Be sure to make a note of these not to be missed Hog Hill dates for 2015 in your diaries.

Registration for The Crackling is now open here: http://crackling2015.blogspot.co.uk/

The last official race in the UKSSA’s 2014 Slalom Racing Calendar took place at the annual two day Hogtoberfest event at Hog Hill. Once again Kryptonics were proud to support another UKSSA slalom race. This year was the biggest ever Hogtoberfest with some 200 riders gathering to ride the smooth hills at the Redbridge Cycling Centre. 

We had almost finished set up before the rains came and gave the track a soaking. However after the customary rain break Hog Hill fare – coffee and bacon sarnies – the sun obliged us with its presence and began to dry the track. Set up completed the Hybrid qualifying started. This years Hogtoberfest saw some of our European cousins fromSwedenjoining us to race. We welcomed racers Victor Martensson and Kaj Gustafsson as well ISSA president Jani Soderhall and family.

With qualifying done the bracketing was quickly sorted out. The 8 fastest racers would make up the A Group and the remaining racers the B Group. The late afternoon sun beamed down on the fast and furious racing taking place on the Hybrid hill. There were some very close heats with only fractions of a second separating the racers. The final was between Pavel/Cult/Octane rider Louis Selby and this year’s World Amateur number 3, PigCityskater Mmedo Duffort. After a very close first heat in which both riders hit one cone a DQ by Mmedo in the second meant Louis comfortably took the top podium spot with Swedes Jani and Victor taking 3^rd and 4th respectively. Worthy of a special mention is Alfie Osborne who completed his first ever ramp start in the Hybrid went on to qualify in very respectable 13^th place – with great style too, well done.

Sunday began under grey skies and that’s how it stayed all day in contrast to Saturday’s sunshine. Set up was rapid and so the B Group Hybrid slalom heats and finals were soon underway. Note to self when racing from the timing table make sure you take your reading glasses off first it helps to see the course! (“Senior moment” alert!).

The B Group final was almost a carbon copy of the A Group with DreadCity’s John Nicholas losing out to Jani’s eldest son Dimitri after he DQ’d his second run.
As soon as the Hybrid was over one of the ramps was turned around 180 degrees to face the GS hill and the timing system was rapidly connected to allow the Giant Slalom practice session to begin. A strong headwind made for some tricky racing conditions and could make a difference of seconds in rider’s times. GS newbie Joe Baldwin worried a few of the “old hands” setting an impressive time of 24.120. Going into the last few runs the wind had done a complete 180 and was now a useful tail wind. In the battle for the top spot this proved a critical factor. Mmedo’s clean run time of 23.20 earned him his first Hog Hill GS victory. Louis came close with his raw time of 23.22 plus one cone penalty so he had to settle for 2^nd. Visiting Swede Victor Martensson took the remaining podium place his time of 23.74 having led for much of the way.

 Big thanks as ever to everyone at Redbridge Cycling Centre for having us. Thank you to Timmy Peters and DAS Industries for all of your hard work in getting things organised, to Michael Stride and Octane Sport for supplying the ramps, timing and logistical support. My thanks to Mark Phelps for helping out with the timing and doing the pen work at the time table, to Paul Coupe and Gavin Palfrey for all of you help, To Edwin for your invaluable assistance and “voice” in the cone counting dept. and to Louis and Mmedo for the courses. Thank you to all of the events sponsors including Kryptonics, Octane, Lush and Skate Warehouse. Finally big thanks to you all that came and raced and supported the event.

Kryptonics Tees went to Alfie Osborne for his great performance in his first ever ramp start slalom race and to Richard Searle for his first ever A Group race – showing that his recent European race experience has paid dividends.  Kryptonics Star Trac Wheels went to John Nicholas, Dimitiri Soderhall, Dill Hill and Paul Borrell.

Happy recipients of Kryptonics Wheels.

