S.E.D.J. Day 25 - Snakes on a Ramp, Must be Wednesday Night at Playstation.

Come on brain, don't let me down now.  I can handle the physical knocks and and aches but if the brain goes then I'm sunk.  All it will take is for me to get my days mixed up, think that I'm skating that night, miss my lunch-time window and that Rach is out past 11 meaning I can't get out to skate before the clocks strike twelve and I turn to a pillar of salt and the S.E.D.J. dream comes to a rather pathetic end.

That is one possible outcome and there are thousands of versions similar.  Tonight was just one such version.  Unfortunately you, dear reader, are the unsuspecting victim of this cerebral meltdown.

Earlier today i needed to grab some images off the Lumix for the last blog entry, I managed to leave the camera on after downloading the shots.  So when I reach into my bag while a t Playstaion/Bay66 tonight I spot the battery is already dangerously low. So low in fact that i get two useless frames before it dies.  See, nothing groundbreaking, just forgetting to unplug the bloody camera.  As a result YOU have to put up with these shockingly bad photos to the guys at the session, who were: Johners, Irish Steve, Jamie, Alan, Jack, Awadh, Jotham and Kev.

Alan, Steve, Jamie (hidden) and Awadh ready for snakeing.

An out of focus Jotham.

A badly lit and red-eyed Jamie, and Alan were both on fine form

Adam was being all shy again.

 We spent the first half of the session having a Wembly Gap session over on the street course and then the obligatory snake session on the mini.  I couldn't shoot any actual skating as the HTC Phone I've got is worse than useless in that regard.  Despite the camera fuck-up I'm happy with Day 25, I had a good skate, got backside 180's up the gap again and it looks like I'm going to get to bed before one o'clock.

Day 26 is another quick lunch-time visit to Meanwhile II/Royal Oak, aiming to be there for 1.15pm for a half hour skate and then it's back to work.  You know the drill, if you are about....

[LIALC]

S.E.D.J. Day 11 - More Playstation Fun Times

Those who know me know that I'm a bit of a cycling fanatic too. Last night I was talking to Jotham about some of his physical repercussions from Sunday's skate, and it got me thinking.

In cycling the ultimate endurance races are the Grand Tours, the biggest and longest of which is the three week long Tour de France, which this year will cover 2,161 miles.  In the world of professional cycle racing they say that your legs and general physicality change once you've completed your first tour de France.  It's like you can't train for it, you just have to do it and having done it once your body will kind of know what to expect and will be somehow battle hardened from having done it once before.

Could this S.E.D.J. thing be my Tour de France.  Now I'm not doing the skateboarding equivalent of cycling 130 miles a day, but I'm doing over four weeks and those guys get two days off.  What I was thinking about was how skating Every Day In January is going to have an effect on my body, my fitness and leave me changed at the end off it. Going on a trip and skating every day in a week will hopefully seem like a walk in the park.

Or will I be so wrecked that I can't skate in February?  I think I prefer the version where I'm this new kind of battle hardened skateboarder who now has the ability to take on anything.  Unfortunately the way things are going there's a danger that my skating on the 31st could resemble an avant garde modern dance performance based on the last days if the Siege of Leningrad.

Day 11 was as you probably know a London Winter staple, the Wednesday Night session at Playstation/Bay66.  When I first started going to these the sessions I would mainly be concentrated on the Midi and the Vert.  I'd be padded up and helmeted for at least half the session trying to learn airs on the vert, or trying to get involved with the sessions that used to be going off on the Midi.

Kev and Alan ready for battle.

Ivan and Johners refusing to be photographed.

Kev Firth, Matt, Jim, Alan, Neal K and Jotham were all also in attendance with most of them getting involved with the mini-ramp session and having a proper laugh for the whole time.  So that was Day 11, one of the most fun sessions so far, even though my legs were starting to show a little fatigue.

This is actually Ivan bashing his nose on thee way back down.

Kev Smithing.

Johners still being camera shy.

Ivan turning up the heat.

I knew I should have worn my white Tee.

A photo of Kev having just let go of a melon. #instamaticskatephotography

Ha! Got him.

Day 12 is a lunch-time session at Stockwell from 1:15pm. Same as usual, if you feel like a half hour skate at lunch, come down to the beach.

[LIALC]

S.E.D.J. Day 4 - Playbox-Baystation66 - Old Faithful

Can someone please explain what the hell I was thinking when I decided to cycle to work today? I can still hear that bloody wind out there.  To be honest the ride to work wasn't so bad.  The ride from the office to Playstation/Xbox/Bay66 was as bad as it gets.  I was completely soaked by the time I arrived.  My shoes were the worst, you know when you can actually judge the water level inside with your toes, no?, just me then.

The ride home was even worse. 10 wet miles into a bloody headwind after a bit of a battering at the hands of the new slidy version of the mini and a "no-pads" mini-session on the vert, was not what I needed.

What I had been in need of was people to skate with.  And wouldn't you know it the Stockwell contingent of Matt Gold, Jim Thompson and Dave Reading turned up. Love it. As did Marcus and Kev McKeon, but he was working in his shop which is in the skatepark so basically he took a tea break to come and skate with us. I still appreciate it.

Most of the night was spent skating the mini which is always fun, unfortunately tonight the ramp's surface was so slidy it taking people out left, right and centre, with no warning what so ever.  People were sliding out of stuff so much that new tricks were get done completely by accident.  I blame the bladers and their wax covered wheels.

Mat and Jim, Jim had the essentials covered then.

After a while everyone got acclimatised and we ended up having a good session with a few more of the Kingston crew, Jeremy Jones and a lad who's name I always forget (sorry dude), total rippers!

My thing tonight was just to skate everything on offer so it was a case of mini for a bit, a few runs on the vert, off to the midi-ramp, cruise round the street course and repeat.

All in all it was a good night.  I didn't go to the pub afterward as I wanted to get home a get warm again, so there was no point in being on the bicycle anyway... you live and learn.

Dave giving it a bit of the old 5-O.

Jim with some text-book front rocking.

Matt busting out the one footed ollie.

Marcus was riding his new DEATH wood.

That he'd bought from this bloke at Stand-Up Skateshop.

For Day 5 tomorrow it's a lunch-time quicky at White Grounds SE1 from about 1.15PM for about half an hour.  I haven't been there in a long time and almost forgot it existed to be honest. I'm also back on the motorbike tomorrow.

Thanks to the lads for their support tonight.  Who can tell who I'll be skating with tomorrow?

See you out there.

[LIALC]