Mac and Max are known in Denver as a Father & Son team that skates with the Mile High Rollers. Mac's also famous around the globe for pretty much shattering his leg on the COSS slalom course, and then spending his recovery either taking photos of his buddies skating or stoking the scene in his home town.

Silverfish Longboarding.com is happy to tell you all that Mac's getting closer and closer to his anticipated re-entry to skating and we have proof. Here's his tale of a project board he and Max whipped up on SuperBowl Sunday.

As told by Mac...

Ever since I started skateboarding again, a few years back, I kept thinking about the last board I had: a single kick tail with big red/clear wheels and one 3” wide strip of grip tape right down the center. I don’t remember much about the model of the board, trucks or wheels. All I know is that it was the coolest board I had ever owned up to that point and the last board I had when I hung up skating forever…so I thought. I am one of those old guys with the same old tired story about “back in the day” “clay wheel”, “no pads”… bla bla bla! I am sure my son was tired of hearing it, but I never forgot the last board I owned and bombed the hills with in Orange County California; before cars, girls, high school sports and jobs put skating in what I thought was its rightful place, on some dusty shelf in the parent’s garage. Fast forward (metaphorically speaking) 29 years…

Instead of wearing a shirt that looked like a Yes album cover and long blond hair feathered back just like Leif Garrett, I am standing in my kitchen on Super Bowl Sunday (Broncos lost the week before, why watch?). I’m wearing a Gravity tee shirt, have no hair at all to feather and I’m chatting with my son Max about the vintage look we want to achieve on a skateboard project we’re about to begin. We settle on alternating stripes on a solid background. With the design agreed upon, it was time to get busy. First, let me describe the board I picked. I went with the Bahne Banshee.

I chose it for the cool graphic it already has and, oh yeah, it was a single kick tail. Quite a bit longer than my old board, but hey, I am a lot bigger than I used to be as well! So, with a design we came up with to evoke old surfboards, old skateboards and fun times, Max and I were ready to mask and paint the board.

Then came the primer and the yellow. We tried to get it as close of a match as possible and I think we did ok. Once the base coat was done, it was time to mask off the board for stripes. The wide blue stripe was the first to go down. After the blue was sprayed on, the next mask was laid over the first and sprayed orange. Then, came the moment of truth. I could tell Max was apprehensive and was wondering if the old man knew what he was doing. Well so was I, and no, I did not know what I was doing. I had never done this before, but I do watch a bunch of “This Old House”…

But, there were no problems. The masking tape came up cleanly. Max was really starting to see the project come together and we were both pleased!

Now it was time for the pin stripes. We went with the pin stripes to clean up where the two colors came together and to add that vintage look. I even had to don the granny classes to get the pin stripes straight! If you're lucky, your time will come...

And it came out better than I thought it would. We were real happy with this!

Next came the assembly and, since my old board had those big, clear, red wheels, the only choice was the new Retro ZigZag’s by Abec 11. The rest of the components consist of 129mm Tracker RTS/X combo “faced” by Mark at Mile High Skates, Khiro hard wear, Builtin bearings and Khiro risers.

Once it was together it looked far better that we could have imagined!

As I write this for the ‘Fish, we still haven’t taken it out for a ride: it is just too clean! I am waiting on the super clear grip tape from Mark at MHS. But, I almost hate the idea putting it on the board. I read recently in one of the surfer mags that you really can’t say you have a “quiver” until you have a board you don’t ride. I think we have a quiver now!

So there you have it: a board that I feel captures the look and style of my old board as a kid. Best of all, it was working together with my son that made it so much fun!

Mac & Max

Mile High Rollers

COSS