Leo Valls on skitching
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Leo Valls ph. by Manuel Shenck.
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Leo Valls on skitching
Featured image Yoan Taillandier skitching by Romain Cailleaud
Whilst doing some research for this post we came across an article that Leo had written for the Magenta site, so we hit him up to answer a few questions about one of his favourite skateboarding pastimes.
What or who inspired you to try skitching?
It was really the Traffic ‘Via’ video that came out in 2006. I remember tripping out on how sick Ricky Oyola, Rich Adler, Mark Wetzel and their crew looked while getting so much speed skitching cars in Philadelphia.
What type of vehicles are the best?
You can really skitch anything, from a cute bike girl, to a sports car or a tourist bus. It really depends on who the driver of that vehicle is. It’s interesting to see different reactions from different people. Some of them get really upset and brake straight away, some of them are very confused and try to act like they don’t see you, some of them will give you the thumbs up and take you for a ride…
My friend Mike tried to skitch an old Peugeot or something; his hand got stuck in the wheel fender while the driver started to gain speed.
What’s the sketchiest experience you’ve had sketching?
One day I was with my friend Mike and he tried to skitch an old Peugeot or something; his hand got stuck in the wheel fender while the driver started to gain speed. It was pretty scary…
Best city for skitching?
San Francisco is great for skitching cars uphill! Tokyo is the worst though, the Japanese almost always brake when they see you holding on to their vehicle…
Any tips?
Just always skitch with the vehicle in front of you. You have more control on pushing yourself away from the car and don’t get rolled over that way.
Anything else people should be aware of when skitching?
Avoid pulling multiple friends with your other hand unless you want to leave some skin on a wheel fender.
Who’s the skitching master?
I guess we can agree that this would be Ricky Oyola. He’s the boss of skating in traffic in general!
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