Weird Photos/Write Up From My 2002 U.S Road Trip With Tom White and Local Shredder plus some writing I did in 2005?

If you've seen Fully Flared You know what this is all about.

I was gone for around 40 days,decided not to scan the photos and took photos,of my photos with my Mac's webcam. So they are kinda weird and hard to tell whats going on in them,but that was my idea. Just trying new ideas and what not. Enjoy. There are some old Tom White and Chase Hawk photos in here as well.Along with a write up of the trip of a lifetime at the age of 17.






























Seventeen Years old...wow,it seems like forever ago. I'm twenty four years old at the moment and I would be lying if I said that I still don't feel like a ten year old blasting his first curbcut out front of his home and wondering...what else is out there? Day trips with friends through out grade school took me to the famous Drexel Brook Trails,Toms River A.S.S,Lakewood,NYC,Boston,Maryland,New Hampshire,Ohio,ect,ect. Around the time of 9/11 I was riding and keeping in close contact with Brian Wizmerski,and Bob Scerbo. As was Ryan Navazio and Local Shredder. With all of the knowledge gained from all of our sources, (a BIG THANK YOU TO THRASHER MAGAZINE,and Wiz for being a savage when it came to his hard earned spot findings)so after a trail jam at Woodbridge a few days after a contest and Etnies video premire (where a drunken Joe Rich thought me and Magilla were breaking balls watching ECD,but thats a totally different story all together). So down at the trails the idea was born, "Hey since none of us wanted to hit up Woodward this summer,we have money saved up lets go to all these spots that we talk about all the time." People dropped out like flies leaving us with myself,Tom,LS,and Navaz was taking an extended trip out to LA by plane. So we gathered up all our research maps,ropes,bolt cutters,apples,tubes,skate magazines,phone numbers,and $350 each. This was actually happening! Everyone who bitched out was staying down at the beaches in Deleware,so we spent a few days dicking around in the ocean,and getting ready for a good time. We left towards Maryland,but said fuck Baltimore due to all of us being there so many times,we wanted to get to VA to ride the fullpipes. What a treat,pretty much tranny banks to wallrides that you can carve,not sure if they still exist but its worth the trip down. From there is kinda of a blur of heat,not sleeping,amazing ditches,set ups,pools,skateparks,and tranny walls. I was a scumbag and didn't have my license so I was steady lets make sure who ever is driving doesn't crash and kill us all dude. A road trip of this size with only three people is no easy task. I remember after riding an amazing part of West VA we hit up an amazing outdoor skatepark,tons of street jibs,and looking around the water front for some pipes we were tipped off about which ended up being ribbed and not rideable after a two hour hike thru muck and snakes. I was awoke by a wildman posing as a truckdriver who was not very happy about us "overusing" the truck stop and especially me hiding from the severe weather by sleeping under the car. Moving along we made it to Lousiville to hit up the at the time newly built 24 hour concrete monster of a park. We were met with the usual southern slang of, "Yawl ain't from around heres are ya?" Trying not to laugh we just said Philly and rode the fullpipes and bowls until the wee hours of the morning till I took a nap on my bike ontop of the vert ramp until I was awoken by a police officer causing me to wake up and shred somemore. Jimmy LeVan was our tour guide in the Ville and took us to an amazing pool where bottles were thrown at us,then a public pool with water in it. This is where i first heard of Ryan Metro as well,the Kentucky Rail King. Jimmy had a date and sent us down to Nashville and the rest of TN.More treats there,and onto Atlanta. Amazing stripclubs (I was 17 so this was unreal to me) the security guards at an undisclosed Federal Building were not too stoked on us riding their property with our trusty TRV-900. Even more spots awaited us in Atlanta and some shit got done.
Alabama was next,and wow. Mobile was a total ghost town with a ton of spots,and a stray dog. I busted my hand up before we left which was a bummer.Onto Louisiana...Wow does this place rule. Great locals,great spots,terrible heat,and bugs. Me and Tom on a search for gators found a now famous tranny wall on the edge of an undisclosed lake with awesome transfers and other fun shit.
Texas was next on the agenda...and once again my hand was destroyed by some harsh Houston concrete,more pools were rode,the police were pretty cool,the thugs by where we were parked after I was injured were not too decent.So we dipped out and onto Chase Hawks crib in Austin. The shower at Chase's was one of the best showers in my life and my first so far on this trip. One pair of brown dickies and three t-shirts.
