Lodge Guest, Justin Rivera

What is your name ?

Justin Rivera

Where do you live and where are you from ?

Encinitas, CA

What size set up do you currently ride ?

Preferably an 8.25 or an 8.38 sometimes I’ll ride an 8.5 just anything I can get from anyone as long as it fits my 149s haha

Any sponsors ?

Protec, 187, Surf Ride, Alta

Family status ?

Single…slide in the dms ladies haha

School, work, not working or ?

I’m going to Cal State San Marcos and work at the Encinitas YMCA skatepark

How is a great normal day looking for you ?

I’ve been back on my surf grind lately so when I am not working or going to school I’ll wake up early, it’s hard for me to sleep in, get a lil Glade Pro workout in, and then skate and surf!

Tell us how a good long weekend is looking for you

Basically the same as a normal day for me and then kick it homies after the session. I don’t have school or work on the weekends so I’m stoked

How was your year 2017 ?

2017 was definitely a rough start for me haha. It’s a long story so I’m sorry in advance. The first week of February I was going to leave with my homie Karl to go to Australia. We get to the airport and my passport wasn’t scanning so I got sent to special services. The airline agents asked me a bunch of questions and called the immigration offices in Australia. They initially thought it was an issue with my visa saying that I mixed up the day and month, so stupid haha. They continued to ask me questions and if I was going to be doing any skate comps because my name was on the list for Bondi Bowlarama. I tried finessing my way out of it but they said I need a work visa not a tourist visa, which I was able to use last year. Karl flew solo to Oz and I spent the next couple of days trying to figure this dilemma out and how I could expedite this work visa. After spending days trying to figure it out I decided to get a little session with the homies and 30 minutes into the sesh I smack my face skating a ledge and ended up having to get stitches on my eye. Despite the back to back mishaps, the next day I ended up getting an email saying my visa was approved. Finally things were working out haha. I go to Oz for 3 weeks and then come back home in March. The next event was going to be my first Vert Attack. I booked my plane ticket just a couple days after coming back home from Australia and then a week later I was cruising Prince and broke my ankle. When I fell I heard it pop but I didn’t think much because I’ve never had a foot/leg injury. All the homies were there and helped me out. Shout out to Al, Jah, Clay, Shea, Jimmy, Brando, and everyone else that was there and helped me out of the bowl and drove me to the ER! I honestly wasn’t in any pain at all but I definitely couldn’t put any pressure on it. I get to the doctor’s office and was told that it might just be a sprain; I was bummed but stoked because I knew I’d heal quickly. I then get my x-rays back and I ended up breaking both the inside and outside of my ankle, the tib and fib, and was told that I needed surgery ASAP, but since I broke it on a Friday the soonest they could get me in was Monday morning. I asked how long this would take to heal and the doctor told me 6 months to walk and 8 to skate again. I was so fucking bummed. Afterwards my friend Miles told his step dad, who skates too, and he recommended that I go see another doctor, Dr. Carriero. I didn’t like the vibe of the first doctor so I canceled my scheduled surgery on Monday to see my new doctor. The 2nd doctor told me that I’ll definitely need surgery, but since I didn’t tear any ligaments and only broke bones, it’ll take 6-8 weeks to heal and then I could start physical therapy. His positivity helped me a lot through this tough time. I finally had surgery a week later. Then a week later I woke up with a swollen eye, felt like someone punched me in the face haha. I ended up getting an allergic reaction to the tape the doctors put over my eyes after they knocked me out for surgery. 3 trips to the ER in the first 3 months of the year. I was on a lot of medication, it sucked. Towards the end of June I finally was able to start skating again and was able to compete in X-Games just after 2 weeks of learning to skate again. Everything has been uphill from June!

Any new projects you got going you wanna talk about ?

No just trying to learn something new everyday and keep progressing

Do you read books ? if so, what do you read ?

I haven’t read a book in a minute. It’s hard for me to sit down, focus, and read

Who are you hanging out with at the moment ?

It’s so easy to run in to people in San Diego at all the parks. Lately I’ve been on a vert grind so Elliot, Clay, Alex, Shea, Jimmy, and Mitchie. When I’m not getting vertical I’m with my Travis-my bro, Karl, Miles,Trey, and Cory.

Tell us about the great crew you are bringing to the session next time…

All the homies mentioned above and whoever else wants to join haha

Who and what is your motivation at the moment ?

Lately I’ve been skating with people I’ve looked up to since I was a grom. Jimmy, Alex, and Sam have been my favorite for a long time and being able to skate with them on a regular basis is so sick! Clay is always sending it too and definitely motivates me to push myself

What are you planing for 2018 ?

I would like to keep myself busy doing vert, bowl, and mega comps and eventually get into the park contest but those are really hard to get invited to. It’d be sick to get some sponsors to back me and my travels too

What else is going on ?

Not much going on right now, enjoying my time off of school and skating as much as I can. The surf has been good lately too so trying to surf whenever I can

What do you do besides skateboarding ?

Surf every now and then

What is your to go to resturants ?

Encinitas definitely has some of the best places to eat, is hard to choose ha

Whats your top 3 favorite meals ?

California or surf and turf burrito for sure and based on my recent travels, Brazilian food is definitely up there

Whats your top 3 favorite drinks ?

Sweet tea is an all time fav, horchata is up there too, other than that I’m down for whatever

How do you see the future of skateboarding ?

It’s going to be sick for sure! It’s crazy to see countries already getting on that Olympic program. At the Encinitas YMCA, the Chinese skate olympians have been skating there everyday for the last couple weeks. I hope that vert makes a come back too I don’t know why people dog on it so much. Vert is super underrated and watching the bois stack clips at sessions is unreal. Mitchie has done some shit that I can’t even comprehend haha

Do you you have other hobbys besides skateboarding ?

Surfing

Who do we need to interview on the lodge ?

I’m sure its been mentioned before but Alex Perelson. Some people say I look like him haha. Any of the bois mentioned above too

Christmas is here, Do you have any christmas wishes ?

Well I hope I can stay healthy for this upcoming year. Hopefully start placing higher at events too

Tell us a slippery story. Well the beginning of 2017 was pretty slippery haha