TOWN
Text and Photos Compiled by Bryce Kanights
SAN FRANCISCO
Never mind the cable cars, Fisherman's Warf, Chinatown and the Golden Gate Bridge,
San Francisco was made for skateboarding. Since the early seventies, skaters have been
racing down the steep hills and driveways of the City. Today the skate culture continues
to utilize the assorted forms of urban terrain as a thrifty source of transportation and high
speed thrills. San Francisco is known best for its tourist landmarks, but more importantly
it is the home port for the Jak's team, the offices of Thrasher magazine and a large amount
of street crazed skaters. Pay heed to the words of the City boys as they tell their tales
of skating in the city by the bay.
NO NO WO
AD AMARE
D'ARGENTO
ARTE
"CHP
CHE
DOVE
fucking
JOE FONG was an early backyard pool pioneer and vertical prac-
titioner who always knew where to find the Northern California
pools, ditches and hot spots during the mid-seventies. He is known
to keep a secret skate spot truly secret for extended periods of time.
"I guess it all started on Ninth Avenue. We'd just catch the bus
and ride down the hills. We'd hit all the driveways. We would try
to race down as fast as possible. No stop signs, just go straight
ahead. Baron was pretty good at that. Crazy Martin with the
Stroker trucks and long Maharajah board was fast. We used to
skate Ninth Avenue Saturday mornings until late at night and hang.
around Cal Precision skate shop. Everybody got together there,
especially after school. Back then we were all was in elementary
and junior high school. Those days were fun. That's when Tom-
my Guerrero was great in freestyle. On Ninth Avenue, coming
down by Cal Precision, the cops would
always try to give us tickets because.
everybody would go right through the
intersections. The first pool was Jungle
Bowl. All of us skated there for a cou-
ple of years, tuning in on the vertical.
We got the basic kickturns and
everything. That's how I met a lot of the
guys and we would go skating at pools
all over the outer Bay Area. This was
before parks were around.
"It seems like, out of all the San Fran-
cisco guys, I skated a lot of pools. I had
to keep a low profile because the peo-
ple who took me there wouldn't want
me to tell anyone. I skated quite a few
pools. Probably the first one was Paul
Daly's in Marin County. That's the first
time I ever saw Kim Cespedes. I saw
the Alotaflex quys there, the Fisher.
Left: Joe Fong, Ray Meyer, Michael Brown, Tony
Guerrero, Bryce Kanights, Tommy Guerrero and
Don Fisher regroup to reminsce. Top to Bottom
Right: Jerry Maisel ascends a plywood extension
at the Jungle Bowl. Group photo at Alameda
Skatepark circa 1977: (L to R) Mike Brown, Julian
Levinson, Monty Smith, Tommy Guerrero, Tony
Guerrero, Joe Fong and Gordon Levinson. Joel
Fong pops a backside floater at Victoria
skatepark in Milpitas. Bryce Kanights glides a
layback across a copingless lip at Campbell.