Last month I spent some time w/ Ed Wonka at his pad in Brooklyn NY. We started off most days by hitting up a safe spot skate spot for a quick session before venturing off into the city for a full day of riding. New York had a ton of skateparks in comparison to SF, but lets be honest, who needs skateparks when you’re surrounded by some of the best street terrain in the country. Be on the look out for more photos from the trip.
Jeff Dempler recently hooked up with the guys at Kali Protectives down in Morgan Hill, and got some riding in at their new backyard compound. Photographer Phillip Ritti was there to capture some of the action and sent over this sweet shot of Jeff hitting a table top off one of their ladder drops. Their setup reminds me a lot of the “WheelTalk Compound” from back in the day. Expect to see more from the Kali Compound in the near future. Photo Credit : Phil Ritti
I recently picked up a filming board and have been catching a lot more follow shots. It definitely beats running around w/ a tripod or glidecam, and often times comes out looking much more stable. Seitaro Iki shot these photos of me filming with Devon Lawson (top) and Anthony Combs (bottom) on the 4th of July. It’s great having someone around to capture some behind the scenes shots of the filming process.
On the 4th of July we went out and rode parts of the city that we rarely ever visit. The homie Seitaro Iki snapped this photo of Devon Lawson filming me hitting a curb cut to wallride underneath the freeway. I’ve been doing some serious spot lurking lately and have been coming across some hidden gems. San Francisco is stacked full of shit to shred. Sometimes you just have to open your eyes, climb some hills, and take a deeper look at the surrounding architecture.
The day before we left to New York, I caught this shot of Dew Sippawit clicking one of the first turndowns he’s ever done on a fixed gear. I’m sure the lower seat tube on his new SKYLMT frame has something to do w/ it. I’m stoked to have Wallenburg up the street from my pad, is a great place to practice new tricks. Especially considering it’s one of the few spots where we don’t have to deal w/ security.
Rinng is a newly emerging Fixed Freestyle parts company based out of Japan, and have been working with Mike Schmitt for some time now. He’s been helping them out w/ product design and is now the US Team manager. I’ve been running their plastic pegs in the front for a while, and am real into the length of 4.6″ pegs. Makes it a lot easier to stay connected without slipping off. Be on the look out for more from Rinng.
Yesterday we explored the more hilly areas of San Francisco in search of some new spots to shred. We ended up kicking it at this park where Devon Lawson hucked this huge 180. What the stair set lacked in height, it made up for in length as he charged full speed at the beast trying to avoid washing out on the gritty ground below. 180’s are one of those tricks that landing it is only half the battle, sticking a clean cab out when you’re coming in hot is a much greater challenge. Seitaro Iki from Devour Films shot the sequence photos below.
Dew Sippawit was clicking table tops while we were all riding around and warming up at the first spot of the day. He seemed surprised when I asked him to do it again so I could take a photo. There aren’t many people that are able to table top, let alone have them as dialed as he does. They’re definitely one of those tricks that is easier to do off a transition, which is why it’s always rad to see someone do them on street.
Mike Schmitt is a madman when it comes to the big and burly. He’s always throwing himself onto the craziest hubbas and taking some of the hardest falls. Seitaro shot this photo of him racking a pedal feeble down a freshly built hubba here in San Francisco. Expect to see more of Mike in an upcoming Grime Video.
Photo Credit : Seitaro Iki
Omar Sebai is a 16 year old shredder from Southern California, and is the newest member to the Wheel Talk Youngbloods team. He’s one of the funniest kids I’ve ever met and has barspins down better than I could ever dream. He came and stayed at my pad in SF for a few days during Spring Break, and was able to film enough in both SF and SJ to put together this nice introduction. So kick back, relax and enjoy this minute and a half video of Omar Sebai. Click the read more button below to see some screen shots from the video. (more…)