If you were a blader in the early 2000’s, you still remember where you were the first time you saw Rachard Johnson 270 top acid the not-meant-to-skated-rail at the Hoedown. It wasn’t just that it was such a difficult trick, it wasn’t just that it was such a difficult spot to do such a difficult trick, it was the way he dominated that motherfucker like it was a little practice rail. It was when ESPN still showed skate comps on TV and for many of us it was the first time we ever saw this guy shred. VG’s section at the Hoedown ended with Joe Navran plugging his new video featuring this new blader that just blew your mind, promising (and delivering) even more mind blowing skating. If you ask anybody their top sections of all time, chances are this will be near the top of their list, and for good reason.
– Alan Hughes
I got into blading in 2007 with a pair a recreational skates that both had the inner wheels removed so I could work on grinds and stalls since there was actually some room on the outsides to do soul tricks. It wasn’t until a year and one month later that I got my first pair of aggressive skates. Although I wasn’t blading back in the early 2000’s, did atart off blading like all bladers in the 80’s and early 90’s were. Rachard Johnson, in the Fade Nation videos, was the first time I saw him blade. He has some really sick tricks in both of them!
