A few weeks ago we asked riders to tell us why they wear a helmet for a chance to win a free Triple Eight Brainsaver. We had a ton of great responses — 97 entries in all! — and have narrowed down the winner.

Congratulations to Dani for coming in with the winning comment! Dani, check your email inbox and get back to us with your helmet size and address!

Read Dani’s winning post below and don’t forget to follow us at www.Facebook.com/WearAHelmete4ST and take your pledge to always wear a helmet.

Dani’s Reason:
“As a 10 year old I was bombing down a hill on my bike, tried to jump a curb but nicked it instead and was launched into a rough brick wall. I was wearing my helmet and was still knocked out cold. That was the day I received my first major concussion.

Ten years later snowboarding through the trees, I hopped out onto the groomed trail, caught my toe-side edge, over-corrected, caught heel side edge and went over backwards landing on the back of my head. I was again wearing a helmet yet I again received a major concussion. I think I was knocked out and somehow “woke up” about 1/4 mile down the slopes and around a corner. I still don’t know how I got there. To make a long story shorter, I got checked out at the ER hours later and the ER doc asked me why I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I told her that I was wearing a helmet and immediately her jaw dropped. Shortly after she told me that I probably would have fractured my skull and been in much worse shape, or dead, had I not been wearing it, although I still had a severe concussion. My symptoms lasted weeks and school was more challenging than ever before. I am to this day grateful to my helmets and NEVER ride without them.

Head injuries are dangerous and life threatening. They can be a “silent killer” progressing fast and presenting like nothing more than an annoying headache until it may be too late. Each time a head is hit damage can occur whether signs and symptoms are present or not and the more times one person is hit the more severe the damage becomes. Helmets can help disperse the forces to the skull and lessen the impact of crashing potentially reducing the damage to internal structures like the brain.

I wear my helmet because it has saved my life and I will continue to wear helmets forever!”

Thanks,
Dallas

Pro Answer: Mike Hoppe
Hey Dallas, thanks for the question. There’s no specific “criteria” to being pro. The first thing you should do is check out all the team subs from last year. They’re on the team profiles here: www.freebord.com/team

While some of us are more downhill oriented and others are more freestyle oriented, notice that every member of the team is pretty well-rounded and can do both.

Couple of other things that might help you get sponsed:

Get a crew. Riding with friends is way more fun. Get some rides up the hill, film eachother, push eachother, etc.

Find good terrain. Stepping up to bigger, better hills and skate spots is crucial as you’re stepping up you riding game. Keep exploring.

Film a lot. Self-made videos are how every pro first got on the map, so make an effort to improve your filming techniques and editing skills so you can showcase your riding well.

Baby steps. Don’t be stupid. Stay within your limits and live to ride another day. Don’t step to that 10 stair if you can’t do 5, and definitely do not be unsafe on big hills if you’re feeling sketchy. And of course, wear your helmet, every time, no excuses.

Submit early. Even if you don’t feel your riding is at team-status yet, it never hurts to submit for the team at the end of each year. This will get you on Freebord’s radar and the team manager may give you some specific feedback on areas that need improvement.

At the end of the day, I wouldn’t worry too much about “practicing” this stuff. Just ride a lot and have fun doing it and the progression will come. The best reward you’ll ever get out of your bord is the pure thrill of riding it down your favorite hill. That’s still true for me, and it’s something we all share in common, pro or not.

-M

Ryan’s Comment: “I mustache you a question… have you seen my beachball? it’s about this big…”

Finally Erie, PA, will be known for carrying the coolest skateboard around — as opposed to its former claim to fame as the setting of Tom Hank’s “That Thing You Do.” We hope Tom is not upset with us.

Go check out their store or check them out online:
www.elementsboardshop.com

It’s against the rules for a company like ours to enter this contest, but that doesn’t mean you can’t! Check out the submission idea at 0:43 on this video… could you imagine shutting down Lombard Street for a massive Freebord throw down!?

As a Freeborder, what would you do if you could dip into the deep pockets of Red Bull and create anything you wanted?

Pro Answer: Daniel Vega
Yo Bernie!

I think I can help you out, dude. The first step to getting a 360 slide down is understanding your edges and what they do. For example, when you’re on your heels with weight your front foot, you slide frontside into switch. Since you’ve been riding for two years, you most likely have a good grasp on this concept already so im not going to dwell on it.

