RIDER: DONGHOH HAN PHOTO: TONY PHAM
NOVEMBER 2013
CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS START UP FRONT PRO Q&A: KYLE BALDOCK NEW PRODUCTS DIVERSIONS FOCUS BIO: JAKE SZYBOWSKI LETTERS FINISH: RONNIE NAPOLITAN
NOVEMBER 2013
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NOVEMBER 2013
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NOVEMBER 2013
PHOTO: DONGHOH HAN
Southern California gets a bit toasty in the summer.
parks, trails, and street, it begs for a mid-year visit.
More specifically, Riverside gets disgustingly hot. You
Heath's goal was to escape the SoCal heat for more
can fry an egg on some Inland Empire dirt. Concrete?
reasonable weather, take in some awesome scenery,
Extra sizzle. Enter the mid-year road trip. While some
and ride new and different spots. Vancouver to Whistler
head South or West in the winter, some head North in
has it all and then some. With Heath's FA teammates TJ
the summer. B.C. Canada shows its beauty year round,
and Jared up for the trip, a six-day getaway was
but it shines brightest in the summertime. And with rad
planned and it was on.
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RIDER: DONGHOH HAN
PHOTO: PETER YI
California, Vancouver TJ, Jared, and I flew out of Orange County in the morning. Quick layover in San Fran and we were at YVR by early afternoon. This was Jared's first time to Canada, maybe even out of the country, so he was pretty green to everything, especially border control. My advice was to "just tell them you're here to ride bikes for a week and say 'Whistler' and you'll be fine." Answering questions at passport inspection is always interesting and can be stressful depending on the country. I find it fairly easy going into Canada, but Jared and TJ seemed a little frazzled after the interrogation. We made it through, got our bikes, and the first of many funny questions and statements came from Jared: "If we're in British Columbia why do they call it Canada?" Eh? Heath had driven up to Vancouver a couple weeks earlier with his wife Jenny and their badass little French bulldog, Cash. Jenny is from up there, so she was getting some visiting time in while Heath was getting some riding done. He
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NOVEMBER 2013
RIDER: PETER YI
PHOTO: DONGHOH HAN
showed up fashionably late to pick us up in a blacked-out, window-
into our hotel we built our bikes and cruised around downtown.
less Rockstar van. Cash and Jenny weren't onboard, but Lazer was.
We didn't get more than a block or two before coffee was acquired
Lazer, Lazerdick, or Lazernuts—take your pick—was to be our
and consumed. We made our way down along the water and scenic
Canadian tour guide and road trip companion for the week. Lazer
harbor of False Creek, then to the nearby skate plaza under the
is from Kelowna, which is a few hours inland from Vancouver. My
city's SkyTrain—passing some legendary spots I hadn't been to
Google skills taught me that Kelowna means grizzly bear in the local
since Road Fools 10. At the plaza we ran into Zach Rampen
Okanagan language. With a beard and a chest rug (Lazer's not afraid
(Canadian rider/photo/videographer) and Toronto's Chris Silva who
to ride shirtless), there's a hairy connection there. Maybe we should
was spending a month riding in Vancouver. We nibbled at the park
call him Lazerbear. Grizzerdick? Bearnuts? He'd probably prefer
and shot the sh-t with them for a bit, then rode the Seaside Bicycle
Andrew, but not with this crew. We stopped at some public trails
Route with a great view of the city to Granville Island. We scoped
just outside of downtown for a quick look before getting into the
out some street setups, had some cold ones, got some dinner, and
city. We didn't ride them, but discussed how awesome it is that
called it a night.
the Vancouver area has multiple public trail spots. After checking
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PHOTO: DONGHOH HAN
“ANYONE CAN RIDE A PERFECT RAIL, BUT NOT EVERYONE WILL TOUCH THAT BROKEN RAIL WITH A FIRE HYDRANT AFTER IT.” DAY 02
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Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam
grippy. Fast lines and good traction lead to a heavy hip session in the bowl, some spine tricks, and pocket air maneuvers. This crew's got a laundry list of variations and the obstacles don't dictate, so save you the play-by-play at each spot. I will mention that T.1 threw some pegs on, which surprised me a bit, but it didn't last long after he broke an axle bolt on a ledge icepick
Crêpes and coffee to start the day. On the road our first stop
gone wrong. No pegs rest of the trip for him. We wrapped up
was at Terry Carson's Wheelies BMX Shop in Port Coquitlam.