 Results

 Hybrid A Group Results

1. Louis Selby
2. Mmedo Duffort
3. Jani Soderhall
4. Victor Martensson
5. Kaj Gustafsson
6. Paul Taylor Crush
7. Richard Searle
8. Paul Coupe

Hybrid B Group

1. Dimitri Soderhall
2. John Nicholas
3. Tiago Fanha
4. Gavin Palfrey
5. Rob Ashby
6. Alfie Osborne
7. Trevor Hickey
8. Alexi Soderhall
9. Alec Brown
10. Dill Hill

Giant Slalom

(Final times with any cone penalties added)

1. Mmedo Duffort               23.200
2. Louis Selby                     23.420
3. Victor Martensson          23.740
4. Joe Baldwin                    24.120
5. Jani Soderhall                24.440
6. Kaj Gustafsson               25.320
7. Chris Charalambous     25.610
8. Paul Taylor Crush          26.000
9. Paul Coupe                     26.200
10. John Nicholas              26.510
11. Alex Ireton                     26.920
12. Richard Searle             27.020
13. Dimitri Soderhall          27.210
14. Alexei Soderhall           27.200
15. Trevor Hickey                28.580
16. Gavin Palfrey                29.010
17. Dill Hill                           29.300
18. Alec Brown                    29.410
19. Alfie Osborne                29.530
20. Paul Borrell                   31.430

Hot on the heels of Turn & Burn came Summer Swine Stomp and once again saw us returning to Hog Hill.  With the ever present treat of rain hanging over us no time was wasted in setting up. However it appeared that the forecasters had got it all wrong and soon the sun shone through.

We were honoured to have former British Slalom Champion Martin Pavey in our midst who was over visiting from Australia. He was reunited with old slalom buddies Alan Featherstone and Jim Slater as well as a few of the old Guildford SkateStar crew after many years.

As usual we started with the dual Hybrid and qualifying began around 2pm in the warm afternoon sun. The top 8 would form the A Group and the remaining racers would make up the B Group.

There was some close racing in the A Group round of 4 which also saw yet another friendly grudge match between Mmedo and Chris Charalambous, with the Pig City boy coming out on top. The round of 4 saw Louis up against Sam and Mmedo would race Van Dem hotshot, Harry Phelps.

Harry vs Louis – Hybrid Final (Photo by John Nicholas)

Despite a valiant second run effort by Sam, Louis despatched him into the consolation round to face the ever improving Mmedo. The final would once again pit Louis against Harry. It was incredibly close Louis taking the first run by just 0.22 in the second run Louis took a cone out giving Harry a glimmer of hope but even though he gave it his all and crossed the line ahead of Louis the margin of 0.08 wasn’t enough to deny the Pavel rider the top spot – the margin just 0.14.

In the B Group it was getting very competitive a round of 16 was run with a few “byes” to get down to the round of 8. Martin Pavey was thoroughly enjoying his racing and still oozing plenty of OG style. Again there was some great entertaining close racing, one of the closest being Rob against Trevor Baker, Rob edging into the next round by a margin of just 0.09 after Trevor took just one cone out. Rob made it into the consolation round only to be pushed into 4^th spot by his good friend Jim “Nutsac” Parry Jones.  In his first slalom final in the UK for many a year Martin Pavey would face Dread City old boy John Nicholas. Martin blazed though the first round but disaster struck on his second run and he DQ’d leaving John to take the top spot. 

During the afternoon Trevor Hickey produced a very battered yellow Turner Fullnose – Martin instantly recognised it as the board he won the 1978 British Championships on. There were a few other classic boards on display too, Alan Featherstone had bought a couple of his Santa Cruz slalom boards along and soon there was talk of “proper English Tight courses” from messers Slater, Featherstone and Pavey. 

Sunday saw us host the man who showed us the way when it came to slalom and downhill back in the 70’s – Alan’s father Derek Featherstone, now 80, it was a delight to see him enjoying our interpretation of what he began at Brands Hatch all those years ago.

While Mmedo and Louis set the GS course on the big hill “The Old Guard” busied themselves setting up a Tight course with 5 foot centres; Martin, Jim and Alan all showing how it should be done – with speed and style to boot! 

Jim Slater – a picture of style and colour co-ordination!

With the Giant course set and the “Top Gear” times-board ready the GS got underway. The course was tricky enough that if you got you line wrong you would have taken a cone or two out but not so much that it was impossible to make. In fact all racers recorded good times with very few DQ’s. The same top four riders from the A Group Hybrid were battling it out for the podium places this time it was Harry in front with a clean run time of 20.540 with Louis in second place with 20.840, then Lycra clad Sam in 3^rd on 20.910 plus one cone penalty and Mmedo also picking up a cone penalty with his raw time of 21.230.

