It’s a warm winter day and sitting across from me is the fastest downhill speedboarder in the world,  Gary Hardwick.
 I take this opportunity to find out how he earned this title, and learn a little more
about the event that is now in the record books.
 

DT: Why don’t you give me a little background on this event ?

 

Gary: Well, back in September of 98 right after the Mammoth race, there were a handful of guys passing
out flyers for A.I.S. (Alternative International Sports based out of Phoenix, AZ). The flyers read world speed record event. It featured Roger Hickey on the cover and events in standup, luge, buttboarding, gravity bikes, and inline skating. It also read invite only. At the time, the list included Roger Hickey (the current official record holder), Biker Sherlock, George Orton (the unofficial record holder), Sean Mallard, and Lee Dansie.
So I called A.I.S. up and requested in invitation since I had just beaten everyone at the Mammoth race.
They agreed and a few weeks later, it was on.

 
DT: Tell me a little bit about the hill and its condition.

 

Gary: This hill was in Fountain Hills, AZ, outside of Scottsdale.  It was like an extreme roller coaster.
It was a very steep straight shot, with no turns. It dropped straight down, leveled out for a quick second,
then dropped down again, and finally went back up.  The hill was far from smooth, with thick thermal cracks,
patches, and manholes from hell. At the top they were building a huge roll in ramp, and at the bottom a
regulation speed trap.  It was just nice to actually compete for it, rather than just going and finding a bigger hill.
 A bunch of guys that I race with have all gone faster than the record, but officially that’s what it is.
And that hill we really couldn’t go much faster.  We each had 2 runs down the roll in ramp, which boosted
everyone’s top speed a few mphs.   My final speed was clocked at 62.55 mph.

The final results were:
1.Gary Hardwick
2.George Orton
3.Sean Mallard
4.Biker Sherlock
5.Lee Dansie
6.Roger Hickey 
 

 

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DT: What kind of wheels and bearings were you using?

 

Gary: Old! At the time I was running Hyper Super Mundos (70mm 78a) which were about one to one and a half
years old; and Bones Swiss bearings that were also one to one and a half years old, some maybe older.
I had already run this same set up for the last eight or nine races, as well as all the hours of practice.  I don’t think
all the tech bearings and lubricants really matter that much.  Most of these guys were on ceramics and kept their
wheels in coolers (this causes them to not grip as much).  I had never cleaned these or done anything special to them.
It’s all about being aerodynamic.   At this time, the Cherry Bombs (82mm 78a) had just came out and Biker, Sean,
and Lee were running these. George and Roger were running the 76mm Labedas.
 

DT: Were you using any aero equipment?

 

Gary: As soon as I started racing with E.D.I. (Extreme Downhill International) I got a Dr. Go Fast helmet made
by Jarret Ewanek.  I had ordered up speed suits for the upcoming Tuscany race, which would have been
an unofficial speed record hill, but it turned out that after the accident that Dave Perry had (the year
previous), they (the city of Lake Elsinore) wouldn’t let us race stand up on that hill again.  So, I now had
two speed suits (incase I fell).   Well George couldn’t get a speed suit, so he called Doc, who told him to call me.
Since George had the unofficial speed record, I loaned him mine.  I figured if I win it, I want to win it fair and square.
 

DT: You want to give any shout outs to your sponsors

Gary: Sure, Terminal Velocity Streetboards, Innes Clothing, Randal Speed Trucks, Adidas Footwear, and Anarchy Eyewear

Thank  you Gary and see you soon at the races...