Bladehead

Monday, October 28, 2013

Bearings & Bruises 2013

Bearings & Bruises 2013 QuickCut from Daniel Kinney on Vimeo.

Monday, November 5, 2012

BladeHead Series #2 - Results and Edit

The 2nd stop of the BladeHead Series took place on October 20th in the small quaint town of Oregon IL, which was the unofficial rollerblade capital of the world...maybe not but all in attendance felt this way. It was a two part event, contest and then camping. All key elements for a good time were there: a sunny day, good crew of bladers and a skatepark all to ourselves!

Not the biggest or best park in the world but a nice pallet to get creative and shred on. Ahhh...remember the good ole days? When you would go rip any spot or park no matter how big or small, getting creative on anything? Hmmmm... the good ole days. I digress, but my point being everyone that worried about the quality and size of the park missed out!

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

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Camping Spot

River Road Camping

3922 North River Road, Oregon IL, 61061

$12 per person to camp, showers available, fire pits and we will have a grill going so bring some eats and firewood to stay warm!

Bring a helmet for the comp $20 to enter. Raffle and trivia prizes throughout the day.

Will Chris McCormick and Tall Antone repeat as victors or will there be a new Open and Kingpin Champ?

Come and support Rollerblading outdoors before winter is here!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Bladehead Series #1 ROCKFORD, IL

On Saturday the 29th there were a record number of bladers in Rockford, but they all didn't make it to the contest. Most of them were celebrating Jon Adams' wedding... Love was in the air. What was surprising is that Jon Adams came out early and skated around a bit before the wedding, that's how much he loves to roll, he snuck it in on his wedding day :)

It was a perfect day to blade, the weather was 75, the sun was out, and we were at Flodin skatepark, one of the best of 4 parks in Rockford. Most of the skaters that came out were from Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin and the Chicagoland area and a couple out of towners like Tim Schmidt from Indiana and Joe Valesh from Georgia.

There were 3 kids skating the beginner division, Flodin local Jake Altenburg skated fast and landed every trick in his run, solid skating by all 3 youngsters!

The open class was a surprise, Chris McCormick came from behind the shadows and busted out: there were a few skaters looking like they were going to take it but Chris picked up the pace when everyone else tired themselves out...the turtle strategy. Chris used the whole course and connected some great lines. Other great skaters that day were Todd Trosper, Curtis Thornburg and Nick Schroder who all made the final. It was anybody's comp to win. Congrats to Chris McCormick for taking the win.

This was the first time that we had a 30+ division and we were excited to be able compete in our own contest. There were 6 guys in the "KINGPIN" division and it was a close one! Tall Antone took the gold with clean lines and switch ups. I realized I had to step my game up when he laced a perfect "soul to soul". Tracy took second place. He connected 5-6 trick lines, method air transfers and solid grinds with stamina like a 16 year old. We all had a blast!

Over all the event was similar to the first years of L.A. All Day, A few local skaters, plenty of free time to skate and some good music. After the comp we presented the skaters with their medals and prizes. Tall Antone and Chris McCormick also received posters that I created. It has always been a tradition of ours to give posters, medals and prizes at the end of any comp. Tracy also threw in a gift from the Blade Museum which was a giant Videogroove sticker for the Kingpin winner. Another tradition after the comp is eating some local Mexican food. We stuffed ourselves and headed over to Tracy White's Blade Museum. The Blade Museum was the cherry on the Saturday for an all day rollerblading adventure. We ended the night educating youngsters on Rollerblading history and we couldn't ask for anything more.

Big thanks to Derek Papich Director of the Flodin Boys & Girls Club, The Pull for provided $50 for first place Open division winner in both BladeHead comps. DJ Maclin (Music) & Mario Martinez (Hype man/camera), Ian Bumphrey (Kingpin MC) judges Adam Cox, GL. Joe Esguivel and Joe Tallman for Judging and making the custom BladeHead Series banner, the Rockford Park District's Laurie Anderson & John Peterson for supply the P.A., and all the skaters and parents who came out to support and of course all are great sponsors!

BEGINNER

Jake Altenburg

Sam Nolan

Daniel Mendoza

OPEN

Chris McCormick

Nick Schroder

Todd Trosper

Curtis Thornburg

KINGPIN

Tall Antone Anderson

Tracy White

Carlos Kessell

Daniel Kinney (29 +)

Tim Schmidt

Joe Valesh

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Rockford Register Star

BladeHead Series rollerblading competition winners
ROCKFORD — The winners of the BladeHead Series rollerblading competition on Sept. 29 at Flodin Boys & Girls Club Skatepark, 1000 Mill Road, Rockford, have been announced.