THE SPOKED

Sean Sheffey

Origin: Washington, DC

Currently: San Diego, CA

Scariest moment skating:

Everyday there could be a sketchy moment. Hitting a rock and having to regain my balance is very scary ‘cause you either catch your balance or you fall flat, right there.

Once though in the [Black Box] park about a year ago, I was trying the switch 5050 down the 8 stair when they had the square rail and all I remember is taking off and missing the ollie and stepping and hitting my head on the ground. It was so fast. I tried to recall going over it, how it had hit me cause I remember falling and getting knocked out and then coming to. It seemed like all I did was just jump to the ground but I seen flashes later of it happening and I remember stepping on the rail and missing my board so that was one of the scariest moments. I woke up and it was like from a dream. I touched my head and it was bleeding, I was like, “This really happened!”

You did the trick though?

Yeah, that day. I went to the bathroom, washed my head off. I wish I had got a photo cause it was like a scary movie my whole face was just red blood it would have been a rad photo but that was scary because skateboarding is so fast. After that I’ve been taking precautions you know, studying the switch stuff and I got over the fear.

Scariest moment cycling:

That was about 8 months ago. I was riding up on a path near my home and I was going up a little hill, just about 6 feet high but kind of steep, it’s a dirt hill. I had no front brakes and I couldn’t get up so I kind of panicked and I put on my back brakes and I went straight back and I’m like, “oh my god!’ So I hold the bike and I’m falling backwards and the bike’s coming back on me and I wear my backpack with the board on it and I’ve got a bunch of juice and food in my backpack and I’m thinking, “Just hold the bike away from your face so the handlebars don’t come back on you.” As soon as I fall back I land and the trucks just ram me in the ribs. It felt like I broke my ribs. So scary. It hit me like a bat. It took about a month to heal but I made sure I skated the next day and I could barely ollie up a kerb but I was right into it I was like, “I’m not gonna let this take me down.”

Photo: The Spoked

Name? 

John Cardiel

Origin? 

San Jose, CA.

Current Location?

Sacramento, CA.

What’s your scariest moment cycling?

Sometimes on a track bike when you’re going way too fast and going down hills into traffic and your foot pops out of the cage and you can’t skid and you’re just fucked but you have to ride it out, that’s probably the most intense.

And the pedals are just flying?

Well one of them is 

Ah, and you can’t get your foot back in?

YEAH! And you’re just trying to deal with way too much.

Okay, What’s your scariest moment skating?

Well, it was in Spain. I was with Karma Tsocheff at the top of a vert ramp. We were on top of the extension, it was getting dark and the deck was made out of two by fours sideways so it was super bumpy and the coping was mounted on the top. The vert ramp was ALL decayed. The whole thing was done and we had just climbed up there just to trip on it. We dared each other to roll in and we did it and that was gnarly for me. That was it, I remember, if you drop too much you’re going to punch through the ply, everything had to be considered; the roll, the coping, everything!

Who am I?

- Cairo Foster…just some dude who rolls around on wheels 

What do I do/my occupation is?

- I’m a professional skateboarder 

Where did I originate?

- I came by way of my mother on an island named Taiwan. That doesn’t make me Thai… 

Where am I now?

- I’m living in San Jose, CA 

What was my first pro-board?

- Mark “Gator” Rogowski! 

What was my first bike?

- Who knows…a Schwinn? Maybe a Redline or Diamondback. Something BMXy. 

What’s my current skate setup?

- An Enjoi board…8.25 x 32 inches. 

What’s my current bike?

- Masi cyclocross…58cm…Chromoly steel

What’s the biggest single ride I’ve done?

- 60 miles in New Zealand with the crew of dudes that got me into riding a bike for more than a mile at a time. Thanks guys! 

What trick might I never land?

- Won’t be doing any trackstands or eggplants 

What’s the next skate mission I’m excited about?

- I’m hyped to head to Texas with the Etnies gang in March…SXSW is going on while we’re there 

What’s the next cycle mission I’m excited about?

- Waiting on Keegan to get back from Vietnam so I have a biking buddy…but today I may ride along this trail in San Jose that has some new construction going on. Trying to find some new skate gems!

Who am I: Lois Pendlebury.
Occupation: Skateboard Gypsy. 
Origin: Bradford, UK.
Present location: Tignes, France.
First bike: Purple and white bmx-style bike with stabilisers and and streamers. It got stolen. 
First pro-board: I think it may have been a Ben Leyden Kill City board that he gave me at Livi Fun Day…either that or a Gonz board handed down from Rozee.
Current bike: Giant Avail road bike.
Current board: An Anti Hero 8.125 with a grim graphic featuring a mustachioed minky… I won it at LSSUK
Perfect 10 cycle/skate mission(real or imagined): A cycle-skate mission with good weather, good hills and good friends.

Photo: Charlie Smith

Name: Rick McCrank

Occupation: Pro Skater with dreams of being an up and coming amateur.

Origin: Ottawa Ontario Canada

Present location: Vancouver BC Canada

First bike: Some chopped thing my brother made in the 80’s. I rode it into the back of a parked car, I was fine but when I picked up the bike it fell into pieces almost like a cartoon.

First pro-board: Vision Agent Orange band board with Trackers, it had two Vision Blurs and two Bullets, it was a hand me down from my big Bro.

Current bike: Kona Sutra touring bike, I use it for everything, on Sundays I put knobby tires on it and cycle cross in the forest.

Current board: Girl Rick McCrank board, art by Brian Anderson with some Thunders and some 52’s.

Perfect 10 cycle/skate mission(real or imagined): New Zealand happened so it was a dream then reality then a dream again so now the new other dream is Japan, start in Tokyo and head directly away from the radioactive fallout, anyone want in?

Photo: Doubt

Name: Chris Haslam

Occupation: I used to write stunt foetus but then I grew facial hair, so now I just write sportsman.

Origin: Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Current location: Just past the city of Balzac, driving between Edmonton and Calgary.

First bike: I think the Windsor might have been the first actual road bike.

First pro-board: William Nguyen Santa Cruz was my first board.

Current bike: Between bikes at the moment had to lay the Windsor to rest.

Current board: I am riding  an Almost team board.

Perfect 10 cycle/skate trip: New Zealand for the biking and camping, and maybe Europe for the skating.

Crotch lube (sometimes, maybe, always or never?): Crotch butter depends on the length of ride; short no, long yes.

Photo: Wagner

Name: Keegan Sauder

Occupation: I am still officially a skateboarder by occupation, take that how you want it I suppose.

Origin: British Columbia

Present location: San Francisco, CA

First bike: 1974 CB550 Honda, or a red BMX with a coaster brake.

First pro-board: Santa Cruz Bod Boyle with Tracker Street Tracks and Slimeballs.

Current bike: Cyclocross/roadbike hand made by me, and an XT500 Yamaha

Current board: Zero team board, Indys and 52 mm titfires.

Perfect 10 cycle/skate mission: Hard to top new Zealand but with the right friends, anywhere.

Crotch lube (sometimes, maybe, always or never?): Cycle shorts for sure; everything works better with lube.

Photo: Doubt