West Coast Rubber Weekend

The endurance fest began early as I only got a few hours of sleep on Thursday night before having to head to the airport for my 6:30 flight from YVR to LAX.

I landed in Los Angeles around 9:30 Friday morning and had to work from Rubberchris and his partner's apartment for the day. The Ops Helpdesk was already calling me while I was in the cab en route, so I knew my day was going to be a bad one. It was hot on Friday - around 30C - so the apt was sweltering, but I managed to make it through the day while the guys were at work. Rubberchris and I jumped in the pool for an hour or so before Squadbay and Johnboi came around to join us and we got ready to head to the LA Eagle for the first night of the West Coast Rubber competition weekend.





The bar was busy with a good turnout of rubbermen for the first night. Weekend package pickup was available, there was a gear swap, and the guys from Rubberzone were doing a collectible-card swap game of sorts for which there were draws and prizes. I met many new guys, got to visit with some old friends, met the 3 competitors for the Mr. West Coast Rubber title, and met a really nice guy named Rbbrmat whom I ended up spending a lot of time with over the next 24 hours.

Since some of the gang were staying at the host hotel, some were staying in other hotels, and some of us at Rubberchris' place, we all parted ways at the end of the night.

Saturday morning I went for brunch with Rbbrmat then Rubberchris and Squadbay picked us up (and brought me a new outfit of rubber! ;)) and we headed to the Syren/Stockroom WCR Reception at their store on Sunset Blvd. We got to peruse through the store, tour the manufacturing facilities and warehouse, and enjoyed beverages and food in their reception room while watching vac-bed demos. I walked out of the store a lot poorer as I decided to pickup one of their deluxe straightjackets. Everyone bought something, it seems, so I'm sure they were happy to have us for the early afternoon.



After that we all immediately travelled over to the Eagle again for the Slime Pit and BBQ. Fun was had by all, with another great turnout of guys. I was able to do shameless promotion for the Rubbout 19 Event taking place in Vancouver in April 2010...the devil ducks and beachballs were a big hit!




Our crew headed back to Culver City afterwards for a bit of a disco nap, and time to prepare for the Play Party which started at 9pm at a Play Dungeon in Burbank. Everyone looked very sexy once ready and we set off to an aupicious address somewhere deep in North Hollywood. As soon as we checked in and walked into the playspace, we saw this was going to be a great event; lots of sexy rubbermen, sexy electronic dungeon music and lots of great energy!

As soon as I got there, Rubberfiend grabbed me and took me over to his gearbag. He put an inflatable hood and bondage mitts on me and lashed me to the St. Andrew's Cross. I was at the mercy of whomever came along to give me a stroke or brush. It was a lot of fun. The night just seemed to fly by; there were lots of activities going on in the theme rooms, a complimentary bar and social space, and lots of hot guys cruising each other! More antics ensued, and all too soon it was time to wrap things up and head home.

Sunday morning came too soon. Rubberchris made us a great brunch. We only had a few hours to prep as the Mr. West Coast Rubber competition started at Oilcan Harry's at noon. It was another hot day. We were all pooling sweat and lube before we even stepped into the bar for the competition. It was a great event, with a nice pace, lots of light humour and competition rounds, a great fantasy round performed by the competitors, and a very savvy and experienced judging panel comprising of three previous Mr. WCRs, Mr. International Rubber, and Mr. American Leather. L8xdad did a fantastic job as Master of Ceremonies.

As stated on the West Coast Rubber website, props go out to Rubberboi and Rubrluvr, the 2nd and 1st runners up. These guys were awesome in their gear! Congratulations to Jeffrey Moline, the judges pick for Mr West Coast Rubber 2009 and the gear guy who will go on to represent the West Coast at MIR in November.








After the competition we went back to the apartment to change and relax before heading to the Victory Dinner at a restaurant near the LA Eagle. It was a great way to end the day as we had the entire courtyard part of the restaurant to ourselves. I ended up heading home with Rubberboi after dinner while the rest of the tribe went to the Eagle for one last night of debauchery. I was sort of tired, but also wanted to play with Rubberboi and try out the sling and straightjacket. Fun! Rubberchris and Squadbay came home later and interrupted the fun, well, er, sort of joined, but we shut things down not too much later.


Monday morning we got up, had food, and headed to West Hollywood to meet Rubberbuck and Cncast for lunch. We ended up missing the Rubber Movie Invasion as logistics sort of got messed up, but we had a great day checking out 665 and Chi Chi LaRue's and having lunch, margaritas and mojitos on the patio at The Abbey. Rubberbuck and Squadbay took off for Phoenix once we left, and Rubberchris took Cncast and I back to his place to wait for RubberAsianBoy who was giving us a lift to the airport. Our flights were within an hour of each other. After making it through the quagmire that is LAX, I was on my way home.

I had a mad dash through the Phoenix airport to catch my connector to Vancouver, but I finally made it home. Exhausted, I got off the Canada Line in Yaletown and headed to my Smashbox's place for a little R&R, and then it was back home for work this morning. I wonder when I'll be able to catch up on my sleep? Hmm...

Thanks so much to L8xDad and L8xBoy for putting on another amazing event. From what I heard from all the vets, this was the best and best-attended WCR weekend event to date, so things are looking up for an even better time next year!

It's wonderful to have a great affiliation with the West Coast Rubber folks; they have been awesome in helping to promote the Rubbout event here in Vancouver in addition to the CampRubb event coming up on the September 26th weekend. For those of you who aren't going to Folsom, this might be a great alternative...;)

Of course, the Winter Warmup in Palm Springs in February 2010 will be a definite must-go-to as well.