While Greyson Fletcher is mostly known for his ability to navigate vertical concrete surfaces, he’s quite talented outside the bowl as well. A plank of wood attached to four wheels and some metal is all he needs, no matter the setting. He’s the ultimate improvisational talent in a way, which is one of the many reasons why we love having him as part of the 805 Authentico family.
As the dog days of summer start to set in, there’s not much we want to do other than grab our boards and leisurely cruise around to look for spots. Lacking any sense of direction, though, we thought it’d be good to call up Greyson and hear what bits of asphalt and street made him the phenomenal skater he is today and in turn, uncover the best spots for street skating in all of San Clemente.
Think of this as a source of knowledge for your next session of skate bar trivia (it’s a thing), a guide on where to skate next time you find yourself in San Clemente, or simply a reason to pick up your board and find the nearest curb.
Greyson was, of course, more than happy to chat. He started off with a quick update on what he’s been getting into lately. “I’ve been surfing Lowers a lot lately,” he told us. “South swells just started to come in. So that’s really nice!”
“I’m doing some art for my new graphics coming out with Arbor Skateboards,” he explained. “Pretty stoked on that.”
What else? “And always on the video games,” he laughed. “PC of course! Also, it’s a nice reason to crack a few cold 805s, hah! Beer pizza and video games always go great together!”
Then it’s time to talk business. “The top five places to skate in San Clemente, not including skateparks?” he asked. “We don’t have the best spots ever… But you can have fun anywhere on a skateboard!”
“There’s a Jersey barrier I like to skate in San Clemente,” he followed up. “Thanks to Rhino (Greyson’s team manager at Independent, Chris Rooner) and crew for hooking that one up!” Oh, and, for those that are out of the loop, a Jersey barrier is the proper name for those concrete barricades you see dividing traffic on most major highways. The more you know!
“There’s another Jersey barrier in town, but whoever built that one didn’t do the best job and the ground is rough asphalt so it’s hard to skate which makes it also fun!” he continued. “So thank you to whoever you are also!”
“There’s also a red slappy curb in the Walmart parking lot with an island sidewalk manual pad. Thanks, Walmart!”
Bombing T-Street hill is one of Greyson’s favorite pastimes, as well. “I like to Ollie the pedestrian crossing at the bottom of the hill,” he pointed out. “I used to go there all the time at night when I was younger and do it. It’s right at the beach so it’s not hot and I always run into people I know, so that’s fun.”
“Last time I smashed my head in front of a bunch of people,” he warned. “I ran over a bump that alerts cars, it sucked! I tried to go in between them and ended up sliding a tiny bit before. I made it through the ones I wanted but I got stuck going straight into the next ones and had to just try and smash through it. And it happened too fast to ollie.”
And his final favorite? “The handrail with skate stoppers at our local high school,” he finished. “Lots of heavy tricks have gone down on it from young kids around town to local legends to pros. Thank you, education! Kids have to learn but it’s also important to have fun, hah!”
So, there you have it: handrails, hills, and jersey barriers. Thank you to Rhino, every mega-mall parking lot, and San Clemente High School for your contributions. Because of you, our beloved Greyson has had a place to practice skating over all these years. And we have somewhere to go to next time we’re between Camp Pendleton and Dana Point with time on our hands and a board under our feet.