Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/By jscreationzs

Skateboarding appears as fresh-faced as some young women and men riding boards to school, the market, or local skate parks. What’s surprising to some, despite its popularity and association to exercise, is skateboarding’s age! The sport has been around since the 1960s.

Skateboarding, like those who mature, gain experience, and evolve, has transformed; the moves, direction, and riders look different today as compared to skateboarding’s beginnings.

The Beginning

It’s difficult for skate historians to attribute one event, invention, or person to the beginning of skateboarding; it seems multiple stories place the advent of skating around the same time. At some point, surfers, looking to replicate the experience on land (especially when waves were minimal), fused roller skates to a flat board, emulating the skating experience but with two (free) feet on one board.

Like surfing, the ‘new’ way of riding was considered alternative and ridiculous by most, yet a select few, enjoying the sensation of paving streets in style and speed, continued the practice. Despite athleticism of riders, the clay wheels, getting caught in cracks and sidewalks, often pitched riders off boards.

If smooth riding was an end goal, improvement was needed.

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Bicycles are the center of focus for countless professional athletes, from clean-shaven Tour de France cyclists, to explosively aesthetic BMX riders.

Almost every kid in America had a chance to shred around on a BMX bike when growing up. Some picked up the desire and ability to perform tricks, while the majority simply connected with the machine as a means of transportation. Either way, few, if any, will debate the fact that those who make it to the professional circuit are individuals with an incredibly extensive set of skills and enviable lack of fear.

Canadian Drew Bezanson caught the bug early in middle school after visiting a local skate park, and his progression since then has been nothing short of amazing. 2010 Transworld BMX NORA Cup for Ramp Rider of the year, Toronto BMX Jam, the JoMoPro, plus a couple of Simple Session wins and notable X Games and Dew Tour performances.

I had the pleasure of seeing Drew compete at this year’s Dew Tour in San Francisco, where he not only tore it up for a sixth place finish in dirt, but fell just outside the podium with a fourth place in streetstyle. The dude is a beast on a bike, plain and simple.

You can watch countless videos of BMX riders pulling out all the stops to land technically ferocious tricks, but it really is a spectacular thing to witness in person. The cliché praises spoken from long-haired, ex-pro announcers can be a bit corny at times, but the physicality and skill shown in competitive BMX truly is some insane shit – it’s undeniable.

Taking this into account, it was great to speak with Drew on what it’s like to actually be one of the select few that can say they are a pro BMX rider, and all the shenanigans that go along with it.

Did your traumatic head injury in 2011 effect the way you have competed since then, and are there certain things you avoid entirely when riding?

At first, it was definitely scary, but when you have that much time off the bike and can assess everything… I could get hurt doing anything. BMX is what I love to do. But I am a little safer now by always wearing a helmet and mouth guard.

Such a small group of people actually break through and become a professional athlete. Does this ever lose its luster or are you super motivated most the time?

It’s definitely an emotional roller coaster, and it is the way I pay my bills, but what I liked about BMX when I started was that I could do it whenever, wherever and however. If I didn’t want to ride my bike, I didn’t have to, but now there are some times where you’re sore and beat up and would love to take a day off, but you have to ride. So it’s up and down. You do get burned out a little bit, but I still love it.

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The underside of a very large rock would be the assumed living place of someone not familiar with the name Bucky Lasek. As far as action sports go, his notoriety has reached mammoth proportions, spreading out year after year thanks to consistent success in competitive skateboarding, car racing and an ability to foster a hearty presence in popular culture due to his affable personality.

What is that, you say? I’m missing one of his most crucial qualifications? Yeah, I guess I should respect the fact that he had one of the best characters in “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.”

Dew Tour 2013

Last weekend, the Dew Tour kicked off another year with a more streamlined contest schedule — Beach Championships in Ocean City, MD, June 20-23; City Championships in San Francisco, CA, October 10-13; Mountain Championships in Breckenridge, CO, December 12-15 — less events, yet each one bigger and better than ever before possible. The competition in Ocean City was steep, yet Bucky ripped it up and showed his native state fans one hell of a time.

In the Skate Vert semis on Thursday, he went on to finish just behind Pierre-Luc Gagnon for second place, staking a claim right off the bat that X Games gold wasn’t enough to satisfy his 2013 craving for victory. The following day, he was able to stand atop the number one spot and take first in the skate bowl semi-final.

The Skate Vert finals saw Bucky continue to pour on the goods, snatching up the victory from Gagnon and reinforcing his reputation as a continued, proven success in the Dew Tour. The final day in Ocean City included two final rounds in the Skate Bowl. After exciting runs from each competitor, the degree of talent was made apparent as Bucky was forced to take the second spot to winner Pedro Barros.

Gold in X Games Munich

Keeping up his already searing momentum for 2013, Bucky clinched overall victory during the Skateboard Vert in yesterday’s X Games after rocketing to the top following some less than favorable first few rounds. He was able to overtake Gagnon and a whole other slew of young and veteran riders by implementing some more risky maneuvers into his final run.

Age? What is this age you speak of?

