John Florence, Private Mini-ramp in Torquay, VIC

Hawaiian John Florence ain’t just a skilled tube-packer, progressive aerialist and beyond-his-years rail surfer. He’s also an avid skater. Kid’s got tranny (transition) steeze for days. John’s presence at Bells for the Rip Curl Pro was a hard one to ignore – he lit up in every heat until he fell 0.03 points behind the other J-Flo, Jeremy Flores, in their round five match. What y’didn’t see on the webcast was John sneaking off to go blaze a private mini-ramp in Torquay. “Yes, he skates in between his heats,” says filmer/photog and charming ginger, Blake Kueny. “The guys at Strapper surf shop were kind enough to give us the keys and shred the thing for a few hours to ourselves. Nice guys. John and I always seem to find a place to skate on the road and always travel with our boards. He says it’s the best way to keep surfing fresh and keep his body loose. It’s rad to see that he’s not playing tennis in between heats.” Kiddies – take note.