a nice little story on longboarding...from St. Petersburg newspaper...

[skategeezer]

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/humaninterest/article1013684.ece

Longboards, a new trend in skateboarding, are designed for comfortable long-distance riding

By Bob Putnam, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, June 27, 2009
A group of longboard riders skates the Pinellas Trail on June 21 to celebrate National Skateboarding Day.
[Special to the Times]


ST. PETERSBURG — Paul Bernardini stands on his skateboard, mimicking the swooping cutback moves of a surfer. He rocks back and forth in semicircles, using his own power to cruise along the pavement.
Bernardini and other skateboarders celebrated National Skateboarding Day on Sunday by riding the Pinellas Trail from Tropicana Field onto Treasure Island. The sidewalk surfboarders covered the 11-mile trek — with their feet rarely touching the ground.
They did it by riding longboards, which are essentially longer skateboards, from 42 to 60 inches compared with regular boards that are 30 to 38 inches.
These boards, which start at $159, are not for flipping on half-pipes or grinding on rails. Instead, they are designed for comfortable long-distance riding because the board is more flexible and the bigger wheels are made of softer plastic, allowing them to go over rough surfaces that could cause bone-crunching falls. Those characteristics are also why weaving back and forth propels the board faster and longer than it would on regular skateboards, and why there's little need for riders to use their feet to push.
Longboards are part of a new trend in skateboarding, especially among riders such as Bernardini, a 38-year-old attorney who is well outside the youth culture that defines the sport.
"Longboards have made it socially acceptable for grown-ups to continue skateboarding," he said.
Bernardini was an avid skateboarder as a child. Then he went to college and law school.
"Time becomes a factor, and skateboarding kind of tapered off," he said.
Last year, Bernardini was mountain biking when he saw an older rider on a longboard.
"That got the skateboarding bug back in me," he said. "I knew that's what I needed to be doing."
So Bernardini got a board and started riding. Soon after, his friend Ian Tilp joined him.
"I saw Paul riding a longboard and I knew I had to have one," said Tilp, 34. "It really has a Zen feeling being on a longboard. It's like an endless wave on pavement. And Florida is perfect for it because there are so many trails and so much flat surface."
Bernardini and Tilp were so hooked, they searched online forums for other area riders. They found Greg Feiss.
Feiss, 46, grew up in Clearwater and skateboarded in the 1970s. He gave it up to focus on distance running. But after a nearly 30-year layoff, he had the urge to try again and got a longboard for his 45th birthday.
"It's a great workout, and you travel at a pretty good pace," Feiss said. "I'm trying to get my kids involved now."
Bernardini, Feiss and Tilp were among eight who skated the Pinellas Trail last weekend. The ride was the brainchild of John Matthews and Chris Coghlan, co-owners of Kona Town, a St. Petersburg skate shop that specializes in longboards.
"We've had a lot of interest in longboards the past few years, and a lot of guys who were interested in doing a group ride," Matthews said. "This seemed like a fun thing to do."
Some of the longboarders are going to extremes — in a laid-back, longboard sort of way. Bernardini wants to ride 100 miles in one day on a longboard.
"On these boards you can go roughly 10 mph," he said. "It's faster than jogging but maybe a little slower than a bike. I think covering 100 miles in a day is definitely possible."

[brittin]

i guess its cool that they are acknownleging longboarding. but they definitely should have covered more of the aspects of longboarding. i know that LDP is one of the parts, but i also think its one of the less-popular styles of longboarding. kind of weak, but appreciative

[pennypusher]

i woke up 30 min to late and a bit hung over,wish i wouldnt have missed it.

