Above: He only
hit it once, but he hit it
hard. AP reels in a
frontside air.
Right: Under the cover
of night, Tim Garner goes
over the light.
XX
MIDNIGHT EXPRESS
Words and photos by Nik Freitas
Y THE TIME MIDNIGHT STRIKES, MOST PEOPLE AROUND AMERICA ARE CALLING IT QUITS,
turning down the bed, or watching David Letterman. Life in Visalia works the same as in any other regular
town, but for a month or so, a few of our schedules had to be rearranged due to a new pool that could only
be sessioned late at night.
The YMCA of Visalia has always seemed to provide for skateboarders. They host the annual skate camp at
Sequoia Lake and had a vert ramp here in town during the late '80s and early '90s, but this time they were
hooking us up without even knowing it.
I still don't know who discovered the beauty, but when we first saw her, we were in love. She was nine or ten
feet deep with a round face and almost perfect transitions. There were two loveseats on opposite sides that were
close to impossible to skate (Tim Garner still managed to drop in on one). It was too good to be true, but there
was one problem: when to skate it?
Our problem was solved the following night when someone messed with a couple of switches and wham!
Fully lit. "The Midnight Express," our friend David said as he saw her shining brighter than a liquor store sign on a
lonely highway. It was time to skate.
The pool became a nightly escapade. We would wait for everyone at the YMCA to leave at around twelve (Lord
knows what they were doing) and then, flick. Session. Everyone came to skate. Tim Garner and Richard Paez
whipped through backside and frontside grinds nightly. The smooth contours even brought old-timers like
Kenny Woodfield and Carrie Bruhns, who used to skate the vert ramp in the same spot ten years earlier. They
tore through carves like it was '89, showing us what we'd missed.
So many crazy nights went down at that pool. On one excursion we noticed that someone had left the
front door of the building wide open. Kelly Spencer went in to investigate and met us at the pool with four
bags of 25-pack burritos, some chips, and jugs of water. Let me tell you, there is nothing better than
turning through a carve knowing that dinner is waiting.
Alan Petersen came by to pay a visit to the Express one night, but someone had pulled the plug on
the surrounding lights. No problem. Kelly went to work on the electrical box and we were skating
with just the inside pool light. Tim was so happy that he rolled into the damn thing. Alan gave
the pool something to think about with frontside airs, backside ollies, backside disasters,
and muscle relaxers. That's right, muscle relaxers. Jeff Duncan popped a couple and
rolled all four wheels over the death box-more than once.
Damn, so many nights of mayhem. They were the best, but like all good
things that come, they must always go. Little kids now swim where
a few weeks earlier dudes were yelling and screaming as
someone dipped their back truck into the coping.
Screw it. Chalk one more up on the board.