For several years now, this has been my getaway, my sanctuary... and in many ways, my home. Is the end of an era near...?
The face wall, with "The Widowmaker" in the center, clearly illustrating the extent of the recent tagging.
This week, the guys agreed that we should have today's session at Major Taylor, as it is at risk of being shut down pretty soon. Apparently, Marian College is buying the property that the skatepark sits on... property that's currently owned by the Indianapolis Parks and Recreation Department. Marian wants to buy the property for it's Velodrome [bike track], golf course, walking trails, et cetera... while the skatepark, on the other hand, is slated for demolition [as always], due to "liability concerns". Now, tell me this: Why in the hell is it that everything else in the recreational world is an "asset", while a skatepark is almost universally considered a "liability"?! It's as if noone could ever possibly get hurt racing a bicycle around in a circle at breakneck speeds or something...
The crew at 8:30 in the morning... just after sunrise... and, maybe a shade over 30 degrees Fahrenheit. These guys don't fuck around. They're as hard as hardcore gets.
Bart, Cody, Chris, and Chuck were already on hand when I arrived, fashionably late as usual. Mike, Jason, Brian, and a bunch of other heads checked in as the morning progressed. It was definitely freezing, and the wind damn near took your breath away... but, it was still a good time. Fer sure.
Bart told me that the winter sessions will more than likely be held up in Muncie, where Bart got the rights (and, the keys) to skate a tubular new 'secret spot'. Oh, wait: Make that, an indoor tubular new 'secret spot'. Let's chalk up a few more genius-points for our fearless ringleader, shall we...?!
Bart had the keen foresight to bring a kerosene-powered jet heater along with him, for us all to warm our hands over. I swear, dude thinks of everything! Seriously. That's probably why he's the ringleader, and we're not.
Brian's kid brought along this gem of a find, right here. A 1988/89 Sims Kevin Staab, complete with Tracker Ultralite Sixtracks, stacked Cellblock risers, rails, and Vision Blurrs. The graphics are way, waaaaay off registration... and, the whole complete is perfectly color-coordinated... which makes it look like it may have been a factory second, probably set up as a budget complete by some mail-order house back in the day. I think the kid said he scored this for like, eight bucks or something. Buy of the day, right there.
The whole session had a sad and subdued feel over it. At least, it did for me. As I did manuals all over the place, all morning long [because, they're always a good time], I realized that these might be the last manuals that I'll ever do at my own, home park. It made me not really want to leave. Ever.
Now, I'm just a little doubtful that "liability concerns" are the sole reasons for Marian College to want to de-burden itself of our beloved skatepark. The truth is, over the years, Major Taylor has been taken completely for granted by the locals... tagged, littered, defaced, destroyed... it's a skatepark that we all use, and many of us abuse... but, noone ever wants to take care of. Or, take any responsibility for. Even if that means doing really basic shit like, leaving it as you found it, or picking up after your own goddamned self.
Everyone, let this be a lesson to ya: Nothing good lasts forever. If you treat a good thing badly...? It doesn't even last half that long. Let's face a few fun facts here: Major Taylor was built in 1999 [or so]. Considering that it's only 2009 now... you quickly realize that this concrete park was clearly designed and built to last several decades. Maybe even longer than that. Yet: It will probably survive to see only one. What a damn shame...
The many, many examples of graff that you'll find on the walls of Major Taylor. It's good shit, and I'm certainly not the one to get all preachy about censoring self-expression. However: Maybe jeopardizing our skatepark, in hindsight, wasn't the wisest of ideas? Huh...?
Now, here's a sad state of affairs, right here. Note the trail of trash. Also note that, there is a waste receptacle a scant 10 feet from where I am taking this picture. Note that a whole lotta somebodies were too fucking lazy to put the trash, in the waste receptacle. Fuckin' Indy, man. No sense of civic pride or personal responsibility whatsoever...
After the sesh at Major T, Bart, Da Crew, and I made the short dash over to the nearby Soap Box Derby hill at 30th and Kessler. I'd seen it before on my way to and from the park, but I never even thought of stopping and skating it. Thank Gawd that Bart thinks for the rest of us, huh?! All week long, I was getting these reminder e-mails: "Don't forget your longboards, guys!!" Well, this was why. Bart, being the Club Brains, even brought along a Landyachtz Evo, complete with Bear trucks (With 10mm axles!), and Hawgs wheels. A board that I subsequently asked to borrow, and that Bart gracefully loaned. What an all-class guy. He also brought along a few other longboards, too. Just in case anyone managed to forget theirs... or, maybe they don't own one in the first place. That Bart. What a champ.
The downhill sesh was fabtabulous. Cody decided to shine the pre-bomb walk, and just blindly barged it. I blindly dropped in right behind him, and the rest of the gang followed a few seconds later. There were some pretty nasty cracks in the run-out section near the bottom, but we managed to get over 'em in one piece. It's not quite "fun" if there's not a smidge of "scary" tossed in for good measure, now is it...?
