Danger Bay 2010

Bad Mother
Okay, so I missed the beginning of the race.  Since when does Danger Bay begin on time... I'll tell you when, in 2010.  That's when.  So when I finally got to the race site, I found my racing son, FINISHED.  Yes, chillin' behind the bales, where I should have been an hour earlier! I still can't believe it.

And then, Wolf, watched intently as the race went on... he, like the record number of racers, had crashed out into the bales, and his race was finished, but the weekend was still far from over, ahead lay still Jake's Rash and The Gold Rush Challenge.  

Wolf took third place in the Gold Rush Challenge Junior division--his last year as a grom.  Well done son.  Spencer Smith took the top junior place and someone I don't know (but will find out) took the second spot.  Spencer and Wolf can race it out this summer at Graveyard Call.   That race, son, I promise not to miss.

Maryhill Free ride

Anyone who has ever seen her smooth black ribbon of blacktop winding its way over hills and through a magestic landscape will know at a glance Maryhill.  But to be honest, I've never been there, but have seen many a minutes of footage thanks to my son, Wolfgang, aka Wolf, aka Wolfie (but only I can call him that).  Wolf wants more than anything to skate this coming weekend at the annual Maryhill Freeride.  This is the location of the also annual MHFOS, Maryhill Festival of Speed, a World Cup race where longboarders from everywhere come to challenge for the top spot.  Think Snowboard cross minus the snow.

He likes riding and it seems he's pretty good.  But he is still my lad and a mature 16 year old, but I don't feel comfortable sending him off to another country, even with mature, and responsible co-riding adults.  So, this means that I will likely be volunteering to drive... Soccer season is now over, so time to switch hats and follow this child, ah hem, young man, in his sport. 

I suggested that I rent a hotel room, and he looked at me like I was a total wimp.  I'm not.  Usually.  Maybe we have to camp? On the ground.... in March? All this given that I will host our youngest son's sixth birthday earler the same day!!! Yes a house filled with a dozen five and six year old girls and boys in costumes doing field day races.  A totally different type of event: egg race (on a spoon) three-legged races, and sack races.  Fun.

Then off to ride the hill.  I'll post again as the week progresses.  But for now that's the plan.

Here is a video of wolf 'shredding the gnar' (official term) at the Cypress Mountain. See after 7 minutes the 'side session'.  Wolf finishes things off with some 'gnarly slides' and a slip into the one and only hay bale along the entire road.  Well done son.

A great, not typical, skateboard film!!!

Last night I attended the premier of the film Drop: My life Downhill, with my son Wolfgang.  He is a fan of the sport and a talented rider in his own right.  I have attended numerous launches and openings of various sorts through my life, from theatrical performances, to art openings, book launches, architectural and academic celebrations of various sorts.  But what I have to liken this event to the most in my experience is an art school theatre opening.  What! You are probably thinking, but hear me out.

First of all, this was a highly involved, emotionally charged cooperative project.  Lots of folks had a lot invested in this film, from skating, and revealing thoughts and experiences of the sport from an insider's perspective, through to the hours (and hours) of filming and editing. This is not at all unlike the investments that people pour into theatre performances, especially when original material is being produced. 

Secondly, the energy of the young people that attended the premier was so charged that they could have it could have run the equipment, or heated the building with it--should have heated the building... brrrrr. Maybe it is just a sign of my deepening middle-age, and I am making more connections than are actually present, but I will hold for now that the community of longboarders with their shared passion, openness, and uni-focus 'skate?' is again like the communities that I was a part of at that same age.  How can someone eat, breath, and sleep skateboarding (dream more than sleep)?  Well, I know the answer to this: easily, just ask any one of them; ask my son.  It may seem extreme to me to have such a single foci, but if you had asked me when I was twenty-anything, if I would do anything that wasn't involved in art, theatre or academics (research...yes it's true, I was very passionate about this), I would have said quiet emphatically, 'it's my life, that and my kids. There is nothing else.' That would have been true, it was my community, my entertainment, my passion, my recreation. 

I have to applaud the director, Marc MacCrudden for his vision and execution of this film.  He has succeeded in presenting the world of longboarding in a light that it so deserves.  Drop: My life downhill, is in a league of its own as far as skateboard films go.  If you expect the typical 'skate porn' as described by Chris Chaput, then you will be happily surprised.  Drop takes viewers into the individual experiences of some of the word's top ranking downhill and freestyle riders.  The racers speak for themselves, revealing their highlights and some lowlights (ie: famous crashes or close-calls).  The film is as educational as it is entertaining.  One of the highlights for me was the spectacular shots of Maryhill and other winding roads.  Sexy indeed.

I am looking forward to an IMAX downhill experience that looks at the entire race circuit... why not?  Or how about a feature film that takes a fictional racer (with lots of techincal/ cultural advising and stunt doubling) and follows him/her (maybe a him and a her) through their training, drama, close calls, and other conflicts as they follow thier dream, and get into the big leagues.  Think Billy Elliot, but not; Thrashin, but not.  You know what I mean?

Way to go all that made Drop happen.  You have a fan in me. 

Unkle and the Push

Unkle.ca is a local e-zine for longboarders and they have pubished the first half of my story about the Push for the Cure. Go here to check it out! Push for the Cure.

