The concrete jungle that is New York City has been a hotbed of skateboarding for a long time now. Many shredders have taken on the endless miles of concrete, asphalt, and iron in order to forge their individual Paths of Rad. Countless numbers have weaved in and out of its traffic—auto, human, and otherwise—so as to tap into the Chi and Flow that is at the very heart of skateboarding. The annual Broadway Bomb and the days surrounding it are an ode to the unique adventure that is skateboarding in NYC. Wheelbase was there; we had a blaster!

I was gonna give the usual play-by-play of the day’s experiences, but after jotting a few ideas down and then repeatedly needling the “delete” button, I decided it best to just say a few words about the 2011 Broadway Bomb, and then be done with it.

I mean, come on! 1,500 plus skateboarders all skateboarding together down one of the world’s busiest streets on a bustling Saturday in Manhattan—it’s both ridiculous, and entirely inexplicable—it’s too gnarly to tell the full tale of it—you just have to do it for yourself. We were definitely blown away by the experience. The Broadway Bomb is one of those things that you do and will never forget, ever. I’ve been riding my wooden toy-machine for almost 30 years now and nothing I’ve experienced to-date is as awesome as shredding in the Broadway Bomb.

The inexplicable part of the event is the sheer vastness of it all, the multitudes of skaters, cars, manholes, huge buildings, noises of every sort, and all the faces. There are people everywhere cheering, yelling, chanting, laughing, and even crying. You name it you’ll see it while skating down Broadway.

Quote of the Dave:

“Operational overload of all orifices originating from Broadway. Well over 1,000 wiggleboarders working wondrously while pumping and bonking amongst wicked crashing—watched stiff arms thrown, buses skitched, smiles delivered, high fives awarded, wall street protested, multi generational tandem riding, and people genuinely enjoying themselves as a whole community of skaters and pedestrians . . . “

I distinctly remember looking up from pushing at one point, turning to Dave and the others around us, each face smiling and completely in the moment, and just tripping out on the sound of the thousands of urethane wheels rolling across that Manhattan asphalt. It was a constant, subtle, and comforting swooshing sound that told me (without words) that what we were doing was something truly Gnartastic!

One of my favorite things about the Bomb is that you see every type of board and person amongst the myriad of skaters rolling down Broadway. You see men, women—young, old. I saw hipsters, skoggers, rockers, babies, betties, bros, swaggerers, hobo-baggerers, kicktails, sicktails, notails, granddaddies, and way to many knee-paddies. I saw blacks, browns, Puerto Ricans, Haitians, and even a few white-ass legs kicking in neon dolphin shorts. Shit was Crazeee!

Ultimately, whatever I put down on paper here is gonna be “me” -centric, and will only draw on a part of the bigger picture, a picture that when fully realized will blow your freakin’ mind. You have to do the Broadway Bomb yourself to fully know the Broadway Bomb. Get some!

On behalf of Wheelbase and Big Dave I’d like to thank Riviera and Caliber for making it possible for us to be present at the Broadway Bomb. I’d like to also thank Bustin Boards & the crew, the Juggabros, Uncle Funky’s, NYC, Brooklyn, Brian Bishop, the Longboard Loft, Adam Crigler & Pricilla, Paulshock, Earthwing, Steve Kong, coffee, the Davenports of Push Culture News, The dudes with the miniramp, pizza, Sector 9, Comet, Muir, Mike D., Gullwing, Divine, McLovin, beer, Paris, the crew at SkateHouseMedia, Andrew Parker, and a special thanks to each and every skater we met along the way. We love you all and we love skeetboardin in NYC!