Skaters Roll Call

[Keith A]

So I saw on RS's thread about his shoes that we have some skaters out there. I've been skating forever and really got into this while at UF since the surf was so far away. I've got a couple of old school short boards...a Monty Nolder Schmitt Stix and a Walker -- can't remember the model. I used to skate ramps and ditches all the time...that is until I destroyed my ACL on my friends ramp several years ago. I've been doing more longboarding lately and have a couple of Gravity boards and a Sector 9.

My youngest daughter and I have a good time longboarding together and we even bombed some hills while visiting some family last Thanksgiving. It was a blast, but I was stupid and did this without any pads or a helmet. Fortunately, neither of use were hurt...but we'll come better prepared next time. BTW, she can ollie higher than I can now.

So how many skaters do we have out there?

BTW, you've got to watch this longboarding video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMLFZcONQAs&eurl=http://www.barrierislandgraphics.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=7&threadid=17782) -- these guys are amazing!!!

[David Kirk]

I'm in. I started skating in 1977 and never grew up.

dave

[AgilisMerlin]

yo ho ho,

started in my basement listening to the Eagles in 79'

been scabbed ever since........ :p

[Keith A]

been scabbed ever since........ :pMy daughter is all scabbed up right now. She ate the other day while we were just cruising down the sidewalk near our house. It hurts bad enough when it happens to you, but I just hate to see her go down.

[AgilisMerlin]

this is where it all began: skate and vinyl

http://www.rockandrollplanet.com/images/130_Eagles.jpg

http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/images/Styx-tGI.jpg

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-1751-2978-71/1?AID=5463217&PID=2041175&mpre=http%3a%2f%2fsearch%2eebay%2ecom%2fStyx%2dPie ces%2dof%2dEight%5fMusic%5fW0QQcatrefZC6QQfromZR4Q QsacatZ11233

http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/images/albums/signals-cover-s.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j198/flytrashtrampoline7/Moving_Pictures.jpg

http://vinylzart.com/images/AlbumCovers-Boston-Don%5C'tLookBack(1978)FullAlbumcover.jpg

[coylifut]

I was one of the original California Skateboards - Rip City Skate Boys. Didn't run with Tony Alva, but met him and skated with Stacy Peralta at the Lake Wood park back in the day. I also frequented that park under the freeway overpasses in San Diego and of course sessioned Del Mar. I skate a little now and then and I'm eyeing a new long board for commuting to work.

[Kirk Pacenti]

Switch Railslide... those were the days! :D

[Keith A]

this is where it all began: skate and vinylYep, but don't forget about this one..

http://www.pestaola.gr/img/pink_floyd_the_wall_cover.jpg

Or the boys from the South...

http://www.lynyrdskynyrd.com/images/albums_large/skynyrdsinnyrds.jpg

[mister]

i used to skate a bit. now i don't really but one of my friends has a huge bowl he just built in his backyard. i need to go cruise that thing a bit.
my only deck is some old model of the gonz...made by krooked.

[SpeedyChix]

Made by longtime surfer and skaters:
Check these boards out (http://juiceboxskateboards.com/about.html)

[quaintjh]

My brother and I had a 16 ft wide halfpipe in our yard for quite a few years. 9 ft transitions with 1 ft vert on one side. I'll have to dig up some photos.

Jay

[justinf]

I was way into it. Alas, all my cool old stuff is gone, the Alva, Caballero, and Zorlac somehow escaped me through years of floating around. Skills are assuredly gone too.

[Dino]

Oh yeah....this board is showing some signs of life now indeed.

Started on the micro-pin tails in the early 70's.

Keep a 46" Sector 9 Super Cruiser in the trunck of the car on stand-by for an insta-sesh when the call arrises.

Joy-gasm!

[Mikej]

Waiting to skate the bowl w/ my 9 yo at 4 seasons on Sat in Milw. WI. They have a good amount of 35+ year olds on the weekends. I got a pretty good amount of time on wood, like to collect the reissue stuff, "I like to fall on my face, I like everything" Great fun, but theres not a faster way to mess yoself up bad than w/ a skateboard.

[Keith A]

Keep a 46" Sector 9 Super Cruiser in the trunk of the car on stand-by for an insta-sesh when the call arises. I've got a Super Cruiser too...nice board. What kind of trucks do you have on this?

