October 26, 2004
I received a telephone call from Donny Barley at about 5:00 in the morning saying that they had a situation, and the law was in their hotel room? I was asking him what am I supposed to do, I am sleeping? Donny told me that we would have to leave the hotel. When I got to Donny and Kenny's room there was a cop there waiting to escort the guys out of the hotel. So they had to sleep on the bus for the night. The following morning we found out that the night manager of this hotel was a complete ass and usually does things like this to break balls.

Progressive skatepark in Canton Georgia is a Super cool indoor park. I think the place used to be a roller rink, now converted into an excellent skatepark. Indoors, and I believe air-conditioned. Perfect for getting out of those humid Georgia summers and cold winters. The kids were super cool at this park and the guys skated their asses off as usual. Thank you to the owner Mike for hosting a great event.

Back at the hotel we had to check in Donny and Kenny under the radar of the night manager. Of course we went out again and got these wonderful cartoon drawings of everyone that was out that night.

October 27, 2004
Thanks to the guys at Fastforward in Buford Georgia for hosting the Zoo York team at their skatepark. The miniramp session was amazing.

October 28, 2004
After visiting the guys at Endless Grind for about an hour, we headed to see our old friend Bob Reynolds at the Vertical Urge skatepark in Raleigh North Carolina. The place was packed to the rafters and there was barely any room on the street course for the guys to skate. Needless to say, the spectators were shuffled around enough for the guys to put on a great demo. Everyone was stoked on the way the guys skating.

After the demo we went to this authentic restaurant called TGIF for some drinks and dinner before heading up towards Maryland.

October 29, 2004
Running a little bit behind schedule, we were afraid we're going to be too laid to see our friends TiTim and Malcolm up at the p Pit Crew Frederick Maryland. We were pretty much on time even though the traffic around Washington D.C. area is phenomenal. The guys got to skate for about 45 minutes before the sun set and the session ended because there were no lights in the skatepark.

During the autograph session in the picnic area, Harold Hunter did one of his very rare renditions of the ditty bop. Great job!

October 30, 2004
Thanks to the guys at the X games skatepark in Philadelphia Pennsylvania for hosting the Zoo York team. You guys rock dude!

I don't know how the hell this photograph of Mike Hernandez got into the skatepark? I guess this must of been when he was obligated by contract to do crazy stuff like this? Now he is officially a New York City firefighter, and can only look back on things like this as his glory days? That's a joke Mike.

Halloween! October 31, 2004
The very last day of the tour, thank god. The night before was an amazing Halloween party at the Patio bar, which happens to be my local watering hole. What a crazy night. Needless to say my head was going to explode and that I could barely make it to the Rival skate shop at 3:00 in the afternoon. I desperately want to still be in bed, but had something to do before I could go back and lay down on my couch and get underneath a blanket and look at my horrible life. Needless to say I was an extreme pain.

Thanks to Vinny Ponte for having almost nothing set up for this event. I'm sorry for busting balls, but you know I love you anyway.

The signing was excellent, regardless of the effort put into it. There were as a load of kids very excited to meet the team and we were happy with the way things turned out after all.

Thanks for the good people at Mountain Dew for all of the support, the skateboarders, nice job. This was probably one of the most successful tours ever, thanks to all of the people who put the effort in to making this possible.

/// October 26th
The Skatepark Of Memphis

It took us a bit longer than we had expected to get to the skatepark. Especially after hitting major traffic and taking a few wrong turns. Regardless, the crowd was extremely excited.

There was an amazing turnout, and the team was psyched on the demo. I remembered the skatepark being a bit different. The changes improved the flow of the skatepark and made it even better. Clyde Singleton was out there skating with an ankle brace for the kids. Your definitely a trooper my man!

Forest Kirby took a bad slam skating the bowl causing him to dislocate his left shoulder. That was the only downside of the day. We're not quite sure if he is going to be with us much longer on our journey to New York City. He wants to ride out the tour with the crew, but is also concerned and wants to see his specialist back home. We are trying our best to keep Forrest on the tour.

Thanks to the guys at the Skatepark Of Memphis for hosting an amazing event once again! You guys do a great job.

This night I figured it would be cool for us to stay around the city of Memphis, but the only place we could find was a $25 cab ride from the city. Giovanni and myself stayed in, and some of the boys went out to blow off some steam. Thank goodness for having a bus, so everyone can continue resting while on the road. I hope the crew doesn't get too use to this luxury, because it's not always going to be this way.

