A few weeks back, Glenn Davidson invited me to Killer Skatepark's Two-Year Anniversary Bash. Since it'd been a couple solid years since I'd been down to Evansville, I figured that it was high time to get my ass up, and get down that way. Since I was already burning the gas and making the drive, I figured that I'd make a weekend out of it, and go see the entire southwestern part of the state while I was out and roaming around. Besides, Indiana's kinda pretty in the fall. And my itinerary would be taking me through some of the best scenic routes that the state has to offer. With the promise from Glenn and Sheena that I could crash at their place on Saturday night, I was off and running. Well, driving.
The Itinerary:
I may be a forty-something, fat jackass... but, I'm also a horribly ambitious forty-something, fat jackass that's also a total glutton for punishment. So take that, bucko! This was my semi-grueling schedule for the weekend. I say "semi-grueling" because any traveling skater that knows what he's talking about will tell ya that these things never quite work out as planned:
Saturday, October 29th, 2011:
Plainfield, IN^
Greencastle, IN^
Terre Haute, IN^*
Vincennes, IN^*
Olney, IL^
Evansvlle, IN^^^**
Sunday, October 30th, 2011:
Princeton, IN^
Washington, IN^
Paoli, IN^
Bedford, IN^*
Bloomington, IN^**
Franklin, IN^
Greenwood, IN^
Beech Grove, IN^
^= Cities/towns with skateparks *= Cities/towns with skate shops
This Indiana map illustrates my travel route. That little side-trip into Illinois took me from Vincennes, to Olney and back.
The Sleepworker
Every weekend that I plan a road trip automatically starts off on the wrong foot, because of my utter inability to get a good nights' sleep before I leave. I think it's because I just get so damned excited about these things... even at forty years geezered, I still wake up like a sixteen-year-old-teenager, all bright eyed and bushy-tailed at stupidly ridiculous hours of the night. And this weekend was no different. Two in the f'n morning, and I was lit up like a lantern. Dammit. So, I typed a few emails and tidied up some last-minute projects, and left town at four in the morning, too scared to look back. Lest I start daydreaming about that queen-size pile of plushness that I'd just left behind.
Saturday, October 29th, 2011, 6:51 AM: Clabber Girl billboard. US Route 40, just east of Terre Haute.
7:16 AM: The sun rises over Terre Haute International Airport. US Route 40, just east of Terre Haute.
8:10 AM: This was definitely worth getting up early for. Terre Haute skatepark at Voorhees Park.
Olney
My travels took me to several skateparks that I'd visited on my 2008 Tour. At the time, I was largely documenting them for Jeff Greenwood at Concrete Disciples. Mostly by verifying addresses and directions, and getting good, descriptive, and complete photographs of the parks... because the guys at Concrete Disciples never, ever seem to have enough photos on hand. This time around, though, I was pretty much just checking up on everything, and making sure they were still there... while giving them some Everything Skateboarding sticker-love, and getting a little bit of quality skate-time in.
Believe it or not, I seriously get heckled for making such a point of stopping by all of these out-of-the-way little skateparks all over the place. But I think it's important work. Those little scenes deserve acknowledgement and recognition, just like anybody else does. Even if I rarely see a skater at any of these places... the few that I do meet out there on the long and lonely road get stoked as hell that somebody... anybody... even gives a shit about them. And that makes it all worthwhile.
10:10 AM: Grain elevators, just east of Olney, Illinois. I spent the next hour or so, looking high and low for Olney. Having only been there once, I forgot that it was off the main road. So I basically missed the whole town, and didn't even catch my mistake until a whole forty minutes later. Those small towns, man... if you blink, you'll miss 'em. Literally.
11:10 AM: Finally! The Olney skatepark, a video overview, and some Olney sticker-love.
12:29 PM: Vincennes Skatepark overview.
Party Hearty...!
I got to Killer... late, as usual... at about two in the afternoon. There were burgers on the grill right out front, which got my attention straightaway. There was also a ton of kids inside. And there was a pretty hot session underway on the mini ramp. For the next three hours or so, an entire amateur contest happened that I payed virtually no attention to. Because Jay Lauf, Zach Newhouse, Coby Kreig, and the rest of The Evansville Wrecking Crew were putting on a hell of a good show, demolishing Killer's spined mini.
