[Broadway Bomb 2013] – Afterparty

And now onto the best part of the night, in my opinion anyway.

I didn’t expect to bump into THE crew at the corner deli, so the fact insured me having a great afterparty as long as I stuck with em. Everyone knows this aluminum monstrosity, and thus many of you will guess exactly who I ran into-

Our very own, Sasha Popper, who skated across America to train for Adrenalina marathon in Cali (in case you didn’t know). Of course, Union love for life!

And where there’s Union, there’s Noel.

Some creative boards were in the lineup as well,

And I had to take a snap of my Freebomb next to Sasha’s rig-

Before I knew it, REY guys rolled right up to us and planning began for where to actually go and drink.

After a bit, we all set off, but still had to figure how to get Andy wherever we were going faster than on foot.

We wandered quite off-course at first, but kept running into more fellow skaters and figuring out where in the world the actual bar was…

And finally figured out our final destination:

Here Noel was hard at retelling the race to others, namely how he was getting Kiefer to keep pushing for the first place.

And for the most part, everyone was just chilling and throwing stories here and there. And lots of silliness. Lots.

The epic thrift board was also making another round to be signed,

Next something rad and unexpected happened, since I had no idea Sasha’s birthday fell on the race day. So turns out Him, Kiefer and myself have our birthdays all in a row, back-to-back, so new development added onto my extended celebration of my own.

And of course there was a song involved, by everyone, for our one and only.

And that naturally ended with a proper shot.

Then two more awesome/random things happened. My boy Bilal rolled up there, randomly, so we had a nice lil reunion of our own since its been about a year at this point. Then, all of sudden, this thing rolled on through…

Best described as “I don’t even…” or “Optimus Grime.”

Showed my deck to more folks who approved it like no other,

New friends were made,

Pool was played,

And random city visitors photographically assisted and partly assimilated into our bunch,

And last, but not least, further plans were formed,

All in all, this was one helluva weekend that definitely came to be on-par with Comic Con if not more fun due to being something different for me this time of the year. Til then year, Broadway Bomb!

[Broadway Bomb 2013] – Saturday – BBQ

After a half hour sprint, everyone needs some fuel. Best part is when your exhausted body has to work another 4 miles to get to that fuel, so our trek towards the BBQ began.

Naturally, we weren’t alone and cruised past Bikes N Boards’ Andy, who managed to mess up his foot right before the bomb and had to be on foot the rest of the weekend, and whom I’d properly meet later on.

I couldn’t resist snapping some pics of the Brooklynscape either.

Water break about halfway was an absolute must too, especially with headwind lagging our arrival.

And finally we made it to the fun madness-

Yet another public service announcement by Ian.

And then the sweet, sweet food-

REY burgers to go with your trucks anyone?

DB boards had a little demo display set up in the grass-

And people were bustin tricks in the basketball court as usual-

And of course the New York’s finest since this was a legal and legitimate after-event

Race naturally wasn’t without some casualties this year either-

And some creative threads were rocked-

Giveaways occurred with the crowds resembling seagulls-

And plenty of usual costumes were worn, since Bomb is skaters’ early Halloween like Comic Con is for us geeks

The mysterious Samurai was there with his Bombin board deco that I saw the night before-

Saw a Flexdex Fat Daddy used right-

And then, unfortunately, BBQ got broken up due to kids climbing the fences of the basketball court, so the afterparties began much earlier than expected. So I set sail once again towards the usual deli across the highway overpass.

Next up, Saturday, the Afterparty.

[Broadway Bomb 2013] – Saturday – The Race

First half of the day including the race was really rough thanks to the booze-a-palooza I had the night before. I barely glued myself off the bed, got ready, threw myself into the subway to hopefully make it to the race…

I surfaced at Times Square, dashed outside, and started skating down Broadway in hopes of catching one of the schools of racers. For the first minute or so, I was out of luck and worried a bit, but after another glance behind they surely appeared. Now it was time to do foot and camera work.

The rest of this was as fun as last year’s race, although I missed the beginning madness. Everyone was pushing hard just to get to the finish.

Chicks and dudes, all sorts of boards imaginable, incredible stoke and plenty of shralp.

Bomb is truly the best event on the east coast that brings all kinds of skaters together to do whatever they want to do. Race, cruise, hang out, its all up to you with this one. A real skate festival that promotes our culture, wrestles with the traffic laws, and gets on the local news every year.

Some of the spectators can be just as ballsy as us skaters, though given the nature of the event I would advise against some of these kinda moves-

All of us have plenty to worry about without people jumping out into our path just to take some cellphone pictures, but publicity is publicity I suppose.

Didn’t quite have to dodge any busses and trucks this year, and best of all the 5-0 was trying to help things finish after their failure at the starting line.

