Drive (Notes from the Wilderness)

The premiere episode of DRIVE features Mike exploring the topic of professionalism in skateboarding. Mike visits with his childhood hero and skateboarding legend Lance Mountain, Ryan Sheckler, and Tony Hawk to get their views on the challenges of being a professional in this ever-evolving sport. The result is a moving collection of individual approaches and perspectives, combined with skate action in a diversity of settings that capture the essence of skateboarding and what it means to be a true professional.

Mike has always believed in traveling to places off the beaten path to share his philosophies on skateboarding. In this episode Mike travels to South Africa to visit the Zulu village of Isithumba and participate in the Indigo Skate Camp, which was established to promote cultural exchange between Western and Zulu youth. Mike tours the Zulu village and skates a mini ramp built by the camp and native kids in the Valley of 1000 Hills.

Mike’s visit to Zululand continues as he takes the Zulu skaters with him to explore South Africa’s skate terrain, skating an Olympic swimming pool and a cement drainage ditch. Mike meets a group of orphaned and abandoned children and teaches them to skate at a local Durban skatepark. This episode reminds us all of the importance of sharing and learning from other cultures.

Mike reflects on the people he has met through skateboarding and visits three individuals who inspire him to keep going, Jon Comer, a professional skateboarder who lost his leg in a childhood accident, Mike Rogers, who overcame cancer and has dedicated his life to being a role model in Southern Florida's skate scene, and Ryon Rommel, who was first featured in the film DRIVE and continues his battle with Leukemia.

Mike goes on tour with the Element and Accel Wheels skateboard teams to explore the role skate demonstrations play in skateboarding. Offering insight into what being a touring professional is all about, Mike takes his skating from the a local skate shop parking lot to the Mall of America and 15,000 screaming fans.

Not every town has a skate park. Mike addresses the issue of public skate parks by visiting a group of skaters who have successfully gotten parks built in their community, and Miki Vuchovich, executive director of the Tony Hawk Foundation, to discuss the bureaucratic process, and the logistics of planning, financing, and constructing a skatepark.