Ante Up Skate Race - Lowlight Reel

Drinking, filming and skateboarding aren't easy tasks when you are doing them all at once. Nonetheless, here is my attempt at doing so. The trip was rough to make on skateboards, and the sidewalks and streets of downtown Jacksonville can be less than forgiving.

We all gathered round a cooler at Shantytown Pub in Springfield, and as soon as the first beer was cracked, we were off. I tried to stick close to the main group, which included Ante Up founder and hero Kevin Graver.  First stop was Zombie Bikes, which is now located near the corner of 1st and Main, across the street from The Pearl of Springfield. We all had to pound a beer and head out to the next stop, but not before skating some distracting obstacles which included a tall loading dock and a piece of plywood up against a trash bin.

So after this we headed down Main Street to Burro Bags, which is near the Florida Theater on Forsyth Street. At this point I was considerably winded, and pounding a beer just wasn't in the cards for me. Our group stopped and relaxed for a while, shared some stories about the ride and headed off toward the third stop at the top of the river walk. Along the way, someone realized it would be a good idea to head up to the top of the parking garage across the street from the Modis building, so up we went. At least 10 of us went up the the stairs to the second floor and then hopped on the elevator to the 9th level. After a short ride to the top, we proceeded to bomb the empty parking garage. I almost made it down the short way, and by that I mean by losing control and sliding into a wall and nearly off the side of the building.

The next and final stop was atop the river walk at the high point near the Times Union offices. After making it up the spiral to the top, I found myself among a group of sweaty, worn out looking skateboarders, along with a few who looked totally unphased by the whole trip. There were coolers set up with ice and beer, friendly faces, and more stories of the ride so far. After a short break (and P-Nut puking) we bombed the river walk bridge. Once we got to the bottom, we stopped, ran back to the top, and bombed it again. We did this a few times. After some good times and some unfortunate events that included Sparky picking up a dead fish from the side of the river and George Evans blowing his ankle out, we headed down to the end of the river walk and on to Riverside avenue. From here, it finally became a race, and I found myself pushing as hard as I could to beat Nate Cary down Lomax street to the Lomax Lodge.

When I got to the finish, I was dead tired. Thankfully, I had wussed out and drank water on the last two stops instead of beer, otherwise I don't think I would have survived the trip. I don't think many of my comrades had much of a problem with handling their beer, though. The celebration and afterparty at the Lomax Lodge was awesome, with free drinks given out, grilled burgers, hot dogs, and corn. Bruce Tyler (aka ODB, or Old Dirty Bruce) had made it to the finish line first, and eventually we got around to celebrate his victory when he opened his customized victory party bag put together by Kevin Graver himself. Inside, he found:

A Bottle of MD 20/20 - This got passed around. Mandatory swigs. My mouth still hurts from it. I hope I didn't catch something from you dirtbags.

A Pack of Newports. 


A Honey Bun


A Pack of Wifebeater T-Shirts


Some Cigarillos 


Some Scratch Off Tickets

So in summary, this was one of the best Ante Up events yet. I want to say thanks to everyone who participated, especially Kevin's friend who carried my bag in her SUV, P-Nut from Crown for paying my way in, all of those who helped at each stop along the way, Laura for taking my near lifeless body back to my car, and most importantly Kevin for putting this together. Not only do you know how to throw a party, but you also know how to make a skateboarding contest exactly what it should be.

Chad Landenberger: I'M BOARD IV

An Interview with Chad Landenberger: I'm BOARD IV

First off, tell me a little bit about what I'M BOARD IV is all about.

I’M BOARD IV is the 4th annual skateboard art show I’m putting on, and it consists of artwork on skate decks. It’s an open submission so anyone and everyone is encouraged to participate in the show. It’s a show that combines two of my biggest influences: skating and art.

What first inspired you to create "I'm Board"? Was the idea all your own?

I had wanted to put on a large scale, general submission art show for some time and always thought a skateboard deck would make a great uniform canvas for people to work on. After getting some positive feedback on the idea from some friends, it gave me the push I needed to get the show together.

There have been various deck shows throughout the world so it’s not a very original idea, but Jacksonville didn’t have anything like that going on, and there is a pretty healthy skate scene here so I just ran with the idea of a skateboard art show.

How long have you been interested in skateboarding?

I remember going to a birthday party at a skating rink and instead of rollerskating I watched the Bones Brigade “Search for Animal Chin,” and after that I was hooked. A few years later my family moved to Arizona, and my neighbor had a mini ramp and gave me my first board when I was in 6th grade. So you could say I’ve been interested in skating most of my life. It’s definitely had a big impact on me, though I don’t skate nearly as much as I used to.

After seeing the work on display at I'M BOARD 4 on display, I was pleasantly surprised. Were there any specific pieces you can single out as your favorites?

Over the years there have been so many I don’t think I can pick a specific favorite, but I did get two awesome ones last year. One from Jesse Gay, it’s an old school shaped deck with just barely a kicked up nose. It has a stencil of a kid wearing an Indian headdress. It’s simple looking but when you get up close you realize the black lines are stencils and not paint strokes – I just really dig it. The second one I got last year was from Jeanne Ciasullo. It’s an acrylic painting of a female face with a hot pink background. It looks like it could be the album art of some indie/electro band. I wish I would have bought some from the first 2 shows as well, but I’ll try to take some home this year.


There were a lot of things on display last time around. Have you ever had to turn anyone away from entering?

So far every piece that has been submitted has been displayed. I’m always scared that only a few pieces will be turned in and I’ll only be showing 20 or so pieces. Then, usually the day of the deadline I get 80 submissions and people calling me asking for an extension, and a lot of scrambling goes on with people turning pieces in at the last minute.

Thanks Chad! Can't wait for the show!

I'M BOARD IV will take place on Wednesday, February 3rd from 5-9 at 229 N. Hogan St. during Art Walk. If you are interested in submitting work for the show, more info can be found here.

Some Highlights From Last Year's Show:

Click on the links below the images to go to their respective galleries.

From Flickr User Photo Schmoto

From Flickr User PointShootEnjoy

229 North Hogan Street, 32202

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Artwalk - Hustlemania Edition

If you don't know already, Artwalk is an awesome way to drink alcohol in public, meet up with 500 of your friends, and possibly skateboard downtown a little bit too. It seems like every time I go, I run into someone I haven't seen in a hundred years. Last month, I ran into Jimmy Chadwick, a former Jacksonville pro who rode for DNA skateboards. (Remember them?) Now he's working for Vans doing some kind of promo stuff. He had a huge Vans van. This past week I ran into a friend of a friend at Artwalk, you may know him as Piff Huxtable, or alternately, Clyde Singleton. I just wanted to take the time out to tell you people about his blog, if you don't know about it already. You can see it here, with just as much entertainment value as what you have probably read over the years in his columns in the Skateboard Mag. You should also make it a point to check out Clyde's video Minority Report, which you can pick up from Skatepark of Tampa online here. And to everyone, I hope I see you downtown at Artwalk next month. 1st Wednesday of every month.

Photo cred - I borrowed this image from flickr user 'nowax'.

On another note, check out this image that I got while looking for an image of Clyde using his name on google. So random.