12
Anthony
Astronaut In the Ocean – Masked Wolf
W aking up at 6 AM to get started on the cross-country video for the team is not my idea of fun–especially after a rough flight, getting home, and not sleeping well. Heading to the kitchen, I notice Chase is sitting at the counter bar. “Letting yourself in now, I see,” I say.
Taking a drink from his mug and setting it down, he says, “I have something to tell you. A big energy drink company wants to do a collab with Overbear. They want to help with this cross-country skatepark video we are about to embark on.”
With wide eyes, I ask, “Who is the company?”
“Your favorite, 360 Energy!” He says.
I scream, “Fuck yeah! You know how long I have been wanting something like this.”
“I know, they want you to make your own flavor, and, of course, wear some of their merch when you ride contests and feature them in this video.” Chase says.
All I say is, “Done!”
And to think I didn’t want to be up already. It occurs to me that I want to call Ashlynn right away to tell her. She is the first person that comes to mind for everything now. However, it is only 4 AM in Colorado. I’m pretty sure that would piss her off, getting a call this early in the morning.
Heading into the small room off the kitchen that I use as an office, Chase and I sit and start mapping out the skate parks to hit. We can’t decide on how many to stop at. Thinking eight is a good number, since some of these kids have never done anything like this before and it can take some getting used to. I don’t need to worry about Mateo and Noah; those two already told me that they would make however many videos they need to. However, I always want to make sure my riders have a good time with these and it doesn’t feel like work. Though for us BMX riders, this isn’t work for us. It’s what we love doing. Not only do we hit parks on these videos, we also just scope out some spots that look fun to ride and just pull over.
We decided to start on the east coast at Brooklyn Banks in Brooklyn, NY. Then, we’ll head to FDR in Philly and Posh Woods in Bethlehem, PA. Heading south, we’ll hit Dave Armstrong Extreme Park in Louisville, KY, and head down to Austin, TX, hitting Heath Ailand, Morgan Moss skate park, and the 9 th Street Dirt Jumps. After this, we’ll head to Colorado Springs for the new Memorial Park Skate park. Finally, we’ll go to the Pacific Northwest to Burnside in Portland, OR, to wrap up the video. After a few more hours of finalizing the plans, Chase and I head out to the ramp in the back of the house and just ride around. I always forget that Chase is a good rider as well as a skateboarder. He just never had a desire to go pro–that’s why we work so well together. He also manages Nick, and he has been talking about going into the snowboarding ring. “You know the pro snowboarder, Cora Hendrix?” Chase asks me.
“Yeah, the name is familiar. She is the pro snowboarder who just won a gold medal at the last Winter Olympics, right?” I ask.
“That is the one. Anyway, she is looking for a new manager and I have a call into her people to talk with them.”
Surprised by that a bit, I say, “That’s cool, man. Have you met her before? I know you have wanted to dip your toes into the winter sports as well.”
“Yeah, it’s been something I have worked for, but–no–I haven’t met her before. I’ve heard she is a very quiet person, though.” He says.
“I’m sure she isn’t once you get her talking. That’s how Ashlynn is, anyway.” I say.
Giving me the side eye, he says “Ashlynn was anything but quiet when I picked her up in Dallas. Maybe she was just excited, but she talked the whole car ride.” That’s odd; maybe she has come out of her shell.
“She must have been. She is usually very quiet, to the point you have to make her talk.”
Nodding his head, he finally asks, “What is going on with her–Ashlynn? Wasn’t she the reason you never wanted to go back to Denver? I liked her, she seemed laid back.”
Sighing, I say, “Yeah, she is my ex, and she crushed me, but, honestly though, I’m still crazy about that girl. When we were in Dallas, just the two of us, it felt right. Like no time had passed.” I tell Chase.
“That’s awesome, man, that you found someone that makes you feel that way. I hope someday to find that too. I have had no such luck!” Chase tells me.
I tell him, “You will, probably when you least expect it.”
“Alright, enough with this gooey talk about me finding someone. Put a song on so we can really ride!” Chase says. Connecting my phone to the outdoor Bluetooth speakers, Astronaut In The Ocean by Masked Wolf starts playing and we ride around for a few hours.
After we finish up and Chase leaves, I head inside and start up the email chain for my riders on the pro team. Altogether, there are eight of us, including myself and Chase, for this video tour. Laying out what parks and cities we will be heading to, I get back several excited replies for FDR in Philadelphia and Burnside in Portland, OR. I am most excited for those two. Even though I have been to both, they are always fun to go back to. Not expecting to finish up everything so quickly and realizing that I have a couple free days, I am just going to enjoy them for the time being and relax. Though it is short-lived, since I cannot sit still for very long. So, I start to put together a playlist for the video to add in once all rides are shot and look at some merchandise to gather to hand out for demos. This is going to be the longest video tour for Overbear since I started the company three years ago.
Once finishing up with that task and looking back over all the dates and the tour route, I realize I need to focus on this, instead of trying to get Ashlynn here and go up to Salem. That’s going to kill me to tell her we can’t do that; hopefully she will understand. As if she knew I was thinking about her, I get a text message.
Smiling at the message from Ashlynn, how can she think I forgot something we would do all the time?
Instead of letting me call, she is calling me. I answer quickly, on the first ring. “Hi babe, how are you? How did you sleep?” I ask Ashlynn.
“I am good, tired still–restless night. So, what did you want to talk about?” she asks.
“I know I said you could come out at our Philadelphia stop and we would go up into Salem, but as I was looking at the trip schedule, I think it would be best for me to just focus on this with my riders. This will be the longest video my company has done since starting up. We do have a stop in Colorado Springs, so I will come see you when we are out there.” I tell her all this in what seems like a single breath.
She is quiet for a minute, but then says, “Anthony, you have been doing this for four years and I have only been back in your life for a month at the most. Your BMX is your priority! I don’t mind at all. It sounds like you will have fun.”
I blow out a breath because I am relieved; she is so easy-going about this. “You know you have been in my life longer than a month or so!” I tell her.
“Yeah, I know! I would never keep you from BMX though. Have fun and, like you said, we will see each other once you are on the Colorado stop!” she tells me.
“You are amazing, you know that?” I tell her. She just gives a little giggle. “We do end in the Pacific Northwest, so I will need you to come out to Seattle when we are done. I have a fun idea of something to do; will that make up for Salem?” I ask her.
“Really, Anthony, you don’t have to make anything up to me, but yes, I will come out to Seattle!” she says. “So, you are ending the tour in the Seattle area?” she asks.
“No, actually. We are ending in Portland, OR. However, the thing I want to do is in Seattle.” I tell her.
“Got it!” she says.
I ask her if she has started on her book yet and she tells me that is her plan for the day, to meet up with Heath and talk over things. I don’t know why this irritates me so much, but it does. It is probably the fact he gets to spend the day with her, when it should be me. I have to remind myself that I knew this is how it would be if I went to Colorado and told her I wanted to have her back in my life. However, I just hope things don’t get in our way, but I also know that he is a big part of her life. He sounds almost like a good friend like Neha. They all look out for one another. It has only ever been Nick and me, so I am more than happy she has that.