Finish line was bustling and everyone was taking a breather before doing another 4 miles to the BBQ.

Crazy dudes with Pennies. I love those little things, but for the madness that is the Bomb and having a camera out a about it can be a very poor choice of a deck.

There’s Waldo.

And now for another highlight of the weekend- Evolve powered board:

This crazy thing can apparently last a good few hours on battery and sport a whopping 20mph on flat ground! If the price wasn’t an arm and a leg, I would definitely consider something like it for a proper commuting machine.

And then came the time for a grueling 4 mile stretch to the BBQ that was not fun after half-springing about 6 miles down the ‘way.

Next up, Saturday, BBQ.

[Broadway Bomb 2013] – Friday

Last year’s bomb coverage, in case you missed it.

Better late than never, I suppose; and this will be one helluva long story, so here we go:

-Friday, October 9th 2013 – Longboard Loft. ~5PM-

Things kicked off in the afternoon at the Loft with an all-day chill, skate, and contest sessions. I rolled in around 5 to pre-game for the pre-party at *Uncle Funky’s later in the evening. Things were beginning to slowly wind down given that nightly events were all 21+ and youngins were beginning to turn in slowly. I grazed the very end of the hippie jump and the last bits of daylight.

I promptly hopped across the street to hang by the Loft itself and meet some new faces. Stoke for the race was definitely in the air, as was the wait for the official pre-party. I happened to park up next to the lot in the right side of the picture above and conversation leaned towards my Freebomb setup. As I was getting to the middle of my Surf-Rodz story, that came off as poor customer service until the end, no other than Wayne himself presented me with his business card and a welcome to contact him if anything similar happened in the future. Pretty damn rad and random to just bump into the owner of a very prominent precision truck brand just like that. He recognized my board too, since I linked it to SZ’s Facebook page and was featured in one of their post. Couldn’t resist asking for a shot with my deck either-

Next up were a couple of Pork Slaps at Lucky Jack’s next door.

After that I talked to Anvil Longboards and really enjoyed their integrated, motion-activated light system to help stay more visible while skating in the dark-

The kicktail looked very unique and fresh as well, which actually drew me in initially.

Loft was poppin with a usual prize draw and after taking a few snaps, I headed onwards to Funky’s for the real party.

-Friday, October 9th 2013 – Uncle Funky’s. 7PM-

Usual suspects were posted by the entrance and mild skating was happening around. Things were definitely about to get on the way, but little did I know just how gnarly the party was going to be.

Unknown to me then, I met Roberto who would later on become a new friend and a skate partner after the race on the way to the BBQ.

It was awesome seeing another guy rock one of my home boy’s very first setup by the book- Gravity Hypercarve with Gullwing Sidewinders. Visually sluggish, yet practically nimble longer kind of setup.

I ran into Toxic Surf Jim right away and it was great catching up for a few minutes before heading in. Got a fresh vinyl sticker to add to my deck’s belly and keep reppin his brand.

I went ahead inside to find a good parking spot for my plank before things became crowded. Seeing Jeff always makes my day, and he was already busy dishing out refreshments when I got inside.

Party was well under way despite it still being pretty early for a Friday night, but it sure beat waiting on people to start showing up.

It really didn’t take long for everything to become seriously poppin, to a point where re-surfacing turned into a slow moving line, haha.

Kristen, Noel, and Billy (whom I would properly meet the next day) were hanging outside, working the door, and keeping commotion to a minimum to avoid getting the shenanigans broken up by the 5-0.

On one of my fresh air trips, I bumped into REY Trucks themselves, and their setups put a huge smile on my face-

You don’t really see Kracked Skulls decks out on the streets of the east coast all that often, nor do you really see GBomb brackets/Illuminati complete. KS M1 was my very, very first board and the sentimental value in seeing more on the streets is huge for me. GBomb brackets were a crucial part in my latest build, and they too are just as rare of a sight out in the wild. 2 birds with one stone, perfectly done, REY Trucks!

Sooner than later, the outside was probably more packed than the inside of the party-

And the night would not be complete without our keynote speakers on the race the following morning-

Now, the funniest thing of the evening was selling 2 jacks to some random business suits for a generous offer of $8.

The next day’s Samurai skater had a very rad Bomb planted on the nose of his deck, pretty creative and appropriate-

After I barely survived the onslaught of awesome beverages, I decided to wobble my way towards home via Williamsburg detour to close out some bars and call it a very, late night that I would partially regret the next morning due to my inability to get up.

Next up- Saturday, the Race.

Evil Monkey – Kracked Skulls M1 Custom Grip

So my lady friend finally decided to get a proper length board to step up from the PK I gifted her a good while ago. Trick here was a well-built, light, affordable deck and trucks that would feel as close to my Freebomb as possible.

