Tag Archives: Tampa

East Vs. West.

Terry Adams: Katrina in the land of Ivan.

Terry Adams: Katrina in the land of Ivan.

Over the course of last week, I found myself shooting on the East Coast of Fl., then a day later, shooting on the West/Central Coast of Florida. In hindsight, the most consecutive days of hard riding and consistent photo snapping I’ve tucked under my belt in awhile.
Enjoy…

-Matt Coplon

East.

Mulville: Bump Jump One Footed Tabe on a Indy track directly in front of the Dali Museum.

Mulville: Bump Jump One Footed Tabe on a Indy track directly in front of the Dali Museum.

Terry Adams: Whip in Paradise. St. Pete Beach.

Terry Adams: Whip in Paradise.
St. Pete Beach.

Terry Adam: Blender on a fishing pier.

Terry Adam: Blender on a fishing pier.

West.

Trey Jones, handling his own backyard. You are your own master.

Trey Jones, handling his own backyard. You are your own master.

Chad Degroot: 180 wall carve at Trey Jones.

Chad Degroot: 180 wall carve at Trey Jones.

Scott Weaver: hitchhiking in between transitions. This was truly incredible to watch.

Scott Weaver: hitchhiking in between transitions. This was truly incredible to watch.

Degroot: Nose fakie at Trey's.

Degroot: Nose fakie at Trey’s.

Degroot: Low wheelie spin amidst a flat/street hybrid session.

Degroot: Low wheelie spin amidst a flat/street hybrid session.

Terry Adams: About the fifth whip air he's pulled. Honor to have caught it.

Terry Adams: About the fifth whip air he’s pulled. Honor to have caught it.

Skatepark of Tampa: Summer of 2014.

From 1991 to 1992, there was a vert ramp jammed in a tiny warehouse in Avon Park (across the street from Tampa Stadium). This was the beginning of Tampa as Vert skating capital of the US. I was 15, and with a group of other riders my age, we’d get our parents to drop us off every Saturday night.
None of us knew how to ride vert, but we’d carve that monster ramp late into the night. It never got old.
Beyond that, all those vert skaters were real cool to us, always down to let us session: Brian Schaefer, Paul Zitzer, Mike Frazier, etc…

A year later, Skatepark of Tampa opened (1993). And from the get go, Schaefer and crew were 100% down with bmx. We’d ride by day, and by night, SPoT would serve as venue for some of the best hardcore/punk shows in the history of this city.

Now, 21 years later, they’re still completely behind us. This coming year will be the 5th annual SPoT Roast. In between, at some point, we’ll be throwing another bowl jam.
Hours are below…Thanks again to SPoT and Brian Schaefer for years of support.
Stoked to have this historic park in our city.

Here’s a mix I put together of some of the locals who always make the sessions dialed.
Enjoy!

Monday through Sunday: Bowl is open for Bmx.
Wednesday: Open noon to 9pm for Bmx (whole course).
Sunday: Open 7pm to 10pm for Bmx (whole course).

Support!

-Matt Coplon

Skatepark of Tampa: Summer of 2014. from TBR BMX on Vimeo.

TBR: Sunday Ritual.

The Crew: Timmy Cano, Travis Reavis, Thomad Sanders.

The Crew: Timmy Cano, Travis Reavis, Thomas Sanders.

Sundays are the witching hour for Tampa Folk. Wake early, do an anti-rain dance and hope the hard work pays off. Today it did: no rain with plenty of pedal time clocked.
I met up with Travis Reavis, later Thomas Sanders, and finally Timmy Cano.
We left with sunburns, salty skin and plenty of good times under our belt.
This is what I captured, enjoy.

-Matt Coplon Continue reading →