[Dimm]

Originally Posted by skategeezer

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/humaninterest/article1013684.ece

Longboards, a new trend in skateboarding, are designed for comfortable long-distance riding

By Bob Putnam, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, June 27, 2009
A group of longboard riders skates the Pinellas Trail on June 21 to celebrate National Skateboarding Day.
[Special to the Times]


ST. PETERSBURG — Paul Bernardini stands on his skateboard, mimicking the swooping cutback moves of a surfer. He rocks back and forth in semicircles, using his own power to cruise along the pavement.
Bernardini and other skateboarders celebrated National Skateboarding Day on Sunday by riding the Pinellas Trail from Tropicana Field onto Treasure Island. The sidewalk surfboarders covered the 11-mile trek — with their feet rarely touching the ground.
They did it by riding longboards, which are essentially longer skateboards, from 42 to 60 inches compared with regular boards that are 30 to 38 inches.
These boards, which start at $159, are not for flipping on half-pipes or grinding on rails. Instead, they are designed for comfortable long-distance riding because the board is more flexible and the bigger wheels are made of softer plastic, allowing them to go over rough surfaces that could cause bone-crunching falls. Those characteristics are also why weaving back and forth propels the board faster and longer than it would on regular skateboards, and why there's little need for riders to use their feet to push.
Longboards are part of a new trend in skateboarding, especially among riders such as Bernardini, a 38-year-old attorney who is well outside the youth culture that defines the sport.
"Longboards have made it socially acceptable for grown-ups to continue skateboarding," he said.
Bernardini was an avid skateboarder as a child. Then he went to college and law school.
"Time becomes a factor, and skateboarding kind of tapered off," he said.
Last year, Bernardini was mountain biking when he saw an older rider on a longboard.
"That got the skateboarding bug back in me," he said. "I knew that's what I needed to be doing."
So Bernardini got a board and started riding. Soon after, his friend Ian Tilp joined him.
"I saw Paul riding a longboard and I knew I had to have one," said Tilp, 34. "It really has a Zen feeling being on a longboard. It's like an endless wave on pavement. And Florida is perfect for it because there are so many trails and so much flat surface."
Bernardini and Tilp were so hooked, they searched online forums for other area riders. They found Greg Feiss.
Feiss, 46, grew up in Clearwater and skateboarded in the 1970s. He gave it up to focus on distance running. But after a nearly 30-year layoff, he had the urge to try again and got a longboard for his 45th birthday.
"It's a great workout, and you travel at a pretty good pace," Feiss said. "I'm trying to get my kids involved now."
Bernardini, Feiss and Tilp were among eight who skated the Pinellas Trail last weekend. The ride was the brainchild of John Matthews and Chris Coghlan, co-owners of Kona Town, a St. Petersburg skate shop that specializes in longboards.
"We've had a lot of interest in longboards the past few years, and a lot of guys who were interested in doing a group ride," Matthews said. "This seemed like a fun thing to do."
Some of the longboarders are going to extremes — in a laid-back, longboard sort of way. Bernardini wants to ride 100 miles in one day on a longboard.
"On these boards you can go roughly 10 mph," he said. "It's faster than jogging but maybe a little slower than a bike. I think covering 100 miles in a day is definitely possible."

Nice article. Nice to see no hate.

But one thing I don't understand is why none of the names of the people are Russian... and why there is even an English article about Russian longboarders.

Anyways, the skate scene in Russia is ridiculously tiny. Moscow, a city larger than New York, has maybe a hundred longboarders. I recently found this Russian longboard blog.

It's of relevance. http://longboarder.ru/

My boards are actually on there... that's how I found out about the site. The author of the blog found out about my boards and posted them up there. The caption under my boards reads "Our people are everywhere, even in Canada."

I'm Russian for those who don't know. He's referring to Russian longboarders not just Russians though... there are tons of Russians in Canada haha...

But it's expanding!

Longboarding is spreading fast and here to stay...

[brittin]

Originally Posted by Dimm

Nice article. Nice to see no hate.

But one thing I don't understand is why none of the names of the people are Russian... and why there is even an English article about Russian longboarders.

Anyways, the skate scene in Russia is ridiculously tiny. Moscow, a city larger than New York, has maybe a hundred longboarders. I recently found this Russian longboard blog.

It's of relevance. лонгборд: люди, до�ки, �тиль

My boards are actually on there... that's how I found out about the site. The author of the blog found out about my boards and posted them up there. The caption under my boards reads "Our people are everywhere, even in Canada."

