I thought I’d already posted this, but I took a quick look back and realised I haven’t.
I’ve never really liked dogs hat much, but this is pretty sad. It makes me realise how much they must mean to some people.
I really like this type of filmmaking style too.
My amazing sister has started her very own blog!
She’s writing about a variety of topics including travel, veganism, poetry and her own opinions. I’ve been following her progress over the last few days as she’s been building up some content, and I must say, I’m impressed. She’s got some great posts.
Head on over and check it out for yourself: https://jesshawkesblog.wordpress.com/
I love this so much.
Sometimes I think about throwing away all my stuff and living a simple life. I’m not sure if I could sleep outside but I could definitely drastically thin out my possessions.
A really interesting idea and thoroughly worth spending five minutes watching.
Some people have a natural gift for describing things that are difficult to put into words. Gervais Rousseau definitely has that gift. In this beautiful video, he describes how he started riding BMX, the feelings it gives him and the lessons it has taught him.
You can tell he has spent a lot of time thinking about what he gets from BMX. If it isn’t scripted, I applaud the film maker for being able to draw out such intimate things in the organic way it is presented in this video. Truly wonderful to watch and it sums up exactly what I get out of riding; both bikes and unicycles.
Some exciting news on the bowl this week, the last two panels are finished!
It only needs the bottom ‘creting and it’ll be complete. It’s starting to look so good. I walked around the deck looking at various possible lines. That deep end is pretty intimidating. It’s so surreal seeing it right in front of me after looking at renders of it for so long.
Moving onto the street section, that huuuge quarter is coming along. The coping for the smaller quarter to the left of it, and the bank around the corner is in.
I’m liking the look of the large stairset too. Plenty of options for street jibs there.
It’s been difficult to explain in words how this part of the street section was going to be laid out, so now it’s starting to take shape, you should have a better idea of what it’s going to look like.
Starting from the left, there is a box at the top of a bank. The manny pad cuts into the bank and has a sloped ledge on it’s far side. I think the other side of the ledge is going to be tranny too. Mega tech fest.
Most of the other features are coming along nicely too. That curved box/hip thing looks cool, as does the small stairset/rail combo. The rail is the perfect height to be comfortable for learning different grinds. Looking forward to hitting that.
Then there’s this. That free-standing quarter that I’ve been obsessing over is looking like it’s ready for concrete. It’s all shored up and covered, so I’m guessing all it’s waiting for is some decent weather to be finished. To say I’m stoked to see this complete is an understatement.
Finally, I’m so impressed with the build quality and attention to detail that Maverick have put into the park. All edges and corners have been finished and rounded off. All coping has been capped and the welds ground down so it’s nice and smooth. Without wanting to badmouth other companies, I’ve never seen this on other parks. Often the coping is just left open on the ends of quarters and extensions. A big thumbs up to the guys at Maverick.
More to come soon!
Another week skipped as I was away last week and the park has come on loads since I last saw it. I’m making sure I get up there when the Maverick guys are on site from now on, so I can get decent photos.
Most of the change has happened on the street section. Here’s a quick snap of the bowl, it’s certainly getting there.
Last time I was there, the end quarters were just beginning to take shape but now the mesh and the coping is in for them and you can see the boundary of the park. The large quarter on the right at the back is about 7.5 high with no deck. Looks scary!
The smaller quarter to the left of that blends into a flatbank in the corner pocket. Looks like it’s going to be an interesting setup to ride. On the far left you can just about see the coping for a grindbox which is set into the flatbank. Finally, right in the middle there is going to be a quarter/hubba combo with a manny-pad that cuts into the bottom of the bank to the left.
I’m loving the look of this part of the park. The transition from the bowl level to the street section is made by a row of quarters and this nice looking hip that back onto the stairset. There’s going to be some interesting lines on this for sure. After the bowl, I think this is my favourite part of the park.
