Disconnection notice.
This used to be a hot spot for flat bar sessions in the 1990s. Obviously, time, bad parking jobs, and snow plows have ruined it. The telephone company has their offices located to the top and left of the photo. The parking lot is fairly big and the rails run the length of the space to keep it separated from the other businesses next door. We would skate the bars at the far end of the lot, away from the building more. This would be the end of the one by the utility pole and the stand alone one in the foreground. There was a decent amount of flat ground, but the rails were the main attraction. My friend Paul was happy when he learned how to 50-50 round bars, as was the trend in the mid 90s, and liked this spot. I don't get how to skateboard on round things so I stuck to boardslides and maybe a few noseslides. I don't think we got kicked out too often, probably because we always went at night when there was a smaller staff working. Around about 2000, the parking lot on the right was repaved so you could ollie over the bar and jump from one lot to the next. I'd always hit it up to do that when I was in my cruise around the city phase. This was a decent enough spot and one of the few places with any type of rail in the immediate area.
Across the street from the phone company was a law office with what we called the White Benches. These were a pair of post-modern looking white fiberglass benches located in the space between the two buildings the lawyers owned. The sidewalk they were on was kind of rough and you had to contend with landing in the grass around them if you didn't pop off right. Once you got a feel for the sidewalk, it was a fine spot for a ledge starved town. I think I preferred this overall to the phone company. The fiberglass took a lot of abuse over the years and the owners eventually got rid of the benches. That's why there's no photo. I figured I had to mention the two spots since they were so close to each other. What's funny is I don't ever recall skating both on the same night. I assume it must have happened, but I think it was a one or the other type of situation.
3 comments:
The secret to 50-50 grinding round bars (flatbars in this case) is to have your wheels along the heel side lock in against the rail. Or, cross-lock (where the back truck is locked in on the heel, and the front truck is locked in on the toe). If you cross-lock, your are not falling off.
You really don't want to try and get locked in with both trucks on the toe side; that is straight scary and a real good way to go straight to your shins on the rail.
The only grind I couldn't do on a round bar was a 5-0. I always went to lock in on the heel and would slip over. Smiths and feebles at high speed always felt best.
It looks like that spot would be good to go after a 15 minute push-broom job. I like to use a snow shovel as a dustpan for easy scooping.
That's more coordination than I've got. Or ever had. LOL.
I know what you mean by locking on. I'll get backside 50-50s on a ledge and it sticks just right. I image I could probably get a feeble on a bar, but I've never had the confidence to try.
The rails are totally bent out of shape and the parking lot is more messed up than it looks.
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