While I was at Wal Mart getting last minute camping supplies, I ran into the new Nash Skateboards, Mike McGill’s crap. Wow. Someone has to do it, I guess it may as well be that busted ass dude
That’s Taylor and Javi that work for Emerica. They are the grill chiefs for the trip. That is two top quality young men right there. Clements, we should steal them as employees
This was the scene at the first signing I joined. I can’t even remember what town we were in. There’s always a nice flat ground session that breaks out at the signings
New shoes, new deck, new trucks, and those wheels? Jerry Hsu hooked him up with some wheels, then he double dipped and took some from Spanky, too
I guess they were unloading on some old This is Skateboarding VHS tapes. This kid probably thinks that tape is a box of bearings or something
This is our rig. It’s pretty damn comfortable inside. It has wireless internet but it doesn’t always work
I can’t remember what state this was, but they got people still repping the Camaro and t-tops. Wow, maybe it was Florida. Rokken with Dokken
When the floor space runs out in the RV, counter top space is just as comfortable
When Jerry Hsu took his first ride, he dropped the bike a couple times and then ran it into a tree. That was pretty much my cue to not even get on. I don’t know anyone well enough on their trip to be wrecking their bike. Figgy’s first time went fine, though
That’s Evo. He does work on the Emerica site, too. During one flat ground session he commented, “That’s an interesting flick you got there” about my kickflips. Basically a polite way to say, damn dude, your $h!t’s ugly. I know this. I should just stop kickflipping in public. If you started two decades ago, you’re cursed with the old man style
Apparently, there’s some kind of basketball on that everyone’s hyped on. The RV was like a football stadium during nights that the game was on. I spy Andrew Reynolds
We made friends with our camp neighbors one night. That’s Jamie Tancowny. He woke up with a black eye courtesy of Marquise Preston
I spent a lot of time with Aaron Suski. He just had his first Father’s Day while on this trip
Someone bought roman candles but they were bible belt fireworks – the kind that only sparkle and don’t blow up, just like the near beer they have in some states. Welcome to uptight and paranoid America
I like burning stuff so much it’s almost unnatural. Lucky I didn’t have this tendency when I was a kid. I would have accidentally burned down mom and dad’s house for sure. Fires are so fun
I have woken up like this once before, too
The sun is bright. Sometimes you need a computer tent
Suski and I split from the crew one night to hit up the local skate park in Frederick, Maryland. Thanks to the guys at Pit Crew who came and opened it up and turned the lights on for us
Our new friends from Kansas were following the RV and bikes in their own car for the entire tour. This is Cody backside flipping in Maryland. His pants are tighter than a gnat's asshole
What's the invert called where you grab mute? I think that's just called a plain old invert. Cody and his pants take it to revert
A few months ago I met Hiroshi Nakagawa through email because he sent footage of Ryan Bayless to be in Damn Am. Ryan rips and got the spot. You'll also see him in Tampa Am. After just meeting on this trip, Hiro and just realized we already knew each other. It's a small skateboard world. Hiro's got a hard flip Meronek approved meron grab for you here
Joey is also from Kansas. He smokes almost non-stop. He put one out right before this frontside big heel on the bank in Maryland
Now we’re at the demo in Frederick. That’s Heath kickflip wallriding. The ground at this park is sort of harsh. Probably because of the winters
Julian Heller is a flow guy that joined the tour. Pretty sick when your filmer has the same gear you do. That’s a frontside nosegrind. Thanks for the entertainment in the RV, Julian
Suski floated these allyoop nosebones way over the crowd’s head
Figgy – front blunt fakie
Jamie Tancowny's black eye didn't keep him from killing it at the demo
I'm not used to seeing demos this amazing. Everyone destroyed, Andrew Reynolds included, of course. That's a hop up to a tall nosepick
Bryan Herman - nollie inward heel
What a damn scary trick to be doing on a rail. Leo Romero - kickflip frontside 50-50
Brandon Westgate is another one of those all around top quality dudes. Everyone at Emerica has nothing but good things to say about him. This is not a frontside or a backside 5-0. It's a centered 5-0
Andrew Reynolds frontside flipped down the biggest gap in the park but I don't think anyone got it because he made it first try. Here's a full cab down the smaller bank gap
How did Heath Kirchart's Freddy Krueger hat say on during this backside 360?