Whilst the GS was running the 5ft course was attracting a fair amount of attention too. In fact most of those racing GS came and had a go in between throwing themselves down the hill.

After the GS a 50 cone course was set up on the hybrid hill – just for fun. Harry was the first to set the clean time to beat; which it was next run when Martin Pavey blitzed through half a second faster! We made the most of having the weather on our side and courses were skated long into the afternoon. 

One of the highlights of Sunday apart from having Derek in our midst was when Trevor Hickey presented a delighted Martin with his old Turner that he had showed him the previous day. Martin was stoked to be reunited with it again and I’m sure it will be taking pride of place back home in Australia.

Martin Pavey with his old Turner that he won the 1978 British Championships on returned to him by Trevor Hickey pictured with him here.

As the day drew to a close the clouds gathered and rain began to fall just after we had finished break down – the timing was almost perfect! The Prize giving ceremony was moved into the café where everyone huddled round the tables creaking with schwag.  

Slalom Schwag

Big thanks as ever to Michael Stride and Octane Sport for providing the ramps, timing and logistical support. Thank you also to Kryptonics for their continued support of the UK slalom scene. Big props to Sam Gordon for all of his unseen work leading up to the event and over the weekend, Timmy Peters and DAS industries for taking care of the registration and running the Longboard and Downhill side and sorting out some very snazzy mugs for prizes,  thanks to Jorge Higgins for sorting out the slide jam and shouting lots. Thanks to Newtons Shred for their support and schwag for the Downhill and Freeriding.

Thanks also to St Johns Ambulance for patching up those that came a cropper and to those of you that helped out and came along to race and support another great event at Hog Hill. As ever we are grateful to Ian Coles and his team at Redbridge Cycle Centre for having us back yet again.

Last and by no means least a HUGE thank you for the man that started all this back in the 70’s the man himself Derek Featherstone – it was a great honour to have you present at this event, I hope you like what we’ve done with what you started all those years ago at Brands Hatch? Thank you Derek you contribution to the UK scene was immense. 

A motley crew with Derek Featherstone (with tape measure)

Slalom Results

 Hybrid A Group

 1          Louis Selby

2          Harry Phelps

3          Mmedo Duffort

4          Sam Gordon

5          Ben Williams

6          Chris Charalambous

7          Paul Taylor-Crush

8          Tiago Fanha

 Hybrid B Group

 1          John Nicholas

2          Martin Pavey

3          Jim Parry-Jones

4          Rob Ashby

5          Andy Turner

6          Trevor Baker

7          Richard Searle

8          Andrea Paro

9          Nigel Allgood

10        Alec Brown

11        Trevor Hickey

 GS                                    Raw time     Cones       Final Time

 1.  Harry Phelps                   20.540                        20.540           

2.  Louis Selby                      20.840                        20.840           

3.  Sam Gordon                    20.910            1          21.110           

4.  Mmedo Duffort                21.230           1          21.430           

5.  John Nicholas                 22.620                        22.620           

6.  Ben Williams                   22.620             1          22.820           

7.  Tiago Fanha                    22.680             2          23.080           

8.  Richard Searle                23.160             1          23.360           

9.  Paul Taylor-Crush          23.280            1         23.480           

10. Andy Turner                   23.520                       23.520           

11. Alex Ireton                      23.640            1         23.840           

12. Gavin Palfrey                 24.110                         24.110           

13. Andrea Paro                   23.900             2        24.300           

14. Jim Parry-Jones             24.570           1         24.770           

15. Alfie Osborne                 24.980             2         25.380           

16. Trevor Hickey                 25.640                       25.640           

17. Nigel Allgood                 25.430             5         26.430           

18. Alec Brown                     30.330             4          31.130            

Tony addressing the racers.

This years Turn & Burn began under cloudy skies but despite that it remained warm and dry except for one little short shower, but undeterred the racing went on. Saturday began with the Tight slalom and after a fairly relaxed morning practice session by lunchtime qualifying was underway. Pig Citylocals Mmedo Duffort and Ben Williams were racing well and were putting in some good times against Harry and Louis. Unfortunately Harry took a tumble while in the round of 4 and made quite a mess of his finger and required a visit to A & E which meant the final would have to be delayed until Sunday before the Hybrid. 

