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AoS-Fest III : Ohio or Bust!

Intro Friday 1  2  3   ) Saturday 1  2  3  4   ) Sunday 1   ) Afterwards & Sponsors

Day 1: Friday October 21st

The Pre-AoSFest III Party and the Ankle Biter ramp

   A quick stop back by the hotel to drop Jay’s stuff off and grab Mike’s decks (yes, he somehow forgot them as we went back to the airport), and we were on our way to Rob’s house for the big pre-AoS-fest party. Right around Rob’s house, we stopped by the grocery store for some "supplies" for the night. We got over to Rob’s right about at dusk. We were greeted at the door by Rob and his daughter, Miranda, who was dressed in her "Corpse Bride" Halloween costume. Rob welcomed us in and gave us the grand tour. We were all stoked to see his garage ramp dubbed "the Ankle Biter". It was 16 feet wide, about 2 ½ feet high and has a four foot extension that was near vert topped with chunky pool coping. Saaaweeeetttt!!!!! We also got to check out Rob’s own "man room" on the back part of the house. That’s where his wife "allows" him and Miranda to hang their skateboard collection, hang skate banners and such. Very cozy. I especially liked his bowl of skate wheels on the table….hey, some folks use a bowl of green apples for accent; Rob uses skate wheels. Haha
   Well, we hopped right to it. Jay, Mike and I started skating the Ankle Biter. It was kind of funky to get used to at first. Quick! But once you got the feel of it, it was so much fun. The only thing to watch out for were overhead obstacles….ceiling, garage door opener, cross beams….fun stuff like that. I think I grazed a few hairs on the garage door opener once or twice. Mike accidentally punched it coming in off a frontside trick even! Jay seemed to have some weird crush on the extension and pool coping. He stayed on it trying crazy tricks on such a tight, small transition tucked in an odd spot. He eventually nailed all kinds of tricks on it though the ollie blunt-pivot-fakie eluded him for some time. More than once, Jay came very close to nailing his head on the corners and edges of the protective plywood that blocked flying boards off the ramp. At one point, he was inches from introducing his head to the sharp corner of wood when he slid out of a trick of the extension. That slowed him up a bit….but not too much. Rob was busy getting things prepared and supervising the grill out back. He seemed occupied for now making sure everyone else would be taken care of. What a great host! Soon Tim Birt, owner of Five Points Skateboards, showed up. That made four nutjobs sessioning the little ramp. But that wasn’t all just yet. As Tim was warming up, Dan, Issac and Brian "Plywood20" Atwood arrived for the fun.
   We took a little break and moved to the back porch to cool down and supervise Rob on the grill. The Ohio guys were filling us out-of-towners in about Ohio, their scene, old skate stories, etc. Remember, this is Ohio in October, so not only was it still drizzling rain, but it was kinda chilly out. Soon, it was time to dig in. Everyone piled up their plates and gladly ate up. Rob and Miranda did a fine job.
   I snuck off and started skating the Ankle Biter all to myself. That did not last too long though. Soon, the whole gang moved in for a session. With the addition of Rob and his daughter, Miranda, that made nine of us on the ramp!!! Yes, fun ensued. Haha Tim and Jay continued to tempt fate and death with insane trickery on the extension. Backside disaters, tail blocks, frontside pivots, crail slides, pivot fakies, and more. Young Mike really got use to the ramp after eating. He was throwing down kickflips to fakie out of the ramp, one foot backside and frontside grinds, Miller Flips (yes!) and even straight arm inverts! Even little Miranda was showing us all why this is her local ramp. She was busting rock and rolls especially for us! The energy level just kept rising and everyone was feeding off of it. That’s the kind of sessions we all live for, right?!?
   At some point, we all had enough skating, or food, or "adult beverages", but for some reason, we all kinda stopped. The fun was not over yet. Rob popped in a video made by a local group here, 70-71.com (70 and 71 are interstates that intersect in Columbus). It was very well done and fun to watch. All the guys over at Rob’s were in the video. It also featured their beloved and now defunct "Warehouse" ramp. That thing was insane looking!

The Behler Manor(Rob's house) (CS)

Rob's "Man Room" (CS)

Issac digs into the party food (CS)

Left side of the Ankle Biter (CS)

Right side of the Ankle Biter (CS)

Tim Birt frontside 5-0's the extension (CS)

Jay pops a blunt-pivot-fakie
in a tight space (CS)

Taking a break on the patio (CS)

Little Miranda works her home turf (CS)

Tim, Jay and Issac look on as
Miranda barges at will (CS)

Chris(Amorone) throws out a quick
frontside ollie-to-tail (BA)

Dan hooks a frontside salad grind (BA)

Mike gets impossibly inverted
on this micro mini-ramp (CS)

Miranda barks a backside grind (BA)

Dan ollie tailslides (JS)

Mike gets tricky with a
ollie kickflip grab to fakie (BA)

Rob works around his home ramp (BA)

Tim Birt slaps a backside lipslide (BA)
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