Back To The Berg

June 2nd, 2009 by Danny

I just got back from an awesome trip to SF with the team. It’s long been a dream of mine to go on tour with the guys I’ve always been a fan of, and while this wasn’t exactly some long epic tour, it’s probably, but hopefully not, as close as I’ll ever get.

It basically came about when I was asked if I could assist Reda with getting some shots for the catalog. We were co-sponsoring a contest with Thrasher, Zero, and Quicksilver at Wallenberg. The Big Four. Probably the last time we’ll see it too, since it’s getting demolished soon. Basically they wanted to get shots of the guy in SF. I was psyched! I figured I’d drive up to SF the day of the event and then drive back, but as it turns out, I was invited along for the whole trip. There would be a demo on the drive up with the Girl and Chocolate guys the day before, and we were going to come along.

I met up with a few of the guys at the office in the morning. Sam Hubble, one of the guys on flow met up with us there too. We were going to go pick a few more guys then make our way up to the demo.

We drove over to pick up Daniel Castillo first. From there we drove to downtown to pick up Reda while we waited for Jimmy Cao’s train to arrive. While we waited, we swung by and picked up Chico Brenes and got some coffee. Then it was off to Jeron’s, and finally Tim.

We gassed up on got some snacks courtesy of Tim and head out to the demo.

I’ve been to demos in the past as a spectator. Actually a few times to see the very same guys I was with. I remember wondering what it would be like to be in the van touring. To see what it’s like from their point of view. I’ve been working here for 4 years now, and since day one I hoped that one day I’d get to experience that. It’s definitely an experience. Having the doors of the van slide open to a crowd of kids excited to see their favorite pros was pretty cool. It must definitely feel pretty amazing to be looked up to like that. For some of the guys like Mike Mo, it appeared to be a little bit more of a nightmare. The dude was stuck by the Girl van the whole demo with swarm after swarm coming up asking him to do tricks, sign stuff, all sorts of shit. He was definitely a good sport about it.

The Girl and Chocolate guys had shown up earlier and started the demo. The place was packed and those dudes were killing it. Seeing those guys skate never gets boring. So damn talented, and most importantly, having fun. I got to see a couple of dudes I hadn’t seen skate in person before. MJ really is that good, and Kenny Anderson is pretty amazing too.

Amongst all the dudes rolling around, Daniel pointed out this one girl carving around the bowl. He said she was a porn star. She didn’t look all too porny, but the mighty iPhone confirmed it. Keeani Lei, she’s a dirty girl as it turns out, and not too bad on a skateboard either. Daniel got a picture with her.

We hung out a little longer at the demo, chatted with the Girl guys for a bit and tried to figure out where we were off to next. Jimmy was over at the van rubbing some ointment on his ankle. Apparently he busted it up during this year’s Skate & Create filming. Pretty harsh.

We head out of the park and made our way to TGI Friday’s to catch the Laker game by popular demand. It felt good to sit down and have a meal. Some guys chilled by the bar to watch the game, some of us sat outside for the breeze. It was already kinda late and our ETA to SF was looking to be in the wee hours of the morning. There was still quite a ways to go.

We stayed until the game was over (Lakers won), and in good spirits, continued on our way. The rest of the way to SF was filled with lots of beers and a foggy van. It was good times. Lots of jokes and funny stories. We made quite a few pit stops along the way to refuel. There’s something about gas station food marts on a road trip. Everything looks so good and delicious. The corn nuts taste saltier, and the candy that much better. Not to mention the awesome apparel one can acquire, like the awesome hat Tim scored on one of our pit stops.

We made our way into the city at around 2 A.M. We were all crazy exhausted. The hotel was pretty sick. It’s the same hotel they filmed that scene with Slimer in the first Ghostbusters movie. I was rooming with Gabe, and we actually got one of the nicer rooms. We had to be up pretty earlier to head down to Wallenberg so, it was straight to bed.

The next morning I got up and went down to the lobby to get some coffee. A few of the riders were up and about. Most of the guys were still knocked out though. We had to get down to Wallenberg before the crowds to set up a canopy and get a good spot.

I can remember seeing Wallenberg years ago when I was in middle school. In video parts and ads and stuff. I always knew it was a pretty big set but you really can’t appreciate just how gnarly it is until you see it in person. It’s huge! It’s not that it’s a big drop, it’s just a long huck down these four big ass steps. The contest itself is something I never could really fully appreciate either. You figure what’s the big deal, trick down the four and when some dough, but shit, it’s a meatfest. Dudes (and ladies) just throwing their bodies off of this thing, the majority of which would surely get wrecked in the process. I was pretty excited to see it get under way.

It was a “star-studded” event. Lots of great were there to see the show. The Anti Hero crew was there in full force. It was pretty rad to see Cardiel and even Julien Stranger hanging out. They were parked next to us watching the contest from the top of the van. To the right of us, the Girl / Chocolate crew was posted up on top of their van. The view from the top of our van wasn’t too bad.