[swoop]

i quit when i was 16. i was standing on the coping of the dogbowl pool and for the first time got scared...
for all the concussions and broken teeth.. i couldn't drop in.

but i'd be lying if i didn't dream of a dwell prefab house with a bowl in back...


living where i live.. i have tony alva and stacy peralta sightings all the time... and those dudes make me feel startstruck. alva talks about himself in the third person.. "TA would like a godmother with everything on it"...
true.

[David Kirk]

I skated on the Bones Brigade East and when ever we weren't skating the 1/2 pipe in my back yard we went to Cherry Hill. Wonderful and scary place. All the best guys would come and just let it rip. Shogo Kubo doing frontside airs out of the 3/4 pipe and Peralta doing forever smith grinds in the 15' pool. Then Alva would show and everyone would sit down. He was just SO SO fast everywhere and skated like his life didn't mater or that it depended on it.......both at the same time really.

I'll never forget those days.

dave

[swoop]

I skated on the Bones Brigade East and when ever we weren't skating the 1/2 pipe in my back yard we went to Cherry Hill. Wonderful and scary place. All the best guys would come and just let it rip. Shogo Kubo doing frontside airs out of the 3/4 pipe and Peralta doing forever smith grinds in the 15' pool. Then Alva would show and everyone would sit down. He was just SO SO fast everywhere and skated like his life didn't mater or that it depended on it.......both at the same time really.

I'll never forget those days.

dave


it was a really precious moment in time. i moved out here just after dogtown fell apart. my friends were all there... but i was too late. by the time the bones brigade era got going i'd moved on to motocross and skiing...
they'd closed up all the good skateparks and .. it died on me.

i'm 43 and i still dream in skateboard sometimes. i think its possible that skateboarder magazine had the greatest influence on my life-aesthetic. if i had to name a religion for myself ... skateboarder would have to be the old testament.

[J.Greene]

I wish I had my steve olsen board back.

JG

[Waldo]

So I saw on RS's thread about his shoes that we have some skaters out there. I've been skating forever and really got into this while at UF since the surf was so far away. I've got a couple of old school short boards...a Monty Nolder Schmitt Stix and a Walker -- can't remember the model. I used to skate ramps and ditches all the time...that is until I destroyed my ACL on my friends ramp several years ago. I've been doing more longboarding lately and have a couple of Gravity boards and a Sector 9.

My youngest daughter and I have a good time longboarding together and we even bombed some hills while visiting some family last Thanksgiving. It was a blast, but I was stupid and did this without any pads or a helmet. Fortunately, neither of use were hurt...but we'll come better prepared next time. BTW, she can ollie higher than I can now.

So how many skaters do we have out there?

BTW, you've got to watch this longboarding video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMLFZcONQAs&eurl=http://www.barrierislandgraphics.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=7&threadid=17782) -- these guys are amazing!!!

I ice skate. Does that count?

[justinf]

I skated on the Bones Brigade East and when ever we weren't skating the 1/2 pipe in my back yard we went to Cherry Hill. Wonderful and scary place. All the best guys would come and just let it rip. Shogo Kubo doing frontside airs out of the 3/4 pipe and Peralta doing forever smith grinds in the 15' pool. Then Alva would show and everyone would sit down. He was just SO SO fast everywhere and skated like his life didn't mater or that it depended on it.......both at the same time really.

that rocks dk. early glory for sure.

[shoe]

yeah i love skating down on the venice boardwalk.. i have pretty sick pair of roller blades too that i picked up at kmart...my skateboard --lets just say it has a couple of years on it- since when i occasionally dust it off and show up at a ramp the kids like to make fun of it...not to mention i wear every pad and am a lousy skater...hey - skate and destroy it's a frame of mind right....dave

[Keith A]

Hey DK -- Do you have any pictures from back then?

[David Kirk]

Hey DK -- Do you have any pictures from back then?

very few. I might have one or two somewhere. I had a photo album full of great shots and it was stolen out of my truck (with a box of kitchen stuff) never to be seen again.

Bummer. I almost forgot about those..........a lifetime ago.

dave

[don'TreadOnMe]

Skateboarder.
The Friedman photos of Jay Adams = life altering.

As mentioned b4, I still roll those red 70mm Kryptos on a big long board w/Tracker FulTracks.
Country roads, dead ends, and my daughters on their bikes, soooo nice.

[William]

Long lost brothers & sisters!!

Coy, did you hang with Greg (Weaver) too?

