‘The Space Between Your Hands’: Max Schaaf On 50wt Monument Valley

photography by max schaaf.

Brixton, one of our favorite purveyors of built-tough clothing, took the whole gang on a riding, skating, and surfing trip through over a thousand miles of Monument Valley’s beautiful terrain.

I meant it about the built-tough bit above. I bought a pair of Brixton pants (full price, none of that summer sale/depop shit) and went skating around Brooklyn. I put them through the wringer. If there’s one thing to know about me, it’s that I eat a lot of shit. Not literally, but skateboarding. I fall more than I don’t. And not once did the Brixton pants yield. You know who else puts their pants through the wringer? Along with their jacket, shoulder, bike, camera, and flashlight? Max Schaaf on the 50wt road. I like Max - the former professional skater now artist and motorcycle builder - because he says what he means. He has opinions, thoughts, purpose, and intent. The guy doesn’t beat around with diplomacy about ‘aw yeah it was all great honky dory lala.’ He was honest about the highs and the lows, the fun and the strife, the cold and the heat. He, like Brixton pants, is built tough, which is something needed when on a trip as heavy as this, the third iteration of Brixton’s beloved film series. Read what he had to say below and watch the video (including a Max Schaaf slam) above.

Portrait by Ken Nagahara.

How did this come about for you?

Well this one is their third trip. The first year, they rode up here [to Oakland] and we went surfing together. The second one, they went to Mexico, and I think my name came up, and so I was interested for sure.

How does one pitch you on a thousand-mile ride through the desert?

I’m not directly affiliated with Brixton - I mean they’ve sent me clothes and stuff in the past and that’s been awesome. I really like what they’re doing, I really like Pete and his brother Dave, they’re great humans. Pete asked if I’d be interested in going along for the ride, and I liked everyone that was going. I thought, ‘might as well, it’ll be beautiful riding.’ I’ve ridden cross country on old choppers a couple of times. There are little things that you learn on the road about your bike and about people, and I was interested in all of that.

What would be some weird things you’ve learned on this trip?

You’re a skater, right?

Yeah.

You’ve been on a skate trip. You know, no matter who you’re with, you kind of find your people that you spend a little more time with. That’s me, at least. I mean, I was pro for Real but travelled with Antihero. That’s almost how this thing felt; you’re not really a part of our squad but would you like to come on this trip? Which was great. I would say that you learn really quickly if you’re in over your head. 

What do you mean?

You’re at the gas station with fifteen people, those bikes are all kick-start only- it makes me think of when people are like, ‘you were pro, but you weren’t pro like Tony Hawk?’ and I’d go, ‘well, at the X Games, they’d call Tony Hawk, and they’d call my name after it.’ It’s a lot of wondering if I’m supposed to be here, and it’s like, yeah, I qualified for the contest, because there has to be a second through tenth place. 

If you don’t know about your machine, or you don’t know how to set your tent up in the dark, you’re fucked. I brought this really sick little flash light and I guess something pressed it on when it was in my bag so when I needed it, the battery was dead. I had to set that thing up in the dark. You could cry for help, but it’s kind of your tent, you should know how to set it up. 

Fuck.

I’m kind of a hermit - I have my lady and my dogs and the buddies that I surf or skate with, but I don’t love to be around a ton of people, but I got along with everyone on the trip really great. On a motorcycle, you’re sort of alone.

It’s kind of solitary, yeah.

You are kind of just staring at the space between your hands because they’re on the handle bars. You get kind of spinning in your head about little noises or things. I always say this thing: don’t you feel like sometimes you can be more alone in a big group of people? Especially when you’re in the middle of nowhere and there’s not a single thing you can see in any direction.

Was there ever a point where you were thinking that this is fucking terrifying?

Nah, not really terrifying. There was one time in Arizona when we went from being really hot to being in a state park with snow on the ground, and I was freezing. I was pretty uncomfortable, but you just kind of wait until the next gas stop. We stop every hour or so just because of the size of the tank. We also had a follow truck in case something breaks down, they can get scooped up or helped, so we are a little more comforted when it’s like, ‘oh shit, where’s Joe? We haven’t seen him since the last gas station, let’s go scoop up Joe.’

Would you do it again?

Yeah, just like anything, I’d ask, ‘where are we going and with who?’ I really dig Dave and his brother Pete from Brixton, I just think that they are people who give more than they take in a situation like this, which is really rare. 

What was the skating like?

Man, I slammed so, so hard, right out the gate. I don’t skate all the time anymore, you know I’m fifty two. I could skate pretty well until I was like forty seven, I was like, ‘these dudes who complain about getting old are wack, I don’t get it.’ A little while ago I was skating this vert ramp with Elissa Steamer and some other people and I under-rotated on a frontside air and slammed really hard. I got knocked out and a little bit concussed; I don’t get paid for skating anymore and it just doesn’t feel the same, I’ve mellowed out a little bit.

People all the time are like, ‘dude we don’t care, we just want to see you do a smith grind!’ and I get that because I want to see Tommy Guerrero do a slappy or something, but does that feel good for Tommy? When I used to be able to do things a certain way, but now I can only do this phoned-in version of it, it doesn’t feel good in the same way. 

Every year, I’m like, ‘just jump on the board more,’ that’s all it would take, but the one day I’m doing a frontside slappy, there’s a fat crack in the curb that I didn’t see, I go flying and I break my shoulder. Worlds dumbest slam. I wish I had been doing a 540 on a vert ramp. Maybe it’s the world saying to focus on making art and building bikes. 

Fucking hell, so apart from a heavy slam, pretty good trip!

Oh yeah, and even after that, I got a smith grind. Then me and Ken Nakahara were doing these little frontside pivots on this tight quarter, we had a bet going, and Ken did it second try, in boots. It made me sick to my stomach honestly, I was so fucking happy for Ken but I was like, ‘wow my photographer friend just did it in boots and I used to be a pro skater.’ I thought we were going to play around a little bit. And then I had to kick start my bike when we were leaving, that was a super weird feeling. I threw my shoes in the back of the truck and was so used to getting into a car after the skatepark - that was worlds colliding in a super bizarre way. But yeah, fun, good trip. I’d do it again.