DOPE BRO Tour | A SkateTrip to France -

Video: Christian Blümle
Photos Adam Przybyla
Text Matty Penner

There were only two rules for getting on the bus in Muenster to France. The first was that you better be on time. The second was that there was no drinking in the car because it wouldn’t be fair to the drivers. That was a good joke, both rules, for no one was on time, and out of the nine people who filled the bus, six were drunk. Thank God for the other three, because without them, we wouldn’t have made it.

Google maps predicted that the 1,332 kilometer drive would take 16 hours. That’s what Google maps said. What do you think the six in the back who were drunk said? “We need to piss/smoke! Pull over!” And as we got closer to our destination and the buzz wore off, it became, “Pull over! He’s got to puke!”

We had a guest rider along with us, but in all reality, we were actually his guests, because it was to his home we were going. After 18 hours, we reached Benjamin “Benedict” Botta’s house, which was hidden in a huge forest in Antibes, France, right outside Nice. The first thing we did was pitch our tents, then we set up the table underneath the tree, which became our Stammplatz for the next six days.

Every day started and ended around that little plastic table. That’s where the early risers would gather and wait for the rest to wake up. On the first morning, when we were all ready to go, the filmer, Christian “Christoph” Bluemle said, “Wait! What the Fuck? Where’s my board?” After an hour search, we gave up, and Botta pieced him a board together. He had everything except the most important thing- screws, but we didn’t realize this until later, so at the first spot, everyone took one bolt from their own board so that Bluemle could roll along with us. That’s the perfect analogy for how the trip went-a group that wasn’t just nine random skaters, but a team that was made up of true friends and had each other’s back. We even had our own little nicknames, which Adam “Adrian” Przybyla, gave to us.

We skated from sun up to sun down, or we at least tried, for the French were real assholes and they went to great lengths to make sure we didn’t get to have any fun, like the old lady who tried to sick her dog on Tabo “Taubsi” Löchelt or the other old lady with the bucket of water. It was nothing, however, that was going to stop the team. From Leon “Leonard” Merschmann with the slaughter of that 6, to Florian “Fabio” Westers who killed just about everything, we got our tricks.

As day became night, we would either get pizza or go to the supermarket to buy groceries for the BBQ, but after that, it was right back to the table where we had some of the best seshes of the tour. First we would have a photo/footy check with the whole crew huddled around the computer. Then we would drink beers, smoke joints, and play our favorite game, “Shithead,” into the wee hours of the night. One by one people would retire to bed, but if you were lucky enough and stayed awake, Adrian would treat us to Marmor Kucken and tell us “bed time stories” from his spot in the back in Botta’s VW bus. His biggest fans were Tom “Tommick,” Schulzte, who slept on the table outside the van, and myself, Matty “Matthias,” Penner who slept next to Adem.

On the sixth day, the crew loaded up the bus and headed to Marseille to the Air BnB where we all had our own bed, and, for the first time, a kitchen, in which Merschmann and Lasse “Lars ” Middendorf cooked home-made spaghetti from scratch. The city was riddled with amazing spots, which were all just a push away from each other, and of course there was the Tony Hawk bowl which Schulze made his own.

After Marseille, we headed back to Botta’s garden where we did more chilling than skating. On the last night was our farewell BBQ, and for the first time, the van left on time. The drive back was pretty much the opposite of the way there, I think everyone had skated and partied themselves out, but I think the whole team would agree that the tour was dope, bro.