Started out on a board with metal roller skate wheels. Then to a Banana board. Then started with multiple boards over the years:

G&S
Hobie
Powell
Brewer
Santa Cruz
Sims
Alva (Got run over by a car)
Dogtown Skates
Long board made out of a water ski
And the Lonnie Toft inspired 8 wheeler that I made in wood shop in Jr HS. Laminated with a kick-tail. (Also the ultimate cause of my nagging back injury.

Wheels:
Road Rider 4's
Sims Snakes
Bones
Kryptonics (started on Blue 70's, then switched to Red 70's)

Trucks:
Bennett
Tracker

I loved high speed downhill runs....Ozz knows about Bellevue hills ;) ... and pool and ramp riding. We built a quarter pipe at a neighbor house, and another friend had a huge half pipe at his place. They were also some local places behind strip malls that had 6 to 8' vertical runs in the alley. Too much fun. I also used my board for transportation and would pump my miles with out breaking a sweat. I now hit the local park with my kids. The teens there don't know what to think of the Dad ripping it up.

Dang! now you got me thinking longboard again!!


William

[Keith A]

Dang! now you got me thinking longboard again!!Did you check out that video I posted?

Edit: I've got both the Mini Carve (http://www.gravityboard.com/pages/gstore/boards/mc2.html) and the Hyper Carve (http://www.gravityboard.com/pages/gstore/boards/hc2.html) and like both of them. There are plenty of good ones out there.

DK -- That really stinks that your photo album was stolen :mad:

[William]

Did you check out that video I posted?

Edit: I've got both the Mini Carve (http://www.gravityboard.com/pages/gstore/boards/mc2.html) and the Hyper Carve (http://www.gravityboard.com/pages/gstore/boards/hc2.html) and like both of them. There are plenty of good ones out there.

DK -- That really stinks that your photo album was stolen :mad:


Just did, that was cool. :cool: Very soothing to watch. Reminds me of the old school freestylers. I can't remember the guys name who rode a lot like that back in the day. He rode wheels that were 98 durometer or something...almost rocks. But man could he carve, slide, and walk the deck like that. For me, long boards are first about speed, second about carving and walking the deck....which I like to do btw.

Checking the links.. :)


William

[amper]

Me around 1978 at Solid Surf in Fort Lauderdale.
http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/26/26356/folders/286288/2289623Solid-Surf2.jpg

Me in 2006 home pool before. The plan was to skate it for a few months before getting it redone. It ended up being 6 months of joy.
http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/26/26356/folders/286288/2289618Amperspoolbefore.jpg

Home pool after.
http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/26/26356/folders/286288/2289621After2.jpg

This one is at the WPB skate park; I'm competing in the one-wheeler contest as a "Grand Master". My wife always gets a kick out of the term "Grand Master".
http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/26/26356/folders/286288/2289617newSergeOSSS.jpg

[mike p]

I spent my youth trying to copy Tony "mad dog" Alva and Jay Adams and I got plenty of road rash and broken bones to prove it. Loads of fun.

Mike

[Steve D]

Man, I used to love to skate. In the late '70s, we'd head down to Zero Gravity every weekend via the Green Line and skate all day. I remember coming home with my legs aching. During the weekdays I had a 1/4 pipe in my driveway and we used to skate that thing until dark each night.

I can't tell you how envious I am to read about some of you guys actually skating with Alva and Peralta, et al. The day the postman dropped off my Skateboarder magazine was always great. I would read that thing from cover to cover and then back again! And the photos, they were amazing!

I still have my Alva board, and it hangs in a special place in my garage right behind my bikes. I tool around on it occasionally. A few years ago, the Park & Rec built a couple of ramps at a local park. I took my board down there on opening day and found that I could still do a decent job on the half-pipe. My younger sons thought I was a hero, but my oldest son thought I looked like a moron skating in my Giro helmet. At least I left my lycra bike shorts at home!

[William]

Mini Carve (http://www.gravityboard.com/pages/gstore/boards/mc2.html) and the Hyper Carve (http://www.gravityboard.com/pages/gstore/boards/hc2.html) and like both of them. There are plenty of good ones out there.



Nice! I'm really digging the Big Ed 55. :cool:

http://www.gravityboard.com/support/gstore/boards/e55.jpg


Stop bringing stuff like this up!!! :crap: I have to have Ergott build me some wheels!!! :beer:


William :D

[William]

BTW, anyone with a long board going to the ramble? Sounds like there are some good hills to hit in the off time.


Just askin'


William

[vjp]

i think its possible that skateboarder magazine had the greatest influence on my life-aesthetic. if i had to name a religion for myself ... skateboarder would have to be the old testament.

