team, Emerica Skate

Posted: June 14, 2008

Wild Riders--Updated June 25 Now with Brian Young!

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Here are some of the people on the Wild Ride. Please note that this is not a complete list yet -- there were a ton of people on the ride this year and there ain't no formal list of everyone, so getting everyone up here has been done as I get the time -- slow and steady!

This is Brian Young.^ Brian was one of the OG dudes who was on the Wild Ride from the beginning, and he was back this year. Brian's down for skateboarding and motorcycles and this is a perfect trip for the dude. One of my favorite B Young facts is the tattoo on his pal Jeffy -- it says "Live Fast, Die Brian Young." How good is that!?

^Braydon Szafranski -- always ripping, always down to have a good time. One of the 'lifes' of the party.

^Figgy -- last year's Wild Ride was the frosting on the cake when it came to Figgy getting fully on Emerica, and this year's he's ripping just as hard and still as much of a skate rat.

^Julian "The Tool" -- Julian is family, and loves making people laugh... whether it's crazy slams or rubber legs or kickflip-to-Wilsons on the flatbottom of a bowl, he's a funny kid, and rips.

^Jeremy from Vegas -- Braydon's homie Jeremy is back for a second Wild Ride, and like most of the Vegas crew, lives life on the edge. What better place to find that than on the Wild Ride.

^Javi Cortes and Taylor Corner -- Jahvee and Taylor are back for year two, and have official jobs as cooks. Here's the SKATE tips: Taylor's got varial heels on lock, but can't do nollie flips, and you can't beat Javi's 3-flip, but he completely lost hardflips.

^Leo Romero -- Lil' Romeo is always ripping, going full bore, whether it's at the demo, the mellow session, on the Harley, at the cliff jump, or the flat-ground game of SKATE. High-energy, always on, always fun.

^Brandon Westgate -- Westcool is beyond his years. Brandon's always got a cool head, rips like a veteran pro, and is awesome on tour. Good times ahead.

^Marisa dal Santo -- Whether it's X-Games gold or playing SKATE with the crew, Marisa's got the skills to pay the bills... and a matching wit. Half the Wild Ride crew is already employing Marisa-speak in their vocabulary. Her lingo is E, brrr.

^Jeff Henderson -- Jetski is the Emerica Team Manager, and I wanna tell you a story. The KOA in VB is near an Air Force base and they have bumper stickers saying "I heart Jet Noise." The Wild Riders were clamoring over the stickers so they could cut them down to say "I heart Jet." Jet's down to get stuff done, help the riders and crew with what needs to be handled, and he does it in total Jet style.

^Jeffy -- Another one of Heath's good homies, Jeffy is always down for chaos, and if he's not in the middle of it, he'll be shooting amazing photos of it...

^Marquis Preston -- Marquis rips, but you already knew that. What you may not have known is that Marquis may be having more fun on this year's Wild Ride than anyone. He's been running around, battling with friends in the bowl at Tony's, playing frisbee, cliff-jumping twice as much as anyone in the same amount of time, and killing it at SKATE until the lights go out.

^Joey Tershay -- always down for skateboarding and motorcycles, Joey is along for the good times on the Wild Ride, soaking everything in and spreading a bit of joy on the way as well.

^Heath Kirchart -- You know Heath, and odds are you know that the Wild Ride is his brainchild. And to quote Heath, this year's Wild Ride "is finally working." The fact that we have a whole bunch of campers along for the tour is pretty amazing. The Poughkeepsie Trio, the Kansas folks, the three dudes from Japan, the Iowa Sect, as well as a handful of 2 and 3 day bros -- we've had a lot of new friends on the tour this year, and the idea of opening up the tour to skaters from all over the world is finally working in real numbers.

^Ben Gilley -- Ben may be the nicest dude I know, and he five-ohed El Toro! And he rides a mean Harley and is simply searching for good times. He found them on the Wild Ride.

If Ben's the nicest guy in the world, ^Sean Eaton may be the guy who takes the title from him someday. Another ripper on a Harley, Sean is also the guy who brought Birdman to the ride last year, along with Matt Ball. Check the video here -- look for Jerry Hsu about 2 minutes in.

