_March Spring Weekend

I don’t want to speak too soon but I’m hoping that our Winter hibernation is officially over for the year.  Judging by the weather we were blessed with this weekend, I’d say we were on the way to a spectacular summer! However, this silvery lining is still attached to a dirty great cloud- If we’re skating in teeshirts on the first weekend in March, you KNOW something is seriously wrong with the planet.

The weekend began in earnest on Friday night as Wheat, Taylor, Celso and myself took a leap of faith to Iceland skatepark in Mississauga. Would the lights indeed be ‘on’? Would we end up driving all the way back into town to drown our sorrows instead? Fortunately as we dipped under the highway we caught the glare of the floodlights on the horizon and our hopes were revived! Some areas of the park still had small piles of snow in, but I’d say at least 80% of the park was exposed and our session was good to go.

Huy arrived after about an hour (Blädr messageboard working its magic once again) and took some photos for us.

Saturday was my 1 year anniversary! Julie and I were married a year ago. I love you honey.

Sunday lunchtime was clear, crisp and begging for a skate session. Mobilizing the combined powers of Facebook, MSN and cellular service, assorted troops were directed to the LE62 ledges. How was the weather so perfect? I have no idea… but the ten degree weather and incredible downtown backdrop made for an exciting hour or so of back and forth tricks.

Mark Benic and Jong were both nailing true top acids. Hans stomped a sick ao top acid to 540 out and Taylor warp 9′d at a true top mistrial, the first time I’ve ever see him do that- I guess the Aragon 3′s are working out for him!

The bright sunshine also attracted the lesser-spotted Jay Smith, one of the rarest creatures in the Greater Toronto Ecosystem. Known for its feathered appearance and outrageous trick vocabulary, the Jay Smith is seen here in bright shiny new boots grabbing a front torque.

Dan took some brutal falls trying some new stuff, but came through in the clutch with a slick true mistrial. Good looking trick, man.

After that it all got a bit messy. We moved as a unit to the nearby Ashbridges Bay but with the park full of Sitdown Skateboarders™ our spirits were waning. Messrs Petrov, Benic, Krizzle, Hans and Jong chose to stay and make of it what they could, while our carload decided to head towards Dave’s new puppy, Jean Claude Van Damme. We stopped at Erik’s insistence to skate a grotty little flat rail near Sherbourne station, where Erik, Dave and Jay feigned enthusiasm but we all knew that futon time with the adorable puppy was fast approaching.

Erik capped our weekend off with a well-held negative acid.

This weekend made me so excited for our coming summer. With a little luck we’ll have Kevin back, our video game will be so far advanced it will be unrecognizable and we’ll see a return to form for the Toronto skating scene! Good times, everybody! Thanks for coming out… the rest of the photos are on our flickr, as always.