News From Osiris

Day 2:

After some much needed rest the crew wakes to a day of skating local spots.

Jimmy Carlin: As expected Jimmy was ready to skate. Over the course of the day he blew up all the spots. Jimmy’s day ended early due to a slam he took when he bruised his ribs.

Caswell Berry: Caswell was killing it at all the spots skating like a man possessed.

More to come…

The first half of the tour is over and it’s time to get some new guys in the mix. For the second half Jimmy Carlin, James Brockman, Stu Graham, and Caswell Berry will meet up with John Rattray who is staying on for the last 2 weeks as well. The plan is to fly into Germany traveling across the land and flying out of Spain 19 days later. Let the fun begin.

With internet access being a problem for the guys right now, we are left with text messages.

Day 1:

The crew meets at the big O headquarters and depart for LAX.

After a nice two hour drive we board our first flight to Germany. The tour has now begun.

We finally arrive at our hotel in Hamburg 18 hours later.

Last weekend was a shitty one, I was supposed to go out on Saturday and Sunday to shoot photos for BMXPlus with photographer Jeremy Pavia. I went out to do a little grocery shopping beforehand. I left my bike on the porch (its usually good, I live in a really nice area), and after 40 mins at the store, I walk up the stairs and I didn’t even realize my bike was gone. I had to do the quick double take, so now I’m stuck bikeless for a little before I can fully build a new one and this is what I’ve been doing in my spare time, chillin on the beach.

-Steve Croteau

I have made it from Russia to Finland, onwards to Poland and then to the Czech Republic. I have done this by following the lead of and listening to the guidance of a man we know only as Kong.

The Capital tour has been going well, a splendid journey with some fine young men. We arrived in Warsaw after dark, hungry and a little tired. A cheese sandwich and a 5-story techno club will always solve those minor issues. After a solid nights kip, we headed out into the streets to see what Warsaw had on offer for to skateboard on.

Duffel was with us. He is really quite a tall man, and he can jump his board up into some high locations. The street spot we went to was just that type of thing. The plinth of an enormous sculpture of a desperate military man, it was more of a cliff than a ledge. Duffman doesn’t fuck around. He gets down. And up. Way up high. It’s those Jack Skelington legs of his I think. They are more like bungee cords than legs really. Boing!

The demo in Warsaw was held in a fun wooden skate arena. Everyone skated like Mongol warriors and then Marius went all Viking berserker and munsenned down the five stair at full speed. He went down hard, but his Scando resilience kicked in and he retaliated by battling a backside flip over the whole shebang for a solid hour. He’s a funny kid.

Prague. It’s in the Czech Republic. It’s the home of a fantastic beer called Staropramen, although I didn’t have any while I was there. The locals all preferred this Pilsner Urquel stuff.

Prague has some truly sensational skate spots. It also has Stalin Square, although not for too much longer. The planning permission for an aquarium or some such abomination is, at the very least, in process. Stalin square is one of the true great skate spots in the world and it turns my feelings a shade bluer to know that it will soon be only a memory. Saying that, it is also the spot where I managed to devastate my foot. While attempting a dazzling stunt I became distracted by a group of 20 children and an enormous man in an impressive white hat. My instinct told me to wait for them to disperse, but then, like a true idiot, I made the rash decision to charge through it. Moments later I was on my back, alone, with a sore foot. One thing I do know is that in skateboarding we need our feet. That was it for me having any useful purpose on this crazy tour. Now I’m just another spare prick at the meat parade. Of course the next part of the trip would contain some of the best street spots I’ve seen in my life. That leave’s me with only 2 options. Frustration or Suicide.

I will say this. David and his band of merry gentlemen in Prague were true champions, and I think I can speak for the whole crew when I thank them very much.

Soooo, I went to Tahiti with Body Glove and it was the sickest trip ever because it was a surf/dive trip and we scored epic waves and the diving was insane. I went there with Alex Gray and Holly Beck who are rad people to travel with. It was the best I have surfed chopes and I ended up getting a pretty thick west one which I was psyched on! We also scored Tamae, which is a right somewhere else in Tahiti, and it was one of the best sessions Alex and myself have ever had pretty much averaging about three barrels per wave. The crew was awesome and everyone had a good time. We stayed in those crazy bungalows that are right over the water and are pretty much for honeymooners only. We kinda disturbed the peace at this five-star resort by throwing a beer pong tournament right next to the pool where all the newlyweds were bronzing. We also dove with a bunch of sharks, which was cool and one of the dive instructors got his finger bit. It was all good though and everyone made it out alive.

- Cheyne