Kozakov Photo Evidence.

I finally managed to get some photos of me at Kozakov. I decided to post them to show that I did skate.

Photo by: Will Stephenson 

Photo by: Liz Kinnish

Photo by: Dave Kessler

Photo by: Dave Kessler

Photo by: Dave Kessler

Kozakov Day 3: Qualies.

So guess what?! The weather this morning was pretty shocking. Story of the Koz life! They put off skating for quite a while, but some time in the afternoon they figured it was good a time as any to hurtle down the hill in the fog and wet. By this stage I was completely not amped to skate anymore, and the thought of having everything sopping just didn't float my boat. The course was shortened though, to compensate for the rain, but the skaters still went all out regardless. A lot of the riders decided that taping themselves up in black bags would be a good way to stop them getting wet. Doing this apparently improves your tuck and adds a couple of ks onto your speed... but that's all theory anyways.  

Bad Rain Wheel.

Good Rain Wheel.

The Fog.

Saffa riders water-proofing.

Aweh!

Greener Pastures.

The Mud. 

Czech Countryside.

Kozakov!

Beer at the restaurant was slightly cheaper, but the place was so much warmer. 

Evening partying.

Kozakov Day 1: Let's Skate.

So last night was a storm and a half! Someone said 90km/h winds?? Well my cheap €30 tent stood up against the gales and the rain pretty well. When I woke up I found that not many others could say the same. Due to the previous nights rain the initial 9.00 a.m. practice riding didn't really start on time. Benjamin Malherbe, Matt Arderne and I decided to take a walk down the track to see what was in store.... Needless to say my socks were rocked... The initial drop is out-of-this-world crazy, straight into a 90º right-hander which you somehow have to put breaks on for. At this stage I was kakking balls as I knew I'd done foot-braking, but this felt totally next-level, and on the wet tar too. After we got a lift back to the top we discovered that it was time to skate. 

I have never been around so many skaters at one time. And as many hardcore guys as there were here today. At least they wish you to believe they are hardcore, what with many of them sporting flashy NJK leathers, intimidation was definitely the name of the game.

In the end I skated 5 out of the 6 runs for the day. The first two runs I kept taking the left-handers too wide, and the third time I fell whilst stupidly trying to do footbreak before the last sweeping right-hander. This fall led me to shattering the knee-pad in my leathers and losing my board for about 5 minutes. That was embarrassing....

After the skating was finished the rain and fog set in, whilst everyone moved to the beer tent!

My tent. 

The beer tent at night.

The food stalls.

Playing the bench game.

Marcus Rietema giving the low-down.

Wet weather. No skate.

So I was really amped on doing a push session today. The weather in Rome had been improving over the past couple of days so I was super keen for a mission along the cycle path next to Fiume Trastevere. However, the weather had other plans. Its frustrating because it takes so long for the wetness to evaporate too. 

The distance is about 7.5 km and the quality of the cycle path looks decent enough so it should be a good skate.