Encounters with Pro Skaters

[MikeCyclopsfromNASA]

A friend saw BA in a grocery store in NJ 3 years ago. Said he was buying a bunch of smoothies.

[tobobo]

My friend Alex moved to the US from Colombia with his wife to raise their son in her home state of MA. For a while he couldn’t work while immigration got sorted out but recently he got a job doing tiling, and they’ve been going around to Dunkin Donuts all over the northeast to update tiles for the new Dunkin branding. He skated in Colombia and still skates in MA.

He thought he was going to have to miss this Thanksgiving (his second ever) because he had to work to finish a Dunkin in Maine, but fortunately his boss’s brother, who lived in the area, showed up to help finish the job early so they could all get home for the holiday. Imagine his surprise when his boss’s brother shows up and it’s *Brandon Westgate* ready to tile a Dunkin and save the day.

Gave him a pair of shoes too. Good stuff Brandon.

[thecomfortsofmadness]

I’ve met many pros 50+ and straight off the mind Dylan (really good encounter and we very loosely became pals) …Cameo Wilson (bad bad bad encounter, total materialistic egomaniac).

Maybe ill return as others come to mind.

[PressureCracktoHealthySna]

I did some weight loss and skateboarding stuff on instagram and John Worthington followed me and I was super stoked. He ended up hitting me up a few weeks later to come skate my local skatepark with me randomly and it was just him and his lady and me and my wife. Coolest dude ever, never would expect a pro to hit me up to skate let alone get to smoke a doob and hang out all day. Funny enough hardly anyone showed up that day to skate other then the normal 2 locals that go. I remember telling him that i kind of thought people just wanted to watch me eat shit and he straight up said nah man im just stoked to see you skateboarding. Coolest reminder that we are all just dudes stoked on skateboarding. This was my first time im pretty sure ive seen a actual pro skateboarder skate in person to and that was pretty fuckin cool

[OldieButFrenchie]

My friend Alex moved to the US from Colombia with his wife to raise their son in her home state of MA. For a while he couldn’t work while immigration got sorted out but recently he got a job doing tiling, and they’ve been going around to Dunkin Donuts all over the northeast to update tiles for the new Dunkin branding. He skated in Colombia and still skates in MA.

He thought he was going to have to miss this Thanksgiving (his second ever) because he had to work to finish a Dunkin in Maine, but fortunately his boss’s brother, who lived in the area, showed up to help finish the job early so they could all get home for the holiday. Imagine his surprise when his boss’s brother shows up and it’s *Brandon Westgate* ready to tile a Dunkin and save the day.

Gave him a pair of shoes too. Good stuff Brandon.

Westgate wins this thread.

[THE WILD]

If SOTY  was still a legit thing, personnality and human values should count during riders poll . Brandon should be noticed for this and this is not the first time we hear such stories about him .

[prettymatty]

both times i've met pros it was my band playing shows in NYC or brooklyn. We played with Cher Strauberry's band at Brooklyn made, they were raiding the green room after the show. Last year we played a show with drug church and T funk was stage diving.

[Sangriawaterfall]

Gonna buy Brandon’s shoe for that

[Sandwich Marty]

Westgate is the real bluecollar skater. Joslin could never.

[rikki]

I'm willing to tile anything for free for the ability to ollie like Westgate.

[Paul Cicero]

My friend Alex moved to the US from Colombia with his wife to raise their son in her home state of MA. For a while he couldn’t work while immigration got sorted out but recently he got a job doing tiling, and they’ve been going around to Dunkin Donuts all over the northeast to update tiles for the new Dunkin branding. He skated in Colombia and still skates in MA.

He thought he was going to have to miss this Thanksgiving (his second ever) because he had to work to finish a Dunkin in Maine, but fortunately his boss’s brother, who lived in the area, showed up to help finish the job early so they could all get home for the holiday. Imagine his surprise when his boss’s brother shows up and it’s *Brandon Westgate* ready to tile a Dunkin and save the day.

Gave him a pair of shoes too. Good stuff Brandon.

What a fucking G

[gathernogloss]

my mom wont let it go that she met andrew reynolds when he came to town for a birdhouse demo and that she acted as some sort of a mother figure while he was young and on the road

[Cheshire Cat]

my mom wont let it go that she met andrew reynolds when he came to town for a birdhouse demo and that she acted as some sort of a mother figure while he was young and on the road

Mom sounds cool and shouldn't let that go.

