Farewell Chris Renz... Skate In Peace

RENZ'S RIOT Race -  Eulogy to Chris Renz....15th February 2015.

One thing that struck me about last Sundays Tribute race to the life of Chris Renz is that it did not seem like a gathering of Longboarders…no, it seemed like a gathering of family members. Enormous respect people.

I would like to pay my respects to the original owners of this hill, Rob and Maga McWhinnie and Mitch Thompson.

Every tribe has it’s elders and our tribe is no different. I've taken it upon myself as one of the elders to deliver a eulogy to celebrate the life of Chris Renz. We've come from many parts and gathered to race in memory of, and pay homage to a young guy who was a part of our tribe and who has left us so tragically….he has left a hole in the hearts of all of us.

Chris Renz would, under normal circumstances, have been here. But as we know, last Monday, circumstances conspired to change the course of his life and the lives of all who knew and loved him.

The shock of that tragic skateboard run is still being felt all over the world.

It would seem, that everyone in the Longboarding community feels like they have lost a valuable member of their family.

Words don’t help. There are no words that can offer solace or comfort. But it also does no good not to talk about it…. It also does no good not to talk about the cool and whacky shit that Chris did for this is a part of the grieving process.

It is true though that while we mourn a death, we must also fittingly celebrate a life, a life well lived and it would be totally disrespectful not to shine a little light on the life of Chris Renz.

We all have our own memories and stories of our time with Chris, but you cannot argue that this blonde, laid back, curly - mop haired German guy was someone we all called our friend.

Chris left Germany a handful of few years ago and was travelling the world with a backpack. He spent time in Morocco, Peru, Sri Lanka, Spain, France, Bali and then came to our doorstep. He had skateboarded in Germany back in the day and upon finding himself marooned with his shitty van, which by some strange coincidence, he managed to limp and park at the back of a skateshop. He quickly got himself the gear to get skating and did so whenever he could.

My first meeting with Chris was a couple of years ago, and as luck would have it, it was at Robbo’s skateshop. He had the aforementioned sketchy old van that was out of rego sitting down the back and he was looking for a job. He was a fitter and turner in the metal trade, and Robbo, being Robbo made some inquiries and hooked him up with a job locally. So Chris was employed locally making custom metal fittings for lights.

He loved Australia, he loved the beer, he loved the birds, the surf and the skating and settled really well into life at Manly. The beach culture suited him, the surf was at his doorstep and it was only a short ferry ride on Thursday nights to meet the crew at Central for the ritual that is the Sydney City Bomb Squad.

Chris loved coming to Bomb Squad, his mates were there.

If you have never been to BombSquad, please indulge me if you will. On our Bomb Squad  nights we would push from Maritime Museum to the Pyrmont water hole and often I’d be beside Chris as we pushed down Harris Street. We’d have a little chinwag along the way…talk a little shit, how was your day, you been OK, how’s work…that type of thing – a bit of, how is your daughter…Fuck Off Chris. We were doing just that one evening, just a bit behind the main grommy BombSquad pack and someone across the road yelled out “Hey, look at the old cunt on the skateboard!”. I said to Chris “Did you hear what he called you?” Chris replied “What an arsehole, let’s go get him….he can’t call me that”. He had my back….we laughed and we rode on.

I had only been at BombSquad for a short while and had not done many hits of the Opera House. Chris and I got separated from the pack. They were skating a carpark next to the Police and Justice Museum near the Quay and Chris said “Lets go to the Opera House”, “Cmon Bruiser, I know the way”. The observed process for the SCBS is to walk in through the carpark exit for about 150m then there is a doorway and a tunnel you need to walk through that leads to the down ramp. Well firstly we didn’t walk it, we skated down the ramp and nearly got collected by some dickhead in a BMW. We didn’t go through the aforementioned door, we went past it, but he knows the way, so we are all good. We then hit the beginning of the carpark and push like crazy to get some speed up. Chris in front and me right behind, both of us in tuck. The first thing that was odd was the direction of the arrows on the concrete floor of the carpark we were bombing. The arrows were facing the opposite direction to the way we were skating….a few seconds later the next thing that was wrong revealed itself. There were headlights coming towards us……Fuck, instead of going down the down ramp we were going down the up ramp….let me tell you something for free, adrenalin is brown…I know. Good job Chris knew where he was going. He gave a wry grin afterwards and said with a half smile “Shit, I fukt that up”…..