After some thinking, I figured to go with Bennett 6.0s for their insane turning ability and price point and Kracked Skulls M1 40″ given their build quality and prices ($50 for a nimble drop-through with fiberglass? Beat that most other manufacturers!). Irony here, in a way, is that my very, very first board was the same exact thing with extra glass option. I top mounted it solely to avoid wheel bite it was getting even with 70mm wheels.

Following the footsteps of most decks I had to grip myself, this one wasn’t going to go without a proper, thematic design, so after about hour and a half, here we are-

Given my friend’s nickname and character, Evil Monkey seemed too appropriate. And since the deck is “M1,” Abrams fit like a glove. Decided to go with the WWII U.S. Army star design for classier and vintage look. Since I had to do the details with a razor blade prior to going out and picking up an Olfa knife to replace my lost one, half of this job wasn’t exactly efficient nor comfortable.

Here’s my M1 and the new brother next to one another:

Mine has seen quite a bit in its lifetime, including New York Broadway Bomb ’12, shralpit! Also the deck that I got into Shralper’s Union with. Lots of history and good times. Design on mine is very quick and basic because I just wanted to go and start riding it as soon as I got it, heheh.

So, that’s that for this board. Now to let it accumulate mileage, stickers, and bring lots of stoke and good vibes to my friend.

Now That’s Customer Service

So I sourced the best shops in NY for 10mm bearing spacers. Ditto.

Uncle Funky’s had an incomplete set of 3 that I was handed down, but that still didn’t quite solve the problem.

Get home to some mail- 1 usps box from Surf-Rodz w/ a set of spacers. I didn’t really ask for them, just wondered why a set of trucks w/ bearings didn’t come with enough spacers, but they went ahead and hooked it up.

That’s customer service right there folks.

Norad Slasher

Semi-accidental, yet super-successful re-build. Decided to throw my Bears back on the Norad to make it feel the way it used to. Instead of a triple-stack of 1/8″ shock pads and 70mm wheels, I had rubber wedges on it from previous tweak and got too lazy to swap the Slashers off (plus to see if they would even work, being 80mm instead of usual 70mm). And, they worked. Worked hella well without any bite too! Now here’s the best part- since these are completely offset wheels, they can influence the stance width drastically; in this case, make a setup running on 180mm hangers feel more like 150mm when flipped inwards, or close to 200 when mounted normally.

So I managed a super-light commuter board on $20 80mm 80A “flywheels” in its intended 150mm stance, but using 180mm trucks.

When On a Tight Schedule…

Work as you go, literally.

Grab freshly shipped trucks, haul ass back to metro. Unbox and take some pics after making the train.

Looking good, time to get to work.

Top half done.

And bottom. Pack everything as best you can, and hop off to transfer.

Quick and crappy selfie, why not?

And the semi-totally finished product after surfacing again.

Perfection – FreeBombSZ

Or so I’ll go ahead and call it, since now it’s a crazy fusion of 3 rad brands all in one.

Freebord Mr. Blode 85cm cut to 24″ symmetrically

G Bomb pump and adjustable wedge brackets, wedged at 15* on each end

Surf-Rodz Indeesz w/ 10mm x 70mm axles, 127mm hangers, blue Solidz bushings, SZ 10mm bearings, all set up at 147mm

3dm Avila’s 75mm 77A

(This one was featured on SZ Facebook page as well).

And this thing took about a lazy year and a half to put together.

Before the full story, it was approved by Surf-Rodz Wayne himself-

Key component I’ve been lacking were in fact the Indeesz, and I’ll do a brief review with respect to this crazy setup:

Turning radius, stability, and response are off the charts! Half a street turning diameter for a 34″ deck is comparable to perhaps a wider turn on a Penny Nickel, but definitely not any typical longboard. Pumping still hasn’t quite happened, but once up to some speed its definitely there.

This thing can make stupid-quick and tight turns on a dime and thanks to 65mm contact patch and 78A softness, Avila’s will blow up or melt before sliding, thus making this setup incredible for city slicking and general urban skating. 75mm wheel size takes care of 95% of all the road cracks, rocks, and twigs. Awesome! And last but not least, 9.5″ deck width at each end leave plenty of space for feet.

Though it sits a bit higher from my last configuration, Indeesz help balance that out a bit and avoid potentially nasty wheel bite.

All in all, incredible custom deck. Only thing I wish it could still do is stand upright like a Freebord, but that’s a minor little setback compared to its overall feel.

Disco Isn’t Dead

SkateDC.org‘s occasional Disco Skate night. Weather kind of crapped on our parade, but even then we had a pretty fun night and roads dried off not to long after we started.

Full album here.

Battery powered music rig with a rotating disco ball, and a bunch of us bladers hauling through U Street.

And a little bit of live action-