The second edition of “El Rey del Pistón” competition took place a month ago, on August 13th and 14th in Cali, Colombia. Longboard Girls Crew Colombia had the pleasure to attend to this event: a 2 days Downhill competition, with more or less 70 riders – 12 of these were girls – and around 60 people in the crowd.
Now we are bringing you an interview with the winner of the women – downhill category. Her name is Jenny Salazar, she is 24 years old and this was the first time she signed up for a competition… having the victory as a result!
So, we wanted to give her a spotligh in LGC blog! We asked Jenny some questions in order to know her better and we wanted to get more details about her longobarding experience. Check it out!
(This is a paraphrased and translated version of what we talked)
Longboard Girls Crew (LGC): So, Jenny we would like to know how did you start longboarding? How was your first approach to this sport?… Before longboarding…Did you use to skate?
Jenny Salazar (JS): Once, a friend of my husband and mine visited us. He brought his longboard with him and I got curious because of its shape, the wheels and because it didn’t make much noise. The first thing I did was to sit on it, but I got really scared, so I didn’t try it. My husband was really interested about longboarding and he started to look for information about the sport and finally he bought his first board. Since I wanted to be with him while he was practicing, I bought a pair of rollerblades. After sometime I decided to give it another try and this time I was able to stand up on the board, so I just tossed aside the rollerblades and bought my first longboard. And, no… I’ve never skated in my life.
LGC: Which board did you buy?
JS: I first bought a Landyachtz Drop Carve, I started to watch some longboarding videos with my husband and then started to practice some slides. We met some friends and started to practice all together on Sundays.
LGC : So, how long have you been practicing?
JS: About a year now.
LGC: What is the coolest thing for you about practicing Longboard?
JS: Everything! The whole process of learning how to slide, the first time you hear the wheels sliding against the paviment, the first time you are able to downhill knowing that it’s only you, the board, the protection, speed and a nice hill…and finishing the hill is just an indescribable feeling. Also, having someone to share the experience is crucial to learn everything related with brands of boards, shapes, wheels, trucks, bearings, bushings, etc.
LGC: How do you feel about being able to longboard with your husband?
JS: It’s just the best feeling! He is always there to support me. Sharing this kind of things just makes everything more fun. And this is more like a family experience, it’s not only my husband who longboards with me, my brother also longboards and we all get together. It’s really nice being a family and sharing the same sport.
LGC: Finally, something you would like to say to the girls
JS: The most important thing is the feeling and the interest about learning how to ride a longboard, but as important as wanting to learn, is knowing that there are some risks. If you are fully aware of your limits you can prevent accidents.
You only have to set your goals further everytime and, in order to reach your achievements, the protection is crucial! …Oh and of course a nice board in which you feel comfortable while riding is essential.
So, this was basically our interview… with some laughing involved.
Jenny is more known as “Landy Love”. As you can read in the interview, her first board was a Landyachtz Drop Carve. During the competition she used a LY SwitchBlade and her prize was a LY Evo. We hope she will enjoy the ride on her new board and let this set the example that we all girls can achieve a lot when we set our minds on it!
Once and again …Congratulations Jenny for winning the trone as the queen in the competition!!
Lina Carrascal
Pictures by Gio Up