shooting at Rai!side and hit a late session at Coquitlarn's Town
Terry used to work at MacNeil and just opened his shop this
Centre park (AKA Lafarge). Heath and I cruised around on some
year. BMX to the core and even some woodwork inside by the
jumps across the street from the park before heading to the
Canadian Beast himself—Jay Miron—the store is rad. Heath got
concrete. I love going to spots I haven't been to in a while.
a new cable and dialed in his brakes and I borrowed some tools
Memories of Miron, Dave Osato, and Dom Mach shredding the
to throw a new chain on. Railside park was a few minutes away
place instantly came to mind. I noticed it had also gotten the
and next on the schedule. The last time I was there I shot
graffiti cleanup. We rode and shot until the lights shut off and
photos with Jason Enns on some speed bump-style rollers and
made our way back to downtown Vancouver. The Famous
the concrete bowls were slick with graffiti. The rollers were still
Warehouse was our dive of choice for cheap eats, cold brews,
there, but the graffiti was washed off and the transitions were
cute waitresses, and Fink U Freeky and Bubble Butt videos.
NOVEMBER 2013
DAY 03
PHOTO: DONGHOH HAN
Vancouver Island
We got up early to take a ferry over to "The Island." RIDER: KWANGHYUN KIM
PHOTO: DONGHOH HAN
TJ and Lazer let us know they pulled an all-nighter trying to get lucky. They got back just in time to leave. Impressive. On the water we didn't see any orcas, we just had some coffee and breakfast taking the sights in. Off the boat we met up Jordie Lunn. Jordie is a friend of Heath's and is a tree! ide mountain bike rider who's on Rockstar. The plan was to hit up Darren Berrecloth's "Spook Woods" trails that afternoon. Darren had a little jam going on and word was his jumps were good. It was early, so after driving for a bit we stopped at a nice scenic park along the shore, There was a little concrete park there that we checked out, but the bikes stayed in the van. Not enough coffee. We just watched some kids on scooters, people flying kites, and thi ow locks at a tree—testing our aim and oppo throwing skills. Jordie offered up a visit to his dad's house to relax so we ventured there. Jordie then took us to some woods nearby to look at some jumps and setups he used to build and ride. If you've ever seen those ridiculous wooden plank drops and massive jumps MTB guys ride, you can imagine the setups. Unrid -den and a bit worn down, we still had a laugh looking at the size of the drops and hits. Shocks or not. those guys ride some ridiculous sh-t. We hit the road to Berrecloth's but we didn't get far. The van overheated. I wasn't surprised—that thing is an oven in the sun and a total sweatbox. We gimped to the side of the road and stopped under an overpass. As Jordie Patched the Woof hose with hockey tape Heath noticed "BMX 4 Ever" graffitied big on the
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RIDER: DONGHOH HAN
PHOTO: SCOTT SHIN
overpass wall next to the van. Road trip randomness. The tape held and we made it to the trails. Berrecloth welcomed us and we Checked out the lines. There were a handful of MTB dudes already shredding. Berrecloth was watering the dry dirt and oft the hike—healing up some injuries for an upcoming comp. It's been a long time since I've seen him ride 111 person, maybe as far back as the UGP Roots contests. It would have been cool to see him ride his spot. Even though he's a MTB star these days, he still rides BMX, and I'm sure he still throws down. The lumps got ridden hard and we outlasted the MTB crew. One of them blasted a tree and had to take a trip to the h(N)Itill (we later found out he broke his leg), so they cut out early. Our session lasted until it was too dark to s,et' A11)11 food-shopping excursion was followed by full stomachs and a buzz at Jordie's dad's house. And that t Whore we crashed for the night.
