Our coverage of the São Paulo Slalom scene continues with this submission from Guto Jimenez.  Recently the Brazilian slalom skaters put on another stoked event: racing on fresh asphalt and with sponsorship and support from RedBull, local businesses and more.  The racing was fast, the crowds enthusiastic and the trophies gigantic...

 Copa Independencia de Slalom Skate

 São Paulo, Brasil

 

First picture this: one of your favorite slalom spot ever gets repaved after some years of insistence by the local riders and promises from the authorities. You and some of your buddies ride the spot merely a couple of hours after the workers have washed the pavement to quicken the asphalt’s formula in becoming hard enough. On the following day, in an unusually hot & sunny day for wintertime, some of your country’s best riders join y’all in a contest that takes place from late afternoon until the eerie hours of the following day.

Now you’ve got a good idea of what the Copa Independencia de Slalom Skate was like. But here goes a little something else you also need to know…

The slalom contest was one of four different skateboarding-related events which were spread around the city of São Paulo, in what is called “Virada Esportiva”- or Sport Around The Clock, in a very rough translation. In three other different locations, there were a street best trick contest, a freestyle demo and a vert demo/am contest. The city promotes ‘round the clock activities every once in a while; earlier this year there was a full 24 hours of culture, with free live music shows, movies shows and theater plays all over the city. This time around they had all kinds of sports in every possible location – from boomerang in Ibirapuera Park to freestyle motocross demo in one of the city’s “favelas”, the public had it all.

 I don’t know about the other skateboarding or sports events; all I cared about was riding around the cones in the same spot I’d ridden the night before. Sometimes it’s good to feel like a teenager again, even when your bones, joints and an ever-growing bald head make you come down to Earth again… However, I had to wait until 5 PM, because of both the other activities in the spot (such as carving board demos) and the amazing heat. OK, a born-&-bred guy from Rio like myself shouldn’t complain about how hot it was, but it was hot as a burger grill – “chapa quente” as we say down here.

Along with the night came the breeze – and the riders. There were about 50 guys & girls from all ages and skate disciplines, to cruise around 50 cones which were sweet to look, but a bit tricky to be ridden around. So much so that only maybe half of the riders managed to make flawless runs. Powered by tons of Gatorade and the humping sounds of DJs Poisé (an old timer skater, who pumped also old punk and HC tunes) and Zena (who brought the best of hiphop originals), the competitors had a different sheen on their eyes. Maybe because of the brand new, pitch black street they were served…

If you enjoy slalom and ever go to São Paulo, try to get to the Museu do Ipiranga in a Sunday afternoon. Look for the Parque da Independência, and find the freshest, largest paved street in the spot. Chances are you’ll find some of the guys & girls enjoying their times in a hot slalom session. All you have to do is to get your board on the ground and you’re more than welcome to ride.  (In case you’re too shy or know no Portuguese at all, just tell them you’re one of my friends. They’ll probably buy it…)    

Silverfish Longboarding.com supports all forms of skateboard racing, no matter where you are!  Send in your invitations to events, your race reports and your photos of the events!  The more people that know about great skating, the more will skate.  On that note, Go Skate!