Monday, January 26, 2009

Haven SkatePark - Fixed with 700x23c

Tony Tyrant rented out Haven Skate Park last night with the financial donations from all of us at the Ghostship Collective and EC Scorchers.

I have no skatepark bike (yet) so I opted to tag along and pretend like I know how to take photos with my little point-and-shoot. I felt uncomfortable next to some of my friends with crazy SLRs (Tony, Drew, etc..).

After a brief while, Drew decided he was going to snap some photos so I borrowed his fixed gear to see what this fixed gear 'freestyle' is all about. Weird at first but I quickly got the hang of riding a brake-less fixed gear in a skate park. Ironically, I felt more comfortable on this bike and any other bike I've ridden [in a skatepark]. So comfortable that I began dropping lips and small gaps. Kept trying to bunny hop the pyramid box but couldn't quite get my speed fast enough. Did some wall rides but really liked the wooden pseudo bowl and the quarter pipe transitions. Rode the halfpipe a bit.


myself - trying out the 650c front wheel


decided to go back to 700c with some nice toe-overlap
Drew was partial to his new 650c wheel but I had full reign to destroy the 700c wheels if such a thing happened (it didn't, no matter how loose the spoke tension was)

Was it the handlebar mustache? Was it the Ghostship T-Shirt? Was it just the enjoyment of riding a bicycle? I think it was the fact that I couldn't rest. I was always pedaling and had to focus on what is next and do things in succession. This is how I ride snowboard parks. I can't just sit and stare at an obstacle. I have to ride it and be in my 'zone'. My mind works best that way.


Gary (co-owner of Pedal Power bicycle shop) laying out a nice turn-down


EC Scorcher Dan - fixed wheelie


EC Scorcher Sean - a nice fixed bunnyhop




Haven had a little bit of a rodent problem which Scorcher Drew did not take a liking to.


myself - a little bowl action


Mike Stock from the Ghostship Collective - killing it with a nice table on the wall-ride


myself - one of my favorite moves I figured out that night

More pictures reside here and also here.

More entries on the Scorchers blog

It was a ton of fun. We had a great collection of BMX riders, 26inch wheeled riders and fixies. We all rode well together and I thought it was a wonderful time.

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