WOW!! Myself also. I started skating in 1975 after reading about the explosion of skateboarding with the introduction of the urethane wheel in TIME magazine of all things and I had a relative send up a BAHNE from So-Cal. Shortly after a friend came back from Hawaii with an early copy of Skateboarder and I was fully engaged. When Dogtown and the Z-Boys came out I was shocked at how many sessions I recognized from the stills I had stared at 30 years ago.

I am a commercial photographer now and I would say that my aesthetic is 100% due to Glen E. Friedman's influence and then of course a year or two later that darn westcoast PUNK scene...

www.photomob.com

[bronk]

but my kids do....

[coylifut]

but my kids do....

i like the mini ollie shot in picture two. i can't exactly remember the kids name who first started gettin "no hands" air, but i remember he was from the Florida scene and ollie was in his name.

[don'TreadOnMe]

Gelfand = Ollie
bones brigade in the hizzle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Gelfand

[bronk]

He's fun to watch...

[Keith A]

Rodney Mullen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Mullen) was also a key influence of skating...especially the "freestyle" aspect. He grew up in Gainesville and was often seen skating around the UF campus. This guy is amazing!

[amper]

http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/26/26356/folders/81881/538984Hip-Air-CWSC-78.jpg



The man pointing is Frank Nasworthy the inventor of the urethane wheel (Cadillac wheels). He was also the owner of Cadillac Wheels Skate Park in Lighthouse Point FL. He is one of my childhood heroes. If you look at the tiles in the deep end, this pool is 13 feet deep with about 4 foot of vertical. Alan “Ollie Gelfand lives in South Fl and owns VW Depot in Hollywood Fl. Alan has is own private bowl built by Team Pain know as Olliewood.

[coylifut]

http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/26/26356/folders/81881/538984Hip-Air-CWSC-78.jpg



The man pointing is Frank Nasworthy the inventor of the urethane wheel (Cadillac wheels). He was also the owner of Cadillac Wheels Skate Park in Lighthouse Point FL. He is one of my childhood heroes. If you look at the tiles in the deep end, this pool is 13 feet deep with about 4 foot of vertical. Alan “Ollie Gelfand lives in South Fl and owns VW Depot in Hollywood Fl. Alan has is own private bowl built by Team Pain know as Olliewood.

i new you FL guys would come to the rescue. who was the other - maybe even more accomplished vert rider - in that crew? The last name was Mc something?

[Keith A]

RM is more than amazing...he's sick...check out this YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U-cgn3cEGA)

[Keith A]

i new you FL guys would come to the rescue. who was the other - maybe even more accomplished vert rider - in that crew? The last name was Mc something?Not sure where he's from, but Mike McGill was a big name too.

[don'TreadOnMe]

mike mcgill = sick on the vert.
coy, you da man.

I always wished to ride some of those old gigantic pipes you'd see in the mags every now and then...

[Keith A]

BTW, here's the tricks that Rodney Mullen invented...

180 Kickflip
50-50 Saran Wrap
Varial heelflip
50-50 Sidewinders
360 Flip
360 Pressure Flip
540 double kickflip
540 Shove-it
720 Shove-it
Backside 180 Flip
Casper 360 Flip
Casper Slides
Darkslides (Adapted from Mark Gonzales' idea)
Flat-ground Ollie
Godzilla Rail Flip
Gazelle
Heelflip
Helipops (360 Nollie)
Half-cab kickflip underflip
Half-cab impossible
Helipop Heelflips
Handstand flip
Kickflip Underflip
No Handed 50-50(commonly called a truckstand)
Ollie Kickflip
Ollie Impossible
Ollie Nosebones
Ollie Fingerflip
One footed Ollie
Switchstance 360 Flip
double kickflip
540 flip
inward heelflip
hardflip
180 kickflip underflip backside
triple kickflip
double heelflip
triple heelflip

[coylifut]

RM is more than amazing...he's sick...check out this YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U-cgn3cEGA)

WOW. I missed the whole street revolution. We were too busy skating vert. I could get about 3 feet of air both front and backside. Adrect air, rock n roll (back side only), grind the coping both sides. It was solid at the time, but nothing compared to today's standards.

[Keith A]

BTW, anyone with a long board going to the ramble? Sounds like there are some good hills to hit in the off time.I wonder if I could bring mine on the plane with me?

