May 2002

Review by Team Goon rider
Michael Gage

Team Goon Network

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I have to start out by saying “this is the best park I have ever ridden”.  My story begins by getting a wake up call from my 2-year-old son yelling from his bed, Daddy, Daddy, Mommy/Daddy! I walk in and he is smiling in his bed at 6AM in the morning.  What a wake up call!
I was able to get an early start on the 2-hour drive ahead.  Got on the road and headed south on 65 towards Louisville.  Had no problems on the road, and it seemed like an old friend since I had traveled that stretch many times.  It is a real easy drive and the park is just on the other side of the bridge.  Stopped along the way to grab a quick bite, and kept on truckin on.  It was a quick 2-hour drive.  This can even be broken up if you want to stop for a warm up session at the Columbus Park.  I was anxious to get to Louisville, so I did not make that stop.  I had the need for some vert skating action!
I had seen the conceptual drawings on the Internet, but never expected it to be better than what I had seen.  It is the best park I have ever seen and skated.  What a course, rhythm sections, bowls everywhere, a full pipe, an 11ft. bowl an 8 ft. bowl, a killer 12ft. vert ramp. Louisville spared no expense in building this Skatepark.  It is out right perfect, and has something for everyone to ride.  Brian Patch and Salba have ripped this place up and they give it their full respect.

Curbs, curbs, curbs, with metal coping, of all different heights, slant ramps with ledges, banks with wall extensions at the tops, for going over or on.  This park has it all.  And is baby butt smooth.

Once I was settled in and had a chance to take some photos.  I cursed around for a while. Checking out all the transitions and the whole flow of the park. Very nice, everything was connected and the lines seem to be endless.  I wanted to find the lines that I would work later. It really has a nice feel to it, smooth as glass concrete, the best coping I have ever put trucks down on, literally you come out of the grind as fast as you went into it.  Smooth man, smooth! It was effortless to pump and get into a grind wherever you where.  Be it 8ft or 11ft. all you needed to do was drop in and you had speed to do whatever you wanted.
A huge group of old skoolers where on hand at the park on this particular day.  Many guys from the famed Skatopia where there.  Ohio native, now California resident who works for Tracker, Buddy Carr was there. My friend Mark Noland of Cincinnati was there. He now rides for Buckeye skateboards. All kinds of old school vert riders where there. Met a guy named Benji who just shredded this park; it was the first time he had ridden it also.  Came all the way from Baltimore.  Big airs, fs tail grabs, fs nosegrinds to fakie, you name it he was killing it. This guy is true to the core, all skateboarder to the bone.

The capsule section has to be one of the best sections at the park, can you say speed. Man, this section rocked and was where most of the old dawgs hung out. From time to time, we had to take over certain areas, so that the session could happen.  This park is very well laid out. Good markers everywhere that told you the skill level that is needed to ride in those areas. Similar to the way ski resorts designate there slopes. Green circles for the beginner sections. Blue squares for the intermediate areas. The more advanced areas where designated by Black diamonds for expert and vert areas this did not stop kids from going anywhere they wanted to. The younger riders still lack the knowledge and etiquette of big park riding. This you can definitely see in the form of the BMX bandits that cruise wherever they feel. They made up about 50% of the users at the park.

So you really had to pay attention to where you where riding.  That is something that I can not emphasize enough, all you young riders need to pay attention to your surroundings, who is going, who is up next, what direction you are riding etc.  You really need to pay attention and watch and take heed to some of the bigger faster riders.  There where a few times that the session in the capsule had to stop because of a stray bike rider getting caught in the deep end.  This park is totally free, open 24/7. With a full lighting system, even the full pipe has lights.  No pads or helmet required, but recommended.  Concrete is not forgiving.  Skate to your ability and don’t over do your self, I can see a lot of head and brain injuries happening if Kids don’t stick to their level of ability.
The park got packed as the day went on, which made it harder to find good lines. Overall, I got a real good vibe from this park, everyone was fired up from the opening on Friday and you could still since the newness of the park in the air. There is even talk of expansion already, giving them an indoor section as well. The Midwest has been waiting a long time for a park like this one, it is definitely worth any expense to get there and ride and see this park. Only 2 hours form Indianapolis, and an hour from Cincinnati this park will be home to many rad skaters that like vert and transitions.  The 11 ft. bowl was gnarly; you felt like you had ran a marathon after finishing a run in that bowl.

The full pipe is simply put, AWESOME!  Never had ridden one before and man what an experience, cannot wait to get back. This park ranks up there with some of the best, look at the other parks on the site and compare. This is California dreaming Midwest style. Something this part of the country has needed, and has finally gotten. Now you younger riders need to learn some skate etiquette on how large parks are to be ridden. Go out and skate and if you want to understand, what a real professional Skatepark is all about visit this one.  This park gets five stars in my book. Way to go Louisville, my hat goes off to you. Thanks for bringing the concrete ocean next to the River.

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