I started skateboarding in 1974. I was athletic and was a natural on the board from day one. It was a new sport around town and hanging out with other skaters was a big deal. Skateboards Etcetera was a local Skate shop and that’s where I met John O’Shea and his Brothers. We looked high and low for skate-able terrain, loading docks, freeway ramps, parking lots, and drainage ditches, plywood leaned up against garbage can was fair game. The best prize of all, BACKYARD EMPTY POOLS. By 1977 I was pro and of course that means nothing, but I was traveling and having a lot of fun. It’s 2017 and I am still traveling, having lots of fun .Throughout the years my friends I have met skateboarding have remained my closest friends. The N-MEN started in 1975 and for 42 years a small group of us have kept this Nor Cal friendship alive… And it’s become so much more.
My name is Randy Katen.