The crowd, just a few minutes after I arrived. I thought this was pretty crazy: There were another couple dozen kids outside, waiting in line for burgers and dogs or bullshitting or whatever. But Glenn told me that it would be twice as crowded by contest time. I thought he was seriously on crack. But, he was right! Lord almighty.
Just one of Coby Kreig's many long, sure-footed lines around the mini. Note that quick little backside 180 up the euro to frontside 180 back down...
...and tall man Zach Newhouse, with his lanky, easygoing style...
... and Jay Lauf, with his impeccable, classic bag of tricks. Between these three guys, that mini didn't stand a chance in hell of getting away unscathed.
The Street Shootout
When the "advanced" division hit the street course, I tore myself away from The Wrecking Crews' antics to catch some last-minute finals action. And good thing that I did, because I was just in time to watch the tie-breaking, head-to-head handrail shootout between Joe Lester and Craig Edwards. This hail-mary overtime battle was called up to determine which guy was getting second place, mind you. Now, you'd think that a battle for second place might end up being a pretty ho-hum affair. Nope, not this time, dudemeyer. This was a heavy-duty, knock-down, all-in, and knock-out slugfest unlike anything I've ever seen. It was, by far, the most exciting finals that I've ever witnessed in my entire life. I didn't even care who got what. I was just stoked that a bunch of guys would skate that hard, and for that long, for the runner-up prize. Watching it all unfold was actually pretty draining, emotionally. But it was still early, and there was still heaps more to see and do.
When Glenn puts together an event, he doesn't screw around.
Nate Ives, nollie noseblunt (down the handrail) during the street finals.
This clip shows part of the tiebreaking battle for second place between Joe Lester (blue shirt) and Craig Edwards (in gray). So many tricks were landed, so fast, that there was no way in hell that I could ever film 'em fast enough.
Nate Ives again, switchstance frontside bigspin heel. Say that one ten times really fast. I had a hard enough time saying it once.
Joe Lester and his frontside bigspin.
It's hard to keep your hands off the red-knobbed joystick on the "Super Snake" costume on Halloween. Trick...? Or, treat...?
Killer had these crazy little fingerboards lying around that had their shop-deck graphics on 'em. Later, Glenn pointed out that they also have real wood decks, real bearings in the wheels, and really soft bushings for the ultimate in fingerboard turn-ability. Really?! Scroll down a bit for the product review, and the photo evidence that shows that I'm seriosuly not kidding around on this one...
Tech-Dech Uber-Seriousess.
The Video Premiere
After the contest, Glenn premiered Killers' second video, "Killer or Die". The coolest part of it was seeing Glenn- the owner of Killer- skating. And skating really, really well. You don't really see that from many skate-shop owners these days, unless it's Buddy Best or something. But even Buddy Best could never think up some of the mind-bending shit that Glenn's done over the years. It sort of reminded me of Todd Falcon's tiny-transition skills. If you don't know who Todd Falcon is, well, maybe it's time that you and your little buddies YouTube that dude. Search for his "Candyland" video, and witness the genius for yourself. Glenn's not quite that good. But he's not that far off, either. And that alone makes Killer's video well worth the measly five bucks they're charging for it. And that's not even counting the rest of the rippers that are ripping in it, too.
Post-premiere pandemonium. That's Glenn Davidson- the owner of Killer- in the red circle.
Leave No Trace
I woke up on Sunday morning after a solid 24-hour-day that ended at two in the morning Saturday night, feeling pretty damned lucky. Lucky, because I somehow survived a twenty-four-hour day of partying, skateboarding, troublemaking, and reckless mayhem. Lucky, because the day before had been such a total hoot. Lucky, because the Evansville locals are the coolest bunch of dudes you'll ever meet. Lucky, because I saved hella hotel money by crashing at Glenn and Sheena's pad. And best of all, lucky because as I woke up from my sleeping-bag slumber, I slowly began to realize that Glenn and Sheena's house had somehow been blessed with some of the softest, plushest, and thickest carpeting that I've ever felt under my tired old bones, in my entire adventure-filled, couch-crashing life. There must have been three or four carpet pads under there, and it felt absolutely fabulous. This was the high life, right here baby. And the last thing that I was gonna do was screw up this golden ticket, nuh uh...!
