7:30 a.m. 12/21/1999
Scene: The lovely Camelot Estate, Lake Conway, Orlando.
The boys were ready to rip, but the clouds weren’t ready to clear out. Definitely not the best day for photos. After deciding that the conditions pretty much sucked, Josh Letchworth decided to snap some shots anyway to try out some new film techniques. Today would be a good day for him to take chances.
Collin went first and instantly started complaining about the cold water. Yeah, contrary to popular opinion, it does get a bit chilly here in Orlando.
You won’t see anyone ride like Collin. A stylie tail-grab blind 3 off the double-up was rad, but it was almost outdone by a close try at a switch toeside 7 off the wake.
Collin is straight-up funny. I told him I might gather some info about him for the Web site and he replied, “Why would you want to put me in an article? I don’t go upside down.” Minutes later, Collin let us know that “my trailer’s got a flat tire. The spare is ready to go, but I think I’ll take the lazy route and call AAA to change it.”
Billy McKee is blowing up. His prime moves on this day were a huge heelside 5, a switch heelside 5 and a heelside 7 off the double-up. Most of his moves were grabbed and way off axis. Billy tried a bunch of toeside 900s off the double-up and definitely should have ridden away from at least two.
Brother Jeff nips at Billy’s heels. The 14-year-old whipped off a big whirly and nice Moby Dick with no problem, but his most killer move was a huge, clean indy tantrum to blind.
The McKee’s have loved the sport ever since they started riding behind their little tin fishing boat back in the day. After this session, the day was not over for these fellas. They were off to their pad near Windermere, Florida, where they would grind their new slider until sunset.