Click here to watch the rest of the episodes!

Youtube

Vimeo

Transworld

Quick Description of who we are, team of five who longboarded from Oregon to New York relay style to raise money for at-risk youth.
This video covers the team entering Nebraska.

Film Editor: Ari Mannis – http://arimannis.com
Edited: Windows 7, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, Shot using Cannon HSF10

More info about the trip can be found at http://skateacrossusa.com

Sponsors
Bustin – http://www.bustinboards.com
Subsonic – http://www.subsonicskateboards.com
Drang – http://dranglongboards.com
ScrapedPalms – http://scrapedpalms.com

Details on the Mothership Utah Race on Saturday are as follows:This is a 10.5 mile race up and down the Provo Canyon Parkway TrailPrizes will include; 2 Drang decks, 1 Subsonic Skateboards Deck, 2 sets of wheels from Nersh, 2 sets of trucks from Gullwing Truck Co., Several sets of Bushings from Surf-Rodz, A couple shirts and of course stickers, as well as a bunch of other prizes from some local skateshops that have yet to be determined.

As the sport of longboarding grows so do the injuries and unfortunately the casualties. It seems that every year I hear about a horrible crash or accident where someone passes away. There is no fool proof method to staying safe on a longboard there is no getting around the fact that it is a fairly dangerous sport which is part of the fun and excitement however after skating from Oregon to New York I have put together this guide which may seem obvious to some however maybe just maybe will prevent an injury in which case it has done its job.

The obvious wear a helmet – Let me go further, buckle your helmet, there is almost no point in wearing a helmet if it is not securely on your head. I’ll go even further wear a helmet even when just cruising down the street, wear a helmet when your dog pulls you on your board, wear a helmet whenever you step on the board! I too get lazy sometimes it’s good to keep an extra helmet around or in the car so that you do not forget or if a friend comes over. Helmets start at under $10 so you have no excuse!

Ditch those headphones – Use backpack or cell phone speakers or better yet enjoy the sound of your environment – Yea riding with tunes rocks but when you put on those headphones it prevents you from hearing when a car is coming, it is important to be aware of your surroundings, looking around is important but so is hearing, hey maybe you’ll find yourself out there.

Be predictable - Remember cars do not want to hit you but drivers can be impatient, be predictable do not weave in and out of lanes so that cars can pass you, let them switch lanes, this is called taking the lane, be confident. If the shoulder is big enough feel free to stay to the side. Do not ride against traffic, ride as if you are part of traffic!

So now you are saying OK OK there’s no way in hell I’m gonna take charge and take the lane on a high speed road, that’s fine use hand singles and pull over to the side, come to a stop and let the cars pass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxJxDOeKbyQ&hd=1&t=3m44s

(Note just watch the first part from 3:44 not the whole video)

Avoid riding at night – Most of us are not professionals but if you must try to use a headlight/taillight/reflective clothing. When riding at night it is hard to see what is in front of you such as pebbles, glass, and road kill, however what may be even more dangerous is a car not being able to see you, invest in some led lights for your helmet or board, try to be as visible as possible both during the day and night.

Follow lane signs – Meaning don’t go straight in a turn only lane, do not blow through red lights.

Learn to stop – Sliding looks bad-ass and can save you but at least learn to foot brake, even better learn to foot brake on both sides for those narrow lanes.

Be loud – If your cruising down the street with lots of pedestrians make it known you are coming, “On your left!”.

Make sure your board is in good condition – Having a bearing seize on you is no fun and you will most likely be thrown off of your board so make sure to have a good set of bearings with all your nuts and screws secured.

I am sure there is plenty of things I missed so feel free to add your safety tips in the comments!

Stay Safe,

Ari Mannis

SkateAcrossUSA.com

Vimeo

Make sure to watch episode one and two first!

It has recently come to our attention that several individuals have been emailing and calling longboard companies/shops claiming to be part of our organization, SkateAcrossUSA in order to gain support and sponsorship, this email is to inform that these individuals are contacting you under a somewhat fraudulent identity as they currently have no part or belonging to SkateAcrossUSA. We at SkateAcrossUSA have respectfully asked and encouraged them to create there own organization and not to act under our name as well as to return our Facebook account but have been ignored. At this time we are aware of three individuals pretending to be part of our organization, Brian Kahler, Jared Davies, and Marc Juvinall. We are flattered that we have grown to the point to where one would fake being a part of us but unfortunately cannot lend our name out to every skate trip due to legal and liability reasons. Please note that any email from skateacrossusa@yahoo.com is not from us, they have also hacked our Facebook page.

Any official email sent from SkateAcrossUSA will be sent from the @SkateAcrossUSA.com domain.
Any mail sent or received from SkateAcrossUSA will be to or from our headquarters at
3525 Del Mar Heights Rd # 231
San Diego, CA 92130

From what I understand these individuals are planning a real trip with a real cause however please note that any support or sponsorship given, is to them as individuals and not SkateAcrossUSA. Sponsoring these individuals will not get any banners placed at SkateAcrossUSA’s site or videos. At this time SkateAcrossUSA is self funded and is not looking for new sponsorship or a new cause. We would like to assure you that we are taking proper legal action for theft of Intellectual Property as well as copyright infringement. Facebook has been notified and we hope to get this resolved as soon as possible.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you or your company and hope to release exciting new trips/videos in the future, please let us know if you have any questions,

Have a cool summer!

