The pool sat there filled with brown water. The Triple Bubble. I could see it through a crack in the fence. I knew. I had been here before. A long time before. I had ridden the pool in the spring & summer of 1999. At the time, it was : Steve, Rhino, P-Stone, Shaggy, Andy Mac, Toby and I think even TA got a few turns in there. I recall  Steve told me that he and 540 Slide had originally found & rode it a few years before. It had a history in the pool riding world. For about half a decade it sat. People moved in and swam in it. All efforts to ride it were in vain. Around 2009, I started checking on it pretty regularly. I saw that it was back in ‘blackwater status’. I knocked and spoke with the owners. It was always- “No. I don’t think so.” I pressed on. Occasionally, I would leave a nice note. I offered to clean up the landscaping & yard. I offered to paint the pool once we skated it a few times. There was only silence.

Saturday morning, I had friends coming in from Australia. Glen & Tony were in town visiting Cam and they were coming out for a pool mission. I was driving by the area and stopped by the Triple Bubble. I saw the garage door open & the owners car. I knocked. He was in a receptive mood & an agreement was made. I felt my heart hammer. I was going to get the Triple Bubble going for one session only! It was rad. I went home and when the crew arrived, I informed them of the deal. We would be draining it that day in 105 degree heat and skating it Sunday 10:00am- 4:00 pm. That was the deal. It would be - Tony & Glenn from Australia, Brandon Wong,  KB and myself on the draining mission. I drove them over & showed them the Triple Bubble. It was almost tiles-deep in mucky dark green and brown water. Crap was floating on its surface & wasps were everywhere. Shade was negligible and although everyone acted stoked, I could tell that draining this huge beast was not what everyone really wished to do on the hottest day so far this summer. Take it or leave it! I told the owner that we would return to drain it.

We gathered supplies-  coolers, ice, drinks, pump, buckets, brooms and shovels. We began the arduous task. It was a long hot day. The pump stopped after only about a foot of water was removed. I pulled a golf ball out of the tubing then awhile later a huge toy ball got jammed inside. It became a brutal game of willpower & tenacity. We wanted that thing empty! After a few hours we were done. I looked at the crew & saw that–indeed–we were really done. Everyone was sweaty, filthy, red-faced & panting from near heat exhaustion. We packed the tools & went swimming. For the first time in a long, long while, I was happy to use a pool for its intended purpose.

We had a cookout at Ridiculous that evening & I called around to let a few people know the deal for Sunday. The Rennie’s,  Riverside Shawn, Steve, and Lance. The next day we met up at Ridiculous then drove over and set up. Bill Rennie brought a pop-up tent so we’d have shade and everyone was fully prepared with coolers and stuff. We rode for an hour or so just feeling it out. The Triple Bubble is unique. Its really a 3-bowl snowman-type of pool. The deep end has really mellow transitions and the mid pocket is great on the right. A loveseat sits on the left but its rather steep. The shallow cup is insane. There is some deep end pock marks and plaster wear which does slow you down a bit. Stellar bullnose coping surrounds the entire pool and the deathbox is on the left side of the facewall.

The session included KB, Glenn & Tony, Brandon, Riverside Shawn, and the Rennie’s. It was pretty fun. Tristan Rennie knocked the deathbox off the list both ways pretty directly. Tony pulled slasher frontside grinds. Glenn got the box backside and topped it with a rock-n-roll on the facewall. Brandon put his trucks on as did Bill Rennie.  Nathan Rennie carved around and got his fun in. KB threw down frontside ollies, crushed the deathbox and followed it with shallow end grinds. Riverside Shawn was flowing frontside in a huge arc and pulling gnarly grinds in the mid cup. It was rad! The heat climbed and we were getting beat down.

We decided to take a break. After all, it was probably just over 100 degrees by noon. Steve showed up with Todd McDonough, Adam 12 and Bill Rix came in as well. It was nice to see them. They took some runs and everyone of them killed it. They decided to cut out and swim in a local pool then return. While they were gone, Lance Mountain showed up. The session immediately took another upswing and we all had fun again. It was a great positive fun vibe. Lance pulled fastplants, frontside airs and crushed the deathbox. We were all laughing and seriously sweating…  it was soooo hot out. Steve, Adam, Todd & Bill Rix returned and rode a bit more,  then we all called it a day. Before we left, Lance ended it all on a good note. He pulled one of the gnarliest backside Smiths over the deathbox that I’ve ever seen him do. It was crazy!

We all went our separate ways. I was shooting a bunch of photographs all day and watching everyone. I was taking mental notes. The brotherhood. Pool skating is supposed to be fun. I notice a lame vibe sometimes when I skate around certain people,  yet I was happy that I could get a session like this together and arrange it. I read something interesting recently. It went like this- “If you dislike people that are resentful or jealous of you, you’ll end up sharing the same disease.” I don’t want to share a disease or anything else –for that matter –with the negative haters in the skate world. Sometimes, I think its better to keep people at a great cold distance. Thanks to the crew for helping me drain the Triple Bubble. Thanks to those that found it & shared with us all. Thanks to Tony & Glenn for being good sports. Thanks to Auggie for the pool that day. The images were mostly taken by me. Tony & BDWong got the rest. Skate- Ozzie

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