[SirChomps-a-Lot]

I was all stoked to discover a skatepark near my place with a "bowl".

I get there and the transitions are just wedges. WTF am I supposed to do here? Someone inspire me with some stuff I can do on banks.

I rode there today and all I could really do that was any fun was see how high I could bunny-hop and land on the bank. The fact that it was wet and slick as snot wasn't helping either.

Here is the park in question:

 

[Stoked]

consider yourself lucky. i've seen people session curbs are have fun with it. there's about a thousand things you could do on a bank. that place is famous. i think its called south banks?

footjams
fufs
180 to fakie up the bank to hop/hop-bs/footjam whip
180/360 out of the bank
freecoasters make banks fun!

its endless...

 

[jonKranked]

to add on what stoked said...

learn fakie! (i learned it on banks)
stall/grind that rail (pegs, pedals, tires) - if you can't hop that high, learn to!!!

 

[pete10141748]

I recognise that spot!
Won't make 'public' exactly where it is, safe to say I have walked past it on numerous occasions while taking kid's on school trips to London over the past few years (I work in a school).

Only ever seen skaters there though.
I'm sure there is stuff you can do with it, get creative!

Wish there was still stuff like that where I am.
Only thing we had was 100% metallic vert, and no way was I going to ride on that. no freakin' way. Metal burns suck. at least concrete just scars

Chicks dig scars, not burns

 

[v-digit]

i say you go there and you watch.
thats spot has been in dozens of bmx/mtb/skate videos.
that spot looks perfect.

 

[greenblinker104]

i walked by there once - love it

i love the curved, wave type bench thing thats right outside of the park

search youtube and the net - there are tons of videos

go to ridestreet.co.uk - this would be your best bet. watch and have fun

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

Dude. I can ride fakie. I can hop.

Here's my problem...

This is what it feels like to come out of a quarter, manual around, drop back in:
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This is what it feels like to come out of a bank, manual around, drop back in:
zzzzzzz THUMP, THUMP zzzz YANKBACK zzzzzzz THUMP zzzz THUMP, THUMP zzzz


I suppose I shouldn't complain when kids in china have no skatepark at all... Or do they.

 

[Strauss]

"BOOH" THIS MAN

he clearly doesn't have a clue what its like to session curbs in the mid west.

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

i walked by there once - love it

i love the curved, wave type bench thing thats right outside of the park

search youtube and the net - there are tons of videos

go to ridestreet.co.uk - this would be your best bet. watch and have fun

Yeah, that curved wallride was lookin pretty nice. Gotta wait for the millions of pedestrians to clear out. Jesus. I've never had my picture taken so many times in 30 minutes by people on vacation so they can go home and put them up on facebook so all their friends will know vibrant their holiday in London was.

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

"BOOH" THIS MAN

he clearly doesn't have a clue what its like to session curbs in the mid west.

Boo you. You have dirt don't you? And Shovels?

 

[jonKranked]

a sheet of plywood will open up a world of possibilities in that little area. just sayin'...

 

[jonKranked]

Boo you. You have dirt don't you? And Shovels?

its winter time sooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnn. They'd have to shovel off about a foot of snow to get to the dirt, only to find that its frozen.

 

[t1maglio]

its winter time sooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnn. They'd have to shovel off about a foot of snow to get to the dirt, only to find that its frozen.

Closer to two feet of the white poo, and you shovel the stuff, but where do you put it, the piles at the end of my driveway are huge!

As for the park, looks a little lame, but like someone else said, some of us session curbs for hours, seriously, I have spent hours just doing manuals and rollbacks over yellow lines in a parking lot. A good bank is the perfect spot to learn flyout stuff or hop stuff going back in (again, so much better then the curb cut out in front of my house).

 

[cmc]

it's a classic flatland spot.

www.metacafe.com/watch/821454/chase_gouin_southbank_london_uk_1992/

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

I'll quit being grumpy. Just in a bit of culture shock from London.

My pity goes out to you midwesterners.

 

[cmc]

. . . . Just in a bit of culture shock from London.

. . . .

did you just move there? where did you live before?

