeff finished his run. I came back to the start area and looked at the board. Qualification times showed the slight difference 15.1 vs. 15.9 15.4 vs. 16.8 15.5 vs. 16, well, certainly not enough to get over 1.5sec on him. But I know I went much faster in the race, and I had nothing to loose as I have already lost the heat. So, I pulled extra hard again, harder then the first time, and made it around the first gates ok. Then I heard Jeff (or somebody else) scream behind me, and I tough- aha!- he DQ’d, so now I don’t have to push over my limits. I finished the course, turned around to make sure he did DQ, and knew right there that my second run would be enough to overtake him.

The outcome of the race could have been very different. That what makes it so exciting!

For those of you who think equipment matters that much, I’ve used PVDs 45/30, Cut Avalons 85A all around, Pleasure Tool Abec 3 bearings and 18.5 cm wide Plankk-R Roe board with 23 inches between the axles.


Ricky, Cliff, all "South cost" guys – you’re great! Thanks for the hospitality and affordable racing!

Thank you Terence, Gareth and Peter for your help.

Pardon the quality. This is all from my video.

Noah Start.


Jeff.


Keith, Cliff.


Podium.

Vlad, you are an animal! I lifted this info from skatems....

>>Fastest run of the day:
Vlad Popov 14.480 against Keith Hollien's 14.866 in the round of 4.
Closest race was Noah and Keith, it was Keith with a 14.620 to win by .176

In the final round, Vlad DQ in the first run and left the door open for Jeff Goad to walk in for the win. Then, Jeff DQ'ed in number two and Vlad wins with a fastest time of 14.771. What an dramatic ending to an exciting race.

Thanks again Ricky for everything!

Vlad, you are an invaluable assett to slalom skateboarding. Fast, easily recognizable, gregarious, and residing on the east coast of the U.S. (paypal vladsfcrentryfee@hotmail.com).

Great to see Noah in action, you all continue to set the standard.

Jeff Goad, a privelege to watch you get fast - the St. Louis crew deserves a forum here on SlalomSkateboarder.com.

Hollien wants us to believe he can go faster?!?!

I had a good time on a fast hill Saturday night in Mississippi, the grass roots slalom circuit ROCKS!

Ricky Byrd, we should all bow before you, thank you again.

66

how many freakin' cones is that course? 100? I'm glad I spent my winter running my ass of to get in shape.

Brian, here're unofficial results. Noah posted the fastest qual. time, but I beat him in one of the practice runs. See? :










The race course at night:




66 Ricks at ones.




My camera battery has just died. I'll upload more video stills and write a report later.

Vlad.

Can somebody post the results?

Brian

Thanks to all the Lunatics for the race and hospitality.

Great race, Bird clan & the crew!

Thanks to the sponsors, old friends and new friends.

I have much more on this event in a near future.

Vlad.