Photo Blog

First day on the road, ended up hitting up some rails next to Holiday Valley and driving to Albany. Waking up early tomorrow, so keeping this short for now.

After the skating on Friday there was a party at a place called the
Cuban Club with music provided by Dinosaur Jr. and free beer provided
by the skatepark. The show was insane, about 3 thousand people showed
up for the beer and Dinosaur Jr. Around 10pm, three really old sketchy
looking dudes got on stage, without an introduction or anything, and J
mascis went to the mic and said, “I’m wearing my dino shoes” and
immediately started playing everything from their old stuff to their
new stuff. Being a Dinosaur Jr. fan for so many years, it was amazing
to hear them play their old songs. This show was also the revealing of
the shoe that J mascis designed for nike.

After being sick and puking on the plane ride to tampa, getting to the
hotel and feeling better. The Tampa AM started out being siiiiiiick.
All the riders were killing it friday for the first five heats of
qualifying. There was so much good skating on the course that Nike
helped design this year. Lots of young skaters that were about 4 feet
tall. I have no idea how some of these kids get so good. Donovan
Piscopo from Covina CA for example had a two flawless runs and was
only 12 years old I think, and about 3 feet tall.

Definitely one of the highlights though was having Tim O’Connor on the
mic keeping everyone awake and laughing. Calling the skaters out on
everything from their Ice Cream shoes and other gear to their weird
choices in music, and rewarding kids with free ipods for skipping
highschool to come watch the contest.