 

[JGill]

I dig that spot, could ride that for hours.

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

Yep. Australia.

 

[dan wask]

I'd be stoked to have that spot. Just ride it every day until you learn ****.

 

[ServeEm]

that spots dope seen a lot of footie from that place. sounds like you ate hella sour grapes

 

[Stoked]

i got a line. ride the bank to manual on a step to 180 into bank.

 

[crkt]

man id be sooo stoked to ride that bank i recognized it the second i saw that picture, (in my opinion) banks are way sicker than anything with a tranny, as far as cement goes at least

 

[Evil4bc]

WTF thoes are the SouthSea Banks possibly the best and most famous banks in all of europe .
Consider yourself lucky .
Learn footjam's , 360 and 540 nosepicks ect.
BTW: i'd kill to have that spot near my house

 

[cmc]

WTF thoes are the SouthSea Banks possibly the best and most famous banks in all of europe .
Consider yourself lucky .
Learn footjam's , 360 and 540 nosepicks ect.
BTW: i'd kill to have that spot near my house

Southsea is a different place. It's a seaside town with a skatepark/bikepark with regular contests.

Southbank is an area of London on the south side of the Thames. I would kind of agree with the original poster that when compared to "skateparks" the Southbank spot is not that great. To me it always just seemed like a rad street spot, kind of like Brooklyn banks. I don't know why they are calling it a skatepark--it looks like skaters added some cement grindboxes or something--but my impression (and I've never even been there!!!) was that it was just a killer street spot that a lot of people session in the center of London.

 

[pete10141748]

Welcome to the UK mate. Aus to London, that's quite a shift!

I'd love the chance to ride that spot, who knows, once I'm back into it properly I might make my way down to our Capital to check it out. I can see how it could feel limiting though, as opposed to other skateparks with rails etc.

Still, with a little imagination I reckon there's more there than it seems.

 

[Leethal]

Try riding there after dark.. There should be plenty of rippers to show you the lines. Plus street is endless in London

 

[Vlad]

I was all stoked to discover a skatepark near my place with a "bowl".

I get there and the transitions are just wedges. WTF am I supposed to do here? Someone inspire me with some stuff I can do on banks.

I rode there today and all I could really do that was any fun was see how high I could bunny-hop and land on the bank. The fact that it was wet and slick as snot wasn't helping either.

Here is the park in question:

As others have already pointed out, this is not a skatepark. It's a street spot, and a fantastic one at that. Street riding is about using whatever terrain is around you, and riding stuff that wasn't meant to be ridden.

If you need a skatepark to have fun on your bike, build your own.

 

[jerseydirt]

learn wallrides and 540 tire taps. The best street spot in my whole town is in front of my house on the front of my neighbors yard. There is a mulch mound and a big tree right in the center of it. I have made very good use out of that tree and the wallride rock in their yard. When they go on vacation its like a skate park to me. I just have to make sure to rake the mulch so they don't notice.

 

[pastcaring]

The southbank is a great place to ride.
If you don't like banks go to brixton or camden parks!
If you meet the right people and your not a dick, you might get an invite to the spot (home made concrete bike only park)
London has some great street spots you just gotta be quick!

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

Yeah, I could ride southbank until I figure out what to do with banks... Or I could just ride down to Stockwell to ride instead.

Shazam.

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

Here's my new bike, btw.

Thanks to the recent crash of the pound it cost me $690 brand spankin'

First and only time I have ever walked into a bikeshop and walked out with a bike.

Not stoked on the white (especially the saddle), as I am not 13 years old, but I couldn't argue with $690. Maybe I'll try to dye / spraypaint stuff black.

Holla back if you see me around London. I'm the American one in the nerdy XC helmet.

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

learn wallrides and 540 tire taps.

540 taps on a bank? I can't do a normal tap on a bank. I don't understand how it works. On a quarter, when you come out of the transition your momentum is basically straight up, so stalling on the coping is easy. On a bank, your momentum is pointing 45 degrees out, so in order to stall on the coping, you need to wrench the bike backwards?

Anyway, here's me tapping on a quarter at stockwell.