CincyWake

I first met Ryan at WakeNation a few weeks ago. He was riding the cable and was doing huge air tricks in front of the dock. Everyone waited for him to come around each time in hopes of seeing a huge S-Bend or Vulcan. You could just sit and watch their heads, as if they were watching a Nascar race and there was a wreck in turn 4 each lap.

Ryan (far right) with Jimmy LaRiche and Nick Davies

The following week we were trying to decide on who would be a good person to choose for our first rider of the month section. We threw a few ideas around on whether it should be a vote system or just random selection. Before we had to draw straws and decide we received a nomination for Ryan. Being a local guy ripping it up at the park we couldn’t think of a better person.

With the inaugural Rider of the Month selected we needed to sit down and get to know him a little bit. The following is pulled from a casual conversation I had with Ryan before I knew he was June’s Rider and a interview where I had him answer a few questions.

CW: What is your full name?
RG: Ryan Gregory Gillen

CW: How old are you?
RG: 19 years old

CW: Where is your hometown?
RG: Miamisburg, Ohio

CW: Are you going to school?
RG: I go to Eckerd in St. Pete, Florida

CW: Where is your home lake?
RG: I have a houseboat on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky and I work at WakeNation in Fairfield

CW: How long have you been wakeboarding?
RG: 11 months and been riding cable for about 6 months

CW: How did you start wakeboarding?
RG: I was down on Lake Cumberland and Aaron Hilard was out riding, he let me try it and I was instantly hooked.

CW: What other places have you been wakeboarding?
RG: McCormick Cable park (Tampa) OWC, Fort Myers Cable, and Lake Tarpon (FL)

CW: Where is your favorite place to ride?
RG:Boat-Lake Cumberland Cable-Wake Nation

CW: What do you do when your not wakeboarding?
RG: I like to play golf and basketball and anything active.

CW: Who do you usually ride with?
RG: Freddie Bulger, my twin brother Kyle Gillen, The Wake Nation Crew – Best Guys Ever. In Florida I ride with Leah Gibney, Jon Dickey and Andrew Proses

CW: What is your favorite trick?
RG: Air Trick on the cable – A Vulcan with an indy grab and on a Kicker – DUM DUM

CW: Who is your favorite wakeboarder to watch?
RG: Tom Fooshee, Andrew Adkison

CW: Who is your favorite person to ride with?-
RG: Freddie Bulger in Ohio and Leah Gibney in Florida

CW: Have you ever ridden in a contest? How did you do?
RG:I have done one tournament – Ski McCormick Cable Tournament – I did really well, with two stand up runs. I ended up being first qualifier, but got 2nd place in the finals. Overall I was very happy with my performance. My nerves were definitely racing going into that first run.

CW: What do you love about wakeboarding?
RG: I hang with my friends on a daily bases and I don’t take life to serious.
The key to having fun on a wakeboard is to learn new tricks and I plan on learning as many as possible. Pushing myself makes this sport fun and the reward each new trick that I land brings me.

CW: What board do you ride? Bindings?
RG: Liquid Force all the way head to toe. Board- PS3 – 137 Bindings – Bonifay closed toes.

CW: What is your boat set up? How much weight do you run? Line length?
RG: Boat – Moomba LSV 2009, Line Length – 78 ft, weight- 1200 Ballast

CW: What do you think about Wake Nation opening up in Cincinnati?
RG: Best thing that ever happened to Ohio. In about another 3 months wake nation will have a dozen of riders just killing it.

CW: What tricks are you working on?
RG: Double s bend, 313, HS FS 720

CW: What tricks do you want to land before the end of the year?
RG: Double s bend – both right and left foot forward

CW: Where is your favorite place to buy wakeboarding gear?
RG: Wake Nation

CW: If you could ride with any pro, who would it be?
RG: I got to ride in the grand opening at Wake Nation and rode with the best riders. But riding with Andrew Adkison is always a great experience.

CW: Do you have any sponsors?
RG: Liquid Force and the mom and dad

CW: If you could have a sponsorship from any company, who would it be?
RG: Red Bull

CW: Why would you choose RedBull as the best sponsor?
RG: I currently work for Red Bull and I know that they hook the riders up like no other. Everything they do is big and I would love to be a part of that small group of sponsored athletes. Red Bull does everything right and it seems like so does the riders.

CW: What do you do when you are not wakeboarding?
RG: Either Working at Wake Nation, being as lazy as possible, or -my all time favorite- hanging out at Lake Cumberland.

CW: What is the funniest thing that has happen to you while wakeboarding?
RG: At McCormick cable park I was completely knocked out when attempting a double s bend. All I remember of that day is eating breakfast in the morning and waking up in the proshop with 5-7 people staring at me. I had no clue what was going on or even how i got to the cable park. Supposedly I was laughing and smiling in the water when they pulled me out.

CW: Do you have any siblings?
RG: Yes – Twin Brother – Kyle that is 19 and Sister – Lindsey (22)

CW: Did you move down to Florida to wakeboard?
RG: Actually I went down to Florida to pursue a career as a golfer, but I ended up getting really hooked on wakeboarding when I found the Tampa Cable Park. I had no intentions of going to Florida to wakeboard. Guess everything works out for a reason.

CW: Do you want to make a career out of Wakeboarding?
RG: Yes and No … I want to make it a career if I keep it fun. I think it would be a great opportunity to travel and see the world if I get good enough. But at the same time, my future goal is to open up a cable park when out of college.

CW: Do you have anyone that you want to thank?
RG: This is going to be a long list because of so many people who have helped me, Sorry if I missed anyone:

-Mom and Dad
-The Grandparents
-Kyle and Lindsey Gillen
-Freddie Bulger
-Leah Gibney
-Liquid Force
-Ski Mccormick Cable park crew and Staff -Wake Nation Cable Park crew and staff -Andrew Proses -Jon Dickey -Chance Bird -Tug Life