Ari
SkateAcrossUSA.com
858-342-3004

PS: If you have any further information that would help us in our case as well as know anyone who you think might be affected by this please let us or them know.

The rest of the Episodes!

Vimeo

Transworld

Quick Description of who we are, team of five people longboarded from Oregon to New York relay style to raise money for at-risk youth.
This Video covers Day 2 and features what will happen next, sorry its a bit long, ill try to shorten the future episodes, I hope you all enjoy.

Film Editor: Ari Mannis - http://arimannis.com
Edited: Windows 7, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, Shot using Cannon HSF10

Soundtrack in order,
Kiven – Find The Time
DRAKE-OVER(FILTHY DISCO REMIX)

Adam Colton – “Sweet as, will post this up in our newsletter, brings back memories.”

Jack Smith – “Enjoyed that very much…Deja vu!”

Episode Two – Watch after episode one

Vimeo -Episode One

Quick Description of who we are, team of five people longboarded from Oregon to New York relay style to raise money for at-risk youth.
This Video covers a couple days before the trip and through Day 1, sorry its a bit long, ill try to shorten the future episodes, I hope you all enjoy.

Film Editor: Ari Mannis - http://arimannis.com
Edited: Windows 7, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, Shot using Cannon HSF10

Soundtrack in order,
The Madd – I Know
Connan Mockasin – It’s Choade My Dear
Ministesr De la funk – Believe
Awkward I – Sea Life

Click here to watch Episode 2!

Me, Marc, and Brian showed up at Bustin the next day for the Warrior Run. We started at a fast pace and I don’t think we knew what we were getting into, as soon as the first big hill popped up, the Bustin Crew flew up the hill. We then continued to skate, we skated some awesome bridges, through central park, and time square, dodging in and out of cars and people. I had never skated anything like it but it was a blast. After 22 miles we wanted to quit, we were dehydrated and our bodies couldn’t take it. We couldn’t keep up the Bustin crew but we pushed threw to the end where we reached Nathans Hot Dogs.  We did it and to us it was just as big of accomplishment as skating across the USA. I just hope next time we can keep up better! On the subway ride back from Coney Island Marc fell asleep and we all hung out while riding back to Brooklyn.

Next day me, Dahnny, and Jon started are long drive back to San Diego, but we made one last stop at Bustin Boards to say goodbye. We hung out in the backyard, they hooked us up with Decks and we were on our way. Thank you to the Bustin crew for showing much kindness and for the skate, keep rockin!

That night the team split up.. Me, Dahnny, and Jon headed back to California while Marc and Brian stayed in New York longer.  We made the trip back in 3 days, one of us was always driving and we never stopped to sleep. We made a few quick stops, we stopped in Texas to visit comedian and radio personality Zach Rose, we stopped in Roswell, NM to visit NMMI, and we stopped at the Carlsbad Caverns. Finally we made it home!

Few days later it  was ASR in San Diego, so I met up with Bustin Boards once again, I hung out at there hotel where we watched the evolutions DVD, skated around downtown, and skated a sweet parking garage for hours. Thanks Mike, Ryan, and Rob for the fun times.

Post will be updated with more pictures soon…

Ari

PS: I am in the process of editing our trips video, sorry for the delay, I’m a busy boy.

[nggallery id=2]

Next day we stopped at a fireworks store where I bought smoke bombs and roman candles, then we made our way towards New York. As we got closer to the big city we had to do more city skating than ever before on the whole trip, people dodging became a new concern and we had to pay even more attention at all times. Our mile times became slower with the new obstacles.  The realization of finishing became real as we caught site of Bridges and tunnels going into NY. We pushed ourselves so that we could explore the city.

We did it, we were over the bridge skating in New York, dodging people and cars became a constant, we constantly had to jump off our boards to avoid a collision. That night we called our friend Nikki in the Bronx and stayed with her all of us were pumped to be finished we stayed up all night reliving the memories. Our cross country skate trip was over but our adventures were not.

Day Count from Oregon to NY: 22 Days XX amount hours.

Stay tuned to read about our stay in New York along with our stop at Bustin Boards, followups…

First night in Pennsylvania we stayed at another lovely campground that had a ping pong table. The owner challenged me to a game and I won and then proceded to beat Jon repeatedly. The owner was very nice and talked to us for a good hour sharing stories of his past as we shared ours. We got a late start and headed to our next city in in PE.

Next day while skating we happened to pass by Camp Woodward, this was completely unplanned and we didn’t even realize we were going to pass it but of course we had to stop and check it out. We got a tour of the camp, we got to see the giant skateboard, and hear all about the skaters that pass through.

We arrived at Little Mexico campground where they were so kind to us and helped us out with our supplies! This was a nice campground with a pool(largest above ground pool in the USA), game room, and a basketball court. Next morning we got a terribly late start and when we were finally all packed and going to get free Denny’s if we made it there before the manager was off, the car battery was dead. We got the car jumpstarted and headed to Denny’s. We made it to Denny’s in time where the manager filled are bellies with food and are cooler with ice. Re-energised we were off again.

Stay Tuned,

Ari