Socal Skatepark Blitz II

Socal Skatepark Blitz

“We had skated a backyard pool, the sickest full pipe, and a hand full of the best parks in Southern California all in a 15 hour period. If that does not say Concrete Disciples for life, I do not know what does. ” Mark Takahashi’s video. 5 minutes

July 12th could have been just like any other Saturday, but it wasn’t. It started early, 6:30 AM to be exact. SD Lurker was right on time and I had some strong coffee ready to go. We had plenty of time to make the 9:00 meeting in Fontana but we had a little detour to make called Pala round. We got there just after 7:00 and as we rolled up I said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we are not the only ones here.” I was right. Two dudes had already been grinding the pool while I was still grinding the coffee. No need to stretch out as the session was already on with Ian and Chris drawing some clean lines and grinds thrown about here and there. Chris was all over the deathbox and up in the shallow end letting his longboard fly. SD Lurker jumped right in and did some grind variations over the light. I just carved around between sips of my coffee. After about a 45 minute session it was time for us to head up to Fontana. We had a long day ahead of us and we were going to need to pace ourselves no matter how much fun we were having.
When we got to Fontana, the session was already in full swing. I had never seen that many guys riding the bowl let alone just after 9:00 in the morning. It was already hot as hell and the skating was just as steamy. For many of us this was the first time ever skating together. In between everybody ripping we were trying to figure and remember who everyone was on the message board. Nate, Bond, MattB, Dales, SD Lurker, Mark-From-Pedro, J.ed, Walrus, an injured Barfly, Manimal (all the way from Las Vegas baby), Ed Isaacs, and the Sacrifice crew along with members of the SSC, were jockeying for position and trading runs. Ed was flying around the bowl on an 11″ board crave grinding both B/S and F/S. Dales was carving hard frontside in between his many air variations. Manimal threw down some stand up F/S 50/50 in the big bowl. Nate did some forever runs all over the bowls. Kyle and Brant from Sacrifice killed it with two completely different styles. Technically this was the first stop on a 5 stop tour and due to the rising temperature it was decided that we hit Upland before it was too hot and back track to Ontario Vans for some indoors AC riding afterwards.

We all raced over to Upland. Nate raced a bit too fast and got a speeding ticket. I can hear it now, “Sorry officer, I was in a hurry. I’m trying to get to Upland to skate with some fellow Disciples.” Upland is sick. Just walking into the place gets your adrenalin pumping. After the good warm up at Fontana everybody was ready to do some charging. SD Lurker, Dales, and I tried to quickly set the mark for some high pipe riding while Manimal went wild in the bowl. Shane killed it with some speed lines through the pipe and some lofty B/S airs in the bowl. Bond went for the allusive double loop and made it but forgot to stay on his board. Two young cousins ripped it up individually and then did there best impression of an Alba Brothers double run. Pure sickness! SD Lurker did some large airs out of pipe but got served up doing one in the bowl. Jeff showed everybody that he hits Upland frequently doing tricks galore all over the place. Towards the end of the session, BadlandsJon & Badlands local joined in the fun. Before long some adult beverages began to flow and it was time for the pipe pasting contest. SD Lurker quickly set the high mark with everyone a few inches below. Manimal called for a judge’s decision as his paste was at the opposite side and other end of the pipe. The edge went to SD Lurker and to his head. “You’re all my bitches” he spouted off just as Dales blasts up and puts a sticker where Salba would be proud. Contest over, we have a winner. For his efforts Dales won a Red Kross Jeff Grosso deck donated by Black Label. T-shirts & wheels were given to the needy.

Now it was off to Ontario Vans. This spot was inserted because some of the Disciples had never sampled the peanut bowl and with Vans closing their parks, no telling how long this one would be around. The place was packed with hot moms and screaming kids but we had the pool to ourselves. The pool almost seemed miniature after hitting Upland and we quickly began to shine our trucks on the pool coping. MattB whom had only been skating vert for a few months was quickly hitting the tiles and carving around. Even a big slam did not slow him down. Brant did stand up 50/50 in both the deep and shallow among some boned out airs and nose picks. Dales scralped it up and did a sweet styled out hands behind the back F/S carve. I pretzeled carved the deep end and ollied over the hip. SD Lurker was on a mission though. He got the slam award for slamming in the peanut, snake run, and on the vert ramp all in one session. Those that did not join in on the session grabbed a bite to eat and cheered us on later. After the session with hunger pains setting in and still two more stops to make, we decided to recharge on some In-n-Out burgers.

Next stop was the Combi. Here the Ontario crew was rejoined by J.ed, Mark from Pedro, and some late joiners, SDS and Eric Nash. It might have been a second wind or just the fact that it was the Combi but the crew keep on charging. J.ed, grinded all over and threw up a finger flip Madonna. Manimal did some animal style ripping with rock n rolls, and big airs. Nate carved it up and shined his trucks at the same time. Before long MattB was getting his groove on with us cheering him on. Eric Nash killed it. Board slides in the round bowl, over the hip into the shallow and back in the square for some more damage. SDS pleased us with some bert slides in the corners on his retro Madrid. Even his son joined in just to prove he is a chip off the old block. Dales continued his killing spree as SD Lurker pulled F/S airs and more long grinds. As tired as I was, I managed to squeeze in an all corners carve feast in the square. We all pretty much made it to the end of the session and discussed the route to the last stop of the day. MattB was almost ready to call it a day, but a little disciple peer pressure quickly had him changing his mind.

When we got to Laguna Niguel a few of us decided to bask in the glory of the day thus far by sipping some of the pleasures of being over the age of 21. The Laguna skatepark was a great way to wind down from such an unbelievable day of skating. Unlike the pervious locations where we all pretty much sessioned the pool, pipe, or bowls together, we spread out a bit taking over the entire park. About 30 minutes into the session Lance Mountain shows up and joins the remnants of our all day session. I can not recall one person doing something big at the end of the day, but all of us were just carving around with a smile on our faces that would make a Cheshire Cat envious. Calling it a day hardly does it justice. That day was one of the best skate days EVER. We had skated a backyard pool, the sickest full pipe, and a hand full of the best parks in Southern California all in a 15 hour period. If that does not say Concrete Disciples for life, I do not know what does.

Manimals on-line gallery at Skating Las Vegas
Dales pipe pasting clip from Tammy

J.ed pipe pasting clip from Tammy
Kyle @ Fontana – Clip from Tammy
Mark airing out of the pipe @ Upland – clip from Tammy