Mick Reiss dropped in on the latter stages of the day to say hello and catch up with everyone .  He even took a few runs through the cones proving he is still a force to be reckoned with.

Harry – Down and out of the running!

With Harry out injured and unable to continue on Sunday the Final for the Tight was decided on the results in the bag This meant that 1^st place went to Louis with Harry in 2^nd.

Sam joined the racers for Sunday’s Hybrid having been unable to make the racing on Saturday. He was on good form and proving a worthy adversary in the absence of the quickening Harry. He skated his way through into the round of 4 and went on to face Pavel Teamate Louis in the final. The consolation round was a re-run of the day before with Mmedo and Ben fighting it out for 3rd and 4^th place respectively. Despite his best efforts and putting in two fast clean runs Sam couldn’t quite find the extra gear to pull out enough against Louis, the overall margin of 0.322 and another victory for half of the Twin Terror.

 Big Thanks to thePigCityCrew, Octane Sport, Ocean Sports and Kryptonics.

Results

Tight

1          Louis Selby

2          Harry Phelps

3          Mmedo Duffort

4          Ben Williams

5          Paul Taylor Crush

6          Paul Coupe

7          John Nicholas

8          Toby Newman

9          Tony Lord

10        Mark Phelps

11        Andy Turner

12        Daniel?

13        Richard Searle

14        Rob Ashby

15        Andrea Paro

16        Alec Brown

Hybrid

1          Louis Selby

2          Sam Gordon

3          Mmedo Duffort

4          Ben Williams

5          Paul Coupe

6          John Nicholas

7          Richard Searle

8          Mark Phelps

9          Tony Lord

10        Andy Turner

11        Gavin Palfrey

12        Alec Brown

13        Andrea Paro

Race Report by Mmedo Duffort

Following our prowess in Paris, Louis and I agreed to represent team GB in Grenoble for a three day slalom event hosted by the Désaxé Worldride Festival. The trip took a slightly healthier turn than our recent attempts at climbing the slalom peaks but was fun (nonetheless). The flight to Geneva was as stupidly early as it was cheap but turned out to be a great idea. My dad picked us up from Geneva airport with a car (complete with full tank and free toll pass) and let us off to make our way to the GS spot, just outside Grenoble. There, we met with Guillaume St-Criq, the locals and the few French riders who had travelled from Brittany for a very, very fast hillside GS (think retaining wall on one side, drop on the other, speeds of up to 30mph and you’ll get an idea…).

The GS Hill

Mika and Viking arrived later on and a dozen riders began their practice. With so few riders, Guillaume opted for four timed runs; and what a wonderful idea that was! 4 hours, in the sun, shooting cones with nice people… Viking took first spot, Louis took third, and I took sixth; just behind Christopher Dupont and a little ahead of Guillaume, who’s no mug!

With rain forecast for Sunday, Saturday saw us race both tight and special. Viking took the tight, Mika took the special whilst Louis took fourth and seventh, which, considering that Fabian Koula (Switzerland) and Vincent Langlade (France) showed up for the day, was pretty good going for our very own UK#1^TM. 

Overall result for the weekend read:

1          Open    Viking Hadestrand, Sweden/Pro           

2          Open   Mikael Hadestrand, Sweden/Pro           

3          Open    Christopher Dupont, France/Pro           

4          Open    Louis Selby, Great Britain/Pro  

5          Open    Vincent Tanguy, France

6          Open    Guillaume Saint-Criq, France /Pro          

7          Open   Mmedo Duffort, Great Britain    

8          Open    Franck Pannetier, France          

9          Open    Vincent Langlade, France/Pro  

10         Open    Fabian Koula, Switzerland         

11         Open   Jadranko Radovanovic,Switzerland      

12         Open    Erika Schoirfer, France 

13         Open   Lydie Visona, France    

14         Open    Anne Alexandre, France

Prize money were generous and extended to 4^th spot which gave Louis a long awaited justification for his pro status!

Louis, Mika and Viking

Sunday was rained out in the morning but the Nations Cup took place in the afternoon in front of much larger crowds than we had on Saturday. Unsurprisingly, Sweden took top spot. Surprisingly, Team GB took second.

