Well, what a weekend for our French gravity sports team!
Philippe & Marie - victors at Rigalet!
Awesome picture courtesy of Goat Longboards
Philippe Dupuy & Marie Bougourd took the number one podium places at the Rigalet downhill challenge.
Marie (aka Spoky Woky) was admittedly a little disappointed to be the only female rider in the competition, but gave the men a serious run for their money & placed twelth overall...
Marie on the podium
& Alexandre Lebrun grabbed the number 2 spot at the Italian World Cup IIda Cisterna D'Asti event.
Alexandre's podium moment in Italy
We are so proud of you guys (and so pleased to see that you all bagged some wine as a prize)!! Now the season is off to a flying start for sure & we'll look forward to brings you more news asap.
Interested in trying gravity sports yourself? Find out more from the IGSA...
We can also enjoy this video of the ever-graceful Marie Bougourd (aka "Spoky Woky") skating her local park, wonderful!
We are delighted to be sponsoring Marie for the 3rd consecutive season & are sure she'll continue to be an amazing success in the European IGSA ranking this year.
We look forward to bringing you lots more gravity sports news as the international season progresses.
Thanks to sponsored skater Marie Bougourd (aka Spoky Woky) for sending us these amazing photos, taken by her friend & fellow gravity sports enthusiast Guillaume Ducreux...
Marie, who is in the top three of this year's IGSA rankings, says:
"It was only a little slide session at my home spot (Lyon) there two days ago!
We were only two riders and a good photographer :) ".
I think we would agree with Marie, Guillaume is a VERY good photographer! :0)
Thanks so much for sharing these great images with us.
Aaron Skippings has just updated his own blog & has been keeping us entertained with his downhill skating antics & general Facebook musings on life's important issues, like whether a Sherbert Dip Dab explosion, the aftermath of which was witnessed by his unsuspecting parents, could lead to an accidental drugs charge...
Maria (aka Spoky Woky) of 'Team for Ride' fame has just sent us the designs for her new downhill skating leathers & we are proud as punch to be displayed on her thigh... :0)
And here are some amazing images from her year so far...
Tony Leard & Doug Brown have been working on some publicity materials for us:
We are hoping to get some posters made up for the guys to use, especially as Doug tours extensively for his Skate Straight programme.
Shannon Francis has been busy too,
the Bristol stunt scooter rider has picked up a heap of new sponsors & still finds time to practise her second passion - video edits of her adventures...
I am sure that there's lots more to tell you, but that's all I can think of right now!
We've had a great update from John Griffiths this week:
"Its been non-stop this month! I don't like to waffle on so I'll keep it short and sweet!
Aaron Skippings pretty much covered our trip to europe... (see the video exploits here) it was rad, the hills where amazing and the party's where even better, coming home sucked I wish I was still there!
As for other events ride the dragon in Wales reclassified longboarding as a watersport, rivers on the track and standing water over two inches deep made the already technical track even more sketchy and racing was more a case of make it down alive than beat the competition. Luckily I managed to stay on my board enough to make it into the finals and third place!
What's more my bearings are still rolling fine even after being submerged underwater for two days in Wales...WIN! Cheers for your help :) "
Thanks for your news John. We're delighted to hear that your bearings stood up to a bit of a battering :0)& many congratulations on the podium place at 'Ride the Dragon' in Wales.
Thanks to Fabien (new President of Team for Ride!) for the following news:
"So, I've been on a part of the Eurotour this summer and finished by a nice muscle tear on the left calf (I get hitten by a guy at 70 kph on the Euro champ final). Following to that, a sick leave of four weeks and still doing a lot of physio (6 hours a week), but I'll be able to be back on a board in three weeks.
This injury put me away from the end of the french championship 2011 and away from the podium of this one. :-/
So, about the French championship results:
Thibaut finished 2nd in streetluge and 3rd in classic luge
Marie: female 1st and 19th on the open (male / female / juniors)
Me: 7th in streetluge and 8th in classic luge.
Philippe was still not able to ride but is talking about coming back next year. This year he had focused a lot on the development of a new competition system and help the different event organisation to implement it.
Quentin: not much news... it seems that he is stoping skateboard for a moment.