The auto focus kicked in a little late on this sequence of Jamie Tancowny, but check the frame where it focused. That back foot catch on this backside heelflip is amazing.
Evo came with us to the park, too. Check his photos on the Emerica site
That’s a foot fetish with Mike who opened up the park for us. That’s the new Lakast shoe
I made some new fellow oriental friends on this trip. That’s Hiroki kickflipping the hip. They’re here from Japan and tagging along on bikes for the Wild Ride. If they can come all the way from Japan, you need to get your ass out of your US hometown and make it happen like they are
Jesse is making it happen. He drove from Kansas to join the tour. Jesse, did you ever make this 360 flip over the hip? If not, I have to change it to a Take a Poop
Fellow Skatepark of Tampa Party Team member Braydon was with us for the entire trip
Joey and I both were fanning out on Jerry Hsu. I still find it sort of weird and a little nervous hanging out with people you’ve been watching in videos and magazines for years that you look up to
This little runt is Peter Hackett. He’s 14. He rips. He also smokes and drinks. Due to his drinking, he’s blowing the opportunity of a lifetime. Andrew Reynolds saw his tape and had him go on the tour last year, but because of his behavior, he wasn’t welcome back this year. We ended picking him up anyway because we drove through his town. He’s right back to being the crazy kid almost getting the entire crew kicked out of the campground every night at 5am. Pretty sad to see some talent like that be wasted. He’s another one in the crew that woke up with a black eye, courtesy of Bryan Herman. I rolled $100 games of dice with him and he cleaned me out. Check how packed this hotel room was
We are now rolling up to a signing at Pit Crew skate shop in Frederick, Maryland
How hyped is a kid to see this lineup? From the top to the bottom it’s Braydon, Leo Romero, Rick Eusey, Marquis Preston, Figgy, Jerry Hsu, Spanky, Jamie Tancowny, Ben Gilley, Brandon Westgate, Andrew Reynolds, and Suski
This is Frederick local, Patrick Nagle, kickflipping in front of Pit Crew. I’d say he has one of those “interesting flicks.” He’s got a new Myspace photo now
I’ve been surrounded by a large crew of dudes for several days now. Maybe we should ask that girl back there if she’ll roll with us. Colin, go for it
The streets of Frederick, Maryland are old and stylish. I spy Andrew Reynolds
That’s only a small party of the crew on bikes that was along side the RV
Spanky and Heath Kirchart. Heath got a flat in the middle of some skinny two lane bridge half way through the trip and had to do some time in the RV with us for a while
Taylor and Javi love their Sharpies. They throw art work on everything, including each other. Afterwards, they spoon. At least someone on this trip is hooking up. Who’s reading “Guys” magazine?
Yet another feeding frenzy catered by Taylor and Javi. We have 401k and profit sharing here at Skatepark of Tampa. Does Mark Waters offer you that? Come work at SPoT. We won’t tell Mark
Wow, 7am and Taylor and Javi are already up and prepping a breakfast that blows away any of the Waffle Houses we’ve been eating at way too much
I’m one of those people that’s freaked out by any kind of bugs, especially spiders. It was pretty lame waking up to this furry critter creeping around my tent. Yikes
I miss Tampa, so here’s a few from my chill cam from before I left on the Wild Ride. The moat in front of the Park was filling up on one of our regular torrential downpours in Tampa
Team Pain Tito and I went to go see The Cure with a small crew of friends. Everyone got up and we realized it was just us two watching the show together. So, we held hands, no homo. Then Tito mooned Robert Smith
I miss The Hub, too, of course. That’s Bride of Tito, Jen, who joined me for some sauce in the old crusty joint
I can’t even remember who’s in this foot fetish from The Hub. Interesting kicks here
Wow, look at that witchcraft going on back there. Yep, she was definitely at The Cure show. Porpe and Wizard Smoke might get bitten on the neck by that chick
These tracks lead home for me. I’ll be there soon, but then turn right around and leave for Copenhagen Pro next weekend. See you in Denmark
Aaron Suski and I skated some park in a town called Frederick. I guess we are in Maryland? More updates later when we get some solid internet access
Peter Hackett has his first photo in a magazine in the new Skateboard Mag. Don't blow it, kid. The mag says he's 16, but that's wrong. He's only 14. Pat Stiener is also in same article
Looks like the Kiddie Course isn't going to be done until tomorrow. Here's some photos from our first session on the main course and some random bar antics at Skateboard Industry Night in St. Pete: A New Course and a New Bar Scene.
