Introduction : America : Woodward : Enterprise : Vert : Final

The Eye of the Dragon

Skater: Brian Wainwright	The Round Girl	Skater: Chris Edwards	The Dragon Master: Richie Velasquez	Tim Altic got a pair of new shoes

With the evening came the time for the big final: The Eye of the Dragon. The best survivors of The Enterprise went to battle in the concrete bowl. There they showed the craziest stunts. Richie Velasquez jumped to a stall on a roof near the pool, Chris Edwards managed to do the same (after several unsucessful attempts. Lesser souls would give up after the first attempt if they dared to try it at all). HoHo Joe did his Ho Hos (we still don't understand why he didn't get on his roller skates). Richie Velasquez did some spin flip over a several meters wide gap from one pool transition to another. Lesser souls wouldn't dare to do this stunt over a measly spine! Brian Wainwright grinded on the over-vert. There where lots of happy winners receiving their prices. In the roller skating pack everyone was a winner. At least you have to conclude this from the way Brian handled the price giving for the roller skaters.

Chris Garrett on Brasilean TV	Skater: Ho Ho Joe McGowan	The Dragon Finalists

After this feat we went in the evening, of course, to the bar for the after party. They had still some Tequila left, but I had learned to (largely) stay away from it. This was of little use since they switched to Caipirinha this evening. Seems to be less mouth numbing. The inline videos progressed through history to arrive at more recent times. Jay had brought René Hulgreen's video Air Attack. The Americans where quite stoked to see roller skating european style.

Big Transfer Flip!	Price Giving	Price Giving

Later, the party continued in Jay's room (he was one of the few not staying at Camp Woodward). He had also brought a lot of roller skating photographs with him. Great stuff! Some of us tried to go outside (the room was on floor level) only to encounter the police who somehow had shown up. Chris Edwards handled them quite souvereignly by telling them that he was in charge and that they'd better leave or else risk a riot. It seems that there had been some problem on the parking lot not related to the skaters and someone called the police. We were lucky to have Chris Edwards with us who deescalated the situation so that the evening remained quiet and peaceful.

	Gaston, Desi and Lee photographing a Photographer

Well, what remains to be said? A big thank you to Chris Edwards and Brian Wainwright for making all this possible! Everyone roller skater who has been there had the feeling of being part of a big family of roller skaters. It was pure magic to get a sizable part of this family together in one place. I hope that we will have more opportunities to celebrate our roller skating culture!