Overall, it was a great weekend of slalom. Fewer riders meant more runs for everyone. Hopefully, regular cheap flights to Geneva should ensure that more Brits take part next year.

Race report by Patrick Dumont.

Mmedo in full flow

 Team GB made their separate ways to the city of light on the last week end of May. Saturday opened under clear skies and radiant sun. Team comprised a wide range of style and experience, from juniors to masters, through amateur and pro plus a wounded soldier, Amaury who had dislocated his shoulder at Hog Hill shortly before. Team GB comprised: Paul Coupe, Louis Selby, Mmedo Duffort, Didier Lambert, Richard Searle, Cyprien, Patrick and Amaury Dumont. 

Pavel/Cult rider Louis powering down the Trocadero

Contrary to 2013 vintage, the organisation had targeted to start with the GS, then Tight and keeping Special for the Sunday. In the introductory riders meeting, Jani hinted at a surprise event to round up the weekend. 

With flawless timing the GS started and ran through the categories. The setting makes for quite a short GS, with caution necessary in all disciplines since the track runs into one of most busy roads in Paris. 

Before we knew it, it was already time for the Tight slalom. The braking after the course gave rise to a couple of “Ooops moments” for a few riders including Patrick who slid and twisted his ankle, while Tezzanz ended up straight in the railings. Next year I think proper foot brake training will be mandatory.

 After a great day of skating we all broke up for a night in Paris. I heard the night was very short for some when we all met up again on Sunday morning.

Paul Coupe livin’ the dream.

 Exhaustion did not affect motivation, with Mmedo in especially highly competitive mood. The Special slalom however did not make for any further changes to the rankings, apart from in the juniors where Cyprien managed to fight his way to third place. 

Although the main racing had finished, all was not quite over. A Tight slalom course had been set up for the newly invented “Nations Cup”. A really great idea which kept everyone racing  to the end with a smile on their face.

Cyprien Dumont – Concentration is everything.

The teams were matched in pairs of roughly similar ability. Cyprien managed again to find his way to the winning team, with a big push from Petr Matys, the blazingly fast junior from Czech Republic.

Richard gaining yet more European racing experience.

Racing at the Trocadero can be hazardous to your feet – Arggghhh get me a shoe sponsor!

 Overall – Open

1 Stas Mironenko,Ukraine/Pro

2 Christopher Dupont,France/Pro

3 Oleg Glushko,Russia/Pro

4 Michel Dupont,France/Pro

5 Louis Selby,Great Britain/Pro

6 Marc Camelan,France/Pro

7 Alfonso Pérez Villalpando,Spain

8 Vincent Tanguy, France

9 Daniel Navarro Fernandez,Spain

10 Nacho Munoz Cuellar,Spain

11 Felix Müller,Germany

12 Mmedo Duffort,Great Britain

13 Guillaume Saint-Criq, France /Pro

14 Borja Munoz Cuellar,Spain

15 Jadranko Radovanovic,Switzerland

16 David Rudnianski, France

17 Didier Lambert,Great Britain

18 Jean-Sébastien Dennebouy,France

Overall – Masters

1 Jani Söderhäll,Sweden- European Champion, Overall, 2014

2 Vincent Langlade, France

3 Niclas Hyland,Sweden

4 Pelle Gustafsson,Sweden

5 Franck Pannetier, France

6 Richard Searle,Great Britain

7 Jose Muñoz Cuellar,Spain

8 Olivier Noel,France

9 Radan Knobloch,Germany

10 Paul Coupe,Great Britain

11 Patrick Dumont,Great Britain

Overall Juniors (-17)

1 Petr Matous, Czech Republic – European Champion, Overall, 2014

2 Max Thiele,Germany

3 Cyprien Dumont,Great Britain

4 Leonardo Fernandez,Spain

5 Alexei Söderhäll, France

6 Felix Thiele,Germany

7 Lukas Knobloch,Germany

Nations Cup Results

 1          CZE/UK/FRA (Matous/Dumont/S.St Cric)

2         SPAIN1 (D.Fernandez/Villalpando/L.Fernandez)

3         GERMANY2 (R.Thiele/Müller/M.Thiele)

4         ENGLAND(Selby/Duffort/Searle)

5          RUS/UKR/FRA (Mironenko/Gluschko/A.Soderhall)

6         FRANCE2 (M.Dupont/Camelan/Noel)

7         FRANCE1 (C.Dupont/Pannetier/Dennebouy)

8         FRANCE3 (StCriq/Langlade/Tanguy)

9         SWEDEN(Gustafson/Hyland/Redman)

10       SPAIN2 (N.Cuellar/B.Cuellar/J.Cuellar)

The Crackling is the first major Hog Hill event of the year and signals the start of the UK slalom racing season. Once again the UKSSA teamed up with Timmy Peters of Das Industries to organise the weekends Longboard and Downhill elements.

