Almost

Almost. Almost doesn’t count unless you’re talking about hand grenades and atomic bombs. If dropping either one of these… almost is ‘good enough’. In regards to this little story, almost is merely a glitch on the radar. Lance Mountain and I have become good friends. I’m sure if you are Lance Mountain, one has no shortage of prospective ‘friends’ to choose from. In this case, Lance likes pool skating, he’s a skate nerd and he loves to laugh. We share the same interests. Over the years, I’ve found quite a few pools and I readily share them with him. Lance is really fun to skate with and his ego is virtually non-existent. This makes it so much more fun when we are in a backyard pool session. There are some bullies in skateboarding…  with bloated ego’s and they will always make everything about themselves. I feel sorry for them, as they are missing out on so much. Lance has some great sponsorship and access to product, so when I find a pool that may take a bit of ‘finesse’, he comes through with the goodies. Once in the gate, the owners realize that we are for real…  They often welcome us back on a regular basis.

In this case, I was out with Ray Zimmerman looking for something unique for Lance as he was finishing his video part recently. I spotted this one a few months ago. The owners never answered the door. I left a note then. No reply. I told Ray, “Let’s stop by and knock again. The pool looks unreal on satellite.” We pulled up and shortly after, I was standing on the porch with an elderly Hispanic woman. Reluctance. Ignorant to anything involving a skateboard. “No problem. I have a magazine under my arm and ready.” Of course I did.  I showed her, smiling and touching her sleeve. Jedi Mind Trick. In short order, we were invited into the backyard to take photographs and look it over. It was amazing. Long transitions. The bowl was open. We agreed to come by with Lance and work out the details. 

Over the next month, I stopped by. I knocked. No answer. I left my number on a note. Six visits. No replies. Today, I stopped again. The woman answered. She was pleasant but the ultimate answer was a no. Her family thought it was too dangerous. I smiled and thanked her. She kept apologizing to me…  I laughed. “We almost got a few rides…” She waved. “Almost.”

Thanks to MRZ for the images. Sorry Lance. Skate- Ozzie