Tuesday, August 22

Haight Misbehavin': A Day with Chad Fernandez

By Drew Stepek
08.22.00

When EXPN showed up at street skater Chad Fernandez's hotel at 9 in the morning, he was less than happy about getting up. It wasn't that Huntington Beach-based athlete was being a slacker-he had suffered quite a few injuries over the course of the X Games. One of which, for instance, was a neck injury that he got falling onto a steel rail on the park course. When we went back at 11, however, he was ready to roll and was hungry as hell.

"I know a place up in the Haight," he told us. So, following his lead, we jumped in a cab and after stopping by his friend's house-the friend, in this case, was Danny Gonzalez-we roamed up and down Haight Street looking for Chad's restaurant. He promised great burritos. He promised fresh-squeezed orange juice. Other than that, he only remembered hardwood floors. Even in his famished-state, Fernandez still had time to stop and air guitar with a local street musician. When we finally found the place, Chad was right on all counts and boy did that OJ look tasty.

During our hilarious lunch, Chad gave us a glimpse into the eyes of a pro skater and we had a great conversation about classic skaters such as his hero, Christian Hosoi and the skater who discovered him and got him sponsored by Powell a few years back, Lance Mountain. After the 23 year-old skater was done eating, he shared a trick that his girlfriend had taught him. Halfway through his veggie burrito, he spit all over his plate so that he wouldn't be tempted to eat any more. Of all the tricks that Chad has pulled on and off the pro tour, I'd say this was one of the most impressive and hysterical.

"Let's go f*uck around," he said as he let out us out into the former deadhead haven. Definitely one of the most outstanding personalities on the pro tour, Chad tried on silly outfits in a trendy secondhand store called Wasteland. He defied the law by entering a store called Kids Only and he even stopped to sign an autograph for a young protégé.

"Why is there so much hate in the Haight?" he asked as he pointed out a Gap on the corner of Haight and Ashbury. He was referring to the fact that none of the fashionable stores would let us film him being Chad Fernandez. However, a few stores let us film and before he was whisked away to shoot a skate video, we got quite a few photos of him goofing around on his day off.