28 Mar 2012

The Candle-light Session - Secret Spot

I've been meaning to get these up for a while now, got loads going on at the moment so it's only now that they make it onto the world wide web.

These shots were taken before the clocks went forward so we were arriving at te spotin the dark and having to get light any way we could. Head-torches, wind-up lamps, bicycle lights and candles were all being employed in a desperate attempt to light the place enough to skate it safely.  We failed.

It was lit, a bit, just not enough.  The bottom of the quarter-pipe had just been skimmed to meet the floor and the thin section at the floor started to crack up and finally big enough chunks were coming up to throw me into the face of the hip opposite.  There really isn't a lot of time to take evasive action.

Johners and James kept on shredding until we'd finished the beers and the candles were fading.

Since these pictures were taken there have been big steps forward and hopefully I can get down to help out again soon.  But for now you can all take a look at how things looked a week or so ago.

Go build something to skate.

[LIALC]












15 Mar 2012

Nocturnal Bristol DIY Fun.

It's been a while since I made it down to Bristol for a skate.  This time round it was a flying visit, driving down on Saturday morning and back on Sunday afternoon.  After hanging out with the family Plews, it was time for Dave and I to head to Daveside, his new DIY spot.

Joxa with a RnR Slide going that way >

Habgood had a face full of snot so it was just Me, Joxa and Dave that made it down to the amazing little spot.  I'd seen a few photos but none of them really did justice to just how good this spot is.  The location is amazing, right by a vast expanse of smooth tarmac with superb lights all the way along the side. 

Dave had spotted the location ages ago and had tried to get people to get something started down there without success.  Then he decided to take the bull by the hors and started building the first quarter with rubble, as soon it started to look like something was possible people started being available to help out.  There have been hic-ups along the way, some loose lipped moments had the place open for business way before Dave would have liked, as is often the case with these things, and several bags of out of date concrete at a pound each later... you have what yu see in these photos.


Dave retaliates with an RnR slide coming this way.

The transitions are by no means perfect and the surface is showing signs of being a little to thin but Dave and the crew are going to resurface what's here before starting on the expansion programme.  The concrete structure that they've build up against is like a gnarly gift from the skateboard gods.  it's topped off with angle iron that has some heavy duty bolts, nails and rivets protruding out here and there, making for some interesting grinds.  A few backside grinds had me tipped to the floor, who knows what stopped the grind but each time the effect was the same, me on the floor.


Tail blockage.
Dave and Joxa were having it.  They both paid no attention to the holes and rough patches and just shredded for the couple of hours that we were there, luckily an ankle roll for me made me pick up the camera a bit earlier than usual.



Joxa

Dave

 Hopefully the next time I make it down I can lend a hand with the next stage of the build and skate it without hurting myself.  Thanks to Dave for the invite and to both Dave and Joxa for a really fun skate.

So if you are reading this and thinking "I could build something like that", YES, you can, just buy the concrete and have a go, that's exactly what Dave and the crew did.

Build it, skate it!

[LIALC]