May 17th - West Virginia

Wild and Wonderful

Living the life of a pro skater means lots of long car trips. I spent the weekend in Ohio for the Powerman Race. On Tuesday, I decided to make the long drive back home. The drive takes about 10 hours so I split it up into two parts and stop for a skate mid way.

After driving for around five or six hours I stopped in West Virginia and realized I was in a very unpopulated part of the state. This is always good since it means very little traffic and you usually see lots of wild life and nature.

The first thing that I saw when I got of the highway was a little sign that said "Unknown Branch". I figured that this was a good omen and that the skating would be "wild and wonderful" like the state motto.

I parked at a gas station and started skating. At first the road was super smooth nice asphalt and it felt great to be out of the car and rolling. I decided to skate one direction on the road for an hour and then turn back to return to the car. On the way out I would stop and take photos and on the way back I would go harder and get a good solid workout.

The road was called Paint Creek. I had my GPS unit and a full pack of water and was ready for an adventure in the unknown land of West Virginia.

After a very short while I saw a sign that said "road work" and figured that I would get a chance to try my SubZero big wheel skate frame and boots on some more challenging conditions.

The road quickly became Gatorback but since it was very pretty in the wilderness I decided to continue the adventure. The road became one lane for miles and seemed more like a bike path then an actual road. I saw only three cars the whole trip and felt like an explorer. It is very likely that I was the first person to skate this particular road.

The wildlife and views along the road did not disappoint. I was glad to have my camera phone to record the images and the weather was perfect. My skates felt great on the roads. Hammering up the mountain roads and then using my brake to control my speed on the descents made the workout physically challenging, fun, exciting, but still quite safe.

The downhills were plenty steep enough to get some good speed going. I bet some of the grades were steeper then 15%. These little west virgina roads must be fun to drive in wintertime.

I am a bit of a speed junky but since I want to live to see tomorrow I like having the brake. Especially when skating a mountain road that you have never seen before the brake is handy because you never know what the next turn will be like. The switchbacks were fun but if the speed got too high you could really get hurt and in the mountains of West Virginia I doubt anyone would find the body of a skater. If they did find the body years later I bet they would have a good laugh at crazy city folk.

The remoteness of the location and the feeling that I was claiming new ground for the sport gave me an idea. It is amazing that even in such a remote road you find plenty of litter. I stopped and picked up three plastic bottles. I put two of the bottles in my pocket for karmic balance and decided that I could leave the third one where it was. With the third plastic bottle I unscrewed the top and put my business card in with a special message. I then crammed the bottle between two rocks in the side of the mountain. If you find this bottle, I will give you four free Brand New Supersonic SWE wheels if you can describe the special message inside the bottle.

The bottle is very close to the GPS coordinates ( 37.99220N / 81.32077S ). To claim the prize you must skate the route along Paint Creek Rd. If you can't find the bottle just send me a photo of you with your skates on standing next to the sign for the Coal mine and the sign for "Unkown Branch".