You can get a fisheye's view of the completed street course on the SPoT Facebook Page. If you're a fan of SPoT on Facebook, you already know that we sometimes do special sales and give out coupon codes there. Maybe there might be a special just for Facebook fans next week? Who knows? Maybe. The kiddie course isn't done yet. Photos from that coming up in a bit.
On the Win an All Expense Paid Trip to Tampa survey thing, I should have added, "Stay away from the Skatpeark of Tampa Party Team" as one of the options to prevent your skateboard career from derailing. When you come to Tampa, it's easy to get spinning in the party tornado, especially when 200 of your homies are all in the Ybor hotels or the Ho Jo. If the sauce is not your scene or you're trying not to make it your scene, a nice hotel for a decent price just a few minutes up the highway from SPoT is Days Inn. If you're just looking for a lower price room, a cab ride from there to the tornado in Ybor is probably about $15 or so. There's also another Days Inn on Dale Mabry that's across the street from Mons Venus. They don't serve booze there, just boobies. Boobies never hurt anyone's career. Anyway, you have some time left to enter the Tampa trip giveaway which comes with a hotel room and $500 spending cash, among other things. Since you're not skating, we will see you at all the parties that you get passes to.
I went out to shoot photos of the Kiddie Course construction and spotted Kris Markovich hanging out. Here's what things look like as of now. Gotta go, I have a conference call with 25 people from Fuel TV. 25 people??? Yep, mindblowing. It's about the live HD webcast for Tampa Am. They should put this phone conference on live webcast.
If your company has products on our site, you're welcome to a free ad in our banner pool. On your company's product page, only the ad from your company will show up. On all other pages like articles, photos, and skater profiles, your ad will display randomly from the pool of ads. The size is 970x100 and no animation is allowed. You can update it as often as you want. Email them to me at rob@skateparkoftampa.com. Below are some samples from a few companies that have sent some in already.
The main street course is done and skateable today. The kiddie course should be done late tomorrow or Saturday. Check out some construction progress: Street Course Construction and Completion 2009.
If you're in St. Pete tomorrow night, join us at Durty Nelly's for an event that The Finest Skate Shop is putting on called Skateboard Industry Night, appropriately abbreviated as SIN.
The winners for the Globe Cruiser completes have been picked. I know at least one of them is a local - Yonis came out on top. See you on the Booze Cruise this Friday. The first $600 worth of sauce is all on me. The trucks on these boards are called "Slant" as in my eyes. Sick.
What song is this in this Tampa Am promo video? That one dude, you know, the guy who will be at Tampa Am 2009 on December 3 at SPoT then
on Friday, December 4, doing a show in Ybor for our 17-Year Anniversary Party at Czar. Yeah, him. Oh, and there could be a little bit of ripping skating going on.
Today the staff at SPoT got started on putting together all the skateboard parts collected in the Shop all year long. Through your discarded skate stuff and contributions from your favorite skate companies, we build as many completes as we can and give them away to as many kids as we can find in the underprivileged neighborhoods in our area. We call this charity Boards for Bros. Check out a few photos from what we did today: Boards for Bros November 2009 Assembly.
If you haven't entered the Globe Cruiser Board giveaway yet, you have one more day for that. Tomorrow, all the emails go into a spreadsheet and get sorted random. The top two get a Globe Cruiser complete. On Friday night for the Booze Cruise, the first $600 of sauce is paid for by eBay shoe nerds who bought some of my old Dunks.
One commenter suggested we change the website every year like we do the street course. As soon as we get one of me for every construction dude out there, we can make that happen. Check out some street course construction that just started. In case you don't know, we have completely changed the street course every single year since 1993 when this place was born. This is the first year we've had a slab of granite, however.
Stalker Steve took some nice chill shots at the Harvest Jam this weekend. The skate ones are sort of like the bennihanna of photography, not that mine were any good either. I know we both can do better than that. Check them out: Stalker Steve at the Harvest Jam 2009.
A known hater on the Skatepark of Tampa Facebook page also has photos from the Harvest Jam. Thanks Kirk Hallinan. I'm putting you on the next cover of Frontside Grind Magazine.
