Over the past few years work has brought me to some interesting locations and have let me met some even more interesting people. Nothing however could’ve prepared me for the request I got just before the “summer”.
“Shit man. I don’t know but… I feel lost, you know? All these girls here. It’s everywhere you look there’s a hot girl. It tires me out you know. They are there, at arm’s length, sort to speak, but at the same time, they are miles away. Worlds away. It makes me sad, and I start to feel bad about myself, you know…”
Martijn is sitting opposite from me. The small wooden table is on a waited terrace in the middle of the downtown square in Riga, capital of Latvia. More…The weather is great, and the sun is beating down, warming our blood. The beautiful old buildings surrounding us are breathing the heat. Shadows are long, the sky is blue. Hundreds of people stream by at a leisurely pace on every side of the square. Martijn is about to sip his beer when he puts it down to interrupt:
Mind the Gap will be held in the city centre of Rotterdam. For one day all cars are banned from the city. During this day the city will be filled with lots of events, including Hollands biggest Rollerblade contest: MIND the GAP. Several international rollerbladers are invited and they will compete with Holland’s best rollerbladers who qualified throughout the finals of Streetmasters!
Concept
The skaters will use the special developed SB-JumpMobile to clear the gap.
This gap starts at 3 meters wide and will increase every round.
Round two: 4 meters gap, 4 skaters and 2 runs.
Final round: 5 meters gap, 5 skaters and 5 runs.
After clearing the gap the next obstacle is a 6-meter long grindbar going up.
The last trick will be done on the same grindbar but grinding it down. So one run will exist of 3 tricks and will be judged by 3 judges.
Between the gap, on the wheels of steel, DJ Irie: 4 times DMC Champ (02,) and second place at the Battle for World Supremacy (London). Check -> www.dj-irie.com
The BOK (Burnside Open Championchips). One of the oldest rollerblading contests in the Netherland, originally started as the Dutch Championchips until Skateland Rotterdam stole that title. This year it looks like Deventer struck back by hosting the BOK on the same day as the Streetmasters Contest in Rotterdam.Because the BOK is one of the oldest running contests, some traditions are born over the years.
After visiting the Dour Festival in july, together with Gijs van Eysden, we’ve totally had it with Belgium. Total chaos, bad smells and literally everything illogical. It was clear: BELGIUM SUCKS! One month later I still suffered traumatic experiences from my visit to Belgium. Also one question came up: Can it really be that bad?
