Related Photos: 2002 Hawk Tour at the Kona Skatepark 2002 Hawk Tour in New Orleans

Note: All stops on the Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour are completely FREE to the public, so if one of the stops is in your area - go check it out!

It is official; we've now been on tour for a whole week. We've seen more in this week than most people have seen in their whole entire lives, and it's all being preserved on film for your viewing enjoyment by the boys from 900 Films. The coolest thing about the guys from 900 is that they are skaters as well, now that is proper representation! Make sure you don't miss a show when it hits the air come late July. After we received our speeding ticket for 120 bucks leaving Houston it was on to New Orleans (The Big Easy) for a little R & R. R & R in this case stands for Raging and Ripping. We were staying right on Bourbon Street. That was a deadly combo putting a bunch of skaters on Bourbon Street in a big ass tour bus. The boys invested over 800 dollars in costumes and masks. When you are in the Mardi Gras mecca you might as well go with the flow.

Kevin Staab and Jason Ellis kill some time on the way to Florida.

Every time I think of New Orleans I think of the Girls Gone Wild video series, now that's family enjoyment! Dave Mirra and Mr. Hawk were sportin' some pretty funny masks. Robert (The Renaissance Man) Earl was leading the way down Bourbon Street. You know Robert just finished his very own cookbook called Extreme Cuisine containing recipes from the biggest action sport athletes in da biz! People call Vegas "Sin City" - I say it's a toss up between the two. In New Orleans you can drink adult beverages 24 7, just like Vegas. But in the Big Easy women expose themselves for plastic beads, in Vegas you have to pay cash for that. Now that I think of it we are going to Vegas on the 2nd leg of the Tour, and I'm glad someone is looking out for our best interests.

The next morning we all woke up a little hazy, must be the weather. It was time to head to Pensacola Florida for a little unannounced Demo at a local Skatepark. Unfortunately the park owner announced it way in advance and when we pulled up the place was packed complete with cops directing traffic and hundreds of screaming fans - I guess they weren't told this was an unannounced demo. The park was fun, everybody was pretty much blazing as usual and the kids were stoked.

Dude, I just wanted to stop and skate unannounced for like 20 minutes... Tony Hawk at the Pensacola, FL skatepark.

The month of June has been one of the wettest months on record for Florida. They have received over 20 inches of rain since June 1st. We got to Kona the day before the demo and the place was soaked, all the bowls had about 2 feet of water in the bottom. Martin the park owner assured me that if it didn't rain tomorrow it could dry up in plenty of time, the key word was if! The next day we arrived about 4:43pm and is was hotter than Kerry Getz's wheels during a session at Love Park before the deconstruction. Over 3,000 Floridians were on hand to witness some of the best skaters and bikers in the world. The crowd was going wild over Koston and his reckless handrail attack. Riley Hawk was in complete control as well. Mike V. was a huge crowd favorite busting out all over the course; he was uncontainable as usual, flying over the fun box doing oldskool Airwalks and Bennihanas. Mike V. and Alex Chalmers were also doing these huge hip-to-hip transfers about 10 feet long. Dave Mirra put on his own personal demo on the mini spine, the kids were freakin' out.

Kona just put in a brand new vert ramp about 6 months ago complete with a fresh layer of Skatelite, just in time for the vert dogs to attack it. Jesse Fritsch was en fuego on the ramp. Not bad after sessioning the street course in the 90-degree heat. Bucky Lasek pulled off an amazing frontside invert heelflip to the crowd's amazement then he tossed his sweaty t-shirt to kids. Jason Ellis was attempting a 360 flip body jar, a trick he pulled off last year In Tempe, AZ. I bet you a million bucks he will pull that off before the end of the tour. Just when you thought you had seen it all Tony throws down a 900 attempt after skating street and vert, the guy is a skating machine. There wasn't a dry spot on any of the rider's shirts and nothing could rain on our parade this day. Kona was also celebrating their 23rd anniversary to the day. You couldn't think of a better demo if you tried.

The vert technician Tony Hawk with a fine backside air at the Kona Skatepark.

After the session was over I went on the bus and played a demo version of Tony Hawk pro Skater 4 and Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer, save your money kids because they are both killer games. You know what's funny is that I am actually getting paid to announce and write the stories on the The Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour for the third year in a row. I would have done it for free, but don't tell my bosses that! Next stop Nascar Country - Cornelius North Carolina for stop #3. Last year in N.C. we got rained out and had to go inside to jump a Nascar driven by Mike Skinner. Mike wasn't there thank goodness because Kris Marcovich and Eric Koston dented up his car pretty bad. Two stops down and eight to go. Make sure EXPN.com is saved as a favorite on your computer for all the latest info on the T.H.G.S.T-02. I like to refer to it as "read it before you can see it."

Quote of the day for Stop #2 comes from Eric Koston:

"It's f---in hot out here"

Later when you're straighter!

Brad J

Related Photos:
2002 Hawk Tour at the Kona Skatepark
2002 Hawk Tour in New Orleans

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