Chad DeGroot has always been one of my favorite riders.

He initially made a name for himself with a unique flatland style, inventing many innovative and original tricks, but he's got no shortage of skills when it comes to street and ramp riding, as well. There's probably not another rider that can match Chad's all-around abilities, and there may never be.

He may be even more notorious for his antics with the Baco Designs crew. Chad's always down for an interesting adventure, and that spirit, paired with his riding, has taken him around the world and into countless crazy situations most of us can only imagine. With experience like that, Chad definitely knows what gets under his skin, so I decided to find out what really pisses him off.

What pisses you off about traveling?
Getting to the airport late and going through all the hassles of checking your bike in. When you're checking in and they look at you like you've never flown before and you don't know what you're doing. That's seriously annoying, and you can't say anything at an airline, because they can just say, "See you later, and kick you off. Running out of gas or having your friends run out of gas. I can't stand that. When you don't have any money in your wallet and you don't know the PIN number to your ATM card. That was awful. Being sick when you travel. When nothing goes right. One time I got two flat tires on my car, and I was by myself and had no money. There's too much stuff that can go bad when you're traveling.

What pisses you off about contests?
I don't think too much does. I think I've only been pissed off once or twice, when I felt like I was judged wrong or whatever. For the most part, I don't get mad at contests except at security guards that don't treat you with respect. The reason they're having the big contests is (because you) get them ratings, so if they don't go out of their way a little bit to help you out, that kind of bums me out. But I don't think there's too much about contests…I think they're pretty fun.

What pisses you off about flatland?
Plenty. I think almost everything (laughter), but that's just the way it goes. There are so many flatland excuses…the reason you can't do this or that or things don't go right or this is that way. They've been around since the beginning. Sometimes I don't like the way it's going or who's in it, but I've got the friends I have, and I'm pretty content with that.

What pisses you off about the industry?
When the industry takes a turn economy-wise, that bums me out. When I get to an all-time low…I don't want to put forth crazy effort doing things I'm really not into or don't want to do to make ends meet. The industry is just the industry, it's always changing, there's always static.

What kind of things have you had to do to make ends meet?
Doing shows that I really don't support. I'm doing some shows right now where I'm not fully for them, but I'm glad to get on my bike and do what I do, and have friends come by and laugh with me. It's funny; I want to see what happens next.

How can kids that come to your park (Mission skatepark in Longwood, Florida) piss you off?
They can litter, wreck stuff, put their heads through the drywall—I caught a kid doing that once, with a helmet on. Or purposely do something that they know is wrong. I've got one rule: wear a helmet. I seriously get so mad if someone's not wearing a helmet; that's my pet peeve at my park. It's so simple, just be nice and do your stuff, don't steal from the kids. I've had people come and steal out of other kids' bags. Just be nice and treat the kids with respect.

What makes you happy?
Good sessions, good people to ride with, just a positive vibe. People who like to talk positive and have a good time. Or people who are up for anything and aren't like, "Oh, I don't know, man… I don't want to hear, "I don't know. Just accept it and make the best of the situation. Unexpected stuff…stuff that just pops up, that's the greatest.

What kind of stuff do you have planned for this year?
It's a crazy year with travel and everything. My partner is leaving for three months over the summer, and both my employees are probably leaving, so it's going to be a little rough. Roots is coming up…my plans are to just keep everything going just as strong as I can. I want to keep changing the park, drain my pool, whatever it takes to keep stuff going. We've got the Baco tour coming up, we're making an effort to get all our friends together, and those are the best times.

12 Things that Piss Chad Off (in no particular order):
1. Running out of gas
2. Automated answering systems
3. Airlines
4. Any kind of traffic
5. Being sick
6. Hearing the word "no
7. Waiting in line
8. No food in the morning
9. Flat tires
10. Getting sued
11. Getting ignored off teams — when they don't tell you you're fired, and they don't care about you. They don't return your calls, and you can't get in touch with them. It happens to way more people than you think.
12. My friends getting choked

Comment on This Article At 8:11 PM, 2008-01-22, wes said: you suck,showers at lawrence u 3am, PBRS and JAMESON, CHADWICKS Flag this comment as offensive   1000001334 At 8:08 PM, 2008-01-22, wes said: you suck,showers at lawrence u 3am Flag this comment as offensive   1000001333 At 12:06 PM, 2008-03-07, sivam said: howd did u learn how to ride bmx Flag this comment as offensive   95840 At 6:37 PM, 2008-01-07, jon said: hey chad your awsome i ride bmx aswell Flag this comment as offensive   11951 Your Name: Your Comments: Please keep comments focused on the subject (and profanity-free) or we may delete your post. Do not enter more than 10 lines. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us.

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