Zarosh Eggleston: "skaters make great sign spinners".

What's your full name and what nationality are you?

Zarosh Khambatta Eggleston. I was born in California and half my blood is from India.

Do people get your name confused with Roche and Jarosz, who skate in San Diego?

Yeah, there are three of us.

Where did you grow up? What kind of stuff did you have to skate?

I grew up in Monterey Bay; I just bombed a lot of hills and went to Derby park in Santa Cruz on the weekends.

Who are some of the skateboarders you're influenced by?

H-Street was a big influence, 5.9 crew on the East Coast, and all the bridge trolls.

The skateboards you ride tend to be bigger than the norm and you have rails on them. Is that what you've always ridden? They seem to work for you.

Nine inches always, and one frontside rail. Still running old school Gullwing like Ben Schroeder and dudes from Florida?

I rode Gullwings for a year or two. I love the groove, but my last set bent and the axle fell out. I ride Independents now.

Tight or loose trucks?

Loose is faster.

What's your favorite type of terrain to skate and why?

Under bridges or bombing hills; no bullshit sport kooks, just pure rip ride. Washington Street is the best concrete in Cali.

I've heard about you hitchhiking around to skate; how far has it taken you? Like, I'll hear you're in NYC one week, and then the next week I'll see you skating a pool in San Diego.

Hitchhiking has taken me almost everywhere I've been--up and down the West Coast, all over the East Coast and New England, out to Colorado a few times, and down to Baja and back. It's the best way to travel, because you start out going nowhere. Every ride you get is like a bonus trip.

Got any good stories from hitchhiking?

One morning I woke up in Newport, Rhode Island, after a long night. I tried to hitchhike out of town but I was convinced that the eight-track player I was carrying around was holding me back, so I walked off the highway a bit to take a nap. Then I heard someone calling my name through the bushes. I looked back to the road and this truck had pulled over. I go up there and it's Davey Rogers and this other guy Justin, and they were going to skate the Attleboro ramp in Mass with all the other 5.9ers. We stopped at this gas station and I got an ice cream cone and some cookies, and I remember thinking that was one of the greatest days of my life.

What about trains, ever hop on those?

The first time I hopped a freight I was on my way to Colorado. I got off the highway somewhere in Arizona and found an eastbound train. As soon as it slowed down enough to jump on, three other dudes came out of the bushes right next to me and we all hopped on the same car. They had an ice cold case of Bud Light and a shitty VHS camera. We were on this empty dumpster car with no roof and head-high walls so I got to skate back and forth while the train went 60 mph into the middle of nowhere.

What's the farthest you have skated to a skate spot or anywhere?

Maybe 10 miles. Skating is faster than the bus in San Diego.

Where have you been outside of the US on skate trips?

I've been to Baja a couple times. After they sent me my passport I went to London for no real reason in the middle of winter. From there I found a cheap ticket and got on a plane to Goa, India, for a week.

What music gets you hyped to skate?

Hightower live, some good reggae, and a mix tape.

How was India? Did you find anything to skate?

India was mind-blowing. I stayed at this place called Sk8goa; they have a pool there with rock coping that's shaved round. That place is awesome. The Tibetan servants who bring you tea and sweep the pool skate too. Gunpo is probably ripping by now.

Are you still working spinning signs? Tell us about that job.

Man, it's pretty lame. You just hold this huge sign all day. But skaters make great sign spinners if you can do that weird boneless where your board spins around your hand.

Which sponsors are supporting your skateboarding and travels?

Deathbox skateboards, Autobahn wheels, and Dekline shoes.

Plans for Zarosh in the near future? Camping and hitchhiking, or are you buying a SUV?

It's all about carpooling, man. One less car.