I hit Lansdowne one January morning by myself then met up with my friend Ed for a session at Laurel skatepark in the early afternoon. The pad nanny wasn’t at Lansdowne and I was able to ride that park without full pads for the first time in many, many years. I opted to wear my helmet but even so, skating Lansdowne without pads really reminded me of the old free-for-all days of the 80’s and 90’s.

I remember back in the day there used to be a lot of tension between BMXer’s and skaters, especially out at Lansdowne. Things got crazy, they got tense, and they even came to blows on occasion. Time went on and eventually a lot of the knuckleheads quit skating and a lot of the knuckleheads quit riding bikes. Tensions subsided, friendships were forged, and rad sessions were had. Those of us who were left, BMXers and skaters alike, realized that it didn’t matter what the other guy was riding; We were all in it together and we were all after that same feeling. That feeling was all that mattered.

Twenty years later and it’s still all that matters. I’m stoked that on that day at Laurel I got to skate with, and photograph, a rad BMXer named John Burnie.