RIP, Stank-Covered Spot

Another favorite spot for lurking and skating was demolished in the name of progress here in DC. Or maybe it was in the name of less assaults on drunk kickball asshats, I'm not sure. The end result, though, is that Marie Reed's covered stairs are no longer available for skateboarding and it's a damn shame.

It wasn't really even a good spot; the ground sucked (it was like falling on a cheese grater), it smelled worse than any other spot I skate, and there were more stains on the ground than I could even count.

But as far as skate spots go, it had one very, very important thing going for it: it was covered. So when we're in the middle of a deluge of rain like we're having right now, covered spots are needed to keep the level of shredding high. Plus, it made for some kickass echoes like this one.

I'll miss the spot, but at least I don't have to worry about the hepatitis that's sure to be in those stains and puddles.

And Then There Was One...

So it's inevitable that people move to new places as life changes. And living somewhere like DC, where there's so much change built into the city framework (elections, etc.), only increases the amount of mobility.

When I moved here about 10 years ago, it had been 7 years since I had quite skating, and I had pretty much moved on from that part of my life. Then I started working with a guy from the same part of the country as me who still skated, he got me off my ass and back on a board, and I've been charged to rediscover skating ever since.

As Eric got me skating more, we started meeting other guys at raggedy-ass skate spots, and wound up with a solid crew.

Even though skating is what got all of us together, these are friends I would have been tight with whether we met at 12 years old or 25. Good friends for sure, but it meant a little more when I met these guys because I was in a new city and really in a new part of my life. It helped me find my way in DC and kinda made it feel like home or something.

(insert heavy nostalgia/dramatic harp music/tears of joy)

In the last few years, 3 of the original 4 guys have moved on or are about to move on. Eric's bounced around the country and settled in NYC (and busted out Culture On Demand in the process), Harry (creator of Radness Personified) and Tami headed for New Jersey, and now JBizzanks (and his beautiful bride-to-be) is ready to cross the friggin world and hang out in Uganda, doing good stuff and making the world better. Basically, the exact opposite of what the rest of us do.

It's been sweet seeing these guys move on to big things in their lives, even if it's a little bittersweet because it's meant that some good friends have to move away.

Here's a mini photo dump in honor of them and me. Mostly me.

JBizzanks tucks into his shell at Howard U. (Photo by Chris Flynn)


Ric varial flips while cleaning nose goblins at the Mighty Mt P bank.


Harry heroically soaring over Mt P's downhill bump in full view of the Italian Lurker.


Demonstrating my dedication to flat during a DC winter. (Photo by Harry Pearson)

Death of a Spot

One of the first spots i skated regularly in DC was this chunky, squirelly bank behind some beat-down school in Mt Pleasant. I think Harry P got this photo (1980's-style no comply) with a tiny digital camera a few years back. The bank was at this crazy angle, and the whole parking lot was full of rocks and all kinds of wheel-stopping things, but it was a good spot for a while (Also worth noting is that it was a prime lurker spot, with suspicious puddles everywhere).

Walking through that neighborhood the other day I saw the old spot, and it's done for. Concrete from the parking lot is piled everywhere. The whole thing is just completely junkified, and the spot is gone. RIP.