When Kerry Getz and Ricky Oyola aren't paying fines, you may find them running from cops through the gridded streets of Philadelphia. Because the City of Brotherly Love has no love for street skaters.

"There are parks designated for that," you may hear a cop say to a kid trying to pull a fakie flip down a flight of stairs. But public skate parks are of no use to those like Getz, a world champion street skater, who prefers the punishing pavement to the smooth Skatelite of public parks.

The result is a street competition of a different variety -- between the gendarmes, who are simply looking out for the safety of pedestrians and perhaps for the skaters themselves, and a bunch of guys in baggy jeans who are just trying to get in some practice before their next competition.

I got to experience firsthand this clash of two worlds at a photo shoot of Getz and Oyola at the courtyard outside of City Hall in Philadelphia (the site of the 2001 Summer X Games street competition.) Although the city had granted EXPN The Magazine -- you heard that right, we're working on a special first issue -- a permit to skate and shoot for the afternoon, we thought we might have to shut down the whole project when Oyola pulled a 180-degree nosegrind down a flight of stairs and a police officer rushed over and threatened to kick us off the premises.

We were all set to grab our equipment and hightail it outta there, but Oyola stepped up as the voice of reason and calmed the cop down.

"When I was younger, I would argue with cops and refuse to pay any of the fines," Oyola said after the officer had left. "But I'm about to hit 30. Now I pay the $25 on time and I talk calmly to the cops. Besides, if you don't pay the fines on time, they can turn into $150 fines and a day spent in court."

As with most things, practice makes perfect in skateboarding. And Oyola has learned to deal with the obstacles wearing the badges as well as the obstacles on the street.

Dana Czapnik is an intern for EXPN The Magazine. E-mail dana.czapnik-nd@espnmag.com.