I still remember the first time I skated Burnside.  I was 20 years old, wearing khaki work pants and a white tank top.  I was supposed to meet a girl there and then go skate with her in the suburbs. She didn’t show. 

I stood there  with sweaty palms.  What was I doing?  It was 10 a.m. and dudes were destroying cans of PBR and rolling through the park like it was made from the smoothest cement in the world. I couldn’t bring myself to leave without skating. I found a small patch of transition outside the chaos and I rolled back and forth. I distinctly remember one of the catcalls “Hey girl, you like exercise? I could give you some exercise.”  To make his point clear he air-humped his skateboard. He was real cool. 

I kept skating.

joshgunterfoto:

Burnside is no joke……very hard to sk8……and when it is wet it is like ice.