ISSUE #128
Chico Brenes Marty Murawski Cory Lakeman Luis Tolentino Torey Pudwill Jon Nguyen paul shier
fter a full night of editing video, lots of coffee and very, very little sleep, I found myself in a daze while driving to the Vancouver International Airport. Mirroring Cory Lakeman, we both pulled up in our respective automobiles and hugged our lady friends good-bye before jumping on a Quebec-bound flight for a 10-day tour with the American DVS team.
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having inexplicably arrived the afternoon before on an oddly planned flight schedule. Photographer Josh Hotz appeared by train, kitted with an overweight bag he snuck aboard and stitches on his trigger finger. Thankfully everyone made it through customs without falling victim to the rubber glove, marking the official beginning of the DVS Canadian Bacon Tour.
Fast-forward a day and a half after arrival and I’m back in an airport, close to the same time in the morning, picking up the red-eye flight crew consisting of Luis Tolentino, Jon Nguyen, Chico Brenes, Torey Pudwill and newly appointed talent manager, Paul Shier. Marty Murawski was already with us,
Despite the fact that Canada is nestled so closely to the States, this tour through French-speaking territory was a somewhat new, unique experience for the team, especially to one of the members who had never been to Canada before: “It was a rad area of the world,” mentions Paul Shier. “Good vibes, architecture, people, food and amazing skate spots.”
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Chico Brenes backlip
The Big-O was relocated so it could live on in skateboarding history. Chico moves through the pipe and into this backlip with more style than the tracksuit-clad athletes that walked through it during the ’76 Olympics.
Marty Murawski
noseslide fakie manny to fakie flip
Montreal was the first stop of the trip where we had a few demo-less days to get used to the new time zone and explore the city. Being that Marty flew in early, he had an extra half-day to do some roaming around on BIXI bikes, one of Montreal’s newest transit systems. Just a few blocks away from the hotel was a park with great ground to get warmed up on, and a perfect ledge we deemed as the “Hotel Ledge” (though we were well aware that the Montreal locals probably had a different name for it). This spot grew to be our morning training facility, and everyone took a shot at getting a move there. Torey Pudwill must have had some an extra special herbal treatment one morning, judging by the way he skated that thing. As Chico explains: “Torey is a beast and ready for war everywhere we go: demo, skate spot, anything. Just gotta make sure he’s got his medicine.” During those sessions, Luis Tolentino, being the extremist he is, found the best place to view the session—up on top of a 50-foot statue that looked to be a 19th century war memorial, enjoying the bird’s eye view from the saddle of a horse. If you don’t have a vehicle handy in Montreal and want to skate a generous amount of spots, the Olympic Stadium may be your best bet. This was the first time any of us had been there since the transplant and late August grand re-opening of the legendary Big-O. Everyone was impressed with how it was moved, the fact that it’s been around since 1976, and how the pipe and surrounding spots are so good. It seemed fitting to work this into our tight schedule before the demos started going down.
After hitting this MTL spot on the first day of the trip, Marty had some unfinished business to take care of. Dodging raindrops and cops on our final day, he came out on top with some manny wizardry before heading back to the U.S. less than 24 hours later.
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Our nation’s capital, Ottawa, was up next. It’s always strange to get to a new place that is so close, but certain rules change. For instance, not being able to get beer after 9 p.m. “It was kind of crazy how different the cities were,” Jon Nguyen pointed out. “Montreal is very French, but drive a couple hours to Ottawa and everything is English. Also, you only have to be 18 to drink in Quebec!” Our first and only full day in the capital was greeted with grey skies, and rain falling before noon. But our optimism was high with the buzz of a new city and uncharted territory, so we made our way into the streets of downtown where we met up with local spot mavericks, the Mystks crew, and attempted to avoid precipitation. Par for the course, these missions lead to Luis jumping around on unimaginable obstacles. Jon puts it best: “Luis has more personality than whole skateboard teams put together. He’s exactly what skateboarding needs. We all know he has gravity-defying pop, but he also has all other aspects of skating under his belt. He is the hype man and a must on every trip.” After checking out Parliament Hill during our last morning in Ottawa, we were on our way to Quebec City. Out of our whole crew, only the Supra Distribution Quebec reps and our road homie Justin Dagenais had been to the province’s capital city before. Let’s take a second here to talk about Justin, our off-board trip MVP. He grew up skating in Montreal and currently travels around to car shows nation-wide in his tricked-out Impala. On what was to be a mellow after-demo party night, Justin was so psyched on rolling with the squad that he treated us to dinner followed by drinks at a fancy club in Quebec City. Amongst many generous things, he treated Luis to a surprise, falsely-dated birthday celebration, during which he ended up on stage being treated exceptionally well by the hostess of the establishment. All in all, we all want to thank Justin for that, and for everything else he did.
Luis Tolentino nosegrind
Tenants of this Ottawa condo building were already bummed on us for eyeing up their gardens. While a few confused, bitter souls were figuring out who should dial the police, Luis ran up and got this nosegrind with just enough time left for us to pack up before the pigs showed.
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Torey Pudwill kickflip crook
Usually, this section of Legacy Skatepark is overlooked when Ottawa hosts demos. It was easily the most sessioned section by the DVS crew, who threw down more tricks than I could count if I had four hands. Torey laid this down like a walk in the park, even though his aching back stopped him from hitting the streets that day.
Jon Nguyen
switch pole jam Having skated the park on our first day in Montreal, everyone was able to get used to the imperfections that make P45 so unique. This time around, Jon’s new challenge was avoiding a collision by dodging the kids charging through the park during a demo that was more of a free-for-all jam.
Cory Lakeman ollie
With a towel blocking the door crack and the shower on full blast, a night mission was the last thing I was expecting. With no security or traffic, it was the best time for Cory to handle this giant ollie in time to make it back to the hotel before all the “steam” evaporated.
After Luis’s stage performance, the rain got us moving back to Montreal for a demo and the last leg of the tour. Our third and final demo was at what’s probably one of the raddest skate locations in Canada: Project 45. We were all amazed at what the community had done to get that place looking like it does right now. Before the demo even started, it seemed as though Jon had adapted easily to the park. “He’s like a professor when he skates,” explains Chico. “Always down to skate whatever and he has that smooth style.”
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Luis Tolentino frontside 180
A lot of time was spent at the spot-filled Olympic Stadium in Montreal. After everyone got their share, Luis spotted one last opportunity hidden deep in an alleyway. A spot that has been overlooked by many, he charged it and ended the day with a bold move.
paul shier
kickflip fakie
Finally, after all the demos were done, the rain started to settle as if Mother Nature knew it was time to chill. As Josh Hotz eloquently states: “Bad weather plagued us for almost half the trip, but skateboarding has a way of just working out.” We headed back to our Montreal warm-up spot for one more session, which was a perfect way to top off the skating before a wrap-up dinner. Although this “Canadian tour” only consisted of dabbling in three cities across two provinces, it definitely left the door open for more. Thanks to Empire in Montreal, EXO in Quebec City, and Top of the World in Ottawa for all the love. dvsshoes.com supradistribution.com #dvscanadianbacon
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