Once again, Dave is Gnar

Forty-someodd stair hubba grind

Standard protocol: Dave wrecking himself on something gnarly

This Coke's for you

Skinny ledge big gap ollie

I knew it from the very beginning that Dave would have last part. He's made for it. Dave led the way this year in Bolts of Thunder Gone Wild by truly going wild. For all of you who don't know Dave, he's one of the funnest, coolest people I've ever met, and he's a complete ripper on his skateboard. I'd say he's the most inspiring person I've ever skated with because he pushes himself way harder to do tricks than anyone I've ever seen. There are only four tricks I've seen him try that he didn't land, and he didn't stop trying them until he was in a cop car on his way to jail, too hurt to even walk, or just going crazy and smashing his board to bits. Once he decides he's going to do a trick, he'll go for it until he gets it, no matter how long he has to try it. That's what's so inspiring about skating with him. I tend to give up on a trick if it doesn't feel that good. But he doesn't care how it feels, he'll keep trying anyway, and he'll get it. It's rad, because he's not the robot kid at the skatepark that doesn't move his arms when he skates and can land every trick on every obstacle. When you see him at a skatepark, he won't stand out as some amazing skater kid. But then all of a sudden you'll see him ollie some huge gap that nobody has even thought of trying before. And when he skates, it's not like he just has every trick on lock down and can land them every try. Although he's really consistent with his tricks, Dave can and does fall. When he's grinding a big rail or ledge, there's a very real chance that he might just stick and slam. But Dave knows, accepts, and embraces the odds of slamming, and he goes for it. Add on top of all of this that Dave is soon-to-be 28 years old. He's not the 15 year old he once was with infinite life packs and battery charge. When he slams, it takes a toll on his body, and he'll be limping for months after. I think for Dave, part of the thrill of skating is defeating these massive obstacles. Kind of like King Arthur pulling Excalibur out of the stone, or St. George slaying the dragon, Dave grinding a huge hubba is his form of slaying a beast or accomplishing a major feat that will go down in Thunder Bolt legend for years to come. Get my point? This is why Dave is so inspiring to skate with.

Dave filmed his entire part in three, count them, three different trips we took to Paris. Dave lives in Paris, and we were able to meet up with him to skate, hang out, and have fun. The first two trips I made to Paris while I was in Geneva. I spent a week riding around the Paris subways with Dave, going to the raddest spots you've ever seen in your life, and getting as much footage as we could. Every day Dave rose to the occasion and did something crazy. Like that huge ledge he ollies onto and rides down at the end of his part, his 2nd to last trick. That was the first day I was in Paris, and we said that at every spot we went to we'd get footage. We were skating at this stadium and Dave said, "here's the trick I want to get." Then he just walked up onto the ledge and dropped in on it. He almost slammed into these kids that came running by, but he made it out alright. When I saw that he wasn't messing around, I got our cameras out, set them up, then he went for it again. This time he ollied onto the ledge instead of just dropping in on it. He didn't even look at it, he just went for it. He ollied up, his back tricks caught on the ledge, and he almost went flying head-first off a 12 foot drop. He caught his balance, said, "that was the scariest thing that's ever happened to me!" then rode back, and went for it again. I was praying pretty hard that he wouldn't die, and he fortunately rode away his second try. Just crazy stuff like that every day. It was way fun. The second trip to Paris was just a short one on my way to London to fly home. It was 30 degrees outside and super humid, so it felt like your bones would shatter if you fell at all. The third trip was this summer when we went to Paris, and he filmed a ton of stuff for the rest of his part. He has a lot of left-over footage that's in his bonus section.

Dave's song in his part is actually the part 2 of the song he has in our first video. Don't believe me? Look it up! Seriously. His song in the first video is by Blond Redhead, it's called "Futurism vs Passeism". This song is by the same band, called "Futurism vs Passeism pt 2". And if that's not convincing enough for you, watch both parts, and you'll see that the songs sound hauntingly familiar. It's because it's the same song, different versions... Yeah, that was a little trick we pulled on all of you to have the same song for his second part. I think we decided to use this song a year ago when we were still working on the first video. We've known this entire time he'd have that song, and I knew he'd have last part. And he did...

I'll end by saying that when I think of Bolts of Thunder, I think of Dave. They are synonymous, one in the same. The only proper way to end our skate video (besides a credits section) is to watch Dave skate. His part is rad, it makes me want to go out and skate and ollie big gaps, and it reminds me of how much fun it is to skate with your friends. Dave is rad, and we're going to be seeing much more of him in years to come. Good luck over there in Paris, Dave and Lauren! We miss you guys, and we'll see you next summer...