Recently we, the Team Managers at Shred Ready, were pleased to be interviewed by one of our team member/mates, John Grace. It was one of the higher points of our careers so we felt like sharing with everyone.

1)

Grace - What is your management experience with athletics? Specifically state
your previous experiences.


SR - We were the team managers for the Dallas Cowboys back in '78. That
was the year they won their second superbowl title. It was back when
we were young and inexperienced. Since then we moved on to more
sophisticated team management such as the 2003 US surf kayak team
where we placed 7th, that's right, 7th place, at the world
championships. Ah, the glory days.

2)

Grace - What kind of competitive background do you have outside of kayaking.


SR - Our primary competitive background is in tandem pinball. Sometimes
we'd switch positions in mid play just to intimidate the opposition.
We don't play anymore, but man we were awesome in our prime.

3)

Grace - Please state your skill level on the river.


SR - We're like a solid level 5, meaning the following:
demonstrate 5 types of mounts
ride backward in a circle
ride one footed in a figure eight
idle one footed with the left foot 25 times
idle one footed with the right foot 25 times
ride with seat out in front in a circle
ride with the seat out in back in a circle
ride with the seat on the side in a circle
hop-twist 90 degrees to the left
hop-twist 90 degrees to the right
walk the wheel for 10 meters
This is pretty good considering we've been paddling for around twelve
years. But there's always room for improvement.

4)

Grace - Please list your expeditionary kayaking leadership experience and
describe to me in detail how you arranged for transport, assembled and
maintained a positive team, hired translators and guides, timing weather
windows, established a budget.. etc.


SR - We got the first descent on the Atlantic Ocean back in aught 3. We
arrived at the ocean by courier pigeon. We do not recommend travel by
pigeon. Every time that thing takes an in-flight dump it nearly
vibrates you off the saddle. Luckily we both speak fluent pigeon so
we didn't need a translator and the pigeon somehow knew exactly how to
get to the ocean so it served as our guide. The weather window on
that pigeon kept getting smeared with bugs so we just rolled that
thing down and said the heck with it. We haven't really worried about
a budget. Shred Ready just sends us a stack of hundred dollar bills
every month and we spend it as we see fit.

5)

Grace - Describe to me your real world experience with helmets outside of
kayaking. Include other sports you have participated in using helmets and
whether the helmet you wore at the time was of benefit.


SR - Yes, out in the real world helmets are much more necessary than most
people think. Like in the supermarket, the bank, bed bath and beyond,
the book store. Thanks to helmets we've had numerous successfull
trips to the mall this year. Helmets also came in real handy recently
in our synchronized swimming routine down at the YMCA. We went for
the old double dog paddle in a circle combo to float on your back and
spit water in the air trick. It's a hard move and we both hit our
heads on the bottom of the pool during the transition. Lucky for us,
you guessed it, helmets.

6)

Grace - What is your plan to increase the SR bottom line as it pertains to
establishing SR in other markets (ie please explain your wakeboarding,
skiing/snowboarding experience and contacts.


SR - Four words. Buy low, sell high. If that doesn't say enough then how
about these words. Wall Street Journal, New York City, Stocks and
Bonds, Business Savvy, Company Credit Card, Stock Market, Dow Jones,
Nasdaq. There's more where that came from.


Come back to the SR Blog soon to see a full spring/summer report on our talented whitewater team.