Insanity Skatepark

With everyone on the bus, we were making good time to Madison Alabama, arriving just a few minutes late, as Pam (the organizer of the demo) had suggested. Once we got to the end of our Mapquest directions there was no skate park in site, so I called the park, and a police escort was sent, showing us the way. Of course a busload of skateboarders get a little uneasy when police are walking on the bus, even if they are the welcoming committee.

But it gets better. The skatepark owner upon arrival gave us a very warm greeting. Pam was right behind with a breakdown of the day's events. We were to be escorted into the skatepark as a group, meeting a city councilman and a representative of the Chamber of Commerce, presenting us with a key to the City of Madison Alabama and commemorative plaques from the Chamber of Commerce, for all the skaters, welcoming them to the city. This was by far the warmest greeting we have ever experienced. I guess this is a perfect example of Southern hospitality. The key to the city is presented to people like astronauts and now the Zoo York team? This was a huge honor to say the least.

The park was sick, and the guys did an amazing demo. People came from as far as Florida to meet the team. The autograph signing followed the demo going on for two hours, so everyone that showed up was able to meet all the guys. Clyde Singleton put in overtime signing autographs for people who showed up last minute. The kind people from Insanity even hired a chef from the best restaurant in this city to cook for the team. The meal was the best we had the entire trip.

We hung out long after we could have left because everyone was having such a good time. Kenny Hughes was on the street course with everyone getting his shred on, while some of the other guys were playing football with the Madison police? The officers were so cool, even coming on the tour bus to check out our transportation.

The Madison police accompanied us on a beer run on route to our hotel. Is this the twilight Zone? No, it's reality provided by the people of Madison Alabama and Insanity Skate Park. Our lodging was compliments of the Radisson Hotel. Anyone traveling through this part of the country should stay there, especially if they can put up with our antics.

Radisson Hotel - Huntsville Airport
8721 Madison Boulevard
Madison, Alabama
35758
256-772-8558

That night we went to the Stadium Bar across the street from the hotel to see the Boston Red Sox win their 6th game in a row. Of course Rob Welsh is in heaven, and he celebrated by doing one of the best karaoke performances I have ever seen. The man really knows how to move a crowd.

We are truly grateful to Insanity Skatepark and the people of Madison Alabama, the Madison police and officer Jeff for security and escorts, the Radisson Hotel and management for the compliments and tolerance.

Insanity is a must for any team touring this part of the country, the experience will be unforgettable, I guarantee!

Thanks for reading.

/// October 24th
I still cannot get over how hot it is in Texas. Mike Schroeder picked us up from the hotel in the afternoon and took us to this warehouse where there is a little training facility. The warehouse was equipped with darks, trampoline, blowguns, and fireman poll and of course an aero bed with a trapeze over it.

After that we went to a few streets spots and Kenny Hughes broke it off with a huge front side 180 ollie over this bump to bar.

That night we got back from skating we washed up before dinner. John Igei saw a wasp in the room and I tried to trap it so we could release it into the wild. While trying to trap the little guy he stung me on my neck. I finally trapped him underneath a plastic cup and held him hostage until I could figure out what I wanted to do with him.

Later on we went down to the River walk in San Antonio which we now know is one of the biggest tourist traps in the city, and I think we found the worst bar in the world. Even though the bar sucked we still stayed there until last call as usual.

The next morning we got a really early start because we had 5 hours to Dallas. Everyone was really good about getting on the bus and going back to sleep, so we actually arrived a little bit early.

Beedle from fast-forward had called me while we were on the road and said that they were not bringing the obstacles because there was rain in the forecast. So the area that our demo was supposed to take place was only a few ledges and flat bar. About 30 seconds after everyone got off of the bus to start skating, the torrential downpours began. I guess Beedle was right about not bringing out there ramps.

So instead of skating, the guys had to sit through a 3-hour autograph signing. Regardless, all of the kids were extremely excited about meeting the team, and we had a great time hanging with the employees of fast-forward. Thanks to all the guys from the shop, especially Beedle and Jeff for putting the whole thing together.

After the signing we piled back on the bus and started the drive to Memphis Tennessee. We had about 9 hours to go, but only made it 3.5 into Texarkana, Texas.

This morning Donny Barley found a nice gap over the hotel pool, so we got off to a later start today, but it is always ok to be a bit late if skating is going down. Now were on the bus one more time, about two hours from the skatepark of Memphis.

Thanks for reading.

/// October 21st
Jump Off

What can I say, I’m pretty excited to have all the guys together for the first tour as a newly established squad, hence the whole tour title “Jump Off", aight booyaka shot, nuff respect. But of course I’m concerned with the possibility of something going very wrong. With the crew of guys that we are rolling with, we are on the brink of disaster.

