DOWNHILL
RACING
Byron Mer applies
All Photos by Reg Case
Peter God, Duane Peters and Tony Alva
During the last several years.
downhill skateboarding has en-
joyed a vigorous underground
existence. The many practitioners
of this art have been motivated
entirely by the sheer magic of high
speed skateboarding. Although
downhill racing had been totally
neglected by skateboard pro-
moters, it I continued to live and
flourish within the ranks of the
skaters themselves. Suddenly, the
Summer of 1980
of downhil
marked the retum
racing to the forefront
of the competition scene.
Dateline - Capitola, California-
August 30, 1980
On this beautiful summer day. 52
racers gathered in the norther
California beach town of Capitola
to battle head-to-head for the
$2,000 purse
Not only were the top pro-teams
of Variflex, Tracker, Santa Cruz
Sims, Modric Powell and inde-
pendent represented, but a strong
contingent of unsponsored racers
from throughout the United States
checking the action.
joined them early in the morning
to register for what turned out to
be an impressive display of speed
and rivalry.
The first surprise of the day came
at the end of qualifying when it
was announced that an unat
tached racer, Byron Miller from the
Cascade Slalom Association, had
emerged with the fastest time. As
an indication of the tight compet-
tion yet to come, the top sixteen
qualifiers were separated by less
than one second
ng the s
Wolowing the qualifying segment
was a round-robin competition that
was intense in every respect. Over
3,000 O spectators swelled Monterey
Avenue, cheering as the racers
sprinted out of the starting gate
into a sweeping left-hand i
comer
and on down the long straight-
away to the finish line at speeds
reaching 3
g35 to 40 miles per hour.
In between rounds locals and
tourists partied together on this
sunny day as color man Potato
Head provided the up-close-and-
With a last-second change to a wetsuit, John Hutson streaked to yet another downhill victory
Rick Blackhart always headed in the right direction
personal. As the first and second
rounds drew to a close it was evi-
dent that Byron Miller and Rick Fike
of the Cascade Slalom Association
not only were the fastest racers
but that they had made a major
contribution to downhill racing by
introducing super-slick ski racing
suits to skateboarding
Surviving the second round were
Byron
Miller, Stave Evans, John
Hutson and Rick Fike. The match
between Evans and Miller was
extremely close with Miller edging
out Evans
to move into the final
Hutson and Fike squared off in the
other match, and Hutson counter-
ed the advantage of his oppo-
nent's ski suit by using a wet suit
thereby improving his wind pene-
tration. The strategy proved to be
an important factor as he defeated
Fike to move in for the showdown
with Miller for all the marbles
Combat for the finals was a
strategic battle from start to finish
as Hutson and Miller traded the
lead throughout their two races. At
the end, John Hutson came out on
top and sweetened his victory by
setting the fast time of the day on
the last run. Steve Evans edged out
Rick Fike in the consolation round
to claim third place. In the women's
division, slalom star Terry Brown
aced out Judy Oyama to establish
herself as the top woman pro
downbiller
The runs were over and the
speeds recorded, but the impact
of Capitola 1980 was unarguable
It reinforced the enthusiasm of
veteran downhill skaters who knew
It was happening all along, and it
kindled an interest in i
it in many of the
younger kids who primarily skate
pook. Capitola was also just a
good time. As the crowd dispersed
to continue the party by the beach
or by the river that runs through
town, the hospitable Blackhart
radiated the social graces by
announcing a fully catered bash
at his sprawling shoreline villain
Santa Cruz
Thanx Rick
NE