Entries from April 2008 ↓

weatherman says, “6ixty degrees and sunny for the noon session”

Thursday morning we got out to SPOA for a couple hours and had a private session. it’s nice when the kids are back in school…

Headed over to Brook Run for an afternoon session. turns out it was bike day…but with only one BMXer paying/riding, things worked out okay so we got plenty of skating in. it was a good day.

headed south friday morning…stopped at Lowndes county skatepark(2 minutes off I-85) and skated for about an hour under the baking hot sun. While certainly not a “destination” park…heck, it’s a fun concrete bowl to skate in the middle of a 6hr drive.

got to Kona at 6ish…skated until after 9…I was wore out! I saw Brook and Scott, Sean and Chris, and Ray…who had all come down from theATL to skate/spectate in the weekend’s contests. It was a blast skating with the Florida Crew. and that benji guy…

Saturday morning, we went out to the jacksonville Fishing pier and caught nothing. BEAT! After fishing, we went to the Atlantic Beach Grindline park and ripped around with a few locals. A.B. is a fun little free park. pool coping everywhere…Good Times!!!

then the 6hr drive back to athens…uggggggh!

Sunday morning, the storms had broken up, and we skated SPOA from 8:30-11ish. it was a good time, with only a few believers making an appearance. perfect. who needs a crowd anyway…

Sunday afternoon, the remaining rain storms were rather scattered. weather radar looked good. brook run said they were closed due to “weather”. dang. so we headed to Woodward. it was dry outside at woodward. I had a good time…as long as I didn’t actually try to turn. like driving on ice. excellent. got a good 2hr session, went outside…still hadn’t rained. too bad theBrook isn’t free/walk up&skate. woulda’ been a session…but duncan creek will be here soon.

1,300 miles, 7 skateparks/sessions in 4 days…now I need a nap.

http://www.myspace.com/skateshopathens

50 Gaines School Road, #12. just around the corner from Krystals, across the street from Dominos.

this is a communal story. everyone pitch in, and we’ll end up with enough half-memories, to make up our own truth.

I have only been skating AthensGA since 1983, so I don’t know much of the OLD athens skate history.

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WAY BACK IN THE DAY;

during the county meetings back in 2002, when we finally got the park approved…council member Alvin Sheats stated that he had “nailed his sister’s roller skates to a 2×4 and busted his butt, riding down the hill.”

and that’s the earliest skate history I know of in Athens Georgia.

URETHANE DAZE(seventies);

QuinT Lumpkin won medals at the Athens Skateboard Contest at the YMCA. musta been like 1978? I’ll wait for his version.

QuinT is the only skater from the Athens70’s scene that remains skateboarding today.

PUNK RAWK(early 80’s);

I moved to Athens in 1983. The only skateshop in town was Dixon’s Bicycles. Back in the day, there were no skateboard shops…you got stuff at your local bike shop or surf shop. in Athens, it was the bike shop.

I found this bmxer halfpipe with like 30 feet of flatbottom. 8 feet wide, and just to vert. Loehr’s Ramp. That’s where I met alot of the athens skateboard crew.
I met Rick Stanziale (with a mohawk). He had a big vert ramp in his yard(The Beast). He had a big contest there, all the Rancheros were there. sickness…

well actually…rick had the Beast and the Beast2 vert ramps. both were mega halfpipes…in scene, and in sheer gnar.

the Hoogers.

We skated the Library banks, before the plants had grown down the banks. Yusta get grinds up there at the opening where the window is…took some hard slams.

VISION STREET WEAR(mid 80’s):

******(memories from fowler)”Dont forget I was skating before psyco skates scott behrs vert ramp before we built jormas jay allens mini ramp my vert ramp jason hunters and robert bettis ramp me and Mark bell, chris Springfield, Noah Ray And Big daddy Kent doing demos for Dixons street team after psycho skates and dixons Mark bell yes A freestyle Biker and Dj Had Moonlight Skateboards but before that the mall Had Surf and Skate and 2 others I forget and the Strickland brothers in Oconne sold skate stuff too I remember the banks on campus all the old pools and ricks ramp and helping build daniels on grady Ave I rember this guy in athens over buy sams club His name was paul he had the first Quarter pipe I remeber I was like 9 or so then my bud Chad and Mike(Rip) built our firts redneck half pipe went to vert with concrete bricks for vert only 8ft wide too crazy and yes jason hunter still builds like this haha and I remeber lowbrow skateboards that Gabe and Larz started all the way up to low Js man well my brain is hurting”*******

you got skate stuff at dixons…or you could buy your Gator deck, Vision fanny pack, and airwalk shoes at Champs sporting goods in the mall.(I believe SUNSHINE ended up with much of the old stock from the mall store…tail bones galore!)

*******wezel says, “i bought my first board at the georgia square mall in 1986. a mark gonzales.”

********rick says, “the “Mesta Brothers”, Bill and Carl sold skateboards in Athens back in the mid 80’s (prior to Psycho Skates)”******

rick and tim opened the first true skateshop in Athens. Psycho Skates. it was rad(iculuos). they had ramps in the parking lot. that’s where I drank beer and met the punk rock gurl I married.

rick and the vert crew started building a HUGE halfpipe in the woods. turns out the property owner didn’t know. or something. big setback for vert in athens.

scott and kevin had the Skate of the Art skatezine. rick had Athens Pocket Skate Guide. it was full on gnar gnar cross town skate crew grrr. and stuff.<G>

I skated scott and kevin’s ramp alot. it was janky and fun. it came to be known as the Dead Elvis ramp.