When you brush over this guy’s accolades, it’s almost shocking to remember that he is 40 years old. Not 40 years old and running a monthly 10K, but 40 years old and crushing dudes half his age in an extreme sport that requires incredible talent and ruthless guts. It’s almost the norm to associate such longevity with a decline, regardless of how steep the pitch, but glossing over the aforementioned results, coupled with his gold in this year’s X Games, really makes associating Bucky with any sort of downturn a nonsensical notion.

How does skating stack up to car racing? What was it like playing as himself for the first time in the video game “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater”? Get inside the mind of a ridiculously cool dude and read on for the exclusive Bullz-Eye interview:

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Last week we were invited by Toyota to Breckenridge, Colorado to test drive their 4-wheel drive vehicles over snow and ice covered trails, and to spend some time on the slopes with US Olympic snowboarder, X-Games sliver medalist and Team Toyota competitor, Elena Hight.

Sure she was the first woman to land a 900 in competition (doing it at a ridiculously young 13 years old) and is the first snowboarder ever, male or female, to land a double backside alley-oop rodeo in Superpipe competition, but the 23-year-old is also a hottie. So besides learning how to shred the mountain, we wanted to know what it takes to date an Olympian.

Here’s what Elena had to say about being manly, whether her success intimidates guys, and the worst line she ever heard:

1. What qualities do you look for in a guy? And be specific. If you like a guy who can deal with being second place to boarding, who has enough self-confidence to be okay with that, or an Alpha guy who will take control, or a guy who will treat you like a queen, say so.

Elena Hight: I don’t necessarily have a “type” of guy that I look for. I think that the most important qualities are a good sense of humor, intelligence, a passion for life, and someone who is comfortable and confident in their own skin.

2. How important is it to you that a guy be into snowboarding or skiing? Or surfing. Or is it better that he be into something totally different that he can introduce you to? And how important is it that he be fit and active?

EH: I definitely look for a guy who is active and into sports. I love to play outdoors, so anyone who is into some type of athletic sport is good for me. They don’t necessarily have to be the best snowboarder, but they have to be able to at least hang!

3. Do you find that guys are intimidated by your success? Does it make it harder or easier to meet guys when you’re an Olympic athlete? Does the constant travel help or hurt?

EH: Traveling is great to meet new guys or people in general, however not great to keep in contact with those people. But it is really fun to be able to hang out and get to know all sorts of different guys with different backgrounds, which is nice because it’s easy to get stuck just knowing the same guys in the snowboard industry.

I am not sure that guys are necessarily intimidated by my success, but if they are, then they probably aren’t the guy for me.

4. What do you think makes a guy “manly”? Is it having no fear facing the toughest mountain runs? Knowing how to fix a car or build a deck? Protecting you from harm? Not being afraid to cry?

EH: Because I grew up in the mountains, I was constantly surrounded by manly mountain men. To me, being manly is being able to take care of others. Whether it is fixing a car or bike or snowmobile, building a fire, shoveling the driveway, or building a tent, taking charge of a situation is manly.

5. What’s the worst line any guy has ever tried to use? The absolute dumbest thing a guy ever said or did? What was your reaction?

EH: Maybe, “Can I have your phone number because I lost mine?” That is just so lame!

And what was the sweetest/funniest/best line or thing a guy ever did to try to meet you? And did it work?

EH: Flowers are the way to a girl’s heart, and it will work every time.

Eric Rogell is the author of The Art of War for Dating and the is founder of The Casanova Code, a program where he teaches sales teams, corporate executives, and marketers how to achieve unrivaled business success by using the wickedly effective secrets of seduction. You can follow him on Twitter @ericrogell.

Kevin Michael Connolly first came to prominence as a result of winning a silver medal at the X Games, an impressive achievement in and of itself, but one which was deemed decidedly more media-worthy as a result of Connolly having been born without legs. Using his X Games winnings to fund a trip across 15 countries in 2007, Connolly took photos along the way, publishing the results on a website called The Rolling Exhibition, and he subsequently wrote a memoir entitled “Double Take,” which has been optioned for a possible film. Now, as if the writing-photography combo isn’t enough in and of itself to keep most people busy, the guy’s gonna be hosting his own series on Travel Channel called – wait for it – “Armed & Ready.” Somehow, Connolly found the time in his schedule to chat with Bullz-Eye about what viewers can expect from his show, also filling us in as best he could about the status of the movie adaptation of his book, the wealth of limb-related puns in his repertoire, and how the words “all over the map” in no way come close to clarifying the depth of his tastes in music.

Bullz-Eye: I feel like we’re practically best friends now that we’ve Tweeted back and forth.

Kevin Michael Connolly: I know! Exactly! It’s, like, one step away from exchanging bodily fluids! [Hesitates.] Okay, maybe not that close. But it’s in the ballpark. Six degrees from…

BE: Yeah, we can probably just agree that we’re very close.

KMC: Got it. [Laughs.]

BE: Thanks to the Travel Channel, I’ve been able to check out the advance screeners of the first two episodes of “Armed and Ready.”

KMC: Oh, cool!

BE: I would say the same. So you’re a guy who’s gone from winning a medal in the X Games to being recognized for your photography to writing a book to now hosting a show for Travel Channel. That’d be a pretty amazing road to travel for anybody, let alone somebody who’s had to tackle these things from, shall we say, a different vantage point.

KMC: And to do it all by the time I’m 27! [Laughs.] It’s pretty crazy, man.

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