TFR future:
after a first meeting we all decided to disolve the team, 'cause, Quentin is not wanting to skate anymore, Thibaut is far away in Britanny, Philippe want to come back in the competition but is not really sure. In fact there is only Marie and me who are sure to continue the competition next year, and Marie more than ever! ut at the same time some decision were decided in other organisation we are in, some big projects of french elite camp, skate club, event organisation...
and finally people asked us to keep the name TFR and keep me as president. (Faby el presidente!)
Next year with TFR:
Organisation of a french elite camp to create a kind of "french team". it will take place in the french Alps
Organisation of "Telethon, Noon to midnight", a charity event to raise found for the genetical diseases consisting of a 12 hours ride on a 2km loop on inline and skate.
Organisation of the beginner race on the Parilly slalom race (should be Euro cup)
Organisation of regular session to make people discover the skate / luge and organise training for the people who want to develop the sport and improve the level. The goal is to create a real club with regular longboard lessons".
Wow - thanks so much for all the news Fabien! We'll look forward to helping Team for Ride move forward next year, in whatever ways we can.
Thanks for sharing guys! The video gives a real feel for the speeds involved in downhill skateboarding - Aaron Skippings looks awesome as he sweeps down giant slopes, even if he is filming his own butt with a camera on a stick... ;0) And John Griffiths shows us how to do press-ups & make the most of your flowing locks simultaneously - that is a real skill people!
SMB Bearings is proud to sponsor an AMAZING bunch of riders & we are delighted to bring you some of their latest news:
Welcome to John Griffiths, UK downhill skateboarder:
John will be travelling to Europe this year to race Kozakov and Insul on the IGSA European tour and hopes to do well. John says "I have been riding downhill for three years now and have competed successfully on an national and international level, heres a list of my results so far:
3rd - Festival longboarderz in portugal
1st - Marignar outlaw
1st - Bo peep outlaw
2nd - Sheepy outlaw
3rd - Bo peep crash & burn "
We look forward to following John's progress closely :0)
New videos from our Bristol crew - Shannon Francis, stunt scooter rider:
& Schaeffer Mclean, 7 year-old skateboarder:
Aaron Skippings has just announced a new blog, so that we can all keep up with his exploits... check it out here
Gravity sports "Team for Ride" won out at last weekend's Familia Challenge in France - Marie stole the show for the ladies, bagging 1st place
And buttboarding we have Fabien at the front & Thibaut bringing up the rear in their race at the Familia...
Tony Leard, US skateboarder & awesome graphic designer, has been a real treat for us - proactive, helpful & talented, he's produced some great graphics to support the SMB Skate Crew & here are the results so far:
Thanks to you all - we are so pleased (& a little bit awed) to be represented by such a talented bunch of riders!
Welcome Aaron! All at SMB Bearings are delighted to announce that we are now proud sponsors of Aaron Skippings.
Aaron is only 19, but already a serious contender in UK & international downhill skateboarding events - he is also a passionate & articulate guy & really the best kind of ambassador that this sport could hope for. Normally at this point we would have searched the web for snippets about new riders, but Aaron gave us such an amazing presentation of his skills that we'd like to share it with you unadulterated...
Current Sponsors riptide sports,skateboardsofchoice,eko slide gloves Videos of me in action http://vimeo.com/15005171 - Sheepy outlaw 2010 http://vimeo.com/14558614 - Bo peep free ride action http://vimeo.com/13051476 - Exeter outlaw final 2010 http://vimeo.com/12843576 - St Aubin freeride France 2010
Watch out for this guy - we expect BIIIIIIG things for him :0)
Almabtrieb world championships,Germany 2010
Aaron tells us all about himself:
"For nearly 2 years Downhill Skateboarding has been a passion of mine and has also become a big part of my life, it is still quite a small sport so not many people know what it is about and is often mistaken with regular skateboarding however the two are completely different. A Long board or speed board is much larger than a skateboard and is designed for speed which often ranges between 50 -80mph, this requires full safety gear such as leathers, helmets and gloves. Roads are closed to create courses for races which have 2-6 man heats. I have competed in many skating events and have travelled across Europe to compete in events trying to push myself that little bit faster every time.