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NOVEMBER 2013
PHOTO: DONGHOH HAN RIDER: SCOTT SHIN
RIDER: DONGHOH HAN
DAY 04
PHOTO: KENNY AGUILAR
Vancouver
Heath and Jordie got up early and pieced together enough random
there before so they already had some lines, and it didn't take TJ
hardware store bits and pieces to properly rebuild the van's radiator
and Jared long to find some of their own. The ramps were roasted
hose to get it through the rest of the trip and back to SoCal. It was
'til the sun went down, and we followed It up by roasting some
Jordie's 30th birthday, so we celebrated with hot coffee and a
food on the backyard grill. Fireside brews, a reptile show-and•tell
banging egg breakfast, said our goodbyes, and just barely made it
from one of Ron's kids, and a pull-up contest brought our visit to a
onto the couple-hour ferry ride back to Vancouver. The spot of the
close. Ron's wife helped us find a motel for the night and we were
day was Ron Mercer's backyard ramps known as the Woodyard. A
off. The motel we stayed in was used for filming scenes in a bunch
coffee stop for Heath (he's got an addiction), Walmart for dinner
of movies and TV shows including X Files. We didn't see any movie
supplies, and we were at Ron's. First sight of his ramps blew me
stars or aliens, Just the backs of our eyelids after the long day and
away—the setup Is downright amazing—literally full park status.
heavy session.
Bowls, wallrides, boxes, a spine, extensions, a mini, wedges, and so much more are all connected and fully blended together into one huge, flowing, patchwork piece of art. And just as the ramp has character, so does Ron. Friendly, welcoming, and with stories to tell, Ron offered us a fun session. And with a sponsorship from Cariboo beer, he made sure we didn't go thirsty either. Ron tore it up with unique tricks and lines that let you know he created the place. Joining us in the session was France's Tier Mike Molineri who was ripping around with Ruben-Influenced style, James Van De Kamp who was blasting all over the place, and Braeden Barnard who I learned has helped Ron build there a ton. Heath and Lazer had been
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RIDERS: JIMMY WATCHA & JEFFY D
PHOTO: DONGHOH HAN
DAY 05
Horseshoe Bay, Squamish
Our day in Whistler started with mandatory coffee and an awesome home-cooked breakfast courtesy of Dave and Meghan. We took the chance to scope out parts of the house we hadn't gotten to see the night before, the amazing views from the windows and decks, and the beauty of the place in the daylight. Our stay was just for that one previous night, but you RIDER: VALENTINE RACHO
PHOTO: DONGHOH HAN
can bet everyone wanted to stay longer. Trails were shouting, though, and it was our last full day of the trip, so we wanted to make the most of it. A short drive down the mountain into town and we were at Rev trails. Handbuilt since 2001, and BMX only, we knew the scene and locals were rad as soon as we walked in. Welcoming smiles and handshakes greeted us as introductions were exchanged. Bruno
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NOVEMBER 2013
RIDER: DONGHOH HAN
PHOTO: JONO HEATH
Poulin, Luke Gatien, Tim O'Kane, Trevor Smith, Oliver Neukom, and
Like most of the sessions on the trip, we shot and rode until
Dale Bendon, along with Dave, made up the local crew. The trails
dark—totally content with it being our last session and stop of the
were drawn through the woods with fun lines filled with sizeable
trip. Awesome locals, and a really a chill scene. There was serious
jumps, berms to carve, rollers, wooden deck/roll-ins, a graffiti mural
contemplation about extending the trip as the day came to a
decorated wallride, sub-rail, hangout fort, benches and more.
close—the week had been that good. We stopped back at the
Knowing we'd be there all day we went for another round of food
mansion to clean up, we grabbed our stuff, and thanked Dave and
and coffee then learned the lines with the locals. The jumps were
Meghan for their hospitality. A couple hours later we were checked
super fun and the session was great. At one point it was raining
into a hotel in downtown Vancouver and filling our bellies at the
pretty hard, yet under the cover of trees the trails stayed perfect.
Warehouse again.
