Quicky: Alex Raban

All photos: Chris Arriaga

The other day I got an email from Alex and I realized it has been a minute since I had talked to the guy. I heard he was in a pretty crazy car accident recently, and I knew he had a ton of projects from a part in the new Caliwumpus DVD to filming for a bunch of projects with his sponsors. I figured it would be a good time to get a little update from Alex. Let’s see what the guy has been up to lately…

Name: Alex Raban

Location: Nipomo, Ca

Sponsors: ODI, PegLeg, Giant and OSS

Years Riding: 11 years

How are things going with Giant these days? Do you guys have any signature goods, trips or anything like that in the works?
Giant has been great! Recently was out in Ohio with the whole team. That was really awesome. It was my first time meeting a couple of the dudes. Hopefully a few more trips before the year ends. As for the signature goods nothing right now as I know of.

How has filming for the Giant video been going for you? When can we expect to see that video drop?
Ohio was the first trip I took to start filming for the Giant video. It was awesome we went to a lot of rad spots for the ten days. We got lucky with the weather as well. Even though we dealt with some rain. Hopefully, if everything goes well, the video will drop some time next year.

How are things going with Peg Leg these days? Does Devin have anything in the works for you?
Things with PegLeg are awesome as usual. I’m hoping I can ride soon. Really trying to make it out to the east again. Trying to get some more footy for PL2, baby!

What about ODI? Any new edits or trips in the works at all this year?
Back a few months ago I was on a couple trips with ODI. Filming for the Magic Bus web series. We went to Arizona for 5 days and also San Francisco to film for it so far. I will likely some more trips in the states.

You recently got hooked up with OSS. How’s that going?
Ya! Just got on OSS. Pumped on that. Awesome dudes and incredible riders. Shout out to OSS crew.

So, you were recently in a pretty wild car accident. What exactly happened? How bad did it get for you? I recall seeing a photo of you with a neck brace and blood on your face. Are your medical bills and everything covered?
Yeah, this was my first car accident and hopefully the last. I was driving from LAX late evening just about to get home around 2 am and noticed a pick up truck stalled out in the fast lane with no lights on. I only had like 30 feet what felt like to react. I locked the brakes and hit it full boar. Apparently a witness saw him roll his truck from southbound over the center divider into my lane. Scared the shit out of me. I got out only with a broken nose. And now just suffering from chest, shoulder and back pains from the whiplash and the seat belt. I have insurance so everything should be covered. Really thankful to make it out of that.

How long will it be until you are able to get back to shredding? Aren’t you going to Europe here soon? Where are you going and why?
I have no clue. It’s been 3 weeks now and still having pains. I pedaled the other day that felt really good. I can’t pull up though yet. Yeah, Brandon Eckles, Myself and his two buddies Sebastian Hughes and Charlie Hughes from the UK. We are going for 5 weeks. We are going to hit up Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Paris. Just to get out of the states and visit and ride something new. I love traveling especially going over seas.

What’s after that? Do you have any trips planned anywhere?
Hopefully if I’m able to ride. I really wanna make to Boston before winter to meet up and ride with the PegLeg homies.

The Caliwumpus video just dropped. What can people expect out of that from you? Do you have a full section? How do you feel the video turned out?
Yeah! I’m stoked on my section; it has a little bit of everything. My first video part with trails, haha! I had a lot of fun working with Brandon with his project. Really enjoy the whole video its very entertaining and the riding and soundtracks work very well. This is Brandon’s first DVD and he did a kick ass job.

Have you been filming for any other web videos or anything outside of the Giant video and the Caliwumpus video? I feel like we need more Raban.
The last web video I had was from OSS. From my trip to Texas and a few mix in clips from LongBeach. The next will be from ODI The Magic Bus. Other than that, I’m just working on DVD projects. Keep a look out for The Santa Barbarians And The Quest For The Holy Rail.

Have you been doing much work behind the camera lately? What kind of a setup are you working with these days?
Here and there whenever I get the chance. I love to film so any opportunity I get enough free time, I’m on it. I’m helping Ian Munro work on the Santa Barbarians video. Been helping film for that. I still got the same set up for the past 8 years haha. VX2100 all day just got her cleaned and ready for Europe.

What have you been up to with your down time lately? Are you working or going to school at all?
Working a little bit at my Dads Pizza Parlor. Not going to school. Just trying to keep traveling and riding.

Outside of the accident, have you had any crazy stuff happen to you lately?
Nothing really too crazy been trying to avoid that since my wreck. This last weekend was the Savage session/CaliWumpus premiere and that was crazy haha.

What’s the last song you heard, movie you watched and website you visited?
Last song been listing to CamRon mix tapes on the road. I saw Hangover 2 and last website was of course The Come Up.

What are some things you would like to accomplish by the end of the year?
Well, if I can make it through this year without getting injured more than I already am, I’ll be stoked! It seems like every year I am getting taken out for a few months. It really makes it frustrating.

Anything else you want to say?
Sure! Thanks Kurt for giving me this opportunity to do this interview. Huge thanks to everybody’s support. Big ups to all the homies! I greatly appreciate it. Shout out to Larry @ ODI, Chris @ Giant, Devin @ PegLeg and Adam @OSS. Check out CaliWumpus.blogspot.com! Brandon has CaliWumpus DVDS available. Peace!