John Joseph Cardiel is a professional skateboarder who grew up in Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay, California

Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, USA. Its population was 11,324 as of the 2010 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is the Pillar Point Harbor and the unincorporated community of Princeton-by-the-Sea....

 and Grass Valley, California

Grass Valley, California

-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Grass Valley had a population of 12,860. The population density was 2,711.3 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Grass Valley was 11,493 White, 46 African American, 208 Native American, 188 Asian, 9 Pacific Islander, 419 from other...

 and currently resides in Sacramento, California

Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

.

He started Anti Hero Skateboards on Deluxe Distribution

Deluxe Distribution

Deluxe Distribution is an ERMICO owned subsidiary founded in 1986 with limited partner Brian Ware in San Francisco. The original intent of Deluxe was for the distribution of the Beware Record label and various small record labels popular with skateboarders along with Thunder Trucks and Supercush...

 along with Nick Perry in 1995.

His sponsors are Vans

Vans

Vans is an American based manufacturer of sneakers, skateboarding shoes, BMX shoes, snowboarding boots and other shoe types.- History :On March 16, 1966, at 704 E. Broadway, in Anaheim, California, brothers Paul Van Doren, James Van Doren, and three other partners opened up their first store...

, Anti Hero

Deluxe Distribution

Deluxe Distribution is an ERMICO owned subsidiary founded in 1986 with limited partner Brian Ware in San Francisco. The original intent of Deluxe was for the distribution of the Beware Record label and various small record labels popular with skateboarders along with Thunder Trucks and Supercush...

, Spitfire

Deluxe Distribution

Deluxe Distribution is an ERMICO owned subsidiary founded in 1986 with limited partner Brian Ware in San Francisco. The original intent of Deluxe was for the distribution of the Beware Record label and various small record labels popular with skateboarders along with Thunder Trucks and Supercush...

, Independent Truck Company

Independent Truck company

Independent Truck Company is a skateboard truck manufacturer based in Santa Cruz, California established in 1978, owned by NHS, Inc. The trucks are manufactured by Ermico Enterprises, Inc...

and Chrome Industries.

Accident

In 2003, at the end of a 4 week road trip from Brisbane to Melbourne in Australia to film the skateboard movie Tent City, John Cardiel lost his footing while running alongside the van and was run over by its trailer.
He injured his spinal cord and wasn't given any chance to ever walk again, but after five months of rehabilitation in the hospital and a few months in a wheel chair he was able to regain the use of his legs.

After a hiatus, he later emerged on two wheels instead of four being featured in the 2008 street fixed gear cycling film "Macaframa" directed by Colin Arlen and Colby Elrick. He attributes his recovery to his cycling, and continues to be an advocate of street fixed gear cycling.