If you've even heard of Thrasher magazine's King of the Road contest, you know it's gnarly. This year, our own Mike Sinclair was on the mission with his boys, the Dekline footwear team. Putting in long hours, crazy antics and ton of effort, Dekline didn't come through with the win; they came in dead last. But, when you're the underdogs and you're up against the super teams of Nike SB, Vans and Lakai, a valiant effort is still a thing to be proud of. Sinclair and a few of the Dekline riders give their take on one hell of a road trip.

King of The Road was an honor to be a part of. The Dekline team was up against three amazing teams with some of the best skateboarders in the world. I knew it was going to be a battle going in and we all knew it was going to be a rough one.

Some nights we only had three hours of sleep. Most nights were five hours of sleep. The drives were not too bad but just trying to find the perfect spot for each trick in the book was a challenge in itself. We hit good spots and had decent weather we just needed more time and more sleep. The Dekline guys killed it and we gave it our best. We were super close in the end but not close enough. Like I said earlier it was just an honor to go and we all would give it a shot again next year if given the chance. Thanks to Chad Tim Tim, Matt Bennett, Ryan Spencer, Dakota Servold and Nick Merlino for their efforts. Also thanks to our filmers who went with us and a huge thanks to Thrasher magazine for extending the invite to us.

"These are the best light gloves money can buy!" --Nick Merlino who brought rave gloves on King of the Road for some strange reason.

"We gots to go." --Mike Sinclair every morning and at every spot, every day.

"He wasn't supposed to go!" -- filmer Tim Cisilino after missing Ryan Spencer's trick that Spencer had been working on for hours.

"I could triple flip this." --Tim Cisilino at a 6-stair when we needed to get a triple flip down six. Tim can't even ollie a 9-stair.

"I got more points than anyone across the board!" --Nick Merlino on his own performance. Merlino voted himself MVP on multiple occasions.

"Mike Sinclair stories help the long drives go by fast. All in all the trip had its ups and downs. Good times for sure. That King of the Road book gets stuck in your head!" --Chad Tim Tim reflecting on King of the Road.