The turn out was incredible. The place was packed. Thousands gathered around the big four trying to get a glimpse. It’s hard to describe the sound of bodies hitting the concrete, but trust me it wasn’t pleasant. The girls went first and not a single one could land. At one point it almost looked like they were jumping off for the sake of jumping. They gave it their all. A few came close, but no luck.

Shortly after, Phelps stepped in and called the ladies off saying it was time for the “real” competition to begin. kinda jacked I thought seeing as how those girls were trying just as hard as any of the dudes did. It sounded just the same too.

It wasn’t all disastrous however. A lot of dudes did land tricks, with Chris Cole taking the overall win. That dude is so good. Lizard King I would say was a close second with that intentional disaster on the last step. I posted the DVS edit below. Check that out.

It was a trip to see the spectators cram in looking for a good spot to check everything out from. It started getting a little nutty when people started climbing the fences and sitting on top of the basketball backboard. At one point people started eye-balling spots in the trees. Security took issue with it saying, “if you’re going to be in the tree, don’t touch the fence so you’re out of our jurisdiction.” They had jurisdiction apparently. It was definitely a site. One kid got the bright idea to climb up the scissor lift. Couldn’t really figure out if that was smart or retarded. Had that scissor lift started coming down, that could have been pretty gnarly.

After the contest ended, we pushed the roof of the van back out since it had caved ever so slightly from the weight, picked up our dudes and made our way back to the hotel. Everyone was kinda doing their own thing. There was a general consensus on hunger however, so we started throwing ideas back and forth. Reda had mentioned this spot called “El Farrolito” that had amazing burritos over in the Mission district. Gabe had heard of it and along with Jimmyl, Daniel, Sam, and myself, decided to make the walk over.

It was a lot further than we had thought, but damn was it worth it.

We were way too stuffed to walk all the way back so we hopped on the BART. We figured we’d get back to the hotel and chill for a bit, wait to see what everyone else was going to be doing.

Of course there was another Laker game that night so we all ended up walking down to this spot where everyone else was to catch the game. Good vibes all around. Got to hang with the Girl / Chocolate guys again, take a load off. After the game there was even a rare Tim Gavin skate sighting. Rick dared him to kickflip while they were waiting for a cab. No luck but still a valiant effort.

Most of the guys were either cabbing it back to the hotel, another bar, or a strip joint. We saw Tony walking back with his two lady friends and decided we’d walk back with them, make other plans back at the hotel. The walk back was pretty cool. Jimmy had his board, and although not a whole lot of skating got done on the trip, it was fun messing around on the way back to the hotel. Jimmy, Daniel and Sam were laying down some nice flatground. I fanned out and kept asking for how-to’s. Seeing those guys skate is lesson enough though. Awesome stuff.

When we got back to the hotel, everyone was a little scattered. We hung out outside on the sidewalk with Tony. Alcohol wasn’t allowed in the lobby so we just hung out right in front having a little party of our own. It was fun. We made friends with this drunk little Mexican dude, and shit even saved a life! Let me explain…

We were out front with Tony, Gabe, a couple of the dudes and Tony’s two lady friends. Beers were being passed around, and it was good times. Then this little dude crept up and appeared to be asking for change. We didn’t have any for him, so he started to curse. Something like, “Fucking you…ok. Fucking…” just then Tony grabbed a beer and was like, “I got a beer for ya.” The dude full on 180ed and was all, “My friends! You my friends!” It was pretty funny. Within seconds he whipped out a 40oz Cobra and started passing it around for everyone to share. Pretty interesting little troll-like dude. We’re invited to have carne asada at his house whenever we’d like.

As for the life saving…This chick had walked passed us walking a fixie. The two ladies kept an eye on her and saw her collapse by the light poll. They got real concerned and ran over to see if she was ok. She was pretty hammered. Had apparently just broken up with her man, and was quite depressed. We left the ladies to it. They went from full concern to straight up hugs and high fives telling her she didn’t need that dude, etc. They came back over super psyched at the life they might have potentially saved.

It was a magical last night. When the first three rounds of beers ran out we returned to a very smokey hotel room, sat around for a bit, then decided to go to the 8th floor which was shut off to the public and supposedly haunted. We worked ourselves up a bit, and even though it was kinda creepy, no ghost to be found. We called it a night.

In the morning we all prepped to head home. I went downstairs to grab a coffee and hang with Kelch out front. That dude is pretty awesome. We had some guy come by trying to sell us some busted radio equipment. Girl and Chocolate where on their way to Sacramento, Tim and Reda had left to the airport to fly back home, Jimmy was staying behind to meet some friends, and Gabe, Dearth, Jeron, Daniel and myself were the only ones left in the van for the drive back home. It was an awesome trip. One I would do again in a heartbeat. Definitely a childhood dream to travel with these guys.

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