1-12-97 Daytona's Finest |
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I think it's the 12th. I'm not sure, it's Tuesday. We 've been in Daytona, staying at the International house, since Thursday. My friend Suede from PA lives here with the nicest, burliest group of skaters ever assembled under one roof. Suede, Lance, Kruz, Drew, Tim, Candy, and Hiler (the IRS) are showing us where and how to carve, grind, and fly. I've had perma-grin since I arrived. Rad sessions have been going down at the park (Stone Edge Skatepark) and on the International backyard ramp. Stone Edge was packed over the weekend with superstars like Buck Smith (who nailed trick after trick on every wall) in the egg, the peanut, and the 9 bowl. Kurt Meager and Kettle dominated the peanut. Greg Hiler and Drew were gettin it in the clover and Greg just floats out of the vert ramp. There's nothing like a face-high air from one side of the wall to the other to get you stoked while you're standing on the deck. Greg Hiler rips. Drew has the smoothest backside smith grinds I might add. All of these kids throw down.
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Before and after skating we've been cooking up big meals in the IRS kitchen. It's like a big skateboard family. Candy made this sweet birthday cake last night for this girl named Jen. Jen's really pretty. One day, Sunday maybe, I was waiting to get in the 9 bowl when Hiler rolled out in my direction going like mach 10. I thought he was gonna roll back in to the deep-end but it turns out he was headed for the street course directly behind me. I just stood there like a frightened deer and my board gave him a black-eye. Greg's so chill he didn't even get mad; he just proceded to launch the smoothest arching stalefish airs and blazing frontside 50-50 grinds in all the steep places.
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Most nights have been spent getting zooted and playing pool at a big-hair-waitress bar called the Sharp Edge. The mornings found us cooking up breakfast and sipping coffee in between runs on the 8' metal-layered mini in the IRS backyard. Homemade pool coping on one side and a fat metal pipe on the other make every grind fulfilling. Someone from the house is always willing to skate or at least watch, yell, and/or keep me company. Around 3pm just about everyone has been getting off work so we head to the park to skate the pools and the newly re-built vert ramp. Some other friendly rippers you'll see down here are Chris Colette aka Angry (the long-haired dude who owns the egg bowl), Jim Webb, Otis (or Travis?), Jim Boon, and anyone who claims to be a part of Team Glug. I know I'll be back--killer ramps, a nice set of pools, and a committed scene are hard to stay away from for long. |
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