[steve]

I did some weight loss and skateboarding stuff on instagram and John Worthington followed me and I was super stoked. He ended up hitting me up a few weeks later to come skate my local skatepark with me randomly and it was just him and his lady and me and my wife. Coolest dude ever, never would expect a pro to hit me up to skate let alone get to smoke a doob and hang out all day. Funny enough hardly anyone showed up that day to skate other then the normal 2 locals that go. I remember telling him that i kind of thought people just wanted to watch me eat shit and he straight up said nah man im just stoked to see you skateboarding. Coolest reminder that we are all just dudes stoked on skateboarding. This was my first time im pretty sure ive seen a actual pro skateboarder skate in person to and that was pretty fuckin cool

John and his lady are really nice people to be around at a skatepark. He hoots/gives board taps for anyone skating, regardless of ability, while also busting monster airs on things that shouldn't give that much boost. Dude's an A+ cat in my book.

Same with Westgate. Dude's been a polite, respectful, and friendly dude to skate around since he was a little kid.

stoked to read about these two dudes right in a row

[OctopusJack]

Its kinda funny the older you get the less you care about your encounters with pros because they're younger than you and you didn't really look up to them. I feel no nerves around them now mostly and just see if they need help looking for local spots or need a clip filmed when they come to town. If they're gonna be pompous dickheads then I'm not wasting my time with them. What's worse is when some of the filmers have egos just as big as the skaters they film

[Hqjdncm]

My friend Alex moved to the US from Colombia with his wife to raise their son in her home state of MA. For a while he couldn’t work while immigration got sorted out but recently he got a job doing tiling, and they’ve been going around to Dunkin Donuts all over the northeast to update tiles for the new Dunkin branding. He skated in Colombia and still skates in MA.

He thought he was going to have to miss this Thanksgiving (his second ever) because he had to work to finish a Dunkin in Maine, but fortunately his boss’s brother, who lived in the area, showed up to help finish the job early so they could all get home for the holiday. Imagine his surprise when his boss’s brother shows up and it’s *Brandon Westgate* ready to tile a Dunkin and save the day.

Gave him a pair of shoes too. Good stuff Brandon.

This one’s sick. Hell yea

[oh]

Met the Hoddle boys last night at the 10 Year Anniversary art show/Ralph surprise pro party. They were all real chill and down to take photos for my zine. I definitely appreciate how they were not intimidating and easy to talk to. Digby Luxton was the best - real nice and down to talk shit. Even if most of them live in the same city as me (and even skate the same spots), it still feels kinda surreal sometimes. Definitely support the brand even more now

[Spacecase]

Ive ran into Chris Haslam a few times in the Vancouver area, super chill guy and was one of my favourite pros growing up so always cool to see him in the wild.

[easymoneysniper]

Just saw joe campos at my local target. Dawg is tiny. Bigger balls than I tho, respect

[oh]

Went to the New Balance demo, and the signing beforehand. Never been to a signing before in my life, and it really made my day (if not, entire year). Been going through some crazy life shit recently, and I definitely appreciate all the pros for taking the time to sign my stuff, talk about skating etc. I’m not huge into asking for photos, and it definitely feels strange (at least for me) to ask for one, but Reynolds definitely knows how to make people feel comfortable. All the things people say about Reynolds on here is true: real chill guy, and obviously accustomed to being in the spotlight. To my surprise, Foy was hilarious, and the dude was cracking jokes with everybody.

The cliché is that the big pros usually know how to deal with crazy fans better, but to be honest, they all were super nice. Liv Lovelace saw I was holding an old issue of Slam magazine and asked me if she could take a photo of it. I skated to the signing, and Aimu and the other dudes thought it was crazy that my trucks were cracked.

The demo was sick, but thing I remember the most is Reynolds sitting in the middle of the park eating an ice cream lol. It just seemed so random to see him surrounded by cameramen and skaters (many still skating), but just zoning out and enjoying an ice cream.

[THE WILD]

Met Reynolds 1998 with Warner crew ( Blitz distribution before Baker ) , was already super nice , even though was partying and abusing of some stuff. Really cool person already and super talented.

Stayed with Vincent Milou at Adidas demo, was humble and smart with families ,  last one to leave the place with pictures and sgnings. Was also DEMO killer .

Was not willing to join Biebel at Diamond footwear demo a while back ,  Foy was killing and lauching jokes.

Marcus mc bride left really good impression in the past , alongside Daewon , Jb, Enrique Lorenzo

Reese Forbes and Kenny Hugues, pure dudes.

Tony Hawk , 99 , gentle and signing

[noxiousPond]

Went to the New Balance demo, and the signing beforehand. Never been to a signing before in my life, and it really made my day (if not, entire year). Been going through some crazy life shit recently, and I definitely appreciate all the pros for taking the time to sign my stuff, talk about skating etc. I’m not huge into asking for photos, and it definitely feels strange (at least for me) to ask for one, but Reynolds definitely knows how to make people feel comfortable. All the things people say about Reynolds on here is true: real chill guy, and obviously accustomed to being in the spotlight. To my surprise, Foy was hilarious, and the dude was cracking jokes with everybody.

