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Profile goes to the dirty.
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Last Friday ended up playing host to a pretty unusual phone call. At about 10am, the phone rang at work. It was my doctor, ready to explain some x-rays I had gotten done the day prior due to nine months of chronic back pain. I picked up the line to a conversation that started with "You should probably got back to school and choose a different career." Thrown off, I had to put him on hold in order to get comfortable for a potentially bad conversation.
About nine months ago, I looped out bar spinning a hip and fell straight to my tail bone. After the impact, I knew I had jammed something up but since it wasn't excruciating pain, I just took a couple days off the bike to let things blow over—a bad decision. Since the fall, I've been dealing with dull pains all over my back. Nine months later I decided to get it checked out.
Over the phone, my doctor explained to me that I have three fused vertebrae in my upper back—something that happened before I was born. To complicate the situation, I have acquired scoliosis somehow. And the kicker: due to my back missing a couple disks from those fused vertebra, the initial fall went ahead and hooked me up with a compression fracture on by T-10 vertebra.
I'm not really sure how I've been mobile the past nine months. And I'm definitely not positive how I've been riding?
The good news is that it has healed up. And my doctor's response was "I know you're not going to stop riding, so my only advice is to be careful."
Moral of the story I guess-be careful.
So to celebrate the fact that I'm not down and out, Saturday morning I loaded up my bike, camera, Forrest Roberts, and a 1lb refrigerated burrito and drove down to Sarasota to meet up with Degroot, Mulville, McDermott, Conall, Kevin Garwood and Ty Stuyvesant for a weekend of riding. Florida is an amazing place to be right now, 40's at night, 60's to 70's during the day and consistent, crystal clear skies. I'm sure we'll see more people migrating this direction over the winter. Ty and Kev being the first two...
We want to thank Conall for being a proper host. It's not an easy task to have a bunch of filthy dudes crash in your living space...more specifically the bathroom after an all you can eat pizza buffet at Dino's.
Our overall plan was to hit as many street spots as possible. Believe it or not, Sarasota has the absolute best cement skatepark in the state of Florida but like most of its kind, Team Pain has put their curse on the design. No Bikes.
Somehow, Saturday, without any skatepark to ride, we ended up riding nothing but trannies.
Spot #1. A crew of Sarasota riders cemented this about two years ago. There's really nothing else around this to ride, but these two quarters can occupy anyone for hours.
Ty Stuyvesant. Can-can fast plant so quick I’m surprised by basic point and shoot snapped a shot this clear.
Degroot. Over Ice.
Spot #2. This boat hull has been laying around for years in some off the beaten path section of the retirement capital of Florida . After patching it up with some wood and signage, it was in decent riding condition. From first hand experience, I have no clue how both Ty and Mulville were able to blast this tranny.
Before.
After.
Ty. Turndown.
Later in the afternoon, Conall got wind of a makeshift skate park in the woods. Once we found it, I was pretty surprised that something this sweet could get fabricated out of garbage: a box, spine, quarter to hitching post, and (my absolute favorite) a vert wall supported completely by a port-a-john found flipped upside down in the woods. We got to session the place for a good bit, plenty of close calls (mainly from ramps on their last limbs) and a good amount of shred. Thanks to the locals for letting us ride—riding set ups like this is always a real treat.
Unfortunately, I couldn't stop riding long enough to snap some decent shots. This photo would have been decent had I chose a better vantage point. You win some you lose some.
Conall. Over tooth and back on a wedge built on top of a wood pile.
Considering I had to take off early, I'm pretty sure Degroot will have some shots from day #2 up on the UGP site.
Stay Tuned.
-Matt |
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Article id# 791
| Added Nov 24, 2008 |
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