You might not know it by looking in the mirror, but your dome is a pretty important piece of machinery. Taking care of your dome and protecting it from danger is often overlooked in the world of action sports because of a "cool" or "core" factor. Well, if turning into a vegetable because you didn't wear a helmet is "cool," then I'd rather be uncool. Needless to say, helmets are a good thing, so if you don't have one yet, put it on your list of things to get before the season starts.

A couple weeks ago the Pro-Tec team got together to practice safe wakeboarding and wakeskating, as well as to shoot for the helmet company's catalog and marketing purposes for the upcoming season. The team was given unlimited access to the almost-brand-new McCormick's Cable Park just outside of Tampa for two days of pure private shreddage.

McCormick's is only one of a handful of cables in the world that rotates clockwise. This had nearly everybody on the team stoked because it meant riding left foot forward would be a lot easier (everyone except Amber, that is, who is goofy).

The setup at McCormick's is awesome and was a great place to shoot the team. There are a variety of solid rails and kickers, with a handful more to be built in the coming months. The park is pretty big, too, taking nearly 90 seconds to make a full lap, and there is a large island in the middle to keep the water flat. The weather didn't cooperate for the photo shoot as clouds and high winds were abundant for both days of shooting, but the water was always good because of the high birms surrounding the cable lake blocking the wind.

There is something totally awesome about having a cable park to yourself and your crew for a couple days. Did you fall down all the way on the opposite side of the start dock? No big deal, the cable operator will just stop the cable for you and bring your handle back to you. Want to ride doubles? No problem. Want to go faster or slower? Just ask. The guys at McCormick's did anything and everything we asked and made sure all the riders had an awesome time.

Henshaw took the open access to the cable to the next level toward the end of the shoot when he decided to try to ride everything in sight. You name it, he rode it (or at least tried to). Some things he made it all the way around the cable on: kneeboard, shoe skies, a broken piece of 1×6 wood, a chair mounted on top of a kneeboard. Some things he failed on: shovel, Razor scoote, bare feet (after falling off shovel and still holding onto handle).

All-in-all it was a lot of fun over the two days. The team got down to business but also made sure to enjoy themselves and take advantage of the two days of private access at McCormick's. Big ups to all the guys at McCormick's for playing host and running the cable nonstop for two days. If you ever find yourself in Florida and looking for a new, cool place to ride, be sure to check out McCormick's, it's just over an hour drive from downtown Orlando and it's definitely worth it.

Look for a video of the team shoot in the video section of this site soon.

McCormick's Cable Park: www.skimccormick.com

Pro-Tec helmets: www.pro-tec.net