Slob Ramp on south milledge was a fun transitioned quarter.

travelling to theATL for the mrP’s Street Thang skate contests, put on by Crazy Lou’s Skateshop. you had to come back to athens with the sheets of neon “SK8″ stickers…

LATE 80’s:

You still got skatestuff at Dixons. Mark Bell and Noah Ray were there. Noah did streetplants for rem. the mall stores faded, as skateboarding did…

Daniel’s ramp off Prince, and Jorma’s, out in the woods. those were the local places to go.

we’d travel to Lithonia(Street Waves), and to the indoor wood pool at Skatezone.

*******Patio remembers; me and rick sat at the 441 oconee trailer park pool all night with a gas powered pump. by morning time, we were covered with skunge, but we had a skateable pool for awhile…there’s some pics floating around somewhere…

Rasta Bill yusta hook up with some ATL fun, like the Lindberg pool and backyard ramps.

me and steven cobb went to Stone Edge for their opening day. skated a pool on the beach that ended up in a calendar.

early 90’s;

dixon’s was out of skateboarding.

Low Brow Skateboards?

AMPT Skateshop was downtown, as the street scene grew. boards got smaller and lighter. I got a Lib Tech flippy stick, and I bought some 58mm wheels, the hugest thing they carried. average wheels were like 45mm.

Mark Bell opened Moonlight Skateboards next to Sunshine Bike Shop. the entire shop floor was a mini-ramp. it was sick. soon, he moved his business inside Sunshine. and Sunshine absorbed Moonlight.

the main skate scene in Athens was the original spoa downtown. ramps and concrete obstacles. ELVO.

AMPT struggled, moved in with Sunshine and was absorbed…

LATE 90’s to 2005:

Sunshine Bike Shop was the place to buy skateboards. not that anyone was skating much…

Skater’s Xtreme skatepark opened in Athens in 1998. they had a Pro Shop. The old and new Athens crews blended in this arena.

HillBilly Dirt Gear is born in AthensGA. Some of the finest protective gear known to man. The hip pad shorts and wrist guard gloves are popular items among skaters, mountainboarders, snowboarders and more.

we travelled to skate the Ashvill NC concrete. we drove to KONA and Stone Edge.

Low J’s Skateshop opened on Baxter Street. comfy couch and all…

Skater’sXtreme became Glowing Rock paintball/skatepark. we painted the bowl ourselves. ’cause it needed to be done.

GEORGIASKATER.COM is born in AthensGA, and helps promote the construction of SPOA with pictures and words.

Glowing Rock skatepark/skateshop shut down about the time Grindline started building SPOA.

2005-on;

Grindline completes the Skatepark of Athens. SPOA hosts the Tony Hawk secret skatepark tour. Ryan eats them outta house and home.

Georgiaskater holds Old School Skateboarder Reunion and brings the Georgia skaters from “the day” back up to speed. SPOA is a hotbed of GA/SE skateboarding.

FERAL Skateboard shop opened in the Normaltown section of Athens.

SPOA continues to be a focal point of the Athens skate scene, with national contest stops. we even get a clown on a bus.

Skate Shop of Athens opens on the SouthEast side of town, near SPOA.

The Youth of Athens attend the ACC Leisure Services meetings and make SPOA Phase2(the street plaza) a reality.

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so that’s from my brain. add to it, correct my time frame, whatever. I’m happy to hear from ya…

Patio

if there’s a drought, how come it’s always too wet to go skate…

click it and check it out…

Skateboarding Girls Video

noon tuesday’s lookin like 60 degrees.

might as well skate while it isn’t raining.

http://www.ncdsa.com/contest_registration.asp?ContestID=362

Park Slolam at BrookRunSkatepark. in the flow bowls. carve it fast, yo.

regular slolam in the parking lot. really…there’s a pretty cool little hill.

Watch Benji Galloway shred the bowl. or drop in and try to show him up because you rippah, brah. heh heh heh, sounds like a good time brewing in theATL.

I just spread the rumours, I don’t start them.

Definitely come out this Friday and show of your style. Just like last week we will be meeting in the Cyclorama parking lot off Cherokee Ave at 9 PM. Bring your longboard or whatever you please and take advantage of the lighted hills located within the park. This is a great chance to meet others in the Atlanta area longboard community. This is an ongoing weekly event so Call Woody’s Halfpipe at 770.416.1475 if ya need more details and for last

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since we have a “family audience” here, I’ve deleted the message board link.

you’re welcome.

Patio

noon at the spoa.

judgin’ by the weatherman’s report…them cans of boiled P-Nuts oughtta warm up reall good.

awesome’s waiting for you.

Some SPOA locals spent spring break in South GA/Florida. Kaden and Kai competed in Kona’s Spring Fling Street Contest and Kaden got second place in his age group!

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Great Job Kaden!

You guys are both rippers for sure.

Patio

http://expn.go.com/expn/story?id=3327593

Vert is DEAD??? only if you let the stupid TV people make it that way…