^This is Nick -- Nick is the glue that holds everything together on the Wild Ride, handling everything that is thrown at him. And with 40-60 team riders and randoms asking for something 24-7, it's a challenge. More than one person has commented that Nick's got the patience of a saint.

^Rick Eusey -- Rick's originally from Indiana, but has been nomadic for most of the last few years. The Wild Ride is more of the same, but with a lot more friends.

^Mark Waters -- Another dude who helps put the Wild Ride together, and keeps the fun rolling.

^Bobby -- Heath's friend from San Diego has been on all four Wild Rides and keeps things lively. He's riding in a van this year and is the voice for the TV show we're working on.

^Claus -- Claus is another homie from San Diego, coming along for the ride, havin' fun skateboarding and camping.

^Mike from Poughkeepsie -- has been on the ride from day one with his friends Dan and Phil... here he is with his new friends Figgy and Braydon.

^Hiro came all the way from Japan to join the Wild Ride and cruise New York City for Wild in the Streets. I like the way that Rob Meronek said it -- if Hiro can come from Japan, you should be able to get off your ass and get out to the Wild Ride. Or something like that. And Hiro technically came from Hays, Kansas, where he is an English Second Language teacher at a high school. But the three cats from Japan below all came to hang out on the Wild Ride with their bro.

^Araki -- is from Kanazawa, Japan, and came to the Wild Ride with his friend Hiro. He is also a Japanese regional finalist in the éS Game of SKATE, but decided to not go to the Japanese Finals to come on the Wild Ride.

^Tatsu -- is from Kanazawa, Japan, a city in central Japan, near Osaka. Tatsu also came with Hiro and is into skateboarding adventures. What better place than the Wild Ride?

^Haruki -- is the fourth part of the Kanazawa Konnection, and the Wild Ride is his first trip to Emerica. Haruki has been filming and editing with Hiro for White Chocolate’s Wild Ride video project. White Chocolate is the skate shop in Hays, Kansas, where the Wild Ride hit on its first stop ever, and which is how the Kanazawa boys became part of the Wild Ride crew.

^This is John -- I'm pretty sure he's friends with Bob and Heath, and is from San Diego, along for the ride. He's a mean singer and guitar picker but didn't sing too much.

^This is Derek from New York City -- he used to sing in a band called Generals and Majors. Now he's playing guitar and singing, entertaining the Wild Ride crew. Fun to play music with.

^Matt Ball -- just showed up on the ride after surgery on his knee. Psyched. Wondered where he was.

^Braydon's bro Tyler -- he joined the trip as I left, so I didn't get to hang too much...but if he's Braydon's blood, he's gotta be a lot of fun.

^Aaron Suski showed up in Virginia Beach. Classy, honorable dude. Rips. Duh. This was his first Father's Day.

^Randy Brown is getting his doctorate in North Carolina in history (I think) and is a smart dude. He also rips, used to work at Skatepark of Tampa, and is down for skating and riding bikes.

^Ryan Clements, hiding his cornrows, showing off his chest tattoo. One of my favorite people.

^Corey from Kansas (or maybe Iowa) came along for the ride.

^Colin Provost is a demo killer, and drives like a 17-year-old. Let's just say he skates better than he drives.

^Dustin is a great photographer and this is his second year on the Wild Ride...

^Alyssa was the Wild Ride heartthrob last year and came back to torture (some of) the boys again this year. She's a lot of fun and can hang with camping and hotel-ing.

^This is Joey, from Flint, Michigan. He drove 11 hours to join the Wild Ride with his friend Cody. The latter decided he wasn't having fun camping and hanging out, so he left after Philly. Joey hung in like a trooper to the bitter end.

^Rob Brink is bi-coastal, and when he's not in the OC, he's in northern Jersey and he's driving this VW Beetle. Complete with flowers. Awesome.

^Matt Willigan is awesome, and came along for the last stops of the Wild Ride. Always a fun dude to hang with.

^Paco is from Cleveland but after the stop in New York for Wild in the Streets he might just be moving east soon. Paco is an éS Game of SKATE crew dood, too.

