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During the summer of 2001, we set off on an adventure to experience life at some of the greatest skateparks in the United States. This is the story of 6 guys and the one thing that keeps them together, their bikes.

The 6 guys that went, were split into 2 cars (the soccer mom van and the Crown Victoria). Jason, Jesse and Nic (along with my mom and I) were in the van. The CV included Robbie, Mark and James.

Scrap Skate Park We (the van) left Sunday morning after a slight delay due to several broken tiedowns. We headed straight to Scrap. where the guyz got to experience the thrill of Scrap's many obstacles . After 4 hours of hardcore riding, we left Scrap.

The next day we met up with the rest of the gang (the CV) in Sandusky, Ohio. With the combination of being cooped up in the CV (Crown Victioria) all day, and the fact that James drank massive quantities of Mountain Dew at a Mexician restaurant for supper, they all had tons of energy that they needed to exert. So they decided to do a little street riding.

Tuesday morning the plan was to visit the very popular Cedar Point Amusment Park. They guyz decided to get up bright and early, wait in line at the front gate an hour and a half before the park even opened, then sprint to the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the United States, where James got to experience his 1st rollercoster ride ever. Mark says, "It was a different experience and a change from the skateparks."

Wednesday morning we drove to Cleveland, Ohio where the guyz rented out Chenga from 1-4:00. While at Chenga Nic fell off the box double and took a trip to the hospital. He is now feeling much better and has fully recovered. As for the others left at Chenga, they had a good time.

Thursday morning we were back on the road on our way to Youngstown, Ohio. We checked into our hotel, went for a quick dip, grabbed some grub and then headed for Section 8. While in the car Robbie starts yelling over the walkie talkie, "It's ALBERT ST, it's ALBERT ST." Low and behold we were driving on Albert St. (For you non-bikers, Albert St. is the name of a biking video.) Once we got to Section 8, the guyz rode for about 4 and a half hours. They said it was nice but, too crowded . They still had fun though. By coincidence, as we were packing to leave, we saw the guy who ate a light bulb in the Albert St. video. After a long day of hard riding, the guyz were hungry and so we were off to go find some food. After searching for a grocery store, which we couldn't find, we settled for a Big-Kmart. The guyz each found some type of food that would satisfy them. James got a frozen pizza and decided to cook it "Chicago Style". Little did we know that meant putting it on the dashboard and turning on the heater for 45 minutes. After their attempt at creating gourmet meals, which consisted of mac'n'cheese, spaghetti-o's, and ramen noddles, they still wanted to do some riding before they hit the sack for the night. So they headed out for a late nite street session.

After a long nite's sleep and a full recovery from the previous evening, we woke up and drove to Aunt Kathy and Uncle Fun's house (Robbie's aunt and uncle) where we enjoyed an appetizing lunch. The boys chose to spend their last day riding at ChengaWorld. This being their 2nd day riding there, they were feeling more confident and able to try harder. They all enjoyed their last day at the skatepark but, were a bit anxious to head back home and ride their own trails.

Saturday morning we headed back to good ole' Dubuque, Iowa. We all had a great time and look foward to our return next year!

 

cLiCk To SeE cHeNgA