Pink is a rag-tag gaggle of longboarders

Pink is bubblegum, and baby girls; pink is candyfloss and Barbie’s Corvette; pink is October. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so PINK has a whole new meaning!!! A group of Britich Columbia longboarders are doing their bit to raise awareness and funds to further research for a cure for this cancer.

Pink is now the colour of hair, duct-tape on helmets, spray-paint on longboards, and skate-park concrete.

Push for the Cure

This weekend is 2009 Push for the Cure, and Wolf is keen. This isn't the first time he's participated in Fundraising and awareness raising, but it is his first time with the Push for the Cure. He's done runs with school, and then on his own, when he was about 12, he shaved all his long hair off, donated the money he raised to the Children's Foundation at Children's Hospital, and he also donated his hair to a wig organzation that makes wigs for kids who are undergoing chemotherapy.

So tomorrow morning, bright and early, we'll be loading the van and driving to Hope, where he will meet up with the other riders who are in for the long haul: 150 km, or 97 miles; whatever way you look at it, it is long. What began a few years back with a small group of energetic riders who pushed from east coast to west, and others who pushed from West to East, has become an annual event, where the final leg of the journey, Hope to Vancouver, is the focal local push.

At 15 years old, yes, still fifteen for a few more months, I will leave him in Hope, and collect him in Vancouver. I have come to trust and really like the group of riders and racers he here at the Coast. All the best to all of them!

Longboarding and Volcano Sliding... oh my!

We all want what’s best for our kids—that goes without saying. But for those of us who are speed and pain adverse, it is a little more difficult to wrap our heads around. Today, I am happy that my son has ‘only’ taken up longboarding. If we lived in Nicaragua, it could well be another story. You see there, parents of extreme seeking athletic type kids would be seeing their kids off for a day of fun ‘bombing’ the local volcano! The local active volcano. I am not kidding. These riders go down the 40% incline sooty ash of active craters at speeds of 50 miles an hour! There’s till lava in Cerro Negro, though it hasn’t blown in ten years, it could. So, all you worried parents out there... count your blessings, unless you have a sooty cone begging to be ridden, your speedy off-spring will have to settle for asphalt and pavement.

King of the Forest results.

Thought I'd throw in the link to the final results to King of the forest. I've already mentioned that Prince of the Forest... fella under 16, is none other than my son, Wolfgang Forest!! no kidding, that's his name and so his title is well suited.


KOTF. resultes click here:

Images are on the same site! That site being Unkle.ca... for great local event coverage!

Salt Spring Slope and Steez

Wolf's last event: Sept. 27, Salt Spring Slope and Steez.

Okay, the suit is great, and my son... well, still looks like a super hero,

or a race car, depending on which photo...



The event was great, so I am told. I stayed on the mainland, but Wolf and the riders had great weather, and from the full set of photos available on Unkle.ca. you can all see the rest of the event!

Prince of the Forest!!!

Yesterday as Wolf left with his brother, Akask, to the King of the Forest 20 km endurance race, he picked up his novelty cheque for last year's finish as Grom of the Forest 2008. He would then hand it off to his successor, the Prince of the Forest 2009. This was also Akask's first event that he participated in as a racer. We wished them well and off they went.

At 10pm last night, they walked in. They looked beat. Happy, but beat. "Do is it okay if I put a couple of screws into the wall in my bedroom," Wolfgang asked.

"What?" I asked.

He held up his trophy board: This year's Prince is none other than our Wolfgang Forest, the Prince of the Forest, an aptly named child.

"Congratulations, son," his dad said. "We'll find a way to mount your board on the wall... but not with a couple of screws."

Wolf had finished 14th overall in over 80 riders, and was the top Grom (junior for those new to the lingo); and Akask was in around the top 20. "I wasn't prepared for that." He huffed, and smiled.

Well done boys. I said to them then and now to them here. Their next event is a three day push from Hope to Vancouver for the annual Push for the Cure, fundraiser for breast cancer, the long weekend in October.

Photos to follow!

Happiness is a new pair of Leathers

It seems it wasn't that long ago when Wolf bought his first set of leathers. They were used, but still had some life left in them. I have to say that they have saved his hide, quite literally, more than once. But their practicality was rapidly coming to a close this summer. A few skids into the hay left little for duct-tape to hold together. It was time for Wolf to upgrade.


Custom leathers. NJKs sized just for him. Not only that, they have his name emblazoned on the back with a rather cool paw print... yes, a wolf print. He looks like a super hero in his Red and black suit. Not quite a Power Ranger... cooler... hipper, faster.

This past summer we encountered a wolf... the small 'w', big teeth kind of wolf. It was also very cool, very fast, but very quiet. It was an interesting camping mate to say the least. Here are a compare and contrast of wolf/Wolf tracks.



Now, back in the city, the only Wolf tracks around here are the kind that my son leaves with his wheels on the road. Upcoming races include: King of the Forest at the Seymour Demonstration Forest, and then there is the fundraising event: Push for the Cure. More about them to come.

New Leathers For Wolf

After many layers of duct tape, Wolf's leathers have almost had the biscuit. They served him well, and saved his hide numerous times. But now it is time to recognize that they've done their duty.

My son has now ordered his new suit: RED NJKs

He is stoked about the new suit; I'm stoked that his hide will still be protected.... it's not like I could sew up a suit for him. Now to find a spine protector.