Yikes,have times changed.We hit up the ramp ranch during the heat and checked out a contest where a then unknown Tom White was taking rebel runs pedal crooked grinding up the handrail and turning heads while me and LS rode the vert ramp with local legend A.J Camp. Afterwards more pools were destroyed,ditches were rode,and we checked out a not running 9th street,but Chuy's happy hour was very welcoming with its ever so hot waitress staff and amazing food. Chase took us to a Pizza buffet as well which was dialed,then we rode his old ramp which was a treat,i remember doing my first ever wallride out of a quarterpipe on that thing. After a day of swimming in two of the Austin areas water holes,we went down to San Angelo to stay with our buddy BJ who lived in Philly for a while.Warm showers,The Fucking Internet,and a homecooked meal was all I could ask for at this point in the trip,let alone how many good spots were on campus and how rad the water hole was.After the police arrested some chick for riding a tree ride we dipped out to look for the 35ft foot fullpipe as seen in an issue of Thrasher written by Salba about them being busted after the session,and the fact that Wiz,Scott Maylon,Wessel,GB,and Joe Rich had hit it up before Salba but those dudes weren't talking. We drove across Texas over the night stopping a few times to look at the vast sky of stars,and the reality that we are just children very far from home began to set in. It was by no means scary,but very,very calming.After showing the photo to gas station folk around the area we were tipped off about we drove thru a severe hail storm and a locust field before saying fuck it,we still have the Ammo Pipe to roast. On to Abiline to ride some concrete,park was a blast,amazing hips,lines everywhere,and some of the nicest locals ever.After getting pulled over on the way to Lubbock,we arrived in a town straight out of Tony Hawk Pro Skater,a town that I pretty much went on this trip for. If you've been there,then you know whats there and how good it is.Ditches,Tranny everywhere,and this dude that was doing backflip to manuals let us crash at his crib and fed us veggie burgers,I guess not all Jesus dudes are out of their heads. After riding all day in the Texas sun,and seeing footage of a tornado we headed up north to the location of the mighty Ammo pipe which is nowhere near where you think it is. Finding the pipe was easy,parking and hiking at 4am was not as easy. This place looks like a planet from Star Wars. Thirty feet tall she stands,complete with a carvable elbow and flatwalls.The 12ft barbedwire fence was scalled Fight Club style,with the Blazers foot rugs,and the bikes were handed over the fence. In and out like a teenager on prom night.Pretty scary knowing that serious jail time awaits if your gonna get busted in a fullpipe just a few months post 9/11. We got out of their found gasoline and made it to Santa Fe New Mexico to ride this real fun but slippery park,and some sandpit trails down the street. Onto a little bowl next located next to another public swim club,no bikes in the bowl but I took a few runs got sweaty and paid my $3.00 to go swimming. After a hike and a half thru the Meth Mountains/Deadlands we arrived in Alberts Turkey and went straight to the school with the hips,which were blasted,double ditch which gave everyone a flat but me,and Indian School ditch which was one of the best spots i ever rode. The public park was as good as it looked in videos and photos and had one of the best/gnarly bowl ever.Real good locals,showed us some tranny walls downtown,and a pool at a mason lodge. Ari-fucking-zona was next on the list and for good reason, New Mexico was the only place thus far that we actually paid to stay in a hotel due to the heat and meth heads wandering around like zombies from some D- Zombie flick from the fifties. Local Shredder had an uncle out in the Phoniex area so we hit that up and did some tourist shit,like rafting on the salt river,and looking for a fullpipe we over heard someone talking about but we didn't want to risk it after the sun went down.Tons of parks out there,none let bikes in really so it was hit and run until we went to the WEDGE.No Ratboy sighting. Onto some more pools in Tucson,and other amazing street and a rad indoor park next to a pool that let us ride for free. The bums at the pool just wanted a Mountain Dew,then he showed us his gun and I gave him a poptart,he kept an eye out for the police and got a snack out of it.We stopped at this small bowl outside of the California border and was shocked by the bad vibrations I was getting from a group watching the fourth of July fireworks and me sliding out on a hip and once again ruining my hand. We drove past the desert from Return of The Jedi which was rad,and I pissed on Mexico. There were fireworks in the distance,it was a silent ride as we pulled into the rest area and caught up on some sleep. San Diego was where stuff started to go a bit south,after not finding much besides the usual spots from the old Eddie Roman flicks was great,Home Ave ditch was unreal the nuddie booth was a different story...Onto LA to meet up with Navaz who doesn't answer his phone. I spend the night on a Dairy Queen bench in Hunington Beach after taking a walk