Mt Keira Challenge...Wollongongs inaugaral World Cup event

After years of lobbying; development applications submitted and numerous trips to Wollongong to meet with the punters at Council; ASRA had a win. 19 April 2012 is the inaugaral Mt Keira Challenge which becomes the very first event on the calendar of the the World Cup of Downhill Racing.

It started for me when Robbo was running out of personnel who held an MR drivers licence (Rigid vehicle up to 8t). I roped myself into it and became a volunteer. Early one morning I set out with Trav and Hendo to Ingleburn to pick up an 8 tonner with gates and relocate it to Castlereagh (near Penriff). We then shuttled back to Ingleburn to pick up an 8 tonne Tautliner to go to Castlereagh. Blackwood had a group of volunteers to bag 500 hay bales. The conditions were appalling. It was pouring with rain and these guys were in a paddock doing the hard work. The trucks were loaded and I returned the next day along with a friend of Robbo's family to relocate the trucks to Mt Keira. On the hill at Mt Keira we began dropping hay bales, the idea being that we provide safety for the riders on the corners. That done we went to the Mt Keira Scout Camp which ASRA had secured for the rider accomodation.

Robbo had issues with the timing system that caused him to have to revert to going back to old school cable running through the bush. Robbo, Trav and Hendo did the business in the leech infected areas of Mt Keira's bushland. Fortunately for Trav and Robbo the leeches were attracted to hendo like moths to a flame.

The trucks were going to be used to ferry the 120 riders from the bottom of the hill; back to the top.

The primary issue for the riders was the condition of the road. It had been raining and there was not sufficient sun to get the whole track dry.

We are indebted to Rob McWhinnie for taking on the responsibility of preparing meals for the 120 odd people. What an epic job considering that he and Maga were also racing.

HopShop goes MONDO

28th January, year of our Lord 2012. The calm of the early morning was broken by the Grom push race 'Cannonball' from Lane Cove to the new HopShop. There were in excess of 120 groms all battling to make it back to the HopShop first.

Today is the grand opening of the new, bigger and better Hopkin Skate shop. They move from what was essentially a garage to much better premises which take the entire building; 4 times bigger than what they had previously. It took Robbo and his team a long time to get the whole place done and they battled with rain which made painting it a nightmare.

The idea of the push race was to allow the first girl and the first grom to be the very first people allowed into the shop and take advantage of opening specials. Jack Glenn and Brittany de Graaf were the winners and were officially the first to set foot into the new HopShop.

I had work to do with the setup of a BBQ and all of the associated stuff to compliment the opening. We had sausages and onions left over from last week and managed to get all of the Rotary stuff including the banner to make it all happen.

The grand opening was beyond successful. The groms were so happy and it was great to be there to witness the buzz.




Finishing Touches - Josh getting it done



Robbo on opening morning

Helmet wall by Josh

It was a humungus day and was a testament to the determination of Robbo and his team. The volunteers that pitched in show that there is a 'community' behind it all. I'm just happy to be a part of it. The after party raged on into the night and like all good parties, the cops arrived. The HopShop has come of age.

Hopkin Skate - it is not a skate shop, it's a community.

Hopkin Skate under the steady hand and iron will of a man who lets his actions do the talking, Dave Robertson, has helped to facilitate the growth of a movement. Together with the Executive team from ASRA they have been busy, creating widening circles like a ripple in a pond, that travel wider and wider throughout the community. These circles are not bound by international boundaries as was discovered when a family from Reunion Island dropped in, while on holidays in Australia, to see their favourite skate shop. By the way Reunion Island is a French speaking nation off the coast of Madagascar, near Mauritius


If you build it they will come...and like most businesses that begin in a garage or at home, the HopShop procured an old and nondescript factory unit in St Leonards. The HopShop is located very close to St Leonards Station making it an ideal location for their clients; it also happens to be less than 100 metres from the suburb boundary of Naremburn which in 1853 was known as Dogtown. It too, became Mecca for the skateboarders.


The interior of The HopShop wasn't real big but it seemed to transform and morph daily into a fully functioning and workable business with a welcoming charm for the groms and also for the discerning old school skater looking to get a skatey beneath his feet again. It became more like a lolly shop with an assortment of colours and products to dazzle and bewilder with the sheer variety and choice of everything from decks, trucks, bushings and wheels. The old school dads would reminisce over the older skateboards which adorned the ceiling and high up on the walls. There are skateboards from the early 60's and through every transition from Surfer Sam and Bahne Superflex through to an original and extremely rare Saurus and all of the SIMS collectables. A treasure trove and very valuable piece of skateboarding history resides within the walls of Hopkin Skate.


The Boardroom is also small yet impressively filled with all of the serious tools of the Longboard trade. Wheels, helmets, shoes, complete mini cruisers and complete longboards adorned the slatwall structure that Dave and his team managed to fill to capacity. With the requirement for more boxes to ship boards, the structures grew, further construction of shelving above the board building area to accommodate the growing need for space and like a game of Tetris, the Hopkin Skate team made everything fit in with a minimum of fuss. It was clear though that something would have to change, to stay where they were was not an option - expansion had to happen.


An interesting fact is that in the current premises, Hopkin Skate achieved an amazing feat - voted #3 in the Concrete Wave Readers Choice awards. The accolade is well deserved.


Supplier meetings must be extremely difficult to conduct when there are a dozen groms in the shop; a shipment of boards, trucks and wheels being unpacked; and their are boards being built for shipment. Good job guys for your ability to get the job done with challenges and an ever present smile on the dial. 


Time to consider a move. Take it to the next level.

I 

What to do in Sydney - January 2012

My daughter Brittany and I were at a bit of a loose end in early January. Brit had been back in Australia for a few short weeks and we needed to do some father daughter stuff. We grabbed our skateboards, hopped aboard a train at St Leonards and got off at Milsons Point. We climbed the stairs on the western side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and set of for a bit of a skatey run. The bridge can be a bit quick so we were just carving all of the way down to the Sydney Observatory. A quick photo moment and we moved on to the Rocks.



 Down through the Rocks and up through the passenger terminal to Circular Quay and off to a 7/11 for a slushee. Brain freeze, refreshment and sugar and we set off up through Martin Place and up to Macquarie Street. We rode Macquarie Street and past the Hyde Park Barracks and on to Art Gallery Road. We stopped in at the Art Gallery for a quick look at the Picasso stuff and a bit of 'culcher'.

Where in the world could this rider come from?

After a banquet of cultural delights we rode down Art Gallery Road to Mrs Macquarie's Chair to enjoy the magnificence of the vista....simply splendid.
We skated around the Botanic Gardens to the opra House and enjoyed some more scenery.

Near some bridge

The simple things in life are often the best.