Dakides Takes Chances, and Gold Medals

Tara Dakides, professional snowboarder, was working Thursday, but that doesn’t mean she got out on the slopes. Instead, she was feeding the publicity machine for the Winter X Games this week at Mt. Snow in Vermont.

Dakides, defending champion in two X Games events and one of the sport’s most exciting female riders, spent the morning in a photo shoot for a sponsor, then moved on to tape television interviews and sign autographs.

Dakides would rather have been riding, she said by cell phone, sitting in a rental car in the parking lot at Mt. Snow. But she wasn’t complaining.

“It’s fun,” said Dakides, 25, who splits time between her mother’s home in Laguna Niguel and her place near Mammoth Mountain. “I meet a lot of interesting people out here and I enjoy how excited people are about snowboarding and how much hype there is. It gets me going and makes me want to either go big for them or slam real hard for them.

“People like watching carnage.”

And Dakides often provides it. She takes risks that others shy away from and occasionally comes in for crash landings. She has had several concussions and plenty of scrapes, but bounces back quickly.

In 1996, she fractured her back attempting a back-flip for the first time. Since then, she has mastered that trick and pulled away from her competitors.

Last year, Dakides won nearly every Big Air and slopestyle event she entered, taking golds in both at the Winter X Games. She was voted the best woman snowboarder of 2000 by several publications.

“Right now she’s far enough ahead of the other girls that they aren’t really competing at the same level,” said Mark Sullivan, editor of Snowboarder magazine. “Her challenge is to keep herself motivated when all of the other riders are a year or two behind.”

Dakides said self-motivation will never be a problem.

“I don’t see that I would ever stop pushing myself,” she said, “even if I didn’t have any competition. But I do have competition and there’s more coming up real quick. I was on the slopestyle course yesterday and there were a lot of girls ripping.”

The Winter X Games will be telecast today through Tuesday on Channel 7, ESPN and ESPN2.

VERMONT BLUES

Cara-Beth Burnside, who grew up in Orange, is also at Mt. Snow for the X Games, but she won’t be lingering there.

“Vermont is not my favorite place,” Burnside said. “Maybe if it was at Mammoth or Big Bear I’d stay longer, but I’m just getting in and out as fast as possible.”

It’s not that she doesn’t like Mt. Snow, Burnside said, it’s the cold, icy conditions and the hoopla that ensues when the X Games machinery and fans invade a small ski resort she would rather avoid. Mt. Snow hosted the event last year also.

“There are so many people,” Burnside said. “It’s kind of overwhelming. I’m like, ‘I’ve got to get out of here. Get in, get out, no one gets hurt.’ ”

Burnside is competing in the Superpipe Saturday and has a plane ticket to leave that night. It’s all part of Burnside’s insistence on keeping fun in her job. That wouldn’t seem difficult considering she’s paid a nice salary to snowboard and skateboard--Vans sells her signature shoe, the Cara Beth III--all over the world.

However, Burnside said, now that snowboarding is an Olympic sport--she finished fourth in the halfpipe in the inaugural Olympic snowboarding competition in 1998--pressure is mounting on boarders to behave and train more like traditional athletes. Burnside said she will try to make the U.S. team in 2002 but isn’t fixated on the quest.

“The Olympics would be great to win,” she said, “but I’m not in training with my every breath focused on the Olympics because I think that would be pressure that’s probably not good for me.”

YOUNG CHAMPION

Taking advantage of his home-park knowledge, Anaheim’s Austen Seaholm won the street event at the Vans World Amateur Skateboarding Championships Saturday at the Vans Skatepark in Orange.

Seaholm, a 14-year-old who skates at the indoor skatepark almost every day, won with a nearly perfect performance on the last one-minute run of the event, edging out Patrick Melcher of Chicago.

Seaholm started his winning routine with a trick he had never landed in competition, a “kick-flip indy grab over the funbox.” Describing it requires a deep breath. Basically, while launching himself up a ramp and over an obstacle, he flipped his board with his feet up into his right hand and threw it back down in time to land on it.

“It was so crazy,” Seaholm said. “I was just hoping I would land on the board. After I did that, I knew I had the contest.”

He also won over the crowd of several hundred and his competitors, who swarmed him after he completed the run without falling.

Seaholm now must decide whether to accept the first-prize award--a one-year professional contract with Vans--but he’s leaning against it. “I’m not going to,” Seaholm said this week. “I don’t want to be a pro yet. I’d rather be an am for a couple more years and some of my bigger sponsors think I should wait.”

