TE
LOTTE
OTTE
MOBILL
squarely on a tiny table occupied by an unassuming couple, crushing it to the ground
in a thunderous crash. They were in headlocks and out the door before they could
say "OOPS."
Meanwhile, back at Ranch Royal Park, the American's gross misunderstanding
of the Tokyo taxi system became grossly evident. One group of cowboys rode a bucking
taxi that, no matter what it was told, went the absolute wrong direction, racking up
3,000 yen before they got on the right track. Upon reaching the homestead, the tally
read 6,000 yen (about fifty bucks) for what should have been a 2,400 Yen ride. Enter
the 'Ride and Dash' principal. This led to a whole series of incidents involving the
police, the JSA officials (who were asleep, since it was 3:00 a.m.), and other un-
suspecting creatures returning from the night's foraging. While the cops were in the
lobby dealing with the initial cab calamity, another was occurring in the driveway."
One guy was throwing up in the back of a cab while the other passenger was busy
taking a swing at the rack on top of the car, knocking the light off with his fist. When
all of the dust settled, everything was A-OK. All were safe and sound and those con-
cerned wiped their brows and let out a big "Whew."
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SKATING, MARTHA?: The JSA had kindly secured an
area at the side of an uncrowded street below the Roppongi for the purpose of prac-
tice. Unfortunately, the freestyle surface was less than accomodating. Thus the
freestylers searched elsewhere for their own "right spots." Also at this practice site
there was the halfpipe and a little streetstyle course. The riders were caught flat-
footed by the condition of the ramps. Whoever built the structures had done so rom
photographs or descriptions of what the things were supposed to look like. Thus,
the finer points of ramp construction, learned from years of ramp building evolution,
had been overlooked. A metal framework held the structure's form and the surface
Scene from a banquet-Rodney exchanges smiles, nods and bows. Two schoolgirls pose at the
Roppongi practice site for the thirtieth photo of the day.
76
was thin sheets of tropical-style hardwood plywood,
not overlapped and without enough layers. The
streetstyle ramps consisted of the regular fare-a
transition to platform with railslide apparatus and
a corner vertical wall with transitions at either end.
Again the the rough surface counteracted the ef-
fectiveness of practicing here. Thus, despite the im-
pending competition, there was an exceptional lack
of enthusiasm in the department of practicing.
"Why practice skateboarding if we already know
how?" During the alloted practice hours between
10:00 am and 4:30 p.m. there were rarely more
than a handful of riders present. "Why hang out
by a ramp when there are other kinds of adventures
beckoning from the Tokyo metropolis?" Good point.
Some fine practice action did indeed take place
in small bursts. The Japanese competitors were
almost always present, practicing like mad because
this would be their opportunity to prove their abilities
against the seasoned Americans. Showing some
aptitude in streetstyle form were Isamu Sakai,
Satoshi Kawamura, Akihiko Nishimura, Yoshikazu
Nakahara and Ayumu Oita. Impressed by the abili-
ty of the Americans, these guys took a sideline seat
from time to time to study in excited amazement
as streetstyle experts like Natas and Guerrero took
the strings and lashed out some wicked lines of ag
gression. For example, Natas ollied (Cornued page (10)
STREET PECK
LENGTH 31
WIDTH HO
NOSE 4-1/2
TAIL 6.3/4
WHEEL
BASE 14 3/4