With some textbook fall temperatures & the kids back in school, It's been nice to enjoy some great sessions at my local Astoria Park skatepark. I've been finally been able to get back some of my quarterpipe tricks, most of which I haven't had a good handle on since having a ramp in my apartment some 10plus years ago. It's been a blessing to get back a taste of that Mike Carroll mini ramp magic. Oh, back disaster reverts, how I have missed you.
Great clip but shit audio.
It's satisfying to finally carve out my niche at the park with some lines after having to dodge not BMXers nor Bladers but these Premium Leather Low Top Vans Wearing, High Water Khaki, Club Monaco Extra Medium Button-Up, $100 haircut hipster skaters that can clog the park from time to time. They battle outfits & step hop/ wallie lines with each other like a scene from Aging Fat Ass Animal Kingdom. Sorry guys, there's only one Alex Olson.
I think I bit of my recent success is attributed to my succumb to peer pressure from the crew. I have for years been skating a 7.75 width board, Indy 129s, 50mm super skinny GOLD wheels. In my head, I skate flatground & ledges. But in reality, I have 3 ledge tricks and shove-its aren't a flip trick by any stretch of the imagination. So recently, I upgraded to an 8.1 deck, Indy 139s, & 52mm Spitfire Streetburners and haven't felt this comfortable on a board in years. So if anyone may have a hook-up at Kayo, I'll gladly buy a box of 8.1 Expedition Team Boards, because Eastern is all sold out.
But at least for now, my board works, my shoes work and it's warm enough that this old man doesn't need more than a few axle stalls to warm-up. I can live the dream for just a few more weeks until winter creeps in and I lose all my tricks until next year.
*Note Carroll Warlock Tre Flip Stance from the previous clip @3:17. Is that even possible? I know tre-flips are more a scoop pressure flip trick than a 360 shove-it kickflip, but the way he does it seems unfathomable like Appleyard in his Habitat clip in Photosynthesis. I'd buy the iTunes pay per view how-to vid if these guys would ever even consider it.
So perhaps with some perserverance and a great bit of luck I can bring down my ratio of landing 360 flips from 1/100 to 1/50. Like Barkley and his golf swing I may be forever fucked, but if I had a bit more patience to practice and didn't have a terminal fear of messing up my always perfect griptape job, my dream may come true. But I swear I haven't had tre flips on lock since Gabriel Rodriguez had a board on the shelf.