around looking for ladies and realizing that holy fuck,thats the Pacific Ocean and I start my senior year of high school in three weeks. Pretty surreal,kids now days travel the world at such a young age I don't think that they learn to appriciate the road as much as they probably should because they are so damn used to not being home. I missed my family but knew that we would be riding Mt.Baldy,downtown LA,and the Santa Anna Civic Center in the morning. Baldy was everything i could have hoped for,fast walls,unreal sounds made only by bmx tires carving up towards 10:30 in the pipe,hitting the flat walls hoping to whatever god there is not to fall into the Jim C. Death Roll in from RF 9. Just an amazing hike,and experience,some U.S Government Property signs were ripped off the fence and we rolled up to the school from Nowhere Fast with the flat ledges where we realized how wild some of BC'S moves in his section really were,like the one high speed Ice he does on the down ledge.Wow.The problem was the skateboarders,we were told not to grind the ledges with our pegs,there was about 14 skaters and three of us so we just did manuals until we got the boot,and made some baked beans on the cars engine.Finally Navaz calls us and hes shacked up in this dialed ass comfort inn extended stay place,we sneak in,shower it up,and pass out with hopes of hitting up some public parks,and the Fresno Vagabond Pool.Mission Accomplished. California has some unreal parks even if the rules can be jerky theres always a way to talk your way out of a fist fight,or a ticket for riding your bike.
(EDITORS NOTE:MY BRAIN IS PRETTY FRIED SO NOT ALL THE DETAILS ARE LISTED)
Northbound to Glory was our next mission,with a stop over in San Fran. to ride some street and bomb some hills.Rode the China banks,alot of fun,looked at the Chad Kagy ledge,and the drop that Mike fell off of in that one Props issue. That night I bought a shitty waterproof throw away camera,and we did some tourist shit. Drove to the Dam where the pipe is located and slept under a tree. As the sun was rising we began the hike to the pipe. The Glory Hole is a 32 foot monster of a fullpipe resting under a huge dam.Its morning glory spillway was just a dicktease on what we knew laid underground. After the two mile hike with bags of kitty litter,brooms,spraypaint,and two rafts we had arrived unseen. We blew up the ramps and began to paddle over to the pipe and instantly began to clean the tiny stream of water up making the pipe super fast and not so dangerous.Good times were had,Tom jumped off a cliff into a pile of mosquito eggs and I almost stepped on a Rattlesnake on the way back to the car.Onto Route 80.This is where shit is a blur,so many spots,so many pools,unreal concrete parks,empty space,the great salt lake,backyard ramps,Kevin Porter taking us for pizza,and riding Oliver's backyard was also pretty amazing.I wonder what happened to that dude? We ended our trip up in the Detroit area with the Van Normans which was unreal having once again a roof over our heads,seeing Elliot's new project,and watching the Van Normans ride their own yard was pretty eye opening,Ted still does some of the best tables in BMX. We hit up Detroit street which was more terrifying than good,but the town the Van Normans lived in was super tight and fun.We said our goodbyes,made it home in 16 hours,and I spent a night in the hospital for exhaustion. All in all some of the best times of my life,I wish I could remember it all,Your probably bored so I'll shut up. If this makes one kid spend his Woodward money to experience life outside the foam pit I say go for it,woodward will always be there,pools come and go,as does life...and life believe it or not isn't about doing flairs to footjams. Sometimes the best part about BMX is its simplicity.
-schnell
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: WEEKEND NACHOS-UNFORGIVABLE

i remember being a little kid and hanging out at my freinds sean and keith ennis' house,we used to hang in the basement where that had a super nintendo with a super gameboy. i didnt have a super gameboy nor did i want one,i was a sega gamegear guy and i had all the color i wanted.fuck black and red,it strains the eyes.but anyway they also had a computer with online capibilities.remember this is the early 90's so this was like unheard of in my brain,all i know about online was chat rooms,video game websites,and sex.it seemed to be a dangerous toy,so much so that sean and keith's parents didnt give them a password or user name,it was all set up for their older brother eddie.his password was guessed one day and we were in.
this session lasted a total of 25 seconds before we got scared and shut it down.
its odd that i remember this.hell his user name was Yoda1990 or something i forget at the moment.but i remember that day and being introduced to the internet.fuck man if i would've known how much trouble this shit would become on that day i would've steared clear of computers and being "online" forever.but as it would be in 10th grade i had to give in and put the trusty type writter to rest.and there i was with a comcast modem and a aim screename,napster was at my finger tips and i downloaded a bunch of sheer terror and cannibal corpse albums that evening.