I will be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest sports fan, but when it comes down to playoffs, all of a sudden I'm watching professional sports? I think it's any excuse to scream at your friends inside a bar that is the attraction. Rob Welsh on the other hand is a huge sports fan and a die hard Boston one at that, so I had to go out and buy a brand new Yankees cap for the trip.

Everyone arrived in Houston rather easily, so far so good. Some of the group went to eat Mexican food while the fan Rob Welsh stayed at the hotel to watch Game 5, which Boston won their second of the series. It seems like since I bought that damn hat, the Yankees have lost every game. After dinner we spent some time playing pool, then went to a local bar that seem to be inside a shack? The place was a complete hole in the wall to say the most. This bar makes Max Fish look like freaking Tavern On The Green.

After a long night at the office the group woke up rather easily, and we headed out to get some food and provisions for the tour. By the way we are traveling in a bus with 12 beds 3 TV's, satellite television, basically in luxury.

Southside Skatepark / Houston TX October 19th
Thanks to Tommy and Brian for hosting the first stop of the tour. The turnout was good and the kids were super cool. I had no idea how hot it was going to be in Texas, and I think it caught everyone off guard. Just being a spectator in the skatepark, I was sweating like crazy. I really feel for the guys who actually have to skate the demos. Hey, but that's why you get the big bucks? As we arrived at the skatepark, I met the father of Tommy who actually played a big part in building the structure where the skatepark is housed. Check out the guy on the tractor, super cool dude. If you’re ever in the Houston area you should visit his museum.

Tom Mixon
Hollywood Movie Props
Korean War History
Old Cars & Much More
506 Virginia
South Houston, TX
713-378-0988
713-944-1615

After the demo was over we decided to stay in Houston one more night because, although we do have satellite television, we do not get Fox sports because of some strange FCC regulation. I'm not sure how true that is, but that's what we have been told. Once again we witnessed the Yankees defeat, for the third consecutive game. What the hell is happening? Honestly I would be happy if Boston wins, just so that Rob Welsh will have a good attitude throughout this trip. I have a feeling that it Boston finally loses; we're going to have a big depressed Boston fan on our hands.

Goodtimes / San Antonio TX October 20th
We made it to San Pedro Park about 10 minutes late, to find a massive crowd awaiting our rival. The local radio station was there "The Beat" doing a live broadcast. It's always crazy when you roll up to these things, no matter how many times you have gone through it.

I forgot to tell you guys that Clyde Singleton hurt his ankle at the demo in Houston yesterday, so I took a ride with a local skater to a pharmacy to get him an ankle brace. When I returned, the demo was well under way. In about two minutes I received a call from Giovanni saying that Clyde needs ice. When I found him he was laying on the floor in pain, this doesn't look good. So I rolled him back into the bus and returned to the demo to find someone that would give him a ride to the hospital for X-rays. As I was walking back I could hear the crowd chanting "Zoo York, Zoo York, Zoo York". It went on for like 60 seconds and sounded like of riot. By this time the crowd had engulfed the makeshift street course, and people trying to get autographs surrounded skaters.

We headed to the good times skate shop for an official autograph signings which took almost two hours because people were lined up around a block. Of course this is going on while Game 7 of the pennant race is well underway. By the time we made it to the local watering hole, Boston was already up six to nothing? Rob Welsh was ecstatic! We watched the game until the 4th inning, and then the strip mall bars general manager began kicking people out one by one with baggy pants and white T-shirts on. It was visibly every person of color including Rob Welsh (according to Clyde Singleton). Apparently the dude have some Napoleon Dynamite complex, and we walked out of the place as there were 20 shots of Jagermeister stranded at the bar without anyone to pay. Racism doesn't exist?

So we went and checked into a hotel and walk through the parking lot to Applebee’s to witness the disgrace of the Yankees losing to Boston. Congratulations to the miracle, Boston Red Sox for winning the pennant and good luck in the World Series. We were discussing what would happen if Boston actually took the series, probably thousands of elderly people would happily expire as their dreams came true before their eyes. To the Yankees, well you guys suck! 596 could've played a better game than you losers. Actually, we're going to start up our own team. All the old guys from the Beverly Boys going out there in their old school baseball uniforms with containers of Farrell's playing at Cyclone Stadium.

Thanks to Mike Schroeder, Shorty and their entire squad for hosting us at this amazing gathering. As I look at my hotel window I can see there's a good chance it is going to ring for our first official day off and opportunity to do real street skateboarding, the way it is meant to be, well without the rain. We shall see. Thanks for reading.