The King Of Cleveland, 2021 Edition, edited by Matthew Plasencia. “Life moves fast. We are taking it slow”.

Results

1. Ryan Parker ($2500)
2. Adam Bazydlo ($1000)
3. Philip Moore ($400)

More Media: Edit by Hawke Trackler | Raw Clips by Aaron Schultz.

For the first episode of the Then and Now Podcast, I interviewed the legendary rolling artist, Chris Peel. Chris played a huge behind-the-scenes role during the late 90s to mid-2000s in the aggressive inline skating industry. Growing up in Wakefield, in the UK, he started designing t-shirt’s for Puberty Clothing before landing a job with DNA magazine. He then made his way stateside to San Diego, California, in 2000 to work for and design Daily Bread Magazine. In San Diego, he created the initial branding, image, and logos for Ground Control, Rat Tail Distribution, 4x4 Urethane, Vicious Bearings, and Nimh skates.

Chris is a long-time friend who also designed the Big Wheel Blading logo for me in 2017. We haven’t had much contact these last few years, so I thought it would be fun to contact him to catch up and reminisce on our years in San Diego, working at Daily Bread together and teaming up on many projects for Rat Tail, and its brands. - Jan Welch.

X-Games gold medalist/ professional rollerblader and BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) blue belt, Jaren -The Monster- Grob has always had a niche for danger. Between his professional career in rollerblading or getting on the mats in a BJJ tournament, Grob is always looking to test his limits as an athlete. Grob joins MyMMANews to discuss the cross-culture of skating and Jiu Jitsu, competing in two vastly different sports and so much more! Article on Mymmanews.com.

Back in november 2020, Jan Welch launched a fundraiser called “The Tapes Project”. Quoting Jan Welch:

I’ve spent 20-years shooting video and documenting some of the top professional and amateur inline skaters from around the world I now have hundreds of tapes of footage that I am going to digitize and archive online. I plan on posting each tape onto a new YouTube channel for people to watch, along with commentary from myself and from people featured on each tape. These are the original tapes for many classic skate videos and edits I’ve made including Last Call, Urban Decay, Steal This Video, Quatro, No One’s Children, Trash, Sleaze, Drip Drop, and Leading the Blind.

So far I’ve logged about a dozen tapes. I’ve acquired several consumer miniDV cameras so far to try and capture this footage and they have either been dead on arrival, have issues capturing audio, or eat and destroy the tapes. Consumer decks are notorious for dirty heads and have further potential for damaging these tapes. To archive this many tapes of historical skating footage for all to see, I need to purchase a professional MiniDV deck that will safely capture these tapes at the highest quality and a 4 or 5TB USB-C hard drive to store them on. This project is going to take a long time but it is important to preserve this footage. I’m asking for those of you who are interested in seeing all these tapes get captured and posted to help contribute to a GoFundMe to purchase a new MiniDV deck.

What I Need: MiniDV Deck (approx $750.00), 4/5 TB Harddrive ($169), Life Flix Software ($100), Topaz Video Enhance AI ($299.99), Total - $1,300.

September 2021: The project is now starting: Jan Welch opened a new Youtube Channel, called “Then and now, an inline skating channel”.

The first video for my new inline skating YouTube channel, Then&Now, is now live. This is a short introduction to what the channel will be about. The first episode of the Then+Now Podcast will be released tomorrow. My first guest is Chris Peel, who designed Daily Bread Magazine and did all the original branding for Rat Tail, Ground Control, Vicious, 4x4, Nimh, and Big Wheels Blading. The first episode of the Vault, which my tape archives from the past 25 years of rollerblading, will release a couple of days later. - Jan Welch.

Visit Then & Now Youtube Channel.

Kay Luz, 2021, filmed by Joey Lunger. Edited by Jeremy Soderburg.

Somewhere in Ohio lives a mini ramp in a barn. Thank you so much Gabby for the night. Your mom makes the best chicken salad I’ve ever ever had. And Julia: Thank you for just being you. I love you for all of time sister. One love sisters and brothers. - Coco Sanchez.

Previously: RISE. CHENGA. SET. - Chill Park Clips with Coco Sanchez (2021).

The word is out! Sean Keane has officially received his first pro skate and we couldn’t be more hyped for him! Peep some pics of Sean and some of the team checking out the final version of the SK Beta for the first time while in Montana. Huge congrats to Sean on this well deserved skate, we appreciate all you do for Blank and the skating community in general! Be sure and tune in for full release details on October 15th.

More Pictures here Photos: Erick Garcia.