Listen up, kids: The best way to insure everlasting good karma on the road, is to follow the same sort of ethics that you might employ while camping, hiking, or doing anything else in the great wilderness: "Leave No Trace" of your visit. And as I wiped the sleep from my sore and tired eyes, I suddenly realized that Glenn and Sheena are, above all else, extraordinarily tidy people. Their place is nothing less than impressively immaculate. And my job, as their handy houseguest, was to make damn good and sure that it stayed that way. So I brushed my teeth, rolled on some deodorant, rolled up the sleeping bag, played with their two cats for a while, and quietly checked my tracks for filth before sliding out for the day. When I finally got back home, I found a sincerely thankful "thank-you" note from Glenn and Sheena waiting for me in my e-mail inbox. And that "come on back anytime you want" invite is the priceless Golden Ticket that makes the world go 'round for a traveling skateboarder-journalist (like me).
Sunday, October 30th, 2011, 11:10 AM: Washington, Indiana's "Blue Thunder" skatepark. One of the many American Ramp Company skateparks ("ARC Parks") littering Indiana, they're not nearly as bad as they look. That mini-ramp is actually hella solid, baby-butt smooth, and frightfully fast. Just my cup 'o tea first thing on a sleepy Sunday morning.
12:00 Noon: As I was booking across the countryside on US 50 out of Washington, toward Paoli, I noticed this dark, oily plume of smoke rising out of the fields a few miles ahead. Being so far in the middle of nowhere, I decided that it might just be prudent to take my First Aid kit and my American Red Cross training, and go check that shit out. Entering a small village, I parked my car at the end of a dead-end street, and hiked down to the calamity. When I came out of the brush, I saw that the fire department was on hand, and pretty much in control of the situation. So, I decided that it was probably best to get out of their way, find Route 50, and continue on my way to Paoli...
... but, what's this...?! A skatepark! In this little town...! How strange. Loogootee, Indiana has it's own "ARC Park", along with a total population of exactly 2,475 people (as of 2010, according to Wikipedia). That means that any town this size might have it's own little skatepark, too. The search never ends.
1:10 PM: Amber waves of grain. US 50, just east of French Lick, Indiana.
1:17 PM: Renovating a classic "Phillips 66" gas station. US 50, between French Lick and Paoli, Indiana.
1:31 PM: Paoli, Indiana's little "ARC Park". I could spend all day skating the little quarterpipe to the far right. Sometimes, I nearly do.
Scenic downtown Paoli, Indiana.
2:24 PM: Bedford, Indiana's Skatewave skatepark. When I got here, all the kids were sitting around the park like a bunch of blobs. I grabbed my board, strolled in, and asked everyone "Hey, why isn't anyone skating?!" So, they all got up and started skating. That's the power of suggestion at work, I guess.
2:34 PM: "Team Shredford" is Bedford's local skateboarding crew. Notice the "Everything Skateboarding" sticker.
3:03 PM: Rhett Skateboarding in Bloomington, Indiana. Neat little shop. Lots of local little brands on the walls, like this one:
"Lab Ratical". It looks like this shop understands that they're never gonna compete with Zumiez by selling Bakers and Deathwishes. Surviving in the biz today means that you've gotta be doing something that they're not doing, and doing it better than they are. Rhett looks like they're doing a pretty good job.
4:00 PM: Any time you're in Bloomington, it's mandatory that you stop at The Trojan Horse on the square downtown, and get Gyros and Cokes. But, it gets better! You simply can't leave until you've had...
... their famous Baklava ice cream. This is the shit, fer sure. It's well worth the drive from hours away, just to get a taste. It's also a great way of killing time before meeting up with Ryan Draper at Upper Cascades for a photo shoot. Which was the last thing that I had going on this particular Sunday. That pile of plush was beckoning, and my sleepy eyes were starting to revolt. It was time to start the long trip home.
4:50 PM: The final stop: Bloomington's Upper Cascades skatepark.
4:55 PM: Of all the times that I'd ever been to Upper Cascades, I've never, ever noticed this small, flatbar-handrail-skatepark-slab across the parking lot from the "real" skatepark. I spent a few watching this skater-dad film his kid as he learned the basics of boardslides, while I waited on Ryan to arrive.
5:15 PM: Totally worth the wait. Ryan Draper, Rooftop Skateboards owner, and spontaneous-photo-shoot-champion. Ollie noseslide down the Upper Cascades' tall hubba.
