When I heard we were going to Louisville on the Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour, I was stoked. All I could think about was the massive crowds and all the Kentucky Waterfalls I saw last time I was there back in 2000 for ESPN's B3. The park was recently built by the city, and what a park it is! This park is a must for skaters and bikers alike, make sure you put it on your "to do" list. I got to the park in the morning around 8am to scout it for the demo. The park was closed to the public for the day. Keep in mind this place is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I started skating around 8:10am with a Louisville Police Officer who was riding a mountain bike in the bowls. The Copper was busting little airs out of one bowls, I was trippin! I finished in about an hour and it was in the upper 80s. It wasn't so bad because it was " a wet heat" and I was soaked with sweat in minutes. At this point I realized how hot it was going to be on this day.
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| Plenty of people braved the heat to check out the Tour. |
The bus pulled up around 2pm, the hottest part of the day. The crowd totals are not official yet but the city believes it was any where from 6,000 to 10,000 people, with approximately 1,500 Mullets on hand to spec a ridiculous demo at a ridiculous Skatepark. (Ridiculous is a good thing) This was by far the biggest crowd we have had any Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour in the 3 years since it's creation. The previous park that held the title was the Millennium Skatepark in Calgary Canada. On last year's tour we had about 5,000 to 6,000 screaming skate fans there. The 2 parks a very much alike in a lot of ways.
Why and how is Kerry Getz so good??? Getz was kickflipping to board slide and to 5-0 on the handrails like it was nothing! Kerry has the most board control I have ever seen by anyone, maybe that is why he holds an X Games Gold in Street! Alex Chalmers was busting some pretty big 180's over the gap in the park zone. Chalmers has cement skills, big time. Willy Santos has now joined us for the Tour. Willy was blazing as he kickflipped the Snapple Barrel numerous times during the Snapple sesh. The boyz seshed the Snapple Barrel for a while during the park portion of the demo. The place was on fire, literally. Some spectators were passing out cause of the heat and had to sit in an air-conditioned Louisville Transit Bus provided by the city just to cool down. The medical staff, police, and city officials did a great job! David Armstrong the Mayor of Louisville, the self proclaimed first Extreme Mayor was hangin' on top of the vert ramp when the guys got off the bus to hit up the vert portion of the demo.
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| Kerry Getz takes the hard way...UP the rail. |
Kevin Staab was the first guy ready to ride, as the vert portion got under way. Kevin busted a 540 on his very first try, a trick he recently learned in North Carolina. Dave Mirra threw down a couple of huge ass flairs and some 360 tail whips. Tony was ripping as usual with varial 5's and various inverts. Jesse Fritsch was putting all his cards on the table and tearing things up. Jesse is an all terrain skater; he has been skating in both the park and the vert demos. In this heat that is huge! Jason Ellis is a man on a mission and a big crowd favorite as he displayed his vert skills on this sweltering Kentucky Day. I think everyone lost about 20 lbs making Kerry Getz about a buck 20. Next stop Woodstock Illinois to the Warp Skatepark, a place we visited back on the first year of the Hawk Tour. I like to refer to Warp as home of the Ellis Ape Hanger, make sure you check back to find out what an Ellis Ape Hanger is! Kentucky was a huge success visit the Louisville Skatepark when you visit the great state of Kentucky it's worth it!!
Quote of the day from stop #4 comes from a random Louisville skater.
"Hey Announcer dude I'll give you 5 bucks for your skate"
L8er
-Brad J
Related Photos:
Hawk Tour - Louisville
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