The Basics
Name: Percy Marshall IV
Age: 22
Sex: Male
Location: Millwoods, Edmonton, Alberta Canada
Riding
When did you start riding?
I started riding flatland in 1999, before that I was just doing backyard jumps.
How often do you ride?
I try for every day, but now that I´m in school, probably once every second day, or even once a week if I got lots of homework
Do you ride contests?
Yes, my biggest success was 3rd in Toronto, Canada at FU3 contest in am.
Where do you ride?
I ride at a big bus terminal about 8 minute drive from my home, and in winter, I ride at a hockey rink indoors in the corner near the ice. I also ride in parkades during winter. When I´m bored in summer, I ride at the Millwoods tennis courts in the skatepark. In summer I ride in my friends spots with them about once a week we jam together.
Can you tell us a bit about the riding scene in your town?
Riding flatland has blown up in Edmonton since last couple of years. I´ve seen a ton of old riders retire, and new riders quit; but there are new flatlanders that are really pushing forward quickley like Thomas Okamura. Other Edmonton riders are just getting really good faster than I have ever seen them progress. Last few years have been exciting in the way of flatland tricks from everyone in Edmonton. Presently we have about 5 really dedicated riders who are really striving forward. But lots more are entering the scene with great outlook.
Imagine you could make a flatland world tour, which 5 places would you like to visit for riding and why?
I´d like to see the coasts of the US, east and west. I´d also like to see Japan, because their flatland is awesome. Hungary interests me alot in flatland. And finally, I´d like to go anywhere their is a big international flatland contest, just to see the riders in person, and learn from that.
Is there a goal you would like to reach concerning your riding?
I´d really like to be able to continue exactly what I´ve been doing; being motivated to ride when I´m alone. But also I want to be able to do more variety tricks, and create some tricks that are different as well. Like back wheel links that involve pivoting, spinning, and jumping. I never really desire to turn pro, because I have what I want already riding for myself, but it would always be nice to be able to attend more big contests that are right now out of my reach due to distance.
Which trick/combo do you work on at the moment?
I´m always working on blenders. The day I learn that I cannot tell you how happy I will be. But aside from that, I´m trying to learn some nice flowing jumps that use alot of momentum cuz right now I seem to be on to something with that; and I usually follow my riding till it gets me into some new trick.
General stuff
What kind of music do you like? Tell us your 3 favourite songs.
I like rap without words, so hip-hop´ish kindof like melodic and instrumentals, I also like any music that builds up and climaxes. I have so many so I´ll just quickley run through and pick my 3 favorite songs are:
"The World Is Mine" by David Guetta
"Born Slippy" by Nuxx
"Party All The Time" by Sharam
Tell us 3 things you like and 3 things you don’t like.
Making people laugh
The movie: "The Basketball Diaries"
Reading books about different situations/environments like war, drugs, crime, etc.
Opening peoples minds
I don´t like:
Alchoholic beverages, smoking, doing drugs, tea, coffee, caffeine, Mike Tyson, competition among peers. I don´t mind competing with myself though.
What is your job / what do you study?
I go to college at NAIT for Mechanical Engineering Technology program, so I study engineering. I don´t have a job right now cuz of school.
What are your hobbies besides flatland and do they influence your way of riding? (for example music you listen to, another sport you make or whatever)
I love playing hockey, ice hockey and roller hockey, my teams always have the most fun and do very well in the league. It helps me keep in shape. I like studying about time travel, and theoretical physics and have done many speaches in my school program about the subjects. I also really enjoy psychology because I am very lucky today to be well, due to earlier life complications from chemicals being in lesser amount than adequate in my brain. Serotonin. I also like exploring underground mines and abandoned buildings. I have sold my knowledge of online video game hacking on ebay. I am known as a Haxer(hacking). I am very good at math and numeral systems. I knew hexidecimal, octal, decimal, binary, and many other numeral systems, and computer programming when I was in preschool. I studied the number pie for some time and had 360 000 digits of it covering the walls of my bedroom, as I was supposed to memorize all of it, but the project failed.
Bike Check:
FLy Simple frame, black, 18.8" Top Tube, spanish bb, integrated fsa impact headset, fly bb, 14mm dropouts (grinded)
Odyssey Hazard front hub 14mm, black
Bizhouse escalator pegs, 14mm, 2" Diameter, blue, green
Primo forged spokes, 4 cross, red on front, white on back.
Nankai Bamboo freecoaster 14mm, 9 tooth 1 piece driver, black
Odyssey 7KA rims
KHE 1.85" premium tires
Fly Suelo Cranks, black
Fly Suelo 23 tooth sprocket, white powder coated
KMC Superlight Kool hollow pin chain, chrome
KHE Stimulator pedals, ball bearing
Odyssey Pro Flatland Fork, black, zero offset, 14mm
Hockey Tape tapered grips (right), and Bizhouse Gym Grips combonation, black, blue (left)
RNC Titanium Bar-ends
Odyssey Bar Mitzvah bars, black
Primo Hemorrhoid seat, black
Thomson Elite seatpost, black
Odyssey Mr. Clampy seatpost clamp, black
Brickhouse stem, black, original version
Revenge Industries front brake, black
Odyssey Slic front brake cable
Dia-Compe Tech-77 front brake lever
Odyssey Monolever, black, medium, left
Kool Stop Eagle Claw 2 front brake pads
Last words:
I would like to thank Lachlan Cameron for pushing flatland. I also thank everyone who ever told me that my tricks were cool. Even though I thought for sure I was done my flatland career when I got injured, here I am; so flatland is as addictive as a drug, it keeps pulling you back. Try to leave, and your back. Learn from it, patience, style, confidence, the impossible is possible, amaze people who don´t believe. Fly like Peter Pan. Thanks everyone, thanks for this interview. I want to ride better always, and every day I keep that to myself as a promise that I try to fulfill as best I can. At the very least, I hope you can laugh when you see me ride flatland. I´ll never give up.