Lew (driving)
Weston
Ben
Native
josh
Kris Link
Brumley
Sunshine (Photography)
Caleb (filmer)

There's the present roster for our upcoming trip south...

Next Road Trip: GBR 2010

Fickle's on the road this October 14th through 20th, down to the GA bowlrider comp... We'll be camping in Columbus GA, and hanging out with the Doghouse crew... those guys are an interesting scene. we found much love amongst them over the last year or so... we can't wait to skate with all you all... y'all...

If you are on the road there, like knoxville or chattanooga or something, hit us up and let's try to get in a sesh... the crew is huge this time:

we're camping out and crashing with folks down there. it's epic all over again. thanks to all the folks who put us up and put up with us. Thanks to Mike Mills down there in the ATL area who always has been down with Fickle. Thanks to Will Boatwright for holding it down on the daily at Brookies...

We spent a goodly portion of last February on a road trip, camping out at Kona in Jacksonville, FL. Here are some notes from Weston's perspective. This year, we'll load up with a bunch of freshly pressed boards and go again in Feb. No kidding. the road trip, funded by quality handmade lumber, is the way to go.

update

this is old Lew.

we just skated at Louisville last night. yesterday, really. just till right before dark. it was real fun... i wore my army pants for the first time. it wasn't quite cold enough for hesh holiday...

well, I just wanted to let all of our friends out there know how things are going here at Fickle Corporate.

we are welding on the press, a little more each week, making trips to the steel supply store and designing and fabricating and having a blast creating a press that will last for years and produce amazing wood at longer lengths...

we are also more sure than ever that the skateboard wood market has gone completely insane. You see, I spend time on the phone and face to face with wood suppliers... some people make fun of how much phone time I spend... and I have more than "learned"... I've SEEN with my own eyes that the american skateboard wood market is a sick place.

sick in a bad way, that is.

I won't go into all of it, but this is why we're pressing our own from here on out. That means handmade boards. That means temp and humidity control. That means some custom shapes. That means artistic, custom finishes and a punk/DIY aesthetic. In other words, we're going to completely rock and completely suck at that same time.

We won't be pressing thousands of boards per week, like the majority of American Wood Houses. We won't have to spend time ignoring our wood customers and marginalizing the small guys, because we're only going to press Fickle Boards.

This shrinks us down, to some extent, but not really. We'll see... We think you are going to love our new wood, but we'll let you guys and girls be the judges. For sure, we're going to have the satisfaction of skating wood that our own hands have touched.

As it is, you can trust Fickle to be trying to do it right, and be sacrificing to get it right, the whole time. We just can't stand to be another "heat-transfer-on-a-popsicle-from-wherever-it's-cheapest" wood company. We are shifting the whole thing to be a company that makes your board fresh, in our own lab.

So keep looking for the new, Cincinnati-Pressed Fickle Wood this year. We aren't quitting, and we're sure you'll be stoked! Until then, we'll see you out there!

TNT sez trix are dumb.

9LIVES "Tony Trujillo" from Six Stair on Vimeo.

we got rippers. we do. okay.

but we all agree that TNT is spot on in this clip where he gets philosophical at the end and says that tricks aren't what skateboarding is about. Go Thirty. Enjoy the feeling of speed and flow. Learn to flow and carve and just RIDE. Side step the pissing contest about who is "best", and just do what you do, period.

We are stunned at how liberating and good for us skateboarding can be. Stunned.