Christie Aleixo is a skateboarder, in the true sense of the word. She rides not for fame or money. She rides for the love of a piece of wood with 4 wheels attached to it. If this seems like something normal in a place where there is an abundance of wealth and prosperity, it means much more when you speak of a country such as Brazil, where the land of opportunity is a place very far away. Here, you have to be a warrior in the true sense of the word. Every day is a battle and if Christie were to have a rank, she would be a general. She’s a single mother, an independent woman, intelligent, beautiful and kind. At the same time as there are many words to describe her, no words are sufficient. All that needs to be said is that skateboarding runs through her veins. Skate NA VEIA.

The series has really grown! More than 350 skaters from a dozen states gathered for the 4th annual 2006 Mid Atlantic Skate Series, held at four premier skateparks throughout Maryland and Virginia. Ledo Pizza, a chain of 70+ restaurants sponsored the series and stoked the skaters with all the free pizza they could eat at every event. Kronic Energy Drink sponsored the Kronic Energy Pro Bowl Class, a new division this year, and the skaters responded with predictable mind blowing intensity. Ben Hatchell, threw down tons of new school spinning, flipping, hammering airs that were in sharp contrast to Jesse Davis’s old school ultra high speed spontaneous ripping style. The judges had fits determining the winner, but eventually Ben edged out everyone to walk away with the $500 first place check. Wes Meadows took home $300 while Jesse and Greg

Profiles of women skaters, August, 2006

Retirement, wow! It has been a very hard thing for me to do, not race that is. I got hurt at a Red Bull race and messed up my neck and broke my leg. Then a few years later, I went down hard again twisting my neck. I had it xrayed and the doc told me my neck could not take many more hard hits or blows. He went on to say that I needed to stop racing skateboards, and it’s kind of funny, he told me I was already too old to ride skateboards… so I retired then for the first time. I was feeling great and riding again within 3 weeks. I raced again the next year and had a ball but the crashes where again taking their toll on my body. I had real pain to contend with. I started a new job that couldn’t give me time off to go to races, and hell… I just turn 42 so I figured it’s time to stop for sure.

The following is Rod’s story and history in skate- boarding as told to me. He’s been skateboarding since the mid-seventies and through the years he has played a major role in the New York and New Jersey skate scenes and in turn in the global skate scene. He’s one of the true unsung heroes and architects of modern skateboarding. And those who know him and have been lucky enough to befriend him and skate with him will tell you without a bad word one, that Rodney Smith’s fingerprint is on all that’s good about skateboarding. And no doubt it will be for a long time to come.