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jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,942
13,135
Portland, OR
The Vandals, DRI, DI, FEAR, Minor Threat, Social D. Then all the "local" bands like Corrosion of Conformity, MDC, Christ on Parade, 80's punk was an epic time for music and I got to see so many great shows for less than $10 (or often free).

The Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtrack is very much what I was falling to.
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,484
7,531
Exit, CO
Alright, kinda getting stoked here. Found a few little skateparks near my place that I could check out...

Snake Run in Lakewood, right next to one of my favorite burrito shops Burrito Express...


Somewhere in a neighborhood ~4 miles away is Golden Heights...


The closest one is probably Ulysses Park but it's bigger and more popular, might get some time on the board before checking this one out.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,942
13,135
Portland, OR
I was an OK skater that got to skate with some of the greatest. I was very lucky and it pushed me to be far better than I would have been otherwise.

The really good skaters were also wicked humble. It made skating very approachable and when you skate with guys like Jason Jesse, or Matt Hensley, or even Cab (he skated my brothers half pipe at the house when I was 8, I skated with him in high school), you can't help but get better just by proximity.

My daughter liked to longboard, but Bman was all bike. Lil Man has shown some board interest, so not all hope is lost. :rofl:
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Oh yeah and the little mountain town I wanna move to also has a small skatepark that looks rad enough for my old ass.



Though it does look to be mostly just a pool... guess I'll have to learn to skate transition?

In 2000 when I did the continental divide bike ride, I bought a minor some beer to let me use his skateboard and knee pads when we got to salida once I saw that place. No way in hell I was going to be in that town and not skate that pool. Seems common now but back then, pools like that were a beautiful rarity. I've got some pics somewhere....

It looks like they expanded it though. I don't remember 3 bowls like that. I've also got a lifetime of concussions however.
 

Atomic Dog

doesn't have a custom title yet.
Oct 22, 2002
1,207
1,340
In the basement at Weekly World News
Heh. I'm friends with the dude who runs that Northwestskater website. I've been on some epic skate trips with him. He skates in a full face helmet and makes his own boards with like a 36" wheelbase. He charges on that thing, though.

The original bowl on Jeff Ament's property outside Missoula. He has another, indoor bowl there now as well.
 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,700
Champery, Switzerland
In 2000 when I did the continental divide bike ride, I bought a minor some beer to let me use his skateboard and knee pads when we got to salida once I saw that place. No way in hell I was going to be in that town and not skate that pool. Seems common now but back then, pools like that were a beautiful rarity. I've got some pics somewhere....
There was one in Durango back then too.
 

eric strt6

Resident Curmudgeon
Sep 8, 2001
23,188
13,448
directly above the center of the earth
Clay wheels were death. the slightest pinpoint of rock would lock them up in a skid and send you flying like superman. Face meet pavement style. And if you some how got going fast they tended to grenade into little bits and then you would really slam the pavement. The first Sims Urethane wheels were such crap by todays standards but back then it was heaven you could actually ride stuff without always eating shit. This was sometime in the late 60s maybe early 70s
 

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
14,335
2,448
Hypernormality
Clay wheels were death. the slightest pinpoint of rock would lock them up in a skid and send you flying like superman. Face meet pavement style. And if you some how got going fast they tended to grenade into little bits and then you would really slam the pavement. The first Sims Urethane wheels were such crap by todays standards but back then it was heaven you could actually ride stuff without always eating shit. This was sometime in the late 60s maybe early 70s
This is the best thing I’ve ever read on RM.
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,484
7,531
Exit, CO
Dug through all the pictures I have in my house, and found an abysmally low number of skate oriented photos. Hosoi Hammerhead, April '88. I think maybe my second or third deck ever? Thunder trucks. Lots of paint pens and stickers. Really into Anthrax and Minor Threat at the time, among other shit. Note the sweet Pushead sticker and aforementioned "favorite Thrasher Skate Rock" sticker under the front wheels.

Bonus: also pictured is my first guitar, some sort of shitty Les Paul shaped thing. Still have it, though I think it's at my Ma's house. It's appropriately now covered in skate stickers and paint pen.



Who the fuck is Steve Claar? This was probably '89-ish. I only vaguely remember this board. I remember putting white trucks on it... I think. Chances are it was a clearance deck or really cheap, I didn't have a lot of money back then. I remember also having a blank for a while as well, and maybe hating it because it was painted (not stained) and it didn't board slide all that well?



The only action pic I found, and it's not even of me I don't think. I'm pretty sure this is my younger brother, looks like an Alva deck and I think I remember him having that color of CTAS. Unsure if the street ramp was up in Michigan at my cousin's place, or if this was at our friend Chad who lived in our neighborhood.



In '88 I wasn't quite 15 in February, I recall the local "skate" shop (Roots, it was actually a camping/outdoor store that a few of us talked into carrying P&P stuff for us) did a whole thing where they sold tickets and we all took a charter bus to Dayton from my hometown in Indiana (about 2-1/2 hours) to see this contest.

If memory serves, I went to see all the big names of the time: Guerrero, Hosoi, Blender, Gonz, etc. I don't think Kele Rosecrans name was familiar to me at the time, but I remember coming away from that contest stoked on that dude's skating. For the life of me, I don't even remember why, just that he killed it. Can't really find much (anything) about him on the internets now, but I did find the video from this contest on YouTube so off I go down another rabbit hole...