Saturday began under heavy skies with scattered showers thrown in for good measure, unperturbed skaters were arriving at Hog Hill in their droves. Among those present and making their first trip to Hog Hill was Alan Featherstone son of Derek. In the late 70’s and 80’s, Derek was very active at promoting slalom especially at Brands Hatch, and he was also responsible for starting the 100 cone 6′ straight world record.

Another shower delayed set up but once the rain did finally stop the place became a hive of activity. Kickers were being assembled, slalom courses were being marked – and coffee and tea were being consumed in great quantities!

 We decided that given the weather conditions we might try to run the Giant Slalom first, the proviso being that if the weather perked up we would run the Hybrid as usual. Only there was a problem with the normal hill; a constant stream of water was running across it from the central grass area. After a bit of impromptu on the spot engineering and a piece of wood the source of the stream had been dammed and diverted leaving the track to dry.

With the GS set we began some practice runs, but just 4 or 5 runs in the rain came back with a vengeance. The rain turned to hail and everyone went diving for cover, many, myself included, jumped into the back of the Octane van. In the van the sound of the hail falling was amplified to the level of machine gunfire as it fell on the roof – it was deafening. Thankfully it didn’t last long and it began to ease, the clouds started to clear allowing the sun to peep through in places but after such a soaking and with very little breeze the track was going to take a long time to dry.

While everyone was standing around Paul Coupe treated us to an impromptu “show and tell” with items from his collection kicking off with a very nice Benjyboard Marc Sinclair model, a recent acquisition. But the Pièce de résistance was his Turner Collection – now with the addition of a bespoke Turner flight case purchased from “Mr Octane”.  

Not to be out done Alan had also bought something along to the party secreted within a very fine Robinak Pack – itself a great talking point. In it was a Santa Cruz Cutaway with split-axle H.P.G. IV Gull Wings and a very early John Hutson graphite loaded model fitted with some Speedflex “Lazer” copies and OJ’s. Jim Slater recognised the board by its construction as one of the Hutson prototypes. He was more excited by it than he was Paul’s Turner Blackbird! 

Turner “Show ‘n’ Tell” time.

The track was drying slowly and only leather clad downhillers ventured out along with the a few sliders. It was clear that the day was over as far as any slalom was concerned. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the campsite full of optimism for Sunday. 

Despite an initially cloudy start the weather gods smiled upon us and Sunday turned out to be a real scorcher at Hog Hill.

We opted to squeeze the GS at the start of the day ahead of the scheduled 12pm slide jam not everyone took part in the GS so it could be run relatively quickly. After the course had been checked over by Mmedo and Louis the practice session began for those taking part. However this was bought to an abrupt halt when Amaury wiped out on the tricky course dislocating his shoulder in the process. Our First Aiders were called to the scene and an ambulance duly called. Little did we know then but this would be the first of 3 call-outs for the Essex Paramedics in what would turn out to be a fairly incident filled day. As the ambulance arrived another casualty was already sat in the reception area awaiting attention. Thankfully we only suffered the one major incident of the day although Mmedo did leave some skin on the hybrid course later in the day. 

With time ticking away and Amaury receiving attention on the GS hill we switched to running the Hybrid so as not to interfere with Jorge’s Slide Jam or use of the chicane for the downhillers. Qualifying went off very quickly and after just short of an hour we were ready to start the A group which was cut to the top 8 qualifiers. The pairings would be Louis vs Cyprien, Mmedo vs Chris “Chabs”, Harry vs Newtons Shred’s Alex Ireton and Sam vs Tim Neal.