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My Background
I grew up around skating you could say, it happened by chance, I mean I tried skateboarding first, trying to skate skate parks for the best part of my child hood. You could say it didn’t go very well, crashing was imminent, it was always happening, and I just never seemed to pick it up. It wasn’t till about 2007 when a friend of mine showed me a video of 'downhill skateboarding'. woahhh! It blew my mind .The thought of guys bombing down hills on planks of wood with wheels got my mind going crazy. I thought to myself why can’t I do this? It did I admit look super hard and thought it couldn’t be possible. So a year passed with me going crazy still wanting a long board. Anyway in 2008 they had a world cup race in Eastbourne down Beachy Head road, I had to go to this, so I did. It was amazing to see the skaters shooting down these hills at such fast speeds, the thrill of it must have been brilliant. The event was a success and I knew this was it; this was the sport for me.
Few weeks later I acquired a board a lush Mako to be exact it wasn’t perfect for downhill, but I didn’t
care. It was setup bad at the time but I thought it was perfect. Over time speed was achieved and wobbles were seen far too often, no matter what happened and how many crashes I had, I never stopped riding and pushing myself more and more.
2 years past and my love of downhill skateboarding has grow and grown and to be honest now I was ready for some competing , I had started to get pretty good and I felt it was time to be let loose on the world. Representing Britain in an awesome way. I had new equipment and at high costs too, top end equipment is not cheap as some people know, it’s a lot of money but is well needed if competition gets a hold of you. Having some top end equipment gave me more confidence to push myself more and more.
Starting off with a few free rides to get me going before I competed was a brilliant experience.
I travelled to France for a few free rides then came back setting up for euro tour madness. I would be competing in the Germany world championships, my biggest race so far. Then after that I would be travelling to France for my final leg. I was dead excited.
Getting some practice in Germany before my qualification run
My Euro events were a success! I had so much fun and learnt more skating skills than I could have ever possibly imagined!! . Coming back made me sad because I had met so many friends along the way. I want to try to travel to Europe as much as I can to skate more and get my skill level as high as it can be and with sponsors I feel I can achieve that.
To me skating is everything it’s what drives me and makes me feel alive, without skating I wouldn’t stand a chance of being who I am , being someone else is not who I want to be. Travelling the world and getting the chance to skate with some amazing people is what is keeping me alive, I have the drive to do something good in my life and with skating I feel that it’s only right for me to use this passion, this drive I have and make myself be the best person that I can be. Downhill for me is like a drug, an addiction; I need it to work, to live. The feeling of going downhill at 60moh is like nothing you can experience it’s a silent but peaceful and energizing way to travel; I will never stop for no one this is my sport my life.
Skating makes me happy!
Watch out for this guy folks, he's going to be BIG!
A great performance this weekend at the Rigalet Gravity Sports Championships (near Bordeaux). Our amazing sponsored team, Team for Ride, produced some outstanding results...
Marie Bourgourd, the only female competitor, had to compete with the men but ranked a very impressive 15th overall. Thibault Meline placed 3rd overall in Buttboard and finishing sixth in streeluge. Fabien Prual celebrated a double - placing second in both Buttboard & streetluge!
Rigalet French Championship 2011
Fabien, of "Team for Ride", takes the podium...
A little down-time for Fabien between races!
Fabien & Thibaut take 2nd & 3rd place in the buttboard...
A celebration drink with friends - it is very important to keep hydrated :0)
And doing it for the girls, Marie Bougard...
Taking her top podium spot...
What an exhausting day!
Team For Ride are using our ceramic hybrid bearings (metal rings, ceramic balls & a high-speed plastic cage) & have found them, to quote Fabien "My feeling: GREAT!". Check out Team for Ride on Facebook, for more news, updates & amazing photos.
Gravity Sports return to Cadwell for the fourth annual Gravity Festival. What ever you ride, you're welcome. Gravity Racer, Soap Box, Street Luge, Classic Luge, Downhill Skateboards ,Gravity Bike and new this year, Gravity SIdecar.
This year will see the first King Of The Hill Competition. The fastest rider in each discipline will fight it out to see who is the master of gravity. Races will be held on two different hills. Hills open to freeride after the racing.
Over the last three years Cadwell has proven it's self as one on the best events on the calendar. This famous and spectacular venue simply must be ridden by everyone.