The spin you referenced in Virginifornia is a backside 360, the first spin I learned, so I’m going to focus on that one. Anything in {brackets} is for the frontside 360.

Step 1: On your toeside {heelside} edge, subtly shift your weight to your front foot. This will cause you and your board drift backside {frontside}.

Step 2: At this point, you are about to finish the first 180 (you’re halfway there!). once you get to about 170°, roll your weight over to the back foot on your heelside {toesdie} (technically since you’re in switch at this point, it’s your front foot). This will cause you to drift on your heels {toes} right back into regular.

STEP 3: Practice, challenge yourself by doing it at higher speeds not too far outside of your comfort zone. Throw an overslide into it or out of it. Add some style. Sprinkle bacon and milk duds all over that shit. whatever. Make it your own, and wear a helmet.

TIPS:
- The less pressure you apply on your edges, the more you’ll maintain your speed – at first it will probably look like a 180-180 but if you practice your timing it will turn into a seamless 360.

- Once you initiate the spin, turn your head in the direction of your spin. Always look where you’re going. Your legs follow your torso which follows your shoulders which follows your head. Buttery Ass Donovan can drop some more knowledge on ya http://vimeo.com/2843605 – commit. Don’t hesitate.

And Regardng the cops:
Yeh. What we do is technically illegal (depending on how much of a killjoy the officer is). We try our hardest to be polite and respectful of traffic and residents where we ride so that we don’t jeopardize the possibility of ever going back. But there’s always the anal old man that takes pictures of us skating, and the car and its plates, thinking the people in the forensics lab will deem it priority number one first thing in the morning; or the woman that grabs her kids and clinches them tight as we come riding by, all too aware of our cruel intentions; or you or one of your buddies has a close call with a moving car. These are the signs I usually see but any significant hint or gesture that youre not welcome you should probably
move on to the next spot cause chances are they’re callin 5-0. I’ve gotten a couple of tickets for ‘Playing on a roadway’. Guilty as charged. But more often than not they just tell you to get the hell out of there.

I hope I was able to help, Bernie! Keep the shred alive.

Cheers,
Vega

Do you have a trick tip or riding question for our Freebord Pros? Hit us up at info@freebord.com and include “Ask a Freebord Pro” in your subject line.

THX! from Monterrey, Mexico

Pro Answer: Corey Lucero
I’m guessing you use the second setup (da blues, 72mm centers, bamboo) for faster downhill, and will base my tips on that.

The first thing that comes to mind from the description of your issue would be how tight or loose are your trucks? If your trucks are too loose, edge transfer could be aggressive because you are able to lean further over your edge before you get a response from it, and end up distributing too much weight over the edge when it does respond. This can cause the trucks to be in a position for a very sharp turn, very quickly, and throw you off if you aren’t expecting it. If this is the case, try tightening your trucks to various tensions and then go ride to see if it has made a difference, tighten/loosen as necessary.

If you feel that you are comfortable with your truck tension, then also look into the condition of your bearings. If your bearings don’t spin well, this could also be the cause of your issue. When the edge wheels with rusty/dirty bearings hit the pavement the friction could be enough to exaggerate a turn, and throw you off a bit, although I don’t think this would be as big of an issue as truck tension. I would recommend cleaning the bearings in this case, there are many tutorials on youtube of how to do this…here is my cousin explaining one way to do it with Acetone: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9kr7klUON8

Lastly, since you have experience skating and wakeboarding, I won’t go into super detail about weighting yourself on the Freebord, but in my opinion it helps to keep my back leg bent, and my front leg straighter (but still slightly bent) when going fast. So you don’t want to be leaning back over the rear truck, but just centering more weight over the rear truck in general.

Well hey man I hope this helps, props to you for learning to Freebord on your own!! I know what its like eating pavement so let me know if you need more pointers or anything to be clarified.

SHRED ON!

-Corey Lucero

Do you have a trick tip or riding question for our Freebord Pros? Hit us up at info@freebord.com and include “Ask a Freebord Pro” in your subject line.

You may also remember a previous article written about Murgo’s 2011 summer trip to San Francisco to ride with the Pro Team. Keep the hits coming, Murgo!

Click here to read the full story.

Check out the full recap (including a video) of the event here and check out the winner’s podium pics below.

Mens Podium: 2nd- Scott Hopper, 1st- Matt Behre, 3rd- Richie Verost.

Womens podium: 1st- Lauren Longfeild. 3rd- Gina Perrell, 2nd- Alexa Cerra