Chris had many mates from within the ‘Brotherhood’ of the Longboarding community and they were regularly heading out in search of hills to hone their skills. These mates now have a hole in their hearts that has been left open by a tragic turn of events…that hole will never heal, but it will, over time, get easier. In light of this it is incumbent for us all to close ranks and be there for those who have been rocked by this tragedy. This shit does rock you, make no mistake and one thing we do in our tribe is that we look after our own. You may not want to hear this but I need to say it. If you are having any difficulty dealing with this then for Christ’s sake “Soften the Fuck Up” and talk about it. There is no indignity in admitting that this is hard to handle. If necessary, Lifeline is only a phone call away.

Chris will be going back to his home town, Geislinger, in Germany. He won’t be going home the way that he had intended which is quite surreal and still unbelievable and it is with a very heavy heart that I am forced to face the reality that I won’t be seeing my little brother from another mother again.

Life is so fragile, we do need to acknowledge that but I charge you all with the responsibility, therefore, of keeping it safe. Do this for your parents…no parent should bury their child. I also charge the O.G’s, the elders in the tribe, to pass on the learning of our skate ancestors, to pass on the stories and to pass on the responsible and good habits to the young guns. Young guns….listen to the elders…that is not a guideline; that is a rule. You hear me now, that is not a suggestion, it is a RULE. Listen to and learn from your elders.

A minute’s silence or a minute’s rowdiness would normally be OK but what better way to celebrate a life than to have the community gather at an annual tribute race in honour of Chris Renz. To the organisers I tip my hat on a remarkable and touching show of support for a young man who has left us all too soon.

The brotherly love that you Skateboarders have so genuinely and unconditionally given has pulled the community together to try and heal. This tribute race and the outpouring from our community will surely be something Chris’s family in Germany will be able to reflect upon. Perhaps at a later time, when their grief has waned, they will appreciate that the love they had for their Chris was shared.

Dudes..riders, friend, members of my tribe…I wish wholeheartedly that your grief is short and your memory long…

Chris Renz, may you light up a fat one and may you forever Skate in Peace….

http://www.wheelbasemag.com/downhill-skater-dies-collision-truck-australia/

http://www.schwarzwaelder-bote.de/inhalt.geislingen-christopher-renz-stirbt-bei-unfall-in-australien.8e2f42c3-0bf5-4e62-a474-13da35ddd6f7.html#

Statuesque....

These are not my doing but are very cool...righteous and worthy...

Drop In Practice

Behold the skateboard

Perfect size to conceal the beavage

Confidence in dropping in is key

What's happening here...HopShop was dead?

For years there was the HopShop, Hopkin Skate, the skateboard shop in St Leonards that drew the skateboarding population to it like a moth to a flame. It was also the HQ of ASRA, the Australian Skateboard Racing Association.

The Hop Shop was Robbo. He was the face of the shop, the action figure behind the shop, and the 'go to' guy at the shop. He was there every day, every weekend and was behind the success of the retail premises I considered my second home...much to my wife's chagrin.

In August 2013, Hop released a post titled "HopShop is dead, long live Hopkin...and Basement Skate. The idea, I though was that he was going to write blogs so that he could stay connected. His idea was to shut the skateboard shop and abandon it.... Robbo wanted some of the action so negotiated his way into it and sunk his life savings into a revival and a rebrand into Basement Skate. I thought that after all that Robbo had done for James Hopkin, there would be payback.

I found it odd that the Hopkin Skate website was still up and thought that it must really have confused the punters...Hopshop is dead but the website is still alive....what was going on? This must have played havoc with the Basement Skate launch and their subsequent sales.

Over the past few weeks I have noticed that James has become more active promoting himself and his business. His blog and newsletter are being pushed , his Twitter feed is active and he is promoting products. What the...he's now offering product by comparing Surfstitch, Box 13, Concrete Lines and Basement Skate. What is this about? 

Why is James not single handedly promoting Basement Skate? That is what I thought he would do.

Socrates said "The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be."

Everyone, this is Lacey

I was very fortunate to have been given the Sector 9 Lacey by that young upstart Jackson Shapeira for services to the Wild West race near Hartley. Heavily inspired by Benbro Hay I got my hands on a set of the cast Kahalani Trucks and a set of the Orangatang Kegels. This little baby was going to wheelbite badly so it was Riptide Bushings to the rescue. 

That Lacey is a good looking little lady that I will enjoy riding.

Basement Skate

Hop wanted out..Robbo wanted in and so it begins. Robbo finally has some skin in the industry that he loves. I hope that Hop will give Robbo a head start and not get in the way by keeping the Hopkin Skate site operational... that would be the right thing to do.

