I had the pleasure of speaking to one of my favourite skate couples – Paula and Nacho. They were instrumental in the massive stoke generating event – ”La Muela freeride”. Read on to hear their highlights and how they battled their worst nightmare!

It’s good to talk to you guys again! How have you been?
Paula&Nacho: Happy, as always!!!

You had a good weekend?
Paula&Nacho: It has been a weekend full of experiences. We shared it with old friends and made new ones. Two days of complete stoke. La Muela Freeride definitely will remain in our memories for a long time.

How long did it take you to plan this event?
Paula: Not as much as we would have liked. Some time ago LONGBOARD ZARAGOZA started to think that maybe it was a good idea to talk with the City Hall of La Muela to try to normalize the use of the spot for longboard events. Each time we went to the spot we had  more riders. When we knew Longboard Girls Crew had chosen Zaragoza for their meeting, I became very excited. Many girls were joining the meeting and I thought it was the moment to talk with Zaragoza’s longboard family about what to do.

Nacho: The real time to prepare all the stuff has been like 27 days.

What did you expect for this event?
Paula: That everyone to spent a good time. We had previously estimated the number of riders that can fit the spot with the logistics and abilities we could afford. We thought of about 100-120 participants and finally we had 115!

Nacho: I obviously expected everyone to have a great day and I think this objective was accomplished. I was worried about the public. During the event we have offered the possibility to try a longboard for the first time to them. I didn’t think many people would try it but they did and that made me very happy.

The public participated?
Paula: One of the things we talked with the City Hall was that we wanted to make an event in which the townfolks could take part. We chose an area of the spot for this where we had many boards and protective wear and one or two volunteers that changed every hour to teach them. Jose Antonio Caribbean spent most part of day giving master classes and oldschool trick tips.

Nacho: I spent one hour as volunteer in this area and had a great time teaching three kids of the town. It was great to see the smile on their faces.

How hard was it to get the road closed?
Paula&Nacho: The City Hall was always interested and enthusiastic about the idea. They’ve been very attentive and kind. They asked us to fulfil the necessary formalities which takes time so we couldn’t make the event public until the last moment.

What was the purpose of this meeting?
Paula: The purpose of LGC meeting was to gather girls from all over Spain in one same place, spend a weekend together getting to know each other and SKATING together! The purpose of Longboard Zaragoza was to welcome everyone in the only way we know – sharing the STOKE!

What is this spot like?
Paula: It’s a great spot because it fits every rider. Everyone can have fun there.

Nacho: I love this spot, the sunsets are amazing and it looks like a Wild West movie location. It has 9 curves and one of the longest straight roads I’ve ever skated. It’s great because you have two clearly differentiated areas. One for the most demanding riders and the  other for all the levels. I think this fact contributed to the general stoke. Everyone could skate regardless of their level. It’s a very nice spot to get introduced into downhill.

How Gnarly is the pro side? 
Nacho: it’s a very fun spot, nearly all the curves are banked and there are two linked curves in one of the fastests points. I also liked that you never ride the same spot. It’s located in a place where wind blows crazy, so depending on the day you get faster in one curve or another. The top speed for the moment has been achieved by our He-Man rider Jose Alcolea, 70km/h. On saturday he and Cesar “Seki” were riding very very fast. Surely they’ve passed the top speed but we can’t prove it.

Paula: I love carving it when the wind blows against me.

What was the hardest thing about planning this event?
Paula&Nacho: Definitely the lack of time. We’ve organized it in a record time. We always had the support of LGC, The City Hall and all the hard work of LONGBOARD ZARAGOZA CREW.

What did you plan for the 3 days?
Paula&Nacho: We only planned Saturday’s freeride. LGC did an amazing party for everyone on Saturday night at their camping spot. It was the best ending for a great day. On Sunday Girls met at La Expo to chat, skate and close an amazing weekend.

Sadly we missed most of Sunday activities because we had to end what we started. We had to collect the last “New Jerseys” we left in La Muela.

What’s a new jersey?
Paula: Hahahahah NewJerseys are our worst nightmare.

Roller bladers?
Nacho: Hahahhaha no
New Jerseys are the red and white things we used to protect the curves. We’ve had to place more than 150 of them over the road and remove them at the end of the day. It was very exhausting.

Where did all the people come from?
Paula&Nacho: People came from all around Spain and we love seeing Jesper from Stockholm.

Sanchez!! Lucky puto
Nacho: He was so stoked. On friday he came with Mónica, Jacky and Chus to help us with the protections of the curves and he was like a japanese tourist, filming and taking photos of everything.

JESPER RULES!!!

He is pretty damn awesome. Did anyone come from further than Sweden?
Paula&Nacho: Can’t really say. Our crew is already very international, we have Chileans, Argentines, Polish, French…

What was the highlight of the weekend for you?
Paula: The faces of the girls when they arrived and saw the spot. Eyes wide open and a huge smile on their faces.

Nacho: For me it’s really difficult to highlight just one thing. Crazy rides, war stories in the lift, girls riding hard, the ambulance healing bacons, slides, slalom, kids learning to longboard, music, testing boards, curve commissioners telling jokes through the walkie talkies, overtakings, new friends… This is for me what La Muela Freeride has been, a cluster of sensations.

I loved the poster by the way! Who was the genius behind it?
Nacho: Thanks!!! It was me.

I am a fan! One day will you draw something for us too?
Nacho: Surely, I’d love to.

Is La Muela a future location for an IGSA event?
Paula&Nacho: Don’t think so, it’s a bit short for an IGSA location but we’ll love it.

Any shout outs/thank yous?
Paula&Nacho: Of course, we will like to thank LGC for choosing Zaragoza for their meeting and for their unconditional support. Without their help and their presence this couldn’t have happened. Thanks to Inma from the City Hall of La Muela for being so attentive and showing so much interest in our proposals. See you at the Longboard exhibition of the local parties. Thanks to all the sponsors for their support. Special thanks to all the people who offered one hour of their time to help us as volunteers, you’ve been an essential part of this event. And finally thanks to all the family from LONGBOARD ZARAGOZA, we’ve all worked and carry New Jerseys together to make this possible.

Thank you again for your time! See you guys very soon.
Paula&Nacho: It has been a pleasure!! Hope to see you during your visit to Madrid, we’ll do our best to be there.