New Capitola Classic

Anyone who read Thrasher in the 80’s should remember references to the Capitola Classic downhill race series. They covered it when it was going, and pined for it when it wasn’t. It seemed there was always a Capitola rumor in On Board Trash. Of course, seeing as how my own front yard ramp got mentioned there once, they pretty much printed anything. Rumors be damned! Former competitor and second place women’s finisher Judi Oyama is doing her best to resurrect the Capitola Classic. She’s in talks with the city to try and bring it back. Not bad for someone who got uninvited to the race for being a chick. Judi has two recent appearances in local news concerning the Capitola Classic and getting the new generation, and especially women involved with their own scene. The poster is Jim Phillips design from the 1980 race and the picture is by Judi’s father. More Capitola links after the jump.

Capitola Classic

I was trying to make a Coke/Classic Coke/New Coke reference in this post title, but then I realized our reading audience would remember less of New Coke than they would the Capitola Classic. Surprisingly, there isn’t a lot of info out there on the web. Most often it’s just a rider profile where someone mentions riding in or winning a Capitola Classic.

Mid County Post: Capitola Classic Once Welcomed Skaters to the City’s Streets
Mid County Post: Judi Oyama Rolls On

CapitolaClassic.com Official web site of the New Capitola Classic, run by Judi Oyama. There are a few other historical images too. Hopefully this site will become an archive for the past as well.

Capitola Classic t-shirt – from Santa Cruz.

Thrasher – The October 1981 has coverage. Large PDF file of the whole magazine.
Thrasher – The October 1981 HTML slide show of the whole magazine.

Flickr photo from same issue.

Capitola Classic Streetstyle

In 1985 they either added or changed the event into a streetsyle contest. In fact, this might be the first official streetstyle contest, although I could be wrong. It’s happened before. There is also an obviously unrelated Capitola Classic volleyball tournament. According to this article, Rich Novak quit organizing the event because volleyball organizers accused the skateboarders of puttin glass in the sand. Part of Judi’s plans for resurrecting the Capitola Classic involve a street course. It would be fun to see an old streetstyle course as opposed to the new fabricated stair, rail and ramp centric courses. You know, a few launch ramps, parking blocks, plywood wall and a beater car. It would be interesting to see how today’s street skaters could rise to the challenge of a low tech course.

Thrasher November 1985 cover with Hosoi at the streetstyle contest. There’s a guy trying to collect all the Thrashers with Capitola Classic coverage.

Video: Mark Gonzales 1985 Capitola Classic run from a thrasher Skate Rock video. I couldn’t find any other video. Hey! that’s the Screamin’ Sirens on stage.