At 10a.m. the freestyle event began with
the amateurs. The surface was rough on
which to ride, but this didn't stop the
skaters from truly blazing.
Ray Gardea and Anthony Sedillo, both
from skaterville, were blazing heavily. The
local favorite, Camden Scott, received
tremendous support from the crowd. He
put in fine runs earning him third in the
event. Second to Sedillo, and top honors to
Bob Schmeltzer, who consistently twisted,
flipped and spun to the delight of the crowd.
Just when everything was going great
and the pro freestylers were warming up
for their runs, John Lucero got blasted by a
car outside the park and broke the
windshield with his body; the ambulance
scene soon followed.
Before the pro freestyle, many forms of
streetstyle were being pursued on the
grounds of the beautiful Golden Gate Park.
Skaters could be seen tail-dropping off
statues, ripping make-shift plank ramps
that were learning up against trees,
shooting JFK Drive and hitting long-drifting
slides, and scurbing on the main drag. Of
particular intensity was the curb-flogging
session going down beside the events
area. There were about three dozen fully
crazed skaters just blazing 50-50's and
sliders on one stretch of curb. They formed
April Hoffman
VISION
Michelle Sanderson
Neil Blender presses up
PHOTOS MATTETHEROGE
Caballero rocks and rolls on Keith Meeks grind
Billy Ruff, slide in drop.
Ray Gardea
madri
Lance Mountain dorks a grind
Bryce Kanights
a circle and attacked the curb at full
speeds, one right behind the other, fully
committed to blowing the many by-
standers' minds (or eating heavy lunch
trying). This was one of the raddest skating
sessions I have ever seen. The barking of
unprotected axle against raw curb sent
chills down many a spine as the skaters
assaulted the scrub with hedonistic delight.
The pro freestyle started shortly after
this brash display and the prominent
contenders stood out immediately. They
were Keith Butterfield, Kevin Harris and
the Swedes Holknekt and Welinder. In the
last category, we find a new addition to the
Swedish team USA-Hasse Lindgren.
This new pro shows great promise.
The pros really opened up the event with
their dominant styles and confident air.
Half of Golden Gate Park jammed around
to watch. Harris did some very quick-footed
board shuffling and spinning despite the
rough surface. Per Welinder knows how to
get a crowd behind him, and when he's out
there effortlessly manipulating his board,
it's obvious that he's highly aware of his
audience. They seem to come alive when
he flows through his runs, cheering wildly.
Needless to say, Per took top honors
here today. Kevin Harris was second, and
Per Holknekt was third.