“THE MORE PLACES YOU EXPLORE, THE BETTER YOUR EYE FOR SETUPS WILL BECOME” 37
RIDER: DONGHOH HAN
PHOTO: SANG YEOP LEE
PHOTOS: JOHN NGUYEN
DAY 06
Breakfast, coffee (as usual), and Whistler was on our minds, and
the session Dave Butler showed up and introductions were
the final destination for the day. Gleneagles (AKA Horseshoe
made. Lazer had arranged for us stay at the house Dave lives at
Whistler
Bay), and Squamish concrete parks were along the drive and
and takes care of. Rumor had it the house was huge and Dave
definitely on the agenda. Horseshoe Bay is a small, but fun, park
let us know our rooms were ready for us. Hmmm... When it was
with a couple of bowls. Clips of the thrashing Joe Rich put down
too dark to ride we loaded up, stopped for some beverages, and
there a few years ago in etnies' Grounded might help with the
followed Dave and his girlfriend Meghan up to Whistler. Once
visual or at least deliver a nice little flashback. We rode there
the van started climbing the hills into the neighborhood we
longer than we thought we would with Lazer, Ti, and Jared all
knew the house was going to be big. I have no idea where
coming up with solid things to shoot. TJ crashed pretty hard after
exactly we were, but the houses weren't houses—they were
dipping a 360 beyond the point of return over the spine and
mansions and each one was more ridiculous than the next. And
gashed his knee open pretty good. Pizza, coffee, and butterfly
our jaws dropped when we arrived. Our digs for the night
strips, and we were back on the road. We still had daylight when
belonged to the treasurer of a huge financial institution and it
we got to Squamish and made the best of it. Halfway through
was one of his many vacation homes scattered across the
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NOVEMBER 2013
world. After putting our bags in the house's elevator and making our way to the second level of the enormous place, we couldn't help but laugh at the house we were staying at. After meeting Dave and Meghan's rad little Papillon Villicious (AKA Villy), we got a tour of the four-story log home and Dave explained to us how after working on the place as part of the build crew and befriending the owner, he worked out a deal where he continues to do finishing work on it and he and Meghan get paid to take care of it full time (instead of a property management company). With their own living space in the house and it empty most of the time, it's not a bad deal. And yeah, we had our own rooms. Sleep was good that night.
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RIDER: DONGHOH HAN
PHOTO: MATT MONTOYA
ROADS LESS TRAVELED THE BEST ADVICE A TEACHER EVER GAVE ME WAS TO NEVER DRIVE DOWN THE SAME STREET TWICE. A LIFE OF ROUTINE WILL NEVER BRING ANYTHING NEW. I THINK THIS IS A CONCEPT THAT ALL RIDERS CAN RELATE TO. I’M SAYING THIS BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THERE ARE ACRES OF UNTOUCHED RAILS AND LEDGES IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD THAT NO ONE HAS THOUGHT TO SEARCH FOR. We all can notice BMX has become consumed With ABDs and a
I've worked the horrible factory jobs where none of your coworkers
laundry list of spots that have been laid to waste. However the new
even know what BMX is. My most recent job was at amazon
breed has to deal with this, and one way that I've I overcome it is by
—where I would work 10-hour shifts four days a week and then
venturing out into uncharted territory. No rock should go untouched
ride everything I could within a 600-mile radius of where I lived in
and no alleyway should go without a pedal. 1 guess that's the
Kentucky on my days off. I would make sure to take advantage of
outlook you gotta have when you don't have that perfect setup to
my time off and try to produce and progress hittingup a new state,
stare at right outside your front door. The point that I really want to
town, and college every chance I got. You gotta get out there and
make is that not everything has to be done in California, New York
search, because nothing will be handed over easily nowadays. To get
City, or Barcelona. Some really great spots can be right under your
a better idea of the working class rider, I chose a group of guys from
nose. All it takes is that itch to peek over a fence to find a pool, a roll
the Midwest who all put in time riding, searching, and producing for
through an industrial park, or quick drive down a new street. We
the mere fun of it—no contracts, hardly any sponsors We took a few
can't have a one-track mind when it comes to spots and definitely
weekend trips to the smaller, usually overlooked towns—like the
not in regards to riding. Not having spots can be bad, but another
ones we grew up in—looking for fresh spots anywhere we could.
problem that will always be there is your nine-to-five! It eats up
Hopefully their words and the photos will inspire you to get out
40-50 hours of your week and the whole time you're dying to get
there and start searching the least likely spots, too.
out and ride. Not everyone has to deal with this, but a majority of you reading will relate to what I'm saying. I've been there before.
