|
wednesday 9th october
 Recent laptop death has delayed this streetboard report, but I'm glad to say that the summer has been a productive one :)
One of the best summers in recent memory meant that we have been able to get get out regularly in the evenings and streetboard - we have taken advantage of the opportunities to get the hours in..!
The skating has mainly focussed on minipipe and manual blocks - although we did visit Bransgore early summer for some light launch box relief...
Prevail Skatehouse, West Moors skatepark and Upton all have relatively low mini's, great for learning smaller, tech tricks - so we've spent all summer building our repetoire with tricks from simple nosestalls to 180-noseblunts, to switch-270 backside nosegrinds!
Earlier in the summer, CJ and I took a long weekend break in Bude, just to get away from Bournemouth for a weekend.
 Bude was a victorian holiday resort, and they built a seawater pool that refils every high tide, releasing the water over the next few hours.
A shchool of jellyfish had been blown in from sea by a storm, and they were washed up in the pool - plate-sized rubbery things, very bizarre.
Bude is a lovely place to visit and relax, with loads to see including the castle (with folly), the "Bude light" column, canal, beach, surfing, and lots more.
 The early summer provided some great riding opportunities with Jon and Duncan, including one memorable ride with Paul.
It was a late night ride at Canford Heath, with the boys hitting some jumps before night fell and we resorted to another 2 hours navigating by headlamp.
During our skate expeditions, we revisited local West Moors skatepark - a second-generation tarmac skatepark with metal ramps. The tarmac has remained usable, and it's not a bad design, with a street section comprising of a driveway with shotgun rail, spine, and launch between two quarters - one with integral flatbank-to-step.
And a mini. And what a lovely little mini it is too - metal with an extension on one third of one side. It's a touch higher than Prevail's, but its a sweeet little halfpipe - we spent a good few sessions riding there - and theres the bonus of very few people using it :)
I heard from my friend Damian Tweddle (from Wanaka 2005 & 2006 seasons) over the summer - Damo has a girlfriend who lives in Oxford, so spends his time between the UK and Australia...
Damo had been doing some festivals, so I arranged to hook up with him after festival season had finished - we met up in Oxford and spent a few hours skating the Oxford Wheels Project skatepark...
I spent a awesome day with Damo, riding the park for about 3 hours, followed by an expedition into Oxford itself for a pint and a bite to eat - with 7 years-worth of living to catch up on..!
It was brilliant to see Damo, his infectious enthusiasm perking up what had started as a relatively slow weekend :)
So the weather has now taken a big change for the worse - the rain pelting down as I sit here writing this!
Tim and I are looking to start filming shortly, and get some lines down on film for an edit - just waiting on Jay Nowman to send the camera now...
|
