[OldSkateGuy]

Late one night in the spring of 1976 myself and some friends were sitting around a table trying to figure out how we could get out of working the typical Morro Bay, tourist related summer job. To this day I can't remember who blurted out. "hey, let's skate across America". Whoever it was, I'm glad they did.

Having had a bit of sponsorship from Roller Sports, they had sent me some Stoker wheels right before the Del Mar - Bahne Cadillac Nationals. Based on this II was put in charge of securing a sponsor. What did I do? I wrote them a letter, telling them what we wanted to do. About two weeks later, I received a letter from them with their reply.

Here is what they offered:
9-complete skateboards
100 Stoker wheels
200 bearings
300 t-shirts
$500 to start
$500 for each skater...if we finished.

Did we take the offer...of course we did!

The first thing we did was come up with a relay method that would allow us to cover between 75-100 miles a day. We called it the "leapfrog" technique. Skater "A" would begin skating, the support vehicle would drive three miles ahead and park. Skater "B" would then begin skating a three mile leg. The SV would wait for Skater "A" to arrive, then drive three miles form that point and let Skater "C" out to skate his three mile leg.

I remember both of my parents being dead set against the trek, I was 19 at the time. About two weeks before we were to leave, we were having a family dinner and my dad announced that he had changed his mind. He said that if he were my age and had the opportunity to take such a journey, he would want to do it. I will never forget that night and those words.

We chose our route by combining secondary highways and county roads with the Bike Centennial Trail. In other words, we guessed a lot.

Our support vehicle was a 1969 Pontiac Firebird. We built a big wooden box, painted it all up and mounted it on some surf racks. The racks collapsed after about 25 miles, we returned home and went with a much lighter tarp covered deal.

I was the only member of the original team that ended up making the trip, one skater decided to start a rock and roll band, another got a "real job" Luckily, I was able to convince a couple of other skate friends, Jeff French and Mike Filben, to make the trek.

We didn't have a clue what we were in for. We picked Lebanon, Oregon as our starting point, mainly because our local Chamber of Commerce sent out letters to other Chambers along our route, and a juvenile halfway house in Lebanon offered us a place to stay.

Originally we had planned to camp along the way. Hell, we even took along a .22 rifle, as far as we were concerned we would be crossing the Wild West! After a few nights of camping, we came up with a better plan. At the end of the day we would try to end up in a town that might have a motel, we would walk into the office looking tired and dirty, holding our skateboards, tell them we were skateboarding across America, and ask for a discount. Much to our surprise it worked! In fact most of the time, we got a free room, not to mention a lot of free meals.

The best part of the trip was the people we met along the way, this held true for the cross country treks I made in 1984 and 2003. I also always tell people there is no better way to see America up close and personal. You are out there in the open, experiencing every mile, not missing a thing.

We ended up making the crossing in 32 days.
We got rained one once.
We got kicked out of Yellowstone National Park (no skateboarding).
We ran out of money in Wisconsin, Roller Sports wired us $500 more. If you don't know what wired means, ask your parents.
We pretended we were rock stars when were given a free penthouse suite at the Hopkins House in Minneapolis.
We stayed with a cousin and her husband in Idaho, the husband worked at a big potato company, he took us to his office and let us us make calls back home on the WATS line, a kind of 800 number deal. This was at a time when making a long distance call was still a big deal.
We got kicked off a county road in Wisconsin by a local sheriff. Eight years later we got kicked off the same road by the same sheriff.
We ended the trip in Colonial Williamsburg, where a local cop tried to give us a parking ticket while the town was celebrating our arrival. The local chamber guy smoothed it over.
We were given keys to the city by Colonial Williamsburg, I still have mine.
We were guests of honor at Busch Gardens, we were all too young to drink beer.
Roller Sports had us come to Jacksonville for a few days, on their dime. We skated at (Skatboard City ) the spelling is correct. While there I watched an 11 year old skater named Kelly Lynn rip the place apart.
We drove across the country to Carlsbad Skatepark, no one knew or cared who we were.
When Skateboarder Magazine ran a blurb about the trip in the "Off the Wall" section, they left my name out.
On the drive home from Carlsbad, less than ten miles from Morro Bay, we came within inches of being involved in a head on wreck with a drunk driver who was on the wrong side of the freeway.

Of the three skaters who made the trek, I think I am the only one who still skates. I play on the same city league basketball team with Jeff. I haven't seen or heard from Mike in 25 years.

Since that first trek I have twice crossed the country by skateboard, in 1984 with Bob Denike, Gary Fluitt and Paul Dunn, we raised money for Multiple Sclerosis. In 2003 I was joined by Scott Kam, Nick Krest and Josh Maready in a cross country ride dedicated to my son Jack Marshall Smith, who died from complications due to Lowe Syndrome at the age of 14. The trek served to raise awareness of Lowe Syndrome and also raise research funds.

All three treks have been life altering for me.

And here it is 2008, I'm now 51, and I find myself contemplating another skateboard ride across America. This time with my 16 year old son Dylan. We would do the trek to raise awareness and research funds for Parkinson's Disease. My father is in the latter stages of this terrible disease, as is Larry Stevenson, founder of Makaha Skateboards and inventor of the kicktail.

As I read the postings from young skaters wanting to make long distance skateboard rides, I marvel at the amount of input they receive from other well meaning skaters. But I also wonder if the internet had been around in 1976 if I would have made that first trek, or would I have been frightened away by having too much information?

As the saying goes..."sometimes ignorance is bliss".

A few night ago I attended a screening of "Bustin Down the Door", a film about the early days of pro surfing, specifically the struggles of the Australian and South African surfers in Hawaii during the early to mid 1970's. One of the subjects of the film and executive producer Shaun Tomson was at the screening for a Q and A session and poster signing. Having always been a fan of Shaun, I waited around to get a poster signed, as did my girlfriend for her third grade class.

On her poster, Shaun wrote "Follow Your Dreams", good advice indeed.