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NOVEMBER 2013
RIDER: DONGHOH HAN
PHOTO: KARL OROTEA
Growing up in Connersville, Indiana, wass boring. There isn't anything in the town ai,tter towards kids besides sports. I played bask;ed baseball, football, and soccer when i and compared to doing nothing all day. itYbut-Ing, it was fun. But when I discovered BMY f ior thught first time I was hooked. There were trails calle Maplewood and it blew my mind vvatchingoe: dudes float through the jumps without being uer scared. I finally found a way to enjoy every bit of my surroundings and be creative! It helped me discover my taste in music, meet the Peoipiz for the first time in my life how important who would become my best f e fi to know what else is out in the world. I knew I wanted to travel as much
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who live in big cities have it better, with more options of what to eat, more spots, and more crazy people walking around to make you laugh, But best of all is definitely the spot searching in bigger cities—which is something I've always loved—just cruising around searching. There are also downfalls to riding in big cities, as well—security guards are more common and used to kicking
PHOTO: TONY PHAM
as possible and get out of C-Ville any chanceI could. I think riders
PHOTO: NHAN NGUYEN
RIDER: DONGHOH HAN
RIDER: DONGHOH HAN
people out, and there's also a lot more traffic to watch out for—which can be kind of nerve-racking if you're trying something scary and you have to wait on cars between every try. No matter where you are, the correct setof eyes can find something awesome to be done on any setup. Out of necessity, small town riders exercise that part of their brains more often-so when you put them in a spot with more obvious setups they are going to feel obligated to think outside the box at least a little. Sometimes you'll get an idea out of nowhere and it just works for the spot. Just like any other rider I always want more to ride and I'm willing to search for it. The more places you explore, the better your eye for setups will become. Exploring a new town and getting overwhelmed by all the new territory Is exciting, but getting to travel can be difficult sometimes. I have to balance my time around work and being a father to my five-year-old girl Sometimes I get to ride a few days a Week and others I won't get to touch my bike for a few weeks—it was hard to handle at first, and it still is. I get the craving to ride all thetillers° I appreciate being on my bike more than evel these days.
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NOVEMBER 2013
Growing up in the suburbs of a small city in the Midwest, you don't really know what you are missing out on until you get a chance to go to NYC or LA—then it hits you. In our town we may have had 10 decent rails, a handful of ledges, and other random spots—meanwhile, in those big cities they have a new rail on every corner—and thousands of corners. It's hard to learn all the new tricks when you don't have anything to learn on—especially when there isn't even a local park_ Then you have dudes hating on tricks landed in grass—trust me, landing in grass sucks way more than landing on pavement or a sidewalk. I've seen friends grind up and down rails out of the grass and if you think that it's easy, be my guest to give it a try. I would also advise any younger dudes who want to "make it" to move to one of the coasts. I'm not saying it's impossible to get noticed being in the Midwest, but all the action is on the coasts. However, there are some pluses to living in the Midwest—a lot of the smaller towns and even major cities are barely explored—unless ifs a huge university or larger downtown, but you can still find gems that haven't been shut down with every trick imaginable. I know we have all worked nine-to-five type jobs for a long time, so those two days on the weekend we are strapping up and piling in a car and driving. I'd say sometimes we spend eight hours driving for every one hour of riding. Searching cities five hours away is a lot of travel time for two or three days, but it's totally worth it even though sometimes you make the long journey not knowing where anything is, or not having any locals to help, but that's part of the journey. I am getting older and have a family these days, so trying to balance riding and responsibilities is tough. You never know how good you have it when you're young and have few or no bills. Riding every day is dreaming now. I am lucky to get out three days a week, so when I ride I ride as hard as I can so I can stay at the level I am at. I recommend taking advantage of being young and ride as much as you can, because one day you won't be able to anymore.