Mmedo and Chris had a good battle with Mmedo taking the first heat. But he took a slam when Chris hesitated and failed to start leaving Mmedo running the course solo. Convinced that something was wrong with the start he lost concentration for a split second and stacked it.  Clearly shaken from his ordeal he patched himself up and we agreed to re-run the heat. Chris took the second run but it was Mmedo that advanced to the round of four to face Louis by a margin of just 0.33.
The fall had taken its toll on Mmedo and a double DQ against Louis would see him in the Consolation round with Sam. The final between Louis and Harry produced some great racing, in the first run Louis took it by just 0.01 after Harry hit two cones to his one. The second run produced two first class clean runs but only one could emerge victorious and this time it was Harry, just 0.04 the overall difference. In the consolation round Sam won over a battle weary Mmedo to claim 3^rd place.

The B group was made up of the 13 remaining riders; a round of 16 with byes was run to reach the final 8. The end of the course was proving tricky for some and causing a few DQ’s due to a “gimme” cone making you think that you had gone wrong somewhere? After a couple of hiccups with the F1 starter and a running repair of the timer “On” switch we were soon down the finals.
The man of a thousand boards Paul Coupe would be up againstDreadCity’s finest – John Nicholas. The consolation round was a clash of BSA  team mates Richard Searle and Gavin Palfrey.

Maybe it was the pressure that got to him but a DQ by Paul in the first heat left too big a gap to make up and John went on to take the top podium spot. In the Consolation round despite Gav going in all guns blazing Richard emerged victorious taking the final podium place. 

After two previous attempts at starting the Giant S would it be a case of third time lucky?  Could we run it through to its conclusion? With the start ramp in place the timing connected we were ready to race.

There were a couple of well placed off-sets that if you took them wrong really threw you off line. The sound of sliding wheels was common place as riders pushed the envelope of traction and speed to gain what could be crucial fractions of a second on the testing course. An epic battle raged for the top four spots but once again it would be Harry that took 1^st place with a really impressive clean run time of 22.77, then just pipping his Pavel team mate was Sam with 22.87 with just one cone penalty, 3^rd was Louis with 23.22 and in 4^th was Mmedo on 23.49.

Mmedo bombing the GS

 Despite the rained out Saturday and a bumpy start to Sunday we managed to fit everything in and enjoyed a full day of skating.

The beaten, the blooded, the bruised and the sun-burnt but happy army of skaters gathered around for the weekends prize-giving and schwag toss.

Our slalom racing was sponsored by Octane Sport and by our recently added sponsors Kryptonics; apparently someone deep within UKSSA HQ has connections there? Harry scooped up a set of 65mm and a set 70mm Greens with his trophies and John Nicholas bagged some 65mm Blues with his. 

To the Victor the spoils – Harry Phelps “double bubble”!

Our thanks to:

Michael and Octane Sport for their unerring support and providing race logistics

Kryptonics – for the awesome wheels!

Sam – for his top notch work, especially all of that behind the scenes work that nobody sees but benefits everyone

Louis and Mmedo for course setting

Gavin Palfrey for timekeeping/Top Gear board work on the GS

Timmy and Louise of DAS Industries for sign up and all things longboardy

Ian Coles, Sylvia, Dave and all of the staff at Redbridge Cycling Centre
London Ambulance Service – Essex Paramedics

Coupe/Fish Limousine Service

……And finally a special big “Thank You” to everyone (you know who you are?) for assistance with set up/break-down in what was a very trying weekend at times.

The next scheduled event is Turn and Burn at Paddle Around the Pier in Brighton 5^th/6^th July – see you there.

The Crackling Results

Hybrid A Group

1          Harry Phelps

2          Louis Selby

3          Sam Gordon

4          Mmedo Duffort

5          Chris Charalambous

6          Tim Neal

7          Alex Ireton

8          Cyprien Dumont

Hybrid B Group

1          John Nicholas

2          Paul Coupe

3          Richard Searle

4          Gavin Palfrey

5          Jim “Nutsac” Pary Jones

6          Tony Lord

7          Mark Phelps

8          Rob Matthews

9          Daniel R.

10        Andrea Paro

11        Trevor Hickey

12        Mike Fish

13        Dill Hill

(Timekeeper: Rob Ashby)

 Giant Slalom (Raw Times)

