Talega New Years Event Jan 22-23

Everyone gathered for a fun day of skating

Shredders, photographers, videographers and spectators met on Jan 22 & 23 on a service road in San Clemente to witness and participate in two days of Southern California’s finest downhill skateboarding.

This was an outlaw event that brought riders from all over California and other surrounding states together for a couple fun days of skateboarding. This event was held on a service road that cars could not drive up making it an ideal location.

The first day of the event, January 22 was the slide jam portion of the event. The second day January 23 was the race portion of the event.

The "Rad Zone" is in between the red lines

The slide jam featured two different sized kicker ramps and a rad zone. The rad zone was marked by a chalk line and it started just past the second kicker ramp and went into the turn. “If you usually grab rail then get rad and don’t grab it, throw a switch stand up slide, just get rad” said Danny Connor, Event Judge. Anything done in the rad zone was worth more points.

Before the contest began, a police officer came up to talk to us. “You all look like a good group. Everyone’s got their helmets and I saw mom’s bringing coolers up the hill. I wanted to give them a ride up” said the police officer. “Please yield to bikers and pedestrians coming up the hill and there shouldn’t be any problems.”

Police officer talks to skateboarders

Skateboarding greats Danny Connor, Marcus Bandy and Max Capps judged the contest. A 20 minute jam session was held. After eliminating part of the field another 20 minute jam session was held. This happened once more with all the finalists and then the winners were decided.

The Finalists

Hunter Schwirtz, Laguna Beach took 1st place, Kody Knoble, Los Angeles took 2^nd and Trevor Watkins, San Diego took 3^rd.

Following the slide jam after the winners were announced, it was time to stoke everyone out with gear from all the sponsors. Everyone was gathered around and stickers were thrown. Wheels were tossed down the hill and everyone started racing to get it. The first person to bring it back would get the set. Trucks were thrown out, dvds, more stickers, bushings, and so much more. It was raining product and stickers and shirts for almost 5 minutes, maybe even more.

Hunter Schwirtz the winner doing a slide

The race on the 23^rd was held on the same road. This road is steep and technical. Riders must be able to slide in both directions. The road features 2 lefts and 2 rights and no cars. The whole outside of the track is dirt so riders can really push their speeds not having to worry too much about crashing.

Racers try to find the fastest lines throught the corners

Not as many people showed up for the race but there was still a good turnout. The race was very exciting with many crashes and close competition. At times both racers crashed off the course taking the turn too fast. The races then became a battle to see who could get their board and back on the track the quickest. Everyone seemed to find this very exciting.

Max Capps got some road rash

Jimmy Riha, San Diego took 1^st place.  AJ Haiby, San Diego took 2^nd place. Chance Gaul, Laguna Beach took 3^rd.

There were a few bad crashes and some riders left with road rash, ripped shirts, torn shorts, but one thing’s for sure, everyone had a good time. –Lee

Related Articles

• SDDRL # 23 “Pin it to win it” (adrenaline-fueled.com)
• Southridge USA Winter Series – Race 1 (adrenaline-fueled.com)
• Halloween Costume Contest/ Slide Jam (adrenaline-fueled.com)
• Talega New Years Event Jan 22-23 (adrenaline-fueled.com)
• SDDRL # 24 “Another Brick in the Wall” (adrenaline-fueled.com)

Peter Kell Crash and Burn

The right hand turn at Bonelli claims Peter Kell as one of its victims. Check out the carnage below. Thanks to Jimmy Riha for filming and posting this.

Note: This was only one of Peter’s several crashes at Bonelli

Spencers House

This is Spencer Adams home turf and don’t plan on riding this hill uninvited. Hidden in Irvine behind gates and security guards this is a pretty exclusive hill. Watch as Max Capps takes out Spencer in a race to the bottom.

Riders: Max Capps, Spencer Adams

Filmed by: Max Capps

Related Articles

• Irvine Downhill & Garage Riders daily session (adrenaline-fueled.com)

Pass It

Watch as Jonny Huang and Max Capps get their adrenaline flowing by passing a car while bombing down a fun hill that ends in a fast left.

