Right after I said I wouldn’t ride for a little while due to elbow pain, go out riding I did.
On a chill Saturday afternoon, when I was sat at the desk looking up at the beautiful sky, I got a call from Kaku from Wheelies. He said, “That Solid rider I said about the other day is in town now. Want to come down and ride?” So I was like, “Yeeeah deffo,” and went to meet the BMX crew.
Solid Bikes is one of the hardcore, self-manufacturing BMX brands in the USA. And here is Zac Costa, one of their team riders who’s got a signature frame from them, staying in Hokkaido right now. He is working on a post-master’s degree project with a professor at Hokkaido University, conducting biological researches in the northernmost area of Hokkaido. I had heard he showed up in Sapporo in June, and he’s staying till mid August. However he’s busy playing with tadpoles in the wild nature in the far north land so it was one of the rare occasions for him to be in Sapporo.
Now let’s meet Zac.
A rider at this level touching any section in our town is like having a wizard spray painting magical spells. So let it happen.
Unfortunately, this spot had just got a new, weird handrail, and, more importantly, he had hurt his already bad knee at this point so didn’t go for big stuff here with that swollen knee.
There are no pics after this because I was having fun riding with him till it was dark. He was down for some mellow cruise checking out spots, so we hit a few possibly fun places. He seemed to like one of them, and was doing pretty cool stuff though it probably was totally within the safe zone for him.
To be honest, I had had this expectation that he could be a rough hucker when I was told he was like a grind master. On the contrary though, as is usually the case with riders at this level, he’s got such a precise control. It was a totally fun, inspiring experience for local riders like Yuya and myself, and it led us to try something new as well. Simply put, we had a great time.
The crew was to hit the legendary concrete skatepark the next day, which I couldn’t accompany, and I hope it went well. He should be back in town around mid August, so I’m looking forward to riding with him then. Last but not least, big thanks go to Kaku for the invite this time!