napster went away and then came kazzaa.how many hours i wasted online is stupid.all the drama,and bullshit over the years,and hell all of the goodtimes that it caused.a mouse and a keyboard with a glowing screen can be a weird thing,it sure changed alot of people into being dependent on this machine,something along the lines of a bad habit.simplicity has ruled our lives,as i type this i hear my sister in the other room trying to connect using dial up,its sad.she doesnt know what a catagory 5 cable is so she will never tap into my precious internet connection.
godforbid she slow down my downloads.but no its not because of that im just a jerk.typing this monstrocity of words just makes me think,and thinking is still good isn't it?

it all takes me back,everytime i sit down on a cold monday night with not a care in the world besides waking up for work at 11am tomorrow morning.i was in the bath last night and i was thinking about my first "real"bmx bike.i bought it at the now defunct performance bike shop in springfield after watching a sprocket jockey's freestyle show in the parking lot.there i sat on my mongoose villian just wanting what those dudes had,nice bikes and skills.not knowing how far along that $500 Hoffman Taj would take me,i just knew i wanted to ride bikes.beyond the point of going around the block and getting 6 inches of air off my broken picnic table in my front yard.fuck that was 11 years ago,and here iam.i got my $500 dollars worth.
that little 20 inch machine has gotten me around this country,has gotten me arrested,and most importantly showed me the true meaning of freindship.for the most part freinds come and go in the local bmx scene but a few of us who have been doing this for half of our lives are still going at it.most importantly tom white,who went from being the sketchiest dude ever on a bicycle to being one of the most well respected professional street riders in bmx today,watch his section in the new animal video for proof,its awesome to say congrats to someone who actually deserves what they get in life give the kid a "HB"if you see him.
i dont mean to go on and on,i just wanted to talk a little.
and this is the end,the last chapter of this little essay.
music...wow second grade i was obsessed with Megadeth and metalica.
i bought the every where i roam single from the wall along with "Symphony of destruction by megadeth cassette single.that was in 1992 i think,and here iam still listening to thrash metal.and being in a death metal band.(skeleton proof tanks)
in 9th grade i went to my first show at the trocadero theatre,it was Greyarea,H20,Saves the Day,and i think Ensign,now in 3 weeks my band will be on that same stage with legends of death metal Vital Remains.
its just weird to me,how life works.wanting something so badly and then after working so hard getting it.
if you were to tell me when i was a freshman in high school that i would be in a band playing the mainstage of the trocadero in 2006 id probably balltap you.i dunno i see these kids who i graduated with going to college,getting drunk and gaining 23 pounds,and i just dont want any part of it.im happy with the life i chose to live,sorry i dont like cocaine and doing beer bongs,sorry i dont like frat parties and lacrosse games.this town disgusts me and how much the people in this area take fitting in with soiciety.you know the future is in our hands,and i hate to say it if we even make it that far along,what do we have to show for our selves?besides memories.maybe a scar of how bad your life turned out from what your fucking guidence teacher told you back in 12th grade,"your gonna be somebody"...whatever that means.
i think its taken me 3 years to realize thats bullshit.
total shit.
you are who you are.
and a fucking college beer drinking and cocaine deploma isnt going to chisel the perfect citizen.
ill see you in 2 years washing cars,wondering,where did i go wrong?
by then it might be time to look at your surroundings and say fuck it.
life is weird.
happiness is happiness.
whatever you make out of it.
i guess if being over weight and divorced at the age of 37 is a typical ridley life and being happy is cheating on your wife with your favorite female student from U.S history then i dont want any part of being happy.
i might seem pissed,and jaded towards most of society especially people i dont know.
this world we live in is corrupt and fucking insane.
its my way of dealing with my hatred towards humanity.
but inside im not really a bad guy i guess.
i appriciate the little things in life.
i deliver pizza for a living at the moment,ride bmx,and do vocals in a band.
those are my hobbies.
that is the basis of my routine.
never once has how much money,or how popular am i going to be affected any of those things and really i dont give a shit.
live life.appriciate every little thing including your youth,its all going to be gone one day.
no matter who you are,or become we all are made to decay...six feet in the ground,or ashes in an urn.
i guess what im trying to say is get off the computer and do something productive.
and have a good time if possible.
-schnell

And now a trip to chenga world gone terribly wrong...
Monday, December 06, 2004
Currently Playing
Leviathan
By Mastodon
see related
- - -

HILARIOUS.
