This and That JibJab: A Saturday on my bike

A street-skate competition, registration at the Obama booth, a game of chess w/ the locals, dinner with the homies and then... crank mob! Here's a few shots from a super-eventful day in West LA.

I registered to vote at the Obama booth in Venice Beach and got a free sticker (now on my fridge).

The day started at 11am. As close to the beach without actually being on the beach is where you would have found the "la all day" judges/organizers booth. I picked up a free ONE magazine, caught up with some old friends and prepared myself for some amazing skating. Let me start with the groms...

These kiddies were rippin'. Everybody referred to the skater in the upper left corner of the pic as "The Storm"... I'm not sure why but this 720 at 13yrs of age might have something to do with it. Moving on to the advanced and elite groups of the competition...

Sydney - threading the needle (Venice Beach)

I broke away from the 'la all day' event for a bit and rode over to Active in Santa Monica to check out the WESC skate team signing/DJ event in the store. Not much there so I eagerly headed back to the 'la all day' event. On my way back I stopped to play some chess at this park just south of the pier in Santa Monica.

Setting the clock, 5 minute game - I regret not catching his name. Maybe it was the heat or the fact I hadn't played in a while but after a strong opening, my middle and end game uncharacteristically went down the drain. I asked if he wanted another go but he wanted to play for 50 cents, which was 50 cents more than I had at the time so I thanked him for the lesson and headed back to the 'la all day' event where the advanced and elite groups were readying for their heats.

Backslide at the second spot - Mary Hotchkiss Park (4th and Ocean Park).

Busted. This was supposed to be the final spot which meant we'd have to relocate and finish the competition elsewhere... funny enough, the final spot ended up being the JibJab parking lot. Hold on to your butts, it's about to get ill...

Back royale from a bank to nipple-high flat rail - 540 out

Eyen' up the front torque

How a shower becomes your worst enemy...

Brian Shima (right) and Chris Haffey (left) came out to support the event. I've seen Shima in person before but I admit to being a little star-struck (again) as I snapped this photo from afar. The 'la all day' event ended with a prize/medal ceremony at the beach. I hung around to let a few curious rollers ride my bike for a bit and successfully enthused them into building fixies of their own. After that, it was off to dinner at the Belacan Grill in El Segundo.

The food was pretty good/ok... I have nothing extraordinarily good or bad to say about the Belacan Grill but this was the best part of my meal if that tells you anything. Now, onto Crank Mob!