^Candice is one of the planners and coordinators for Emerica and came out to hang and make sure that everything runs smoooothly.

^Bucky is another éS Game of SKATEr who was on a few stops of the Wild Ride -- he was also on the Wild Ride last year and the team and crew was hyped to see him and catch up.

^Oscar's first Wild Ride stop was the last, in New Jersey. He was cruising with a bunch of his boys, including his brother Bucky, above.

^Jon Miner is usually the man behind the lens, and he's a damn fine photographer. Even if you don't know it, you've seen his work, including the Wild Ride teasers on this very site.

^This is Terri from Harley Davidson, who came out to check out the Wild Ride and make sure everyone was having fun!

^Last year's Wild Ride RV driver and coordinator, this is Green Jay. Bizarro Billy Joe Armstrong...Jay stopped by to say howdy and see old friends.

^Frankie is another Game of SKATE crew dude who is always down to help out and throw in doing whatever's necessary to make things happen.

^Emerica Gear designer Leah came out to check steez and get design and inspiration ideas. Oh yeah, to have fun, too. Mission accomplished.

^Emerica Erin's homie Victoria, down for the Ride.

^Saecha is awesome, and back in the day was a ripping skater. Today she's a ripping designer.

^This is Patrick, one of Emerica's sales reps from the Northeast. He's always down for skateboarding and came out to the Wild Ride for some fun.

^Lance is another Emerica crewman who came out to support and make sure things went well. They did, so we got the smile.

^Erin came out for the Girls Gone Wild Ride and led the crew for a few days of chaos.

^New York's modest main man, Alex Corporan. Knowing Alex is like owning a key to New York City, and he was spreading the NY vibe at the last Wild Ride stop in Jersey.

^BK was there -- holding it down for Emerica for a few days.

^Another Emerica warrior who held it together for Emerica over the last hectic weekend. Joe Bragan is a good times veteran.

^Chinner never looks this funny except in photos. Ohio ripper and éS Game of SKATE crew dude, he got a few days on the Wild Ride in before Wild in the Streets.

^Bebe made it out for his second Wild Ride. Funny kid. Always down to make us laugh.

^Jay Maldonado had a great skateboarding weekend. What better shirt than his Harold tee?

^Dante's inferno hit the Wild Ride for the second year in a row. Last year West Coast, this year East Coast, kid's seen it all.

^Jamie Tancowny's nollie big heel on the quarterpipe at the Sayreville park was a thing of beauty. The black eye, too. He gave that to himself.

^Another Poughkeepsie boy, this is Dan. These three dudes met us at the first campsite and cruised the whole tour. They got it, had a ton of fun, and have a bunch of new friends.

^Phil is Poughkeepsie 3, and had that smile on his mug most of the Ride.

^George is the fourth corner in the Poughkeepsie square, and was there for a short part of the tour, which is more than most of the rest of the people who should've been on the tour. Wait, what?

^Be sure to check out Blair's photos and stories on the Transworld site.

^C.S. was there. Wild Ride #1, followed by his first Wild in the Streets. Easy as pie.

^Chris Nieratko's NJ Skate Shop hosted the last stop of the Wild Ride, complete with an Emerica Liberation. Chris flew out the next morning early for Dave Carnie's wedding.

^Kai and his buddy Harvey drove all the way from Vancouver to join the Wild Ride in North Carolina. Down for skateboarding, Harleys, and good times.

^How did we not get an earlier photo of Jerry up here. Jerry was on the whole Wild Ride, of course, having fun, being Jerry. He's got a sense of humor that can only be experienced firsthand.

^Pepito is one of the youngest skate tour veterans you'll ever find... this summer is his seventh cross country skate trip. Another ripper.

^Garry is the man behind the Wild Ride journal and a ton of the writing on the Emerica site. Skateboarding legend and one of the best dudes I know.

^This is Pepe. Chinese Crested Dog -- probably the dog with more personality that any I've ever met. Pepe was along for the Ride in Joizey.

^Except for a few lurkers, this is the whole crew...notably missing is Brandon Westgate, who took off from the last stop to a Volcom Europe tour. He was with us in spirit. Check out some bigger versions of these photos.

More soon.