Looking back the other way; the big driveway on the right and the curved box have got their concrete and the rails are being set in. The big bank at the far end hasn’t really progressed much since I was last there. One thing I did notice, was there isn’t as much space between obstacles as I thought there was going to be. The whole park feels a lot more claustrophobic than I thought it would. Maybe it’s because there’s lots of machinery on site and large piles of earth though. Hopefully it’ll feel more open when it’s done and all the concrete is down.
The small stairset section is looking sick as. Looks like plenty of options for some street jibbery. The rail is a perfect height to be comfortable on. Really looking forward to riding this bit. Tenner to the first up-rail to bowl transfer.
You can see all the shuttering on the free-standing quarter, so it looks like that’ll get it’s concrete soon. Literally can’t wait to see that.
The guys were saying that it’ll come on really fast in the next couple of weeks so I’m going to try my hardest to get down there the same time next week. Can’t wait to see concrete on that huge quarter and the free-standing one. Stoked!
So, I had to skip a week again as I’ve been too busy to get down the park with my camera. I managed to shoot down there during my lunch break yesterday but the guys were just finishing for the week when I arrived, so I only managed to get pictures from outside the fence.
Still, it gives you an idea of how much has happened since the last update. The bowl looks like it only needs a couple more panels concreted before it’s finished!
Not much has happened with the big stairset but I expect they’ll be finishing that off soon.
The big quarters at the far end of the street section are starting to take shape. I knew there was going to be a large quarter at this end of the park but I didn’t realise it was going to be this big. Looks so much fun! It’s going to be one of those free-standing ones. I can’t wait to see that go up, I’m fascinated with them.
Speaking of free-standing quarters, the small one at the opposite end of the park looks as though it’s ready for concrete! They look like so much fun to ride. I can’t wait to blast up one.
It looks like they are slowly filling in the gaps with concrete. The runup to the rail is done and all the wooden shoring in place ready to concrete the steps and curved box. I spoke to the guys just before they left and they were saying it’s been shit weather for concreting so I’m guessing they’re getting everything ready and waiting till it’s slightly better conditions to pour.
The wedge/hipped driveway box thing has got concrete on now too, as does the top of the flatbank and the small box on the flatbank.
Last but by no means least, the floodlights are up! I’m so stoked to be able to ride this place in the dark. Bring on the floodlit sessions!
That’s it for this week. I’m away shooting in Spain for a week so there’ll be no update next week. I’m a bit gutted about that because if the weather improves, I’ve got a feeling progress is going to fairly fast now. Oh well, I’ll get down there as soon as I get home and report back.
Until next time readers, adiós!
New year, same skatepark project. We’re in week 13 now, I skipped last week as I didn’t think there’d be much progress from before the holidays. It’s come on quite a bit and there’s a few new things to look at.
The bowl is looking amazing, as ever. New concrete was going in as I was there and they were trowling one of the transitions.
This post was inspired in part by talking to my Brother and Sister about their travels, particularly Morocco, and by seeing this article and video get posted the very next day.
There’s some really nice photographs in the article and the video just reminds me what it is I love most about riding. Well worth a read and watch. (Click the photo to read the article)
As I’ve gotten older, the reasons for riding a unicycle have changed. Obviously not the original, most fundamental reason I started riding; for fun, but the reason I continue to ride is kept alive by the constant urge to experience more of the world.
Riding has taken me to so many places I wouldn’t have otherwise visited. It’s opened my eyes to the world. I know there are places I have never heard of that are more beautiful than anywhere I’ve visited before. Unicycling gives me an excuse to visit those places. It’s the vehicle that gets my off up of my lazy arse and embark on these journeys. I don’t think I’d have the courage to do it without the unicycle there.
Here are a just a few places my unicycle has taken me.
The Isle of Skye during a whiteout.
A ruined Scottish castle
Countless beauty spots around the UK
Random Northern cities (Gateshead in this photo)
The French/Swiss Alps
Italy – Milan
Holland
Czech Republic
Luxembourg
Germany
Canada (Montreal here)
The USA (Grand Canyon in this photo)
Milton Keynes (Round the back of the Theatre District)
There are so many more places that I want to visit and I can’t imagine doing it without that trusty wheel with me.
Edd Hawkes 