Slalom Skateboard World Championships 2013 Texas

Wrote this on the plane ride home yesterday morning sitting with John Ravitch my skate travel bud.

Back from the Slalom Skateboard World Championships in Texas yesterday. Racing started late on Friday practice was suppose to start at 2:00 pm but their was some talk about starting all qualifying due to rain on Sunday but since they could not round up all the riders we went with the original plan. Day 1 the giant slalom not my favorite event Since it is faster and single lane verses the tight and hybrid race which is head to head racing and more technical which I think I'm better at. The scare factor of the BAR (Big Ass Ramp) had been on my mind since the first day I saw the sign ups on NCDSA. I wasn't even going to go to worlds if their weren't going to be very many women racers since placing second to Lynn and only two racers isn't very fun bragging rights. The NorCal crew which consists of Kevin Delaney not far from where I live and John Ravitch from Oakland. We meet up in San Jose on a hill we have been practicing on since the resurgence of slalom around 2001.

When practice started on Friday we got two runs each. They marked your arm with a sharpie so they could keep track. My first run I went off the small ramp and hit 3-4 cones and my rear wheels were sliding out big time I could hear the chirping noise. At the bottom of the hill Lynn lent me spacers and rear two wheels. Second run off the BAR that was a rush and just making the ramp made me get behind on the cones and I hit a few cones but had better traction. Then a lull as the practice was closed and then reopened. I took a third run and had a great run and only hit 1 cone and felt ready. Every time I was up on the ramp I was asking myself wtf am I thinking. You stare down the narrow Masonite ramp that looks skinnier from above that is a bit warped and bulked and doesn't even lay flush to the asphalt you look at the pavement and know that is not forgiving then you just stay low and compress. I got great tips from many of the other racers. (thank you) I asked them if it scared them and most all said it haired them out too the first race. My legs got banged up just from the ladder climb but the adrenalin is focused on not falling and standing on the ramp so I never really noticed until later that night and following day when putting on lotion.

All said and done I placed second behind team mate and 9 x women's world champion. Racing went late and we got to dinner after closing and they still fed us around 10:00.

Kevin placed first and John placed 4 th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW0ZO81gcCI

Kevin Delaney overall World Champion Masters Division

Day 2 we were asked to be on the hill at 8:00 am we practiced ran the ams and the women were next I saw 2-3 guys slam in front of me on course due to some rain drops. I was asked a few times if I wanted to get a time. The wetter the road got I said no I will wait. I walked down the hill and then it dumped. A few of us were at the bottom and took advantage of the Boy Scout food set up. After the rain stopped I went up to find my pads soaked and wheels wet. I hung them out to dry and they did before we raced. We were actually told we could take off for a few hours to get food. We left and then got summoned back up the hill. The track never dried and so they set a course on the side road which wasn't as hard a course and not as long as the one we practiced on. At this point we just wanted to get times in. We got two runs that counted. I got a clean run then a 1 cone with a head wind and two bad pulls out of the gate. I know better to wear new gear but I got new wrist guards and the plastic slipped when I pulled and there was no punch in my start.

Ended up with third by 1/5000 of a second which was still a podium spot. All the women raced well. Kevin again got first in the masters and John got 2nd.

Last minute decision since the hill was drying was to let the top 16 pros run head to head and go to finals. We left at 10:00 or so and they were still racing. We grabbed a late dinner and were instructed to be ready in the am if rain 12:00 regroup and rain rain rain it was so I worked on my video homework project. Went to see RUSH with a bunch of racers and then went to the awards event back at the track. I didn't go out for cocktails afterward and since we had to head to the airport the Monday at 5:45 am for an early flight. Fun weekend. Thank you to all of the sponsors, racers, Texas Outlaws for putting Worlds on and taking on the RAIN.

Photos posted on FB and Flickr

More Race info from Slalom Skateboarder.com

The World Championships of Slalom Skateboarding

Texas Outlaws for the World Championships of Slalom in Houston (Hockley) Texas on October 11th 12th and 13th 2013.

ISSA-International Slalom Skateboard Association Results and photos: Giant Slalom Hybrid Results and photos.

PRO Giant Slalom

1. Joe McLaren, USA

2. Janis Kuzmins, LAT

3. Louis Ricard, CAN

4. Viking Hadestrand, SWE

5. Jonathan Harms, USA

6. Pascal Rookie Jean, CAN

7. Martin Reaves, USA

8. Mikael Hadestrand, SWE

WOMEN

1. Lynn Kramer, USA

2. Judy Oyama, USA

3. Natalya Dudina, RUS

4. Lienite Skaraine, LAT

AM

1. Joseph "Kyle" Smith, USA

2. Paul Chestnut, USA

3. Patrick Brassard, CAN

MASTERS

1. Kevin Delaney, USA

2. Jonny Miller, USA

3. Brad Jackman, USA

JUN

1.Petr Matous, CZE

2. Oshean Lehrmann, USA

3. Hubert Roy, CAN

2013 ISSA World Championships Results, Hybrid slalom

PRO

1. Joe McLaren, USA

2. Viking Hadestrand, SWE

3. Janis Kuzmins, LAT

4. Mikael Hadestrand, SWE

5. Louis Ricard, CAN

6. Robert Thiele, CZE

7. Martin Reaves, USA

8. Pascal Rookie Jean, CAN

WOMEN

1. Lynn Kramer, USA

2. Lienite Skaraine, LAT

3. Judy Oyama, USA

4. Natalya Dudina, RUS

5. Madee Prez, USA

AM

1. Sebastian Vorhoelter, USA

2. Joseph "Kyle" Smith, USA

3. Pierre Hazera, FRA

4. John Stryker, USA

5. Patrick Brassard, CAN

6. Tom Kienitz, USA

7. Gabriel Duquet, CAN

8. Chris "Cfav" Favero, USA

MASTERS

1. Kevin Delaney, USA

2. John Ravitch, USA

3. Jonny Miller, USA

4. Brad Jackman, USA

5. Claude Regnier, CAN

6. Keith Hollien, USA

7. Hans Göthberg, SWE

8. Chris Chaput, USA

JUN

1.Petr Matous, CZE

2. Daniel Duquet, CAN

3. Oshean Lehrmann, USA

4. Hubert Roy, CAN

5. Nathan Favero, USA

6. Orion Lehrmann, USA

Judi Oyama Giant Slalom run

Big thank you to the trainers Jason, Chris and Sam at CrossfitWest in Santa Cruz. I'm the slowest in class and the oldest 7:00 am but it really really helped. My core was strong and my legs. I use to fizzle by the end around finals and since these were 10 - 12 hour days it was sooo worth training for skateboarding. I highly recommend Crossfit to help any sport.