Skate the STATE - day 1

THIS CLIP was one of the first I filmed once I linked up with Steve and the SkATE THE StATE gang. I drove from Topeka, through Lincoln, into Grand Island.....{former home of my sister} and then met up with the gang on the West side of GI. So the gang had already had 7 days of skating first starting in Scott's Bluff. So my day 1 is their day7. Their goal was to skate the length of the state from Scott's Bluff to Lincoln, some 440 miles in an effort to raise money for a Lincoln indoor skatepark called Bay 198.

Steve skates up to the rest stop

I can't recall when I saw Steve last? Was it when he moved out?

TRAIN shot of the gang at the first rest stop that I encountered/

I drove 10 miles west of Grand Island and met up with Steve, Phil, and Mike and the support staff of Angie, Andrew, & Amber. I was now support staff #4. They would skate 10-12 miles non stop and then rest up. At this point, after some relaxation and hydration, it was only one more leg into Grand Island. A group of local skaters were set up and poised to meet us in town and then skate with us to the skatepark for a session.

Taking off on the last leg of the day.....

Art shot of Steve framed in the steel bridge

The kids and the media await the Skate the STATERS

Mike and Steve roll in.....

One of my favorite shots of the trip!

Steve leads the gang to the skatepark

PHIL grinding the vert wall at the GRAND ISLAND demo. He skated 40 some miles and still put on a demo for the kids! Did I mention that he's entered his 5th decade on this planet. He's owned Precision Skate Shop for 25 years. We skated with the kids for close to an hour and then bowed out to eat.

A kind, local couple put us up for the night in GRAND ISLAND. That evening while decompressing we caught the local news that had a clip from the previous day. CLICK HERE  It was lights out after the news. Another long day awaited.......