Create Your Own Spot
Words by The Shoupacabra
Photos by David Franklin

Let’s say you’re tired of the local street spots and the buckled, badly designed crap that passes for a skatepark in your area. All of a sudden, you hear a friend talking about a miniature Masonic menagerie tucked into a dank basement on a seedy alley on the wrong side of the tracks. You visit, submit a gift to the residents (usually cerveza) and proceed to learn speed lines to the strains of speed metal.

The aforementioned description was of a spot known simply as Sixth and Natoma, and it is now sorely missed. It fell prey to a landlord that had no sympathy for or understanding of a very crucial part of the skater’s mind set. We have a need to build. The need is undeniable; it’s almost part of our DNA.

So I guess you could say that some folks are bitten by the bug, and they get a feverish urge to build their own spots. They may become obsessed or enraptured, but also inevitably enraged because as their vision begins to grow, so does the rumor that they are simply deluded kooks that will never actually get it off the ground. (Really, though, this thinking serves as a convenient excuse to avoid hard labor, hammer-hits to the fingers, etc.) Anyway, as the last wood screws are countersunk or the last coat of slurry is applied to the creator’s concrete masterpiece, he can be sure that every glad-handing, back-slapping work slacker will be knocking on his door, convinced that they can have carte blanche for life if they simply grin enough and kiss the creator’s ass.
Deep in San Francisco’s Mission District is the infamous Hulk House and a mini ramp with transitions resembling the Berkeley tennis court banks. Some may laugh at the ramp’s diminutive stature, but they end up getting served. Mini ramps, as we all know, dole out harsh slams, straight to the flat, and of course, shinners galore.

Recent sessions at the Hulk House mini have played host to barbecue enthusiasts, charming ladies and Shane Medanich straight killing it: rooftop roll-ins, blunt fakies on the extension, and the list goes on.

We all know backyard pools are a challenge, but a cement fish pond that is waist deep and skateable is something else entirely, a rare and weird treat. In northeastern California’s Modoc County lives Pepe “Linguica” O’Brien, who built and owns this bowl and skates it like a champ. Occasionally he extends invites to an elite cadre of Bay Area skaters. The trip to Modoc County is long, hot and dusty, but it’s worth it every single time. The hospitality is always flowing at the bowl and the sessions are always memorable. Recent trips of note have included appearances by Jackson Taylor, Eric J., Lucien Moon, and Bob “Eightball” Aminsalehi. If you are invited, remember to bring the following: barbecue, beers, boom boxes’ and bros.

There is a great deal to learn at secret skate havens. Primarily, if you’re going to build, get experimental and do something new and weird. Also keep in mind that creating your own scene takes a heroic amount of balls and initiative. If you are invited to someone’s backyard paradise, bring presents for your host and lots of good cheer. So go get started and create your own spot.