The day started with staking claim to our campsite, even though no one else would be brave enough to camp on this night. We new this was our spot when we were greeted by a “Bears Fan Parking Only” sign.
We then made our way to the skatepark. The big questions of the day were: Would Chris McCormick repeat as champ the Open class and take the loot?Would Tall Antone repeat as champ of the Kingpin (over 30) division and would we have enough libations and firewood to stay warm throughout the night? Spoiler Alert! There would be new champs of both divisions and duhh we're bladers, so of course we would have enough libations, not so much on the firewood though.
Ben Price is a truly unique powerhouse of a blader who everyone should have the pleasure of session-ing with. First he rode his road bike fro St. Charles IL to Oregon IL -a 50 mile trek one way!-, then he proceeded to wax every possible grinding edge in the park and shred those spots. He also landed the best trick of the day (a soul grind around a c-ledge to gap to a cement edge- to transfer to a bank), after the comp. Sorry no video, just a pic of his earlier attempts. New champs in all divisions will set up nicely for rematches in next year's series. Collin Martin would not only win the cash & prizes for first in the Open class but also received my MVB (most valuable blader) award for his continued support of rollerblading, ripping all day and becoming a father to be! His prize? A Graco “pack-n-play”(parents know what's up).
Beginner division: 1st Marcos Orta 2nd Casey Goire 3rd Mitchell Goosen
Kingpin division: 1st Tracy White 2nd Antone Anderson 3rd Ben Price
Open Class: 1st Collin Martin 2nd Chris McCormick 3rd Todd Trosper 4th Greg Velaquez
We would all get to our campsite just before sundown with enough time to set up all the tents, get the fire & grill going. That’s where master camp-side chef, Tall Antone would work his magic delivering the best campsite grub I have ever tasted! All earlier questions were answered.
Great rollerblading went down, great campfire stories, the hooch and fire keep us warm in high 30 degree weather of northern Illinois. That was the BladeHead Series stop # 2 in Oregon Il.
Tracy White