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