From the archives of Ladera Skateboards…

How To Make Your Own Slide Gloves

In this post you will learn how to make your very own slide gloves from the following materials.

• Cutting Board (stuff used in your kitchens) * Ask your moms for permission before using hers, although we prefer you use a new one for hygienic reasons.
• Gardening gloves
• Blow Torch
• Saw

Gardening Gloves and Cutting Board

 

Step 1: You need to cut the cutting board into the shape you want your pucks to be. Generally circles will work best when making your own slide gloves.

Max Capps using jigsaw to cut circles in cutting board

Step 2: After you have the circles cut out you want to heat up one side with a blow torch. It will turn white and then you want to stick the gardening gloves right on top. This will cause them to stick to the gardening gloves.  *Be careful it’s hot.

Max Capps using blowtorch to heat up cutting board

Step 3: You can make the pucks double layered if you want to make it last longer.

Completed slide gloves

Step 4: Shred some hills with steez and ease as you now have your very own slide gloves for around $10.

Luge

Riding gravity is fun, especially when you are hauling a** on a brand new street luge. I watched Max Capps pull moves of a madman as he passed cars in the left hand gutter of the street giving drivers a show. “Ever ride waterslides? It’s like the same thing just railing it. Actually its like riding a missile, a big missile” said Max Capps. This was awesome to watch the video doesn’t do it justice but check it out. Look for the gnarly car pass near the end.

Rider: Max Capps

Video: Lee Eisler/Chris Culliney

Specialized Pitch Frame Review

Manufacturer – Specialized Bicycle Components, Morgan Hill, CA
Model – Pitch Comp
Price -$1650 MSRP

Review –

Specialized’s Pitch caters to riders who are looking for an All Mountain ride that is capable of climbing and descending quickly without the added weight and price of a longer travel frame.  With 140mm of travel, the bike offers a plush ride even on rough rock gardens and square-edged hits.  Although the Pitch has 5 inches of travel on tap out back, the bike still maintains the climbing ability of an XC traveled frame with Specialized’s patented FSR suspension system – minimizing bob during pedal strokes, yet soaking up the terrain for maximum traction at all times.

Bottomline –

A nimble bike that can descend with longer travel rigs, the Pitch is right at home for all-day rides with thousands of feet of climbing and thousands of feet of chunky descent thrown in.  Compliment it with an adjustable fork and an adjustable seatpost system for added efficiency and control for the ups and downs.

Golden Light

We made it down to this trail under the perfect golden light. It was an awesome afternoon of shredding trails, getting sideways and staying adrenaline fueled. We ran into local rider Grant Deane on the trail and watched him take the wallride. Overall it was a fun day and I am glad we captured some of it on film.

Rider: Joe Espiritu

Stills/Motion: Courtney Zupanski/Lee Eisler

Clear Kryptonic 80MM/80A Wheel Review

Manufacturer – Kryptonics, Santa Fe Springs, CA
Model – Clear kryptonics 80MM/80A
Price -$16 – $25

Review-

I threw these on my Freebord after riding no other wheels besides the Slashers. I found that this soft wheel rides buttery smooth and it feels like your riding some fresh powder. Not necessarily built for speed I have found that this wheel is great for just cruising and throwing down some fresh carves and slides. I just could not get going fast on these, even with no slides or speed checks the wheel would not take me faster than 35 m.p.h. This is a very soft wheel and it wears down quickly. Also any slide over 25 m.p.h will put your clear Krypto’s in serious jeopardy of flat-spotting. I have been throwing these wheels on my board whenever I just feel like doing some cruising.

Bottom Line-

There is nothing wrong with riding the clear Krypto’s. They definitely are not good as the Slashers but at less than half the price it’s a much better deal than the slashers are. I will be ordering more of these. Great price for a decent to good wheel. I was surprised by how smooth the ride was. For $15.99 they are a great deal, but I don’t know how much more I would be willing to pay for these though.

16 Fresh Clear Krypto's. I'm ready to roll.

Feel free to put your opinion on these wheels below.