JAMES GIVENS AND AIDAN FULLER’S DAY OUT SKATING

Some weeks back, our good friend Aidan Fuller bought the plane ticket and made a 500-something mile trek up from Huntington Beach to our lovely Bay Area.

1_Alex_Fatemi_Aidan_Fuller_BondoThe original plan was to make the most of his few days here on that Saturday. We had settled on going out around eight in the morning, and running through his spot list to create a productive skate day. However, due to my carelessness on Friday night that carried over into 7 A.M. Saturday morning, none of that happened. I’d felt terrible for making the plans to go out with Aidan in the weeks leading up to his trip, and then proceeding to go totally overboard with the Friday night antics knowing that I was supposed to meet him early. But, you don’t bail on people that take the effort to make plans ahead of time, and even though I felt like a hammer was repeatedly smashing my forehead, I still called him over and began the day. Aidan showed up around eleven, and we took a good chunk of time to go over spots and how we could still accomplish something. The Richmond bank was the only spot on the list that was still skateable, to some extent. Emeryville was the first destination of our day, Aidan skated and I tried to keep my head up. After Aidan felt ready, we headed over to a local hardware store to grab the supplies necessary in the event that the spot needed some repair. Once again, I sat in the car, but eventually Aidan returned with everything needed to handle light repair on a skate spot: A can of bondo, duct tape, sandpapers of various coarseness and multiple plastic spreaders. All that placed neatly in a weathered cardboard box that Aidan threw into the trunk of my car. We found the spot on the map, Aidan got in the driver seat, I fell asleep, and when I finally woke up, we were in Richmond.

2_Alex_Fatemi_BondoThere was an issue that had arisen once we’d arrived however, that issue being that the spot actually did need some type of TLC. The previous concrete job someone had done before us had been put through the ringer and wasn’t in the best condition. On top of that, neither Aidan nor myself knew how to bondo a spot. Sure, the instructions are on the can, and absolutely anyone can do it.

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But everyone knows that one person that has the DIY skill required to make it look professional and that will actually make it last. That person for us was Alex Fatemi, or “Leader”, and he was already on his way to Richmond anyhow to meet up.

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I made the trip to grab water and food (Didn’t go over well) and by the time I got back, Leader was there with Aidan getting his own supplies out of his car.

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Once everything was settled, the materials were in place, and the tricks were debated, the bondo was brought out and the process had began on the shadeless bike trail on this abnormally warm day.

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Leader swept all the dust and loose rocks away from the spot, taped a frame line around the bottom of the bank since the transition was what needed to be fixed. The bondo was poured on to the terrible box we had for a mixing surface, and Leader started stirring with a paint dipper while Aidan introduced the hardening agent. The mixture of the blood red hardener and gray bondo created the distinct pink color, and with a short window to apply it, Leader took a plastic spreader and went straight to pasting it to the wall.

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He swiftly followed that up by carefully smoothing out the globs with a separate, larger spreader so that there would be even coverage for the areas that needed patching. Once that was done, the waiting game began for the solution to dry and I proceeded to fall asleep again. After around thirty minutes or so, the bondo had dried and was ready to go. Leader put some finishing touches on, sanded down the areas where the mixture had been applied, removed the tape, rolled up the bank a couple times and gave his seal of approval, or a thumbs up.

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Aidan warmed back up, rolled up it and did some stalls, and decided on grinding a Hurricane.

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After a battle, motivation was wearing thin, and the heat was getting to all of us, Aidan especially. He’d landed a few but not the way that was desired, and as the sun was going down and the batteries were dying, he came away with the one he wanted. High fives and handshakes were exchanged, I threw up and had finally felt alive again, and we all left that trail fairly satisfied. Subsequently, I’ve been back to the spot multiple times (Each time with a hangover) and Leader and Aidan’s bondo job still holds up today, a couple months later.

Words and Photos By James Givens