[David Kirk]

i new you FL guys would come to the rescue. who was the other - maybe even more accomplished vert rider - in that crew? The last name was Mc something?

Mike McGill.

Dave

[William]

The opening to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 always stops me when my son fires it up. Watch it evry time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEtMnvgD1eE&feature=related



William

[David Kirk]

Rodney Mullen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Mullen) was also a key influence of skating...especially the "freestyle" aspect. He grew up in Gainesville and was often seen skating around the UF campus. This guy is amazing!


If anyone doubts that skaters have the best balance, hand-eye, foot-eye and spacial awareness of any athletes this video should put that to rest. Simply staggering isn't it?

dave

[Mikej]

http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/26/26356/folders/81881/538984Hip-Air-CWSC-78.jpg



The man pointing is Frank Nasworthy the inventor of the urethane wheel (Cadillac wheels). He was also the owner of Cadillac Wheels Skate Park in Lighthouse Point FL. He is one of my childhood heroes. If you look at the tiles in the deep end, this pool is 13 feet deep with about 4 foot of vertical. Alan “Ollie Gelfand lives in South Fl and owns VW Depot in Hollywood Fl. Alan has is own private bowl built by Team Pain know as Olliewood.

I got wood to skate, indoors, but no good big scary concrete $hit to wreck myself on. get so riled up when I see old concrete bowls, bzzzzzzt I can hear the tiles......R.I.P. SURF N TURF / THE TURF.

[staggerwing]

Wow, bringing up some old memories.

I used to skate with Rob Roskopp (here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klvbgJrawzU&feature=related) is a fun clip, after he moved to CA), back east in Ohio, while we were both in HS. Don't worry, I wasn't in the same league as that cat. Marty Jimenez was always around too, although he was more a surfer, stuck in landlocked Cincinnati.

He saw a crappy ramp I had built in the front yard, stopped by, and that was that. I designed and made some bigger quarter section ramps, and finally, at his urging, designed a monster pool section (16' wide, 8' tall, with 6.5' radius and 12' flat bottom) that we built on his parents property.

There was also a really cool park up in Columbus, Apple skatepark (clicky here for more (http://www.skatepunk.net/apple/appfront.html) ). It only lasted about 18 months but we spent many a weekend there. Rob would occasionally strap on some roller skates and rip the pools, catching monster air.

If I remember correctly, Apple closed in the spring, and shortly thereafter, Rob graduated HS, and moved west permanently. He did the skate thing for a while, and from what I understand, now runs Santa Cruz cycles.

BTW, punk and new wave, not the classic rock, was the soundtrack of our lives back then. I still listen to The Clash, Dead Kennedys, early XTC, Black Flag Buzzcocks, and the ****ies.

Designing ramps was the activity that pushed me over the edge to go onto engineering school.

Still have a Santa Cruz board with Tracker Trucks and Red Kryptos, that gets pulled out occasionally. I haven't gotten any better, but its still fun.

[RudAwkning]

Don't know how I missed this thread earlier! Skateboarding was an integral part of my life. From '87-'94, it's pretty much all I did. Those were the years I was living in Hong Kong, so the only real connection we had to the US skate culture were videos. Animal Chin, Speed Freaks, Ban This, Wheels Of Fire, A Reason For Living, Shackle Me Not, Useless Wooden Toys, etc. First board was Tony Hawk. Then a Tony Hark mini. Then a Jesse Martinez. Then a Rob Roskopp blacktop mini. After that I setteled into the BBC boards and rode a couple Jeff Phillips and a Reese Simpson because they had the biggest noses on the market. I even took it a step further and drilled my front truck back an extra inch.

Skateboarding was what also got me seriously into music. I'd record the soundtracks from the TV speaker into the mic on my boombox and play the tapes back for hours. Sometimes I'd skate with them. Never had the full track and there'd always be the sound of a skateboard in the background. Naked Raygun, Dinosaur Jr., Gorilla Biscuits, Minor Threat, Sonic Youth, Bad Brains, etc. Discovered a lot of amazing music through skateboarding.