The contract Vans is offering isn’t that lucrative. It would pay Seaholm’s way to national and international professional events and a $300-$400 monthly stipend. The contract is meant to help a skater gain exposure and competitive experience, not be his main means of income, said Steve Van Doren, Vans vice president of promotions and events.

Brent Kronmueller, a pro street skater who judged Saturday’s contest, said Seaholm would be wise to delay turning pro. Kronmueller won the Vans World Championship event in 1996 when he was 23 and turned pro, but said it took about three years to adjust.

“Personally, I think he’s got a few more years to wait,” Kronmueller said. “He could win a bunch more amateur contests and get his name really blown up.”

RIDE ON

One of Southern California’s favorite cycling events, the Rosarito-Ensenada 50-Mile Fun Bicycle Ride, has been saved and will have its 15th annual spring running on April 21.

Last year, the event’s owner decided to call it quits after “The Last Ride” in September, but he reached a deal with a new operator.

That means the semiannual ride between the Baja California towns that draws 10,000 cyclists--from serious to stop-at-every-bar crazy--lives on. The fall event is scheduled for Sept. 29.

Entry forms for the April ride should hit local bicycle shops in the next couple of weeks. Call (619) 583-3001 or click on https://www.rosaritoensenada.com for details.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS BICYCLING

Feb. 18

* 2001 Ride to Remember offers a U.S. Cycling Federation criterium, a ride-a-thon around an 8.5-mile course at the former El Toro Marine base, a cyclocross competition and a safety rodeo for children 12 and under. Proceeds benefit Project 999, which supports families of peace officers injured or killed in the line of duty in Orange County. Details: (714) 647-4133.

March 17

* The Warrior’s Society Mountain Bike Pow Wow features three tough rides in the Santa Ana Mountains. The Vision Quest, recommended for experts only, is 52.5 miles with 11,500 feet of total elevation gain and two miles of hike a bike. The Counting Coup, for intermediate to expert riders, is 40 miles with 8,000 feet of gain and the Seek the Peak, for novice to intermediate riders, is 24 miles with 5,000 feet gain. Details: (714) 894-8211 or https://www.warriorssociety.org

Saturdays

* Orange Coast Velo cycling club meets at Worthy Park, located at 17th and Main Street in Huntington Beach. Rides vary from 25 to 50-plus miles and begin at 7:30 a.m. with periodic regrouping and rest stops. After-ride socializing at Noah’s Bagels on Main Street. For information call Jerry, (714) 960-4214 or Peter (714) 848-7618.

* Orange County Wheelmen training, 8 a.m., Food Park, MacArthur and Main, Irvine. Beginner and intermediate training group will ride and stay as a group. Informal lectures will cover stretching, nutrition and hill climbing. Led by Fred and Peg Bauer, (714) 997-0892.

* Bicycle Club of Irvine rides, 9 a.m., meet at Deerfield Park, Irvine. Three routes, 10-15, 15-25 and 25-35 miles, each with a stop midway for breakfast. Rides finish at about 11:30 a.m. Ride leaders Scott and Sandy Angle, (714) 960-4068.

* Velo Allegro Cycling Club meets at 8 a.m. at Long Beach Marina off Second Street for 24-mile ride at 14- to 18-mph pace. Those with paceline experience meet at 7:30 a.m. for warmup and speed training of up to 50 miles. Details: Julio, (562) 988-8117.

RUNNING

Feb. 10

* The Great American Adventure Run offers 4.8- and 2.8-mile cross-country courses at Huntington Beach Central Park, West. Details: (714) 841-5417 or https://www.nealand.com/finishline

Feb. 18

* Brea 8K Classic benefits Brea Olinda High School clubs and organizations. Course with some rolling hills starts and finishes at Brea Mall. Details: (800) 344-5333 or https://www.brea8k.org

Feb. 24

* Race on the Base 10K and 5K runs at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base. Course includes time on the runways at the base. Proceeds will benefit U.S. Water Polo’s National Aquatic Center at the base. Details: (562) 430-1073.

March 10

* March Mayhem 5K at Concordia University in Irvine. Benefits Kids Cancer Connection and the university’s cross-country and track and field teams. Details: (949) 854-8002, ext. 1845

March 11

* Spirit Run starts at Fashion Island in Newport Beach and features a 5K and 10K run. Proceeds benefit several Newport Beach elementary schools. Details: (949) 451-4568 or https://www.kinaneevents.com

VOLLEYBALL

Ongoing

* U.S. Youth Volleyball League has begun registration for play that starts in March in Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel. The USYVL offers instructional leagues for children 8 to 14. The cost is $90. Details: (888) 988-7985.