Branding - here we are

Lindsay of Cool Art Vinyl made a stencil

It worked

Visible - yep

Extra visible from the Roundabout

Love your Local Skate Shop

Australians will tell you openly that they are an exceptionally patriotic lot - oi oi oi. On Australia Day we don the clobber, drape ourselves in the Aussie flag, get out and about around the harbour and chuck the mandatory cut of lamb on the Barbie and blow the froth off a cold beer or two. On every other day it seems we are infatuated with the internet and our ability to buy cheap goods online but, as it often happens these days we are buying directly from overseas. This bypasses the Australian retailer and the Australian e-tailer. Google have a part to play but that's another story. It seems that we don't care where goods come from because we are getting something cheap and after all....it is all about us, right?

Dick Smith is abundantly aware of the fact that some of us are in flagrant disregard of local products and businesses in favour of those from overseas. He has leapt into action and and has spearheaded a campaign to buy Australian. Buying Australian means investing in Australia.

People can certainly buy cheap online but they need to be very wary. The old adage applies here that if it looks too good to be true, then it generally is. Geography is also a major problem which needs to be factored in. We are on the other side of the world and for some e-tailers we could be considered to be their lawful prey. Unscrupulous online e-tailers regularly pass off 'seconds' as the real deal; or having lesser quality components in their assembly or even omitting components. What is your comeback? Who do you complain to?

So what's up here? The situation is that the skateboard industry has had the worst Christmas period on record with little recovery evident at this stage. Sales were very low but as it appears, plenty of skateboard products were purchased....but from where? Clearly these products have been bought online and from overseas. 

In cycling, the Australian mountain biking and racing retail scene has all but collapsed as a result of the biking community failing to support their local bike shop and proceeding to buy online. In the past the retailers would organise bike racing events, set tracks, marquis, mechanical services and parts to the riders...they would sponsor these events and also inject prizemoney. As a result of the failure of riders to support the retailers there are much fewer events and there is no longer any retail support. The overseas e-tailers don't organise or sponsor events nor will they be trackside. 

The BMX industry is fighting to try and stay relevant to their community. Posts like this from RevolutionMTB are now preparing their community for what is in store.  

Online purchasing is not going to go away, in fact a Price Waterhouse Coopers (a bloody big Global Accounting Firm) aka PWC, study shows that it is set to increase. PWC also outline the factors driving this growth. 

So what to do? 

First is Awakening....wakey wakey, hands of snakey. Seriously wake the fcuk up guys. You skateboarders need to realise that without supporting your local skateboard shop there will be no retailers or skate emporiums left to hang out, buy gear, get tips, get advice on setups and see what is new. There will not be any events, prizemoney or any sponsorship opportunities. The overseas skateshops won't be putting money into our local events....it is all about simple redistribution....redistribution of your money to their account. Nothing more.

Second is Awareness...comparisons show that which is cheaper overseas is, upon closer scrutiny, not always cheaper. Let me explain. A Loaded Dervish purchased overseas made it's way with the owner to a local skateshop and the following observations were made. 

1. The bolts were the wrong size and the nuts had barely 2 revolutions onto the bolt to secure the trucks to the board. 
2. There were no bearing spacers.
3. There were no speed rings.
4. The bearings were 'no name' and of questionable quality.

So what happens if you buy a helmet, slide gloves or other apparel from their sizing chart which on arrival happens to be the wrong fit for you? What happens if you have a warranty issue, who pays the return freight? That's right - you do.

Third is Action....it is important to check prices online, who doesn't. However, if there is a minor difference in price BUY LOCALLY. You get it NOW, not in 2 weeks. You can return items easily for replacement if there is a warrranty issue or if you have made an error....trust me it is not so easy shipping overseas; once again timing is an issue. If the price locally is way higher than overseas then talk to the local skate shop to see if you are comparing the same thing, at least you will be reassured of why it is more expensive or they may cut you a deal.

In the world of skateboarding we all want to go to the shop, soak up the atmosphere, experience the products first hand and in some cases ride the shop mini ramp. If we do not continue to support the local skateboard shops they will disappear. 

To illustrate a point, I am going to screw around with a quote from my favourite movie, Cool Runnings - "If we look Australian, act Australian and skate Australian then we sure as hell better buy Australian". 

I will always support my local skateshop, because they support me.

Long time between Posts..bugger

It's been a long time between posts. Lots has happened....Newtons 2012 at Bathurst was epic and Mischo Erban won the event. I am still loving skateboarding, however, being in between jobs and having Belle's confidence destroyed because of a crash....I am not skating much. The Sultans of Steeze catch up some Sundays for a roll around the Sultans carpark for a couple of hours. The racing season is back upon us under the administration of the IDF (International Downhill Federation). Mt Keira has been cancelled due to falling rocks and works required to get it safe...Newtons is having it's last fling at Mt Panorama in 2013. There are a couple of lead up races during April..a wild west Outlaw amongst others.