I'm Russian for those who don't know. He's referring to Russian longboarders not just Russians though... there are tons of Russians in Canada haha...

But it's expanding!

Longboarding is spreading fast and here to stay...

the article is written from tampa bay, florida-the united states

[x-tra]

how come every news story i see says that longboarding is a "new trend". hasnt it been around since the 60s?

[angelopb]

It's not a new trend or anything. It would had been great to talk more about LDP and stuff. But this is just a soft feature in the sports page of the local paper, not concrete wave. That reporter was real nice. I spend time trying to educate him about LDP, Paved Wave and everything. He totally gets it. But he noticed that even the other longboaders were kind of clueless about LDP and our setups. So he was just keeping it real for the general audience.
Its not trendy, but there is more people riding longboards now than even a year or two ago. In this area, it can be considered a new trend in that it is joining the ranks alongside with inline skating and cycling. But there is no concensus on when longboarding re-joined the scene. It never went away. But when is it o.k. to call it a resurgence in a given area?

[LongboardSkillz97]

Originally Posted by x-tra

how come every news story i see says that longboarding is a "new trend". hasnt it been around since the 60s?

I thought so to.


And I started laughing when the article said "And Florida is perfect for it because there are so many trails and so much flat surface."

[Dimm]

Originally Posted by brittin

the article is written from tampa bay, florida-the united states

Oh... for real?

Is there a St. Petersberg in Florida?

HAHAHA.

That's ####### hilarious...

My mistake.

Anyways, yeah I skimmed through the article, didn't pay much attention.

Cool stuff none-the less.

[brittin]

Originally Posted by Dimm

Oh... for real?

Is there a St. Petersberg in Florida?

HAHAHA.

That's ####### hilarious...

My mistake.

Anyways, yeah I skimmed through the article, didn't pay much attention.

Cool stuff none-the less.

haha i was so confused.....i was like uhhh what is he talking about?

dont worry about it dude, i have moments like those like....every day haha

[angelopb]

We are sister cities with the Ruski one. It was a fun little ride. The kona town guys went all out, supplied all the beer, party bus and bbq. Make sure you go next time.
[IMG] [/IMG]

[Irish_]

lol no offense meant by this but man this article makes longboarding look like an old man sport haha

[Mall Grab]

I'd rather take the hate than "it's a great workout". Sorry.

[brittin]

Originally Posted by Mall Grab

I'd rather take the hate than "it's a great workout". Sorry.

agreed.

ATTENTION: Breezy Meadows Old Folks Home is now having longboarding workouts! Bring your prunes and boards, we are going to golden corral people!!!!

[skategeezer]

the skategeezers are coming...the skategeezers are coming!

[enemy combatant]

Originally Posted by Irish_

lol no offense meant by this but man this article makes longboarding look like an old man sport haha

So?

[chrismcb]

A nice article comes out, and you guys can only complain?

This article was about a group of guys who skated a particular trail. I guess most of them pumped, so the article discussed pumping. This article wasn't about longboarding in general.

I'd fay Florida is a great place to go cruising, or pumping. Ever tried to pump uphill?

And skateboarding IS a great workout. EVEN downhill.

Seems to be most of the hate is right here in this thread.

[enemy combatant]

Originally Posted by chrismcb

Seems to be most of the hate is right here in this thread.

What "hate?" All I see is a bunch of comments. If you see any hate in these posts then you need psychiatric help.

[Frankyjobob]

Ehhh... Thumbs up on the attempt, but yeah... Makes longboarding sound sorta boring.

[_EuG_]

I actually think that this article is very positive for the sport of longboarding. It paints skateboarding in a whole new light.The reporter sheds all the bad conotations about boarding, such as "grinding" and young careless teenagers. If you live in this city / town and you saw a longboarder after reading this article you would think that he is completely different in character then a shortboarder. It might not be the ideal thing to divide the community this way, but the fact is that its already like that,

I wish we had an article like this in Toronto in our major paper, so that drivers dont scream at me when I am slowly crusing on the side of the road like a cycler.