SK8 or Die... With Tony Hawk!

The weather is finally starting to turn around... at least for now. Last night I went outside at 7.45pm, and it was still so stinkin' nice, I just couldn't resist. I just had to fire up the Ninja, and take off for a cruise to nowhere! Nothing like a lovely little night time canyon run! It was so much stinkin' fun, but also made me want some brighter lights. Riding up Magnolia gets to be more fun every time too!

Pretty awesome news coming out today!
Kids have it so easy these days... especially in Colorado. I mean, there is basically a full-blown skate park in nearly every single town! And some of them, are just downright awesome. "Back in the day" when I was just a wee-lad, I aws constantly fighting authorities and local rules, trying to skateboard myself, from one spot to another as we would constantly being chased away from our newest finds. Or filling backpacks with water and skating down the highway (literally) a good 5 miles, because we had friends that told us of magical banks, or friends of friends with halfpipes in the yard. Of course, a lot of that is what made skateboarding so damn fun. Luckily my parents must have thought my rebelliousness would build character. Or perhaps they were thinking along the lines of what I would tell the cops when chased out of late-night spots... "Fine, I can't skate (you pig) so I figure I'll just go home and drink and do some fucking drugs".

Regardless, I was pretty impressed a couple years ago to see that a group of citizens had banded together in our little town of Nederland, to try to build a skatepark for the community, since the town themselves did not have the money. The locals were at least afforded a modest space in the parking lot of the Teen Center, where they could set up some beaten-down, cobbled together rails and ramps. I was happy to support the effort, all the more so since the kids were actually working for their park.

Eventually, I admit, I was surprised when they had pulled together most of the funding for the park, and were scheduled to start construction. But definitely I was psyched! I was WAY more impressed once I climbed the fence during the construction to see how things were shaping up! Not just some cute little park in a small mountain town... this park was shaping up to be some serious shit! With some absolutely mind-bending terrain!

The park has been open for 6 months now, and there are people skating anytime I go past. I thought about hitting it on a weekday, while the kids were at school, but I'm pretty sure that most of the skaters in Ned were skipping school at first, so they could spend all day skating... and who can blame them!?

And now... with the official Grand Opening Celebrations for the Nathan Lazarus Skatepark coming on Memorial Day weekend... but with the major news that the man, the myth, the legend Tony Hawk, and his Birdhouse crew will be there... well, that's just incredible! Tony Hawk's first years as a pro, were just as I was starting to skate myself. And if you were in a similar situation, there is no way he wouldn't be an influence for you.

The town should be a mess that weekend, but I think I'll have to try to stop by, just to check things out.