Holy $#!+: Skate Rock in Memphis

What a day!

I got up about 8 a.m. and headed down to Al Town where Thrasher's Skate Rock Tour was passing through today. I knew the event wouldn't start for many hours, but I haven't been around Al Town much for the last few pours of 'crete and I felt guilty.  So, I grabbed some trash bags and picked up trash while Chad did his thing to get the spot ready (and then Jenks came by to weed eat).

Then, an hour or so later, we were met up with by the guys from K.M.A. a skate rock band from Cookville, TN (also the founder of skatezine.com). What a great bunch of guys!

K.M.A.

 We skated around Al Town for a bit, then headed over to Tobey for a session before taking in a little Mexican food.

I took off for a while, and went to my kiddos parent/teacher conference.

When I got back to Al Town, all of the pros were there, and the skating was getting sick!

Chad with Frank Gerwer, a statue Chad made and a copy of Common Criminals

 Photo totally stolen from facebook.

 It isn't often a kid from small town Arkansas via Nebraska gets to session with a large group of some of the most outstanding pros. It was amazing. I kept pushing myself to skate more until finally, my body said, "No."  I started feeling weak around 4 p.m. I went to Midtown Market, got a banana and some more water. It helped enough to allow me to skate a bit more, but by the time I had to leave to pick up my son at 5:00, I was sunburned, weak, hungry and exhausted.

Today was one of the most amazing skateboard days of my life. Thanks, Thrasher Magazine!  And thank you to everyone past or present, that has worked on the D.I.Y. spot Al Town. Without the efforts of everyone, this day would not have happened. You can see some earlier pics of Al Town in the very first issue of Luchaskate.

The kiddo didn't want to come back. He had the choice of what he wanted to do because he had such a good report at parent/teacher conference, and he chose Chuck E. Cheese. So, we headed off to play games and eat pizza. Man, what an amazing day of skating. Look for a full photo report in the next issue. Lindsey was there with her camera, and she always gets some amazing shots.

From the Ashes

From the ashes of luchaskate.com as a blog, comes a new blog post.

I've been in a rut lately. My skating stopped progressing. I've been getting into shape via other exercise methods (running, lifting weights, yoga). I have only skated about 3 times in the last 6 weeks.

This has happened before, and it will happen again I'm sure, but this time I was able to snap out of it pretty quickly. I had to have a session where I didn't try ANY real 'tricks' and lo and behold, skateboarding was fun again. You'd think I'd learn. Kickturns, slash grinds and (okay this is a trick) rock and rolls are all I did this afternoon and it felt great to just move and keep moving. Screw progression. Skating just got fun again.

This is the end

my beautiful friends. The end.

Of this blog anyway.

It has served me well. It inspired a 'zine that inspired a book, but now it is time to move on.

As of Monday April 1st, luchaskate.com will no longer be a blog, but will be the luchaskate 'zine (static) website. Luchaskate IS NOT going away. This blog, however, will disapear.  I have too many things going on in my life to continue this part of the project with any regularity. Somethng needed to go, and this is it.

Thank you to everyone who has helped support the blog. It has truly been a great stepping stone into the publishing game.

-David

Another Project complete

The book, Common Criminals, is being printed as I type this. Another big project completed. The book is filled with skate stories. How various skaters got started, meeting pros, first pool sessions, skating with legends and on an and on...

You can get your copy here: Common Criminals or you can get a digital copy on Amazon for just 2.99.

The cover of the new book!

The writers included are Jeff Haynes (of Jeff's Skate Page fame), Kim Cook (of the gayocean blog), Lindsey Rowland (often featured in the pages of luchaskate), myself, Kent Senatore (our lone pro skater story) etcetera etcetera.

I wrote half of this book and then included stories from other lifer skaters to round out the perspectives. They all did a wonderful job. I'm proud of how this book turned out. I can't thank them enough for their energy and time.  Pick up a copy and get stoked not only on skating, but on the people who skate as well.

Luchaskate for sale

You can now buy print copies of Luchaskate Magazine!

Luchaskate 4

Skateboarding. Memphis Spots. European Women's Skating. Interview with Mike Lasiter. Parisite DIY park in New Orleans.