Having a vibrant longboard scene and industry is something some of us may take for granted in North America. At the moment we are sitting in the fruits from the labours of those before us who paved the way, allowing our communities to flourish, and an industry to grow. However, in many parts of the world this seed has not exactly sprouted, calling to action those who have the vision and skill set to actively construct a healthy community and thriving industry.
The Malaya Street Bombers (MSB) have taken on this roll in Malaysia and have kicked off a 6 month cross South East Asia tour to begin this snowballing effect on the longboarding community in the area. Jez M Izman, the host of the Street Bombers, took it upon himself to personally fund and host this tour. With over 6 years of savings, he brought down a crew of riders from all over the world to join him for 6 months, traveling Malaysia and the surrounding countries to host longboard clinics, teach board building, host sessions, scout venues for international races, and to spread the positive message about an inclusive longboard community.
Naturally, Concrete Wave and Longboard for Peace jumped on board to support this tour as it coincides with everything we have believed in and worked towards since day one. We are traveling along side this group of motivated individuals for one month of this tour to help with organizing the clinics as well as document whats going on for you thane kittens out there to enjoy.We weren’t the only ones that saw serious merit in this tour, Landyachtz donated 20 completes to make this a reality. These completes will be used in our clinics and may be a god sent to a local kid who cant afford, or simply get his hands on a board as they are extremely hard to get in Malaysia.
Roarockit skateboards is also supporting this tour in a huge way by donating 8 thin air press kits to teach and encourage board building. Boards are so expensive and hard to get
because they are shipped from overseas. By encouraging and teaching board building, we hope to spark the inspiration in some locals to start their own local brands to kick start a micro industry.
On board in this tour is Tim Del traveling from California, Mikey Ortiz from Puerto Rico, and Leunam Leo Segura from New York City.
While we wait for gear to arrive from Canada for the clinics we have been bombing Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia’s capital for late night sessions. These steep and narrow runs meandering through residential KL can only be hit late at night as traffic subsides. Inevitably, our sleep schedule has taken shape to accommodate such a lifestyle where we sleep all day and skate hard all night.
After a week of vampire embodiment without seeing a day of sunlight we flipped our schedule to head up to the jungle to skate one of the worlds oldest rain forests. It is plastered with long winding runs resembling those in California with the added feature of a canopy that can swallow you whole if the wrong line is taken.
After hitting some 3-10km long runs we scouted out a potential track for a major race to bring the elite to this seemingly small peninsula for a race that would challenge the peak and pinnacle of the DH world. On the way up scouting this 10km road, Tim was on the floor crying in joy and anticipation to soon hit the run, as the one-way downhill spilled switchbacks and off camber hairpins one after another. Here is a tease of the recorded track on the Longboard Speedmeter app, stay tuned as an edit just might surface, exposing this behemoth of a run.
With gear still yet to arrive for the clinics, we are taking the time to traveling up north for a week long road trip in and around Malaysia, with some dabbling into Thailand and Singapore. Keep a close leash on this trip, as more will come to expose these shenanigans soon.
Ok, enough reading. Now get up and off your computer and go skate. Story By Joey Bidner