Stay Strong in London

Features

Words, photos and video by Robin Pearson

Imagine my concern when Stay Strong asked me about doing a filming trip in April. The idea was for Jordan Aleppo and Anthony Watkinson to stay in London for 8 days, with me showing them around to spots, filming an edit and taking photos. Not a bad idea at all, but April?! I reluctantly agreed, gearing myself up for running for cover between spots as the inevitable April Showers halted our progress. Well, I needn’t have worried, we struck gold – the weather was flawless all week. I couldn’t believe our luck. It was amazing.

This square rail didn't look like a very easy one. Wocko with the feeble.

I took the dudes to various different areas of London, promising a number of good spots wherever we went. I thought I was doing my job of ‘spot guide’ pretty well but sometimes the setups I showed them were politely discarded in favour of other things nearby that I didn’t even think were spots. Shows how street I am.

“Wocko kept Jordan in check with his sharp sarcasm…”

Spending time with Jordan and Wocko (Watkinson) was rad. They were stoked on pedalling around all day (we covered a serious amount of mileage most days) and they both got decent clips wherever we went. Jordan kept us entertained with his public woeful description of each hangover and his general outspoken vulgarity every waking minute, while Wocko kept him in check with his sharp sarcasm. It was a good combo for a city trip, for sure.

Jordan, nose manny on the first day after charming the security.

Watkinson, dialled tailwhip to fakie in the north west.

Jordan is good at turndowns. Here's a ripped one at a classic south spot.

Big hop from Watkinson, bank to pegs the sub, north London.

If you missed the recent article on Stephen Murray and why Stay Strong exists, go check it out now, it’s an interesting read. Staying Strong: The Rise and Fall of Stephen Murray.