RIDER: DONGHOH HAN
PHOTO: ELISEO QUIROZ
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L E TTE RS SUPER GABE How do you do supermans off curbs like Gabe Brooks? Ste Coleman I have absolutely no idea. I called Gabe and put him on the spot and he said, "Sh-t, man, You just gotta hop high, be a little firm onyour wrist game so you can get that pull back action, you know? You gotta get to them pedals, so kick hard, pull back, and get to them sh-is," Easy does it. —Ryan
SHL What's the old-school Sheep Hills crew up to these days? Stricker, Wildman, Butler, Crooms, et cetera. Kyle Cowling Todd Lyons has been working at SE Bikes for years now still rides and just recently got married. From ail accounts, Josh Strider "sin really doing that well and can be found somewhere in the Philadelphia area 1. follow him on Instagram and he posted a p Woofhis dick. ShounButler recently moved to Phoenix and has been seen-el-couple times riding by locals there. oc-stil. BarspinnerRyan runs Team Soil and a summer/winter BMX camp in Newport Beach and spends clot of time underwater, Emmett Grooms lives in tong Beach down the road from me Ontt he seems to be doing welt We talk about getting NM some parts to build up a bike nearly every time (lump into him, but he never hits me up after the fact, —Ryan
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NOVEMBER 2013
RAGE After repeatedly getting a flat airing a mini ramp, I bent my bars throwing my bike in a rage! What bars would you recommend that are tough and don't break the bank? Any tips on airing mini ramps? Mario Carroll I'm not going to recommend you bars until you admit that you have a problem with anger, Mario Parts are not cheap these days and you need to focus your aggression elsewhere to help save your bike. Have you tried self-mutilation? —Ryan
WHO WHAT WHERE NOW There should be an issue of Where Are They Now? Emphasizing more in the '90s... Jose Dones If you haven't noticed, this Letters section has essentially turned into a running catch U p on late '90s/early '00s pros. Dave Young? He watches Lord Of The Rings. Jay filiron? Woodworking. Gonz? Well, I know he's olive. If you want to know where Mike Griffin is, just ask, mon, track him down like we're in an episode of Ghost Hunters. —Ryan
HANDS AND RAILS Read with interest "25 Years of Handrails" in the July 2013 issue.
SUCK SUCK Why does BMX suck nowadays? It's a rhetorical question. Craig Best
Perhaps it falls outside the scope of said article, but various "grinds" were being done at least one to two years before the handrail. I seem to recall an issue of Freestylin' (circa 1987?) that mentioned someone doing "bottom bracket grinds" in the UK. Soon
BMX is whatever you make it Ain't no one loft yo to join in on all
after, in Northeast Ohio I witnessed pedal/crank arm slides on a
this suck fool. —Ryan
horizontal rail and sprocket grinds (to multiple destroyed sprockets)...alas, no elusive "bottom bracket grind." Personally, I was pulling "back peg grinds" (now called feeble grinds) on metal
FREE COASTIN
benches at this time. I would be interested in what else was
How will a freecoaster help my riding?
happening, pre-rail/grind elsewhere during this period. EK
Will Rohlfing if you're anything like me, it'll help you realize that you don't 180 correctly and ratchet like a motherf-cker all the time. And then you'll spend about three weeks re-learning the most basic aspects of riding and just when it's all .starting to come together, .vouli give up and go back to cassette. Hope that helps. —Ryan
I feel ya. Really, the core idea of the article was based around the handrail, specifically a rail down stairs. There's no way to pinpoint who did what on a bench or small ledge or coping or who-knows-what--way too much gray area. And, it may be a little cutthroat, but I basically equate anything other than a rail down stairs to be the "resi" of grinds—it just doesn't really count. Thanks for the feedback, though, EK. —Ryan
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