 
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jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,942
13,135
Portland, OR
Mom tossed all my crap when they moved and I was at sea and couldn't go get it.

I have zero pics. My buddy Britt took that pic and it came up on Facebook.

Somewhere there is a skate video we made. Joe paid a gal that shot one of his kids birthday parties to film us. It was so bad it was good. '86 maybe? :rofl:
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,484
7,531
Exit, CO
"It just became like this sub sect of skating, or more of a lifestyle. I mean you get a party ball, five dudes, and a killer curb... it's on. For hours."

 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,484
7,531
Exit, CO
Being that I'm still keeping it classy (i.e. isolated) until I get some test results back, there's a couple inches of snow on the ground, and the board isn't here yet... I decided to take a drive around my 'hood today to see if there's anything interesting looking to skate close to my house. I didn't get out and take any pictures, but I found some neat stuff I think. Painted curbs, a really nice brick bank along a sidewalk that has a curb on top, some angled/ramped loading zones, a shin-high steel-edged loading dock, lots of 3 and 4 set stairs to play around on.

I've also been looking around the social media sphere to see if I could find some not-so-secret spots around Denver to check out. In doing that, I found this video. The skating is pretty good, not like the crazy über pro stuff, but the thing I dug about the video is all the interesting spots they skated. Several things that weren't run-of-the-mill... the curved curb thing over dirt at ~10 minutes was a prime example.


Anycrap... stoked for my board to show up and maybe have some dry weather to check it out.
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,484
7,531
Exit, CO
Board arrived yesterday, disassembled save the grip tape. Stoked!

D32713FB-F9CE-4961-ACFE-0DA0FD3E6BC1.jpeg


I didn’t take a bunch of pics of the unboxing or assembly, but it went together mostly okay. Found out I bought the wrong size hardware to mount trucks with 1/8” risers... despite Doing My Own Research™ They were still a bit short. Quick trip to a local skate shop (in the mall WTF?) and I’m in business.

723C872C-D0D5-45D3-9BA9-91D5A08DCB90.jpeg


There’s still quite a bit of snow outside, but I might be able to give’r a quick push around the parking lot across the street this afternoon. Just standing on it, the bushings feel WAY too soft/floppy for my 205# 48-year-old ass. But I’ll skate it a bit before changing them out.



My financée thinks I’m definitely going to the hospital.
 

rideit

Bob the Builder
Aug 24, 2004
23,067
11,303
In the cleavage of the Tetons
Board arrived yesterday, disassembled save the grip tape. Stoked!

View attachment 154189

I didn’t take a bunch of pics of the unboxing or assembly, but it went together mostly okay. Found out I bought the wrong size hardware to mount trucks with 1/8” risers... despite Doing My Own Research™ They were still a bit short. Quick trip to a local skate shop (in the mall WTF?) and I’m in business.

View attachment 154190

There’s still quite a bit of snow outside, but I might be able to give’r a quick push around the parking lot across the street this afternoon. Just standing on it, the bushings feel WAY too soft/floppy for my 205# 48-year-old ass. But I’ll skate it a bit before changing them out.



My financée thinks I’m definitely going to the hospital.
“You‘re going to shoot your eye out, kid!”

But that’s a great statement from Grosso. I didn’t realize he was such a bard.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,942
13,135
Portland, OR
Thrasher magazine is now 40 years old. I got my subscription for Christmas '83 and had it until '91 when I joined the Navy.

/oldstorybro
 

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,494
9,524
Thrasher magazine is now 40 years old. I got my subscription for Christmas '83 and had it until '91 when I joined the Navy.

/oldstorybro
i find it crazy that j grant britain shot with a medium format film camera early on....

but did he shoot for thrasher...transworld...or both...
 

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,430
1,949
Front Range, dude...
I have also been toying with the idea. I was a simliar style, just a cruiser who tried to be rad now and again. I had a couple Fiberflexes, a Warptail II, and finished with a Caballero, the bad ass orange with the dragon emerging from the bearing...

Bennet Pro trucks and YoYo 2 wheels man...custom made for cruising suburban streets...
 

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,430
1,949
Front Range, dude...
If I can heel flip my 35" beast, you can ollie just about anything.

I watch the videos Thrasher posts and the stuff guys pull off now is mind bending. I was lucky to do front side rail slides. The grinds now are just insane.

Just nutty.

I was on a ride the other day when I pulled though a university area that looked a lot like that. There were some kids with boards hanging out, none of them skating. I though "Maybe they are waiting for some nebulous authority figure to go away so they can grind." So I got a coffee and chilled in the shade and acted casual, just to see some skilz. Pretty soon they got up, I thought oh yeah, gonna see some some skin left on the pavement....and they walked away. Carrying their boards, smoking...none of them even skating a lick.

#lame
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,942
13,135
Portland, OR
The kid across the street has a board and a scooter, but I think he is a freshman this year, so the scooter has been MIA. He isn't bad, but he has no heart. A friend of his dad's made him a steel rail and I built a little kicker out of scrap, but he's done shit with it.

I've spent hours thinking of all the ways I could injure myself on both of those and he doesn't seem to care. I didn't skate because it was cool (it wasn't), I skated because I loved it. I spent countless hours in the alley learning wall rides. He hits the rail a few times, without committing, and stops. That's it. I don't get it.