Hong Kong was the perfect environment for skateboarding. Total urban jungle. More f'ed up architecture than you could imagine. And although I didn't grow up in a time like most of you, when skateboarding was totally new and in it's infancy, it was still sort of underground. I remember traveling to the UK in the summer of '89 and then to the US and you could always spot a skater by his shoes. You'd look down, see a pair of airwalks, and give the secret "what's up" nod. Now you've got soccer moms wearing a pair of Vans :rolleyes:

Went to Woodward Skate Camp for 2 Summer's straight. Got to meet Rob Dyrdek there, of the now famous "Rob and Big" show on MTV. Eventually moved to San Fran in '93 for college.....and because SF was the skate capital of the world. It was so cool getting to skate all the spots I had seen for years in the videos. EMB, Wallenburg, etc. Skating amongst the pros was crazy. Jovantae Turner, Sean Sheffey, Jason Lee, Salman Agah, and whoever else was in the area. They were all sick. I could never keep up. I think my crowning achievements were learning how to front foot wrap/impossible, and 360 frontside ollie. Pretty soon, life caught up with me (as well as my bruised and battered ankles) and hung up the deck. Perhaps not for good though :)

[cosmonaut]

Skateboarding was what also got me seriously into music. I'd record the soundtracks from the TV speaker into the mic on my boombox and play the tapes back for hours. Sometimes I'd skate with them. Never had the full track and there'd always be the sound of a skateboard in the background. Naked Raygun, Dinosaur Jr., Gorilla Biscuits, Minor Threat, Sonic Youth, Bad Brains, etc. Discovered a lot of amazing music through skateboarding.



Me too - I used to learn about new bands from Thrasher Magazine. That publication was basically my 'how-to' guide during my early teen years in the late '80s. My mom bought me my first board in '85, and I skated for about 15 years straight. At one point, I was lucky to randomly meet Jeff Phillips and some of his friends who happened to be in Colorado on vacation. We snowboarded with them the whole day. To my 12 year old self, this was absolutely amazing. Sadly, Jeff killed himself a few years after that.

What a great thread this is. Skateboarding was instrumental in my becoming who I am today. Too bad my body couldn't keep up. I'd still skate, but I've filled my surgery quota.

[Keith A]

Too bad my body couldn't keep up. I'd still skate, but I've filled my surgery quota.Don't let that stop you...I've been through surgery as well, but still skate...although it is certainly on the milder side as compared to my youth.

[David Kirk]

I still skate. Nothing like I did when I was 20 but I still have a blast. I longboard or Carveboard (http://www.carveboardsports.com) on the hills near my house and I skate the public skatepark in town. Small but fun. The street type features and tight transitions make me nervous and I feel better on bigger stuff. There is a new park going in with a new YMCA with a full size 1/2 pipe and I really look forward to that.

The snow is still here and will be for awhile but once it melts...........


dave

[cosmonaut]

Don't let that stop you...I've been through surgery as well, but still skate...although it is certainly on the milder side as compared to my youth.
Good point. The longboards discussed earlier in this thread might be a good way to get most of the feeling back with minimal risk. I'll have to re-grow my 'Tony Hawk' hairstyle.

[William]

I still skate. Nothing like I did when I was 20 but I still have a blast. I longboard or Carveboard (http://www.carveboardsports.com) on the hills near my house and I skate the public skatepark in town. Small but fun. The street type features and tight transitions make me nervous and I feel better on bigger stuff. There is a new park going in with a new YMCA with a full size 1/2 pipe and I really look forward to that.

The snow is still here and will be for awhile but once it melts...........


dave

Do you have a Carveboard? How is it at higher speeds? The flex and such a tight turning radious on the trucks makes me wonder.



William

[David Kirk]

Do you have a Carveboard? How is it at higher speeds? The flex and such a tight turning radious on the trucks makes me wonder.



William

It is not a high speed machine. It's happiest at lower speeds while being turned constantly. It's alarming how tight it will turn. If I want to slow down I just turn tighter and go back up the hill. It will do a 180 and go back uphill in one lane width.

It's hard to slide it just carves.

I recommend it highly.

dave

[William]

I wonder if I could bring mine on the plane with me?


Carry on!


It is not a high speed machine. It's happiest at lower speeds while being turned constantly. It's alarming how tight it will turn. If I want to slow down I just turn tighter and go back up the hill. It will do a 180 and go back uphill in one lane width.

It's hard to slide it just carves.

I recommend it highly.

dave


I'll have to hit the local shop (opened not too long ago) to see if they have one of those. Love to try one out. Admittedly, I'm built for speed though. :D



William

[RudAwkning]

Downhilling has come back en vogue out here in The Bay Area. I'll be climbing tunnel road and will pass 3 or 4 skaters on a descent, usually followed by a car/spotter. Sometimes there'll be a guy parked ahead and the 2 drivers will have walkie talkie communication, I'm assuming to alert the others of traffic.