The cliché is that the big pros usually know how to deal with crazy fans better, but to be honest, they all were super nice. Liv Lovelace saw I was holding an old issue of Slam magazine and asked me if she could take a photo of it. I skated to the signing, and Aimu and the other dudes thought it was crazy that my trucks were cracked.

The demo was sick, but thing I remember the most is Reynolds sitting in the middle of the park eating an ice cream lol. It just seemed so random to see him surrounded by cameramen and skaters (many still skating), but just zoning out and enjoying an ice cream.

This sounds sick. Would love to meet Reynolds and personally for me Franky. Where was it? I don’t have social media anymore so I’m missing out on stuff like this.

[oh]

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[close]

This sounds sick. Would love to meet Reynolds and personally for me Franky. Where was it? I don’t have social media anymore so I’m missing out on stuff like this.

This was in Melbourne. The signing was at one of the Fast Times stores, (Australian Zumiez - literally the same parent company), while the demo was just down the road at Riverslide skatepark. Honestly, where you live is the biggest factor to being able to attend these events. I used to live in rural South Australia (essentially Iowa or Wyoming tbh), and then lived in China for a long ass time, so of course, no demos or signings. Back when I lived in South Australia, there’d always be quote-on-quote “Australian Tours” from bands etc, but they’d only go to Sydney and Melbourne lol. I imagine the opportunity to go to events in the U.S or other countries also greatly depends on city, like LA or SF, for example.

I get you on the no social media front. I’d like to not have it, as I catch myself doom scrolling on occasion, but following pretty much any skate brands that you like does have its perks. Namely, it’s easy to find out events, and drops. Following local shops is also helpful. I don’t follow Carhartt, for example, but following local skate shops let me know that this month there will be a Carhartt skate vid premiere, and next month an Independent skate demo.

Franky is sick – always gets me that he skates for Primitive tho

[noxiousPond]

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[close]

This sounds sick. Would love to meet Reynolds and personally for me Franky. Where was it? I don’t have social media anymore so I’m missing out on stuff like this.

[close]

This was in Melbourne. The signing was at one of the Fast Times stores, (Australian Zumiez - literally the same parent company), while the demo was just down the road at Riverslide skatepark. Honestly, where you live is the biggest factor to being able to attend these events. I used to live in rural South Australia (essentially Iowa or Wyoming tbh), and then lived in China for a long ass time, so of course, no demos or signings. Back when I lived in South Australia, there’d always be quote-on-quote “Australian Tours” from bands etc, but they’d only go to Sydney and Melbourne lol. I imagine the opportunity to go to events in the U.S or other countries also greatly depends on city, like LA or SF, for example.

I get you on the no social media front. I’d like to not have it, as I catch myself doom scrolling on occasion, but following pretty much any skate brands that you like does have its perks. Namely, it’s easy to find out events, and drops. Following local shops is also helpful. I don’t follow Carhartt, for example, but following local skate shops let me know that this month there will be a Carhartt skate vid premiere, and next month an Independent skate demo.

Franky is sick – always gets me that he skates for Primitive tho

Yea i can imagine. I live sorta close to philly so every so often there will be an event I could go to. There actually was a full team NB event last year in philly but I had to work. I may get another ig just for skating but I’m hesitant.

[Lou Strux]

…I may get another ig just for skating but I’m hesitant.

Nah, baby; you good w/o that noise.
You ain’t missing shit but promotional materials.
Actual skating is happening out THERE, not in our phones.

[easymoneysniper]

Cruise mosberg sold some clothes at the crossroads on echo park ave yesterday

[cum]

saw Ave recently skating with an Indy Cross shirt on.
I was all "ungh!" and threw my Ave Pro 2.0's in the trash

[Cheshire Cat]

Met Reynolds 1998 with Warner crew ( Blitz distribution before Baker ) , was already super nice , even though was partying and abusing of some stuff. Really cool person already and super talented.

Stayed with Vincent Milou at Adidas demo, was humble and smart with families ,  last one to leave the place with pictures and sgnings. Was also DEMO killer .

Was not willing to join Biebel at Diamond footwear demo a while back ,  Foy was killing and lauching jokes.

Marcus mc bride left really good impression in the past , alongside Daewon , Jb, Enrique Lorenzo

Reese Forbes and Kenny Hugues, pure dudes.

Tony Hawk , 99 , gentle and signing

Very glad to hear this. Where / when did you meet him?

[FulfilTheDream]

went to ASR in san diego in 2005 (?) or so. saw danny fuenzalida and some satori team riders in our hotel. bought a gram of weed from him and walked around outside and smoke a joint with them. was probably the coolest thing ever being 14 or 15.

[GaryDahLegend]

Last time I saw Kechaud I shouted "SAW THAT AD IN THRASHER!" across the park and he smiled rrl big and threw his hands up. Well, I saw him another time later but he was giving lessons to some tiny kids and I didn't want to throw of the vibe with my intense and sweaty demeanor.