11/20/2020
A few weeks back I got the chance to join HVX Goat Productions and the crew for a day of what they call "Skatepark Roulette"
Essentially Kaleb has made a list of every known park in Ontario, Google picks a random number and whatever park corresponds to that number is the destination. This time the pick was Ingersoll park so the plan was Woodstock, Ingersoll, Tillsonburg & ending the day at St. Thomas.
If you want to see the video or the rest of my photos check out Cam's blog post - https://www.hvxgoat.com/post/skatepark-roulette-ep-3-woodstock-ingersoll-tillsonburg-st-thomas
We met in Woodstock for 830 am, it was a crisp morning but the warm sun was breaking through and the spirts where high. We took a look at the park, it has a basic street section and a very unique transition section. Certainly the most interesting looking park of the day.
Everyone unloaded bikes and started padding up. It was a bit awkward shooting photos of someone I've never met putting on an ankle brace but all the guys where really welcoming and stoked to have me along.
We rode for close to 2 hours, Everyone kinda broke off to try their own tricks but it quickly turned into a fun sessions on the step up. Everyone got their tricks and we packed up to head to the next park.
Stop #2 for Skatepark Roulette was Ingersoll Park. We pulled into a small community center with a small fenced in area. As I got closer I could see some small pre fab ramps. We unloaded all the bikes and went to look.
Everyone was laughing about the tiny park but after a few minutes everyone was having so much fun playing on the small features.
Tanner was thinking about trying his first 180 bar over a spine. It took him a few attempts to get the courage to throw the bars but got it perfect on the first throw just messing up on the fakie. He landed 2 or 3 more in a row after that.
Bailey got stoked and landed his first crankflip over a spine right after Tanner.
We ended up at this park for almost 2 hours and could have stayed for much longer but the next park was waiting for us.
Stop #3 - Tilsonberg
This park was a lot of fun with the pumptrack and skatepark. But being such a nice day there was lots of people out and after a few close calls almost landing on children everyone was so nervous to ride the jumps. We rode the skatepark for a bit and got some clips but where ready to head to the next and final park of the day.
Stop #4 - St. Thomas.
From the moment we pulled up to the park vibes where good. Coming into the cul de sac to park up Tanner was blasting some random dance music out of the mini van and the whole crew was stoked to ride this park. Bailey, Kaleb & Tanner are local here so they wanted to see us ride the features but as excited as I was, the day was wearing on me. Everyone got some good clips but thankfully the locals Adam_desjardins, Keaton Dykstra & Nikko Hernandez had lots of energy and put on an absolute show for us.
The night was winding down, the whole crew was tired and sore and ready to make the long drive home...but we all had to get in a few attempts on the pogo stick.
Tanner was literally an inch away from shattering his entire face after a scary slip out, thank god he still had his helmet on. That was taken as a sign to pack it up and head home.
Overall just an incredible day. I was never a big skatepark guy, I have literally said "if I'm gonna drive more than 20 minutes I'm riding street"
But as I get older and that drive to spend 3 hours beating myself down for 1 clip fades, these skatepark days are more and more fun. No pressure, no worries. Just a bunch of guys trying to hit their pegs on stuff and have a laugh while we're at it. Turns out I can be a washed up old guy and still have fun doing it.