Austin Cooper’s latest part for USD, shot across Seattle and Los Angeles. Unfortunately filming was cut short for this project as Austin’s on-going ankle issue worsened. He is now currently undergoing a four month ankle rehabilitation treatment, for which you can donate to via his Gofundme Link to help with these medical expenses.

We hope to see Austin back on his blades as soon as possible… After the rain, comes the sun. Shot on location in Seattle and Los Angeles. Filmed by Joey Lunger, Dennis Lopez, Alex Broskow, Jake Dotson, and Jordan Taylor. Edited by Austin Cooper.

Austin is skating the USD Aeon XXI. Back in black for 2021, it’s the USD Aeon 60 XXI. The Aeon is one of the most capable, innovative aggressive skates to hit the market…ever, and now it’s back with a sleek, dark style and the performance you expect from a legendary aggressive skate. The USD Aeon 60 XXI has a unibody design that incorporates that boot and frame into a single piece, reducing weight and giving skaters a low center of gravity that provides superb stability, control, and power transfer. This high-performance aggressive skate has a wide soul plate and a massive H-Block area that gives you all the tools you need to push your limits and discover what you’re really capable of. For 2021 USD Aeon 60 XXI now has a reworked MYFIT liner with improved comfort and helps improve control. The skate also has a new thicker shock absorber that provides excellent cushioning. Get big airs, land big gaps, and wear a big smile the whole time. This impressive aggressive skate is ready for the skatepark, ready for the street, and ready to provide excellent performance. Complete with all-new 60mm UNDERCOVER Apex wheels with aluminum cores and a new Ultra-High Rebound compound accompanied by smooth WICKED bearings, this is a premium aggressive skate that’s ready to help you reach your full potential on inline skates.

Help Austin feel his feet again - Polly Morris is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Austin Cooper.

Hi, a few months ago Austin started having numbness and pain in his feet. At first, he thought he just needed to break in his new skates and kept pushing through the pain waiting for it to get better. It’s slowly been progressing up to the point where he’s completely lost feeling and movement in his foot and it’s been spreading to both legs, feet and hands. He’s lost 35 pounds since March. He is unable to work, walk, use his hands, skate, film, leave the apartment or do anything that brings him joy and quality of life. At this point I’m genuinely just as worried about what this has done to his mental health as well as physical.

The hospital bills have already piled up to 15 thousand dollars and he still needs further testing including a lumbar puncture/spinal tap, EMG and nerve conduction study. He’s also started a 4 month treatment for peripheral neuropathy which includes laser therapy, vibration therapy, bio electrical therapy, spinal decompression, balance therapy, infrared therapy and trigenics. This 4 month treatment totals 7 thousand dollars. We are feeling very hopeful about the treatment. The treatment does not accept his insurance and his insurance wasn’t in effect yet when he was admitted in the hospital.

Austin has a long road ahead of testing, treatment and recovery. I just want him to be able to do whatever he needs and not have this huge financial burden. I painfully dream of him being able to walk again and in my wildest dreams skate again. Anything you are able to give will help. Thank you so much friends, stay cheezy. We love you all! - Polly Morris.

Gofundme Link.

For those that requested it, (almost) all of my recent clips from this summer. - Tri Tri-Rudolf.

Previously: Tri Tri-Rudolf - First Time Trying Aggressive Quads (2021).

Tom Hyser was born into the Quad culture of the rinks around Atlanta and went from rink rat to skate rat. His family’s move to the Midwest was life-changing—He first discovered inline skating there. Tom is an original X Gamer, a product visionary whose designs have sold millions of units, an internet pioneer, and through it all he’s lived the struggle of being an inline skater. On the show, we talk about the love of skate, the hate received for it, and everything in between. The podcast ends with a laugh out loud “Inappropriate Questions” segment with Andy Kruse. Photos: Hyser Archives.

Check the podcast on Libsyn | Itunes | Thepowellmovement.com.

TIMECODES: 4:00: Covid travel, skateboarding, and Wisconsin 17:00: Jamie Thomas, skateboard hate, and incidents 21:45: The decline of inline, growing up outside of Atlanta, roller skating, and wrestling year-round 26:00: Getting sponsored, high school, qualifying for the pro tour, and college 33:00: Hoax 2, blowing his knee at the first X Games, and going in house at K2 41:00: Peter Glenn Ski and Sports: 43:45: The Fatty, crazy opportunities, no rules, going to Korea and recalls 51:00: The end of K2, Skatepile, Fiziks, and the scary future 61:00: Rollerblade and business is booming 65:00: Inappropriate Questions with Andy Kruse