If you’ve never heard of Hippie Mike, you probably don’t skateboard.
The dreadlocked skater, whose real name is Mike Faux, is a familiar bearded face in the Lower Mainland skateboarding community, having run Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey – a five-date skateboard contest – over the last 10 years. Now he’s expanding his annual competition to other cities with his first ever Supertour, and one of the stops is Burnaby’s Bonsor Skatepark.
“I always heard a lot of kids talking about the Tour de Surrey and not showing up,” he said. “They wanted to come and knew a lot about it, but it was difficult for them to travel to Surrey.
“I figured if I brought the contests to where the kids are, that’s going to make them feel like it’s less of a nuisance to travel.”
While the Tour de Surrey had five dates, he’s starting the inaugural Supertour with three. The tour kicked off in July at the brand new Cloverdale Youth Park, with Bonsor as the next stop on Aug. 23.
“I’ve run competitions at this skatepark before, but not for at least eight years,” said Faux. “This park’s a really good park all around – it’s attractive to every type of skateboarder, and it’s always busy.”
Faux picked Bonsor for its central location in the Lower Mainland and proximity to the Metrotown SkyTrain station, but also its versatility. There are sections of the park that are suited for all types of skateboarding – street, park and vert – and all skill levels.
The Supertour has categories for beginner, intermediate and advanced skaters, as well as a mini category for youngsters and a girls only contest.
“We try to put all the girls out there together so that they can feed off each other and have a good time,” said Faux. “My wife’s skateboarded for half her life and I think that encourages other young girls to get out there and do it too.”
The reason Faux organizes these contests year after year isn’t just to promote skateboarding in B.C. – it’s to instill confidence in youth that they can carry into other aspects of life like job interviews.
“We want the generations of skateboarders to continue to grow,” he said. “When you’ve got kids in the mini category 10 or under going in front of the crowd, that’s huge for their whole life.
“It’s just a really important part of growth.”
Faux also uses the contests to teach youth about charitable causes by requiring either two food items or a $5 donation for local food banks to gain entry to his contests.
“When I first started Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey, I didn’t want it to be a free event,” he said. “I want kids to feel the value of their entry and respect all the prizing that is being donated. But at the same time, I don’t want their money, so I decided to link to the food bank societies.”
Prizes in all categories include skateboard decks, clothing, hats and shoes, among other items, and if all goes well this year, Faux expects to tour other Lower Mainland communities with the contest series in 2015.
“Once people start coming, they’re just going to keep coming, and it’ll be another decade of awesomeness,” he said with a grin.
Hippie Mike’s Supertour stops at the Bonsor Skatepark on Saturday, Aug. 23 at noon.