Lee Hopkins said it best:
"OHIO IS THE FUCKING SHIT CAPITOL OF THE US OF A. IT'S THE SHITTIEST FUCKING PLACE I HAVE EVER BEEN. every fuckin time im there i cant belive how much it sucks and how much random ass shit goes wrong. it's the black hole of the universe and everyone in that state is fucked up. i will never go back or ride there either. welcome to the club. holy shit that fuckin place sucks ass. there is nothing major about that state. "
now heres my story.
ohio = hell or...my weekend trip.
a long story...
friday morning i was going to the Last Call Contest at Chenga world skatepark in North Ridgeville Ohio,with Local Shredder,Tom White,Paul Horan,Alfrado,George K, Cesar Monzon,Evan Ayalla,and myself to film the contest for the upcoming Standpoint Issue 6.first off The Van only fits Seven People and there was obviously eight of us,that ment someone had to sit on the floor.shitty.the plus was everyone in the back could watch videos or movies on the tv/dvd player.
so all is well,we arrive into Ohio making pretty good time. then right outside of Youngstown the trouble begins.
the back right wheel on the van Blows off into traffic leaving us scared and almost killing us.Shredder steers the car to a grinding stop. me and Tom jump out of the car and get the tire which is resting on the median.we are fucked.stranded in the middle of the highway.it is getting dark and cold.we are about sixty miles from the skatepark.things are looking grim when the tow truck guy tells us he cant take all of us in the van,we talk him into it but he can't drive all of us the sixty miles to a station in North Ridgeville.he takes us to a shop in youngstown to get the van fixed.this is already looking expensive i only brought $50.00 with me so when i hear the guy say hes dropping us off at the motel 6 an exit up on the highway i get pretty bummed.no Chenga world tonight.
worst town ever,food cost extra if you eat it inside.everyone else gets stoned and drunk and go to this greasy ass stripjoint called club 76.grimey.paul comes back in trashed and loud and wakes us all up talking about boobs.fuck.
in the morning we decide to go to Perkins Resturant.(WORST DECISION) i dont buy anything but end up getting a full meal off of everyones left overs.we all leave the money for the food and the tip on the table and leave.we call the shop and the van is fixed so the guy who fixed it meets us at the Travel Center by Perkins.
heres where things just get FUCKED.we are putting the bikes on when we are surrounded by police.they come to the car and ask why we skipped out on the bill at Perkins.WHAT THE FUCK!the cop asks which one of yous didnt buy food? i raised my hand and he says good your the only one not going to JAIL.this is getting serious and the waitress comes out of the cop car accusing us of leaving without paying that fucking grimey savage probably pocketed it,and does this shit to everyone out of town.so the cops say we can either pay the bill again PLUS TIP,or go to jail.no one wanted to hear our side of the story.we payed the bill again and we were finally on our way to the contest which by the way was already in progress.everyone at this point is beyond salty and just wants to get to the skatepark.finally we arrive and me and Shredder set up the standpoint merch table and shit.turns out im not filming the contest,Shredder is going to film with my camera and i have to work the merch table.so i bring my bike in and put it next to the table so i could ride.i make Evan watch the merch while i rode for five minutes.i didnt see any of the comp so i have no idea what went down,what i did see was Chase Hawk in practice kill the box jumps.i only sold $70 in merch so that sucked,what sucks even more is that they shut down the park after the comp so we couldnt ride.Vinnie Sammon,Tyrone,and Edwin join us and we go to Dennys and eat ,then get a room at the Econo Lodge across the street.we get two rooms and spend more money,now iam broke $0 in my wallet.we make some calls and we go to this party Jake Finnley set up at his freinds place called "The Spot".it was a pretty sweet place.shit got wild Lou Bickle showed up and was getting Loose with Catfish on the Microphone doing freestyle rap.i didnt drink. i just wanted to go to bed.so we left.i got no sleep and we rushed out of the hotel in the morning and i forgot my pillow.not sweet.George K. left the night before so Edwin got a ride home with us.ate again at Dennys,Tom payed for my breakfast. then we went to Chenga world and rode for an hour.that place is super fun and make all of the shit we had to go through worth it.on the way out of the skatepark shredder realizes that his jacket was stolen at the party that had the $70 from the standpoint merch in it.fucking hosed.so we drove home with a broken tv by the way.it took like an hour longer than it should've and i got no sleep.
we got back at LS's apartment at like 10:45pm and Tom drove my car back to my house with no gas in it.
my advice...stay out of ohio.