 1          Harry Phelps – 22.77

2          Sam Gordon – 22.87

3          Louis Selby – 23.22

4          Mmedo Duffort – 23.49

5          Tim Neal – 23.84

6          Chris Charalambous – 24.77

7          Alex Ireton – 25.49

8          Jim “Nutsac” Parry Jones – 25.87

9          Richard Searle – 25.91

10        Dill Hill – 25.98

11        Paul Coupe – 26.01

 (Timekeeper: Gavin Palfrey)

The UKSSA were asked if we could put on a slalom jam as part of the Long Live Southbank “One Year On” Anniversary. We of course said yes and were accordingly allocated a slot at the start of the day and with Octane Sport kindly providing the timing and prizes from sponsors Kryptonics we were all set.

Jim Slater with Mike John on chase camera. (Thanks to Dave Wilson for the Photo)

While others in the Galaxy were celebrating “Star Wars” day numbers were joining the army of volunteers preparing for the days events at Southbank – the force here was strong, very strong! Crowds were also gathering for the Spanish food and wine festival being held along the riverside adding to the general hustle of the place.
Given the now limited space at Southbank for slalom we opted for a conventional 5ft(ish) centre, single lane straight course of 14 cones. The jam format meant riders had unlimited runs in the allotted hour, the riders’ fastest clean run would be counted. Kryptonics were sponsoring the jam and Star Trac wheels would be awarded for the fastest clean runs in each of the three classes Novice, Am and Master (45+). Michael marked the course with a reworking of the old Benjyboard classic “Skull and Crossbones” stencil and set the timing.

Our Pillar!

At 12 o’clock the jam began and crowds – some with glasses and bottles of wine in hand- pressed against the railings to gain a good vantage point. Louis and Harry were providing great entertainment as each tore through the course trying to better the others time. As the session went on everyone was getting faster and faster and wowing the onlookers, clean runs being cheered and hit cones met with “Ah’s”. A few of the “Old Guard” experienced the hallowed urethane polished slabs up close and personal with Patrick, Gavin and Paul Coupe among those taking a slam. Others, who will remain nameless, chose to go down in more spectacular style taking out the timing clock or piling into a photographer taking out their tripod and camera bringing a few “Ooo’s” from the spectators.

We announced the last run for anyone that wanted one final chance to improve their time and bought the session to a close. With customary efficiency the timing and course were cleared while I worked out the final standings.

Other than a few of the LLSB crew who chose to pull out and “Ollie the Clock” at the end of the course and therefore neither complete the course or register a time and a young chap on a Penny board who scooted through there were no serious novice attempts therefore the prize would go to the Ams.

Louis Selby put in the fastest time of the day with 3.480 but being a Pro racer was out of the running for a fastest time. Harry Phelps was the fastest Am with a time of 3.512 and second fastest with a very impressive performance and showing those Hyde Park sessions are paying dividends was Amaury Dumont with a time of 3.952 both winning a set of 60mm Blue Kryptonics. In the Masters it was Chris Charalambous that took top spot with an impressive 4.341 winning a set of 60mm Reds. True to customary “skater-time” form (officially designated as three hours before “Floyd time”) pitched up with 15 minutes of the jam remaining, hit a cone with his first run and set his fastest time with his second, impressive stuff from one of Southbank’s OG slalomers.

To the Victors the Spoils. L – R, Harry Phelps, Chris Charalambous, Amaury Dumont, Photo – Rob.

With prizes awarded it was time for the serious business of socialising with friends old and new, soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying the various demos and basking in the afternoon sun.

Group Shot by Thane’s Keith Martin. Thank you.

Thanks to Henry, Rod and all the LLSB Crew for a great day, to all of you that that took part, to Michael Stride and Octane Sport for logistical support and timing and finally to Kryptonics for the prizes.

Long Live Southbank -London Skates Dominate   

 Slalom Jam – Fastest Clean Times.

Louis Selby                             3.480

Harry Phelps                          3.512

Amaury Dumont                   3.952

Chris Charalambous            4.341

Paul Coupe                              4.672

Mark Phelps                            4.684

Jim Slater                                 4.824

Cyprien Dumont                    4.831

Didier Lambert                       4.925

Alec Brown                               4.980

Patrick Dumont                       5.065

Gavin Palfrey                            5.182

Richard Searle                         5.695

Dave Boyle                                7.530