Liquid Force Trip Across America rolls into Portland

Summertime. Portland, Oregon. With the Pro Wakeboard Tour in town for the
weekend, the Liquid Force crew arrived in their "Trip Across America"
recreational vehicle to bring free wakeboarding and plenty of stoke to the
Portland riding masses.

It works like this: Liquid Force and a host of sponsors stock a pimp RV full of
LF wakeboard gear and swag, plaster sponsor stickers all over it, and a hitch up
a shiny new Super Air Nautique. They then fill the RV with members of their pro
team and drive all over creation for the summer - tracing a route that vaguely
follows the Pro tour and other major competitions. At each stop along the way,
they unload the boat, fill up the ballast, and give free rides to anyone who
shows up. That simple.

Active Water Sports (Beaverton, OR; www.awsonline.com) and the Willamette River
played host to the Trip Across America crew. The crew on this day included Don
Wallace (LF Marketing Manager), Myles Vickers, Jim Leatherman and Thomas
Horrell, all LF pro riders. They spent the day on the relatively flat waters of
the Willamette, giving Portland riders a chance to attack the enormous wake
thrown by the Super Air Nautique.

They let anyone ride, even me. After ducking out of work early to meet the LF
crew, this "journalist" cinched on a pair of board shorts, grabbed his camera
and found a place in the boat for the last ride of the day. In the late
afternoon sun, the water began to smooth off and the pros decided it was their
turn to get behind the boat. This time, the wakeskate was the toy of choice.
As several of us wanna-be's snapped pictures and captured video, Myles and Jim
went wake-to-wake and pulled off plenty of ollie and surface tricks. Then Mr.
Horrell showed us why he is making waves in the wakeskate world - pulling off
big wake-to-wake 180s, a 3 or two and a few ollie kick flips. Very impressive.
Its hard enough pulling these tricks when your feet are firmly secured to the
board.

It's an interesting thing, this wakeskating. On a wakeboard, the wake helps us
go big, get upside down and grab everywhere we can. On a wakeskate, the wake
becomes a curb. The wakeskater uses the "curb" to ollie off of, grind (butter
slide), etc. - not big air, but very technical and difficult. Its a much less
intense sport, but exciting for sure. And its just getting started. I'm sure
that Thomas, Byerly and others are going to show us some pretty incredible
things on a wakeskate in the near future. But I digress....

Once the pros made us look stupid on their wakeskate, we amateurs got our chance
to ride. After snapping shots of some sick moves pulled off by a few local
riders, it was my turn to shove feet into bindings and get my ride on. The
Super Air Nautique threw a wake that caught me totally off guard - steep as hell
and above my knee (and I'm not short). After a couple hesitant pulls into the
wake, I got used to its oil-tanker size and was able to have some good fun.
After riding behind that boat, I came to understand why some people drop 40
Grand on a brand new wakeboard boat - the wake it throws is just far too much
fun.

After a couple hours of great riding, it was time to head back to the dock. All
in all, a great session. Flat water, killer boat and some unreal riding - what
more can you ask for?

Big giant thanks to Don Wallace, Thomas, Jim and Myles for bringing the Trip
Across America to Portland and giving local riders a chance to enjoy a session
with the pros. Its good to see that these board companies and their team riders
still understand what wakeboarding is all about: the enjoyment of sunshine,
scenic waterways, good friends and great riding.

The Liquid Force Trip Across America will be touring through the rest of summer
2001.

Check www.liquidforce.com for their schedule.