Just got kicked out of my routine runs!!!

[sky_net]

Today me and my friend were doing our normal runs in a park that is just outside our town. Now this place is a dream. It's a national historical park with lots of nice hills and just about freshly paved roads. Also because it's a park there are practically no cars whatsoever which also means the roads stay in good condition. My friend has been going there for the past three months and myself the past two months. It's such a relaxed environment because it's nice and quiet. The people who visit on weekdays are mostly locals, some of which we've gotten to know because we're regulars. It's honestly the best, safest thing we have going on around us and it's in our back yard.

We have had a couple run ins with park rangers, there are 3 different ones we've talked to. One is a real stuck up blonde guy who we've run into a couple of times, but both times we were already on our way out so he didn't say anything. The other guy we've gotten to know has a mustache but is really laid back. He explained that he doesn't really mind that we skate there cause we are virtually doing nothing to harm anyone or anything. He also warned us though that the other guy (the blonde one) is his boss, and that he can be kinda a b####. Now the times we encountered the rangers were in the first month and a half we were there because I think they were just making sure we weren't causing trouble.

Today we were just getting in the groove of our daily session when we were stopped by this nice old lady who was an off-duty ranger. She explained to us that we really weren't supposed to be there but she didn't have a problem with it. She was really more concerned about our safety because she didn't want us getting hit by a car. She explained that she and the other cool ranger with the mustache didn't have a problem with us being there, however the superintendent did. Turns out the blonde guy was also kinda of her boss and that he was not too fond of us being there either. She said that if he was to come today that we'd definitely be thrown out for good.

As fate would have it all but 20 minutes later the blonde guy pulled right up to us while we were hiking back up a hill. He told us that it was in the rules and that it was prohibited for us to skate within the park. When I tried to defend myself asking if it would be okay he just kept on interrupting me telling us that there are plenty of skateparks around. He finally told us to go online and e-mail the superintendent asking permission to skateboard, however he also mentioned "yeah but he'll probably say no anyway". Me and my friend had to leave, we checked in on the board in the beginning of the park and did notice it stated that skateboarding was prohibited.

What do we do? It's absolutely ridiculous that we can't skate here. Especially because we are doing absolutely nothing wrong whatsoever. We don't leave any trash, we aren't bringing illegal substances, we abide to the laws of the road and get COMPLETELY out of the way of any cars. This is honestly one of the best things we have. It's only two of us that skate there and we are trying to keep it that way for now so we don't completely blow it. Any advice would be helpful, because I feel like if I do send an e-mail and get officially told I cannot skate there, I'll be hosed.

[Ian]

#### happens. Laylow for a while and then go back. Now, I see your in jersey, where is this place?

[RipTide]

Do they allow bikes in the park? Anyplace there are bikes, we should be allowed! We are just a different form of transportation. I would contact the park and take the recreational / transportation approach.

[pepperdro]

the truth? Use your english skills to some good use. Write up a formal request to use the roads there. Explain in your letter exactly what it is you are doing, so they know that you aren't out trashing curbs or benches. Give hours, days, amount of people, perhaps some websites they can go to for longboard education? The more thorough you are in your request, the more impressed they will be by your attention to detail which means they will take you more seriously. Let them know that you are very adherent to public road safety, and that your main concern is to keep the historical park clean and well kept, so that they have nothing to refute. Advise them on the differences between longboard cruising and "shortboard thrashing". explain to them that you aren't leaving any trace of yourself on the park (i.e. wax, grind scrapes, ripped up grass). Ask for a "temporary waiver" so that you can be monitored for... a 3 month period? then say that if they deem your actions as harmful or negligent to the park, they can ban you from there. the biggest hassle you are going to have is convincing them you arent a couple of hoodlum "skater kids, just trying to cause a ruckus". Be sure you put names of people requesting permission to skate there, so that some punk a$$ kid doesn't go in one day and ruin all your hard work of looking decent. Be safe! If you havent been wearing safety gear- get some. at least a helmet to show that you are concerned about your safety and everyone eles's around you.

If you have any troubles with writing it out, pm me, and I can help you write it from a professional stand point. I have to write letters to officers on the daily with my job. I just need you to write the meat and potatoes so I can fine tune it. Remember- Project a professional, mature image, and people will always take your requests with more consideration.

(disregard any spelling or grammar erros in this post, i just got a cast on my hand today, and i am typing faster than i need to be, lol.)

hope this helps!

[sky_net]

#### happens. Laylow for a while and then go back. Now, I see your in jersey, where is this place?

I don't want to be mean but I'm not going to completely give it away cause I don't want other people to skate it and ruin it because of it's fragile stage right now. I live in morris county, and I'll just leave it at that.

pepperdro, that's what I was thinking about doing. I was even considering going to my local police station and inquiring into the laws of transportation to see what it says about use of skateboards on public roads to use that as an arguement. One of the rules did say that bikes were allowed, but only on the paved roads in which they followed NJ traffic laws. Me and my friend are probably going to write a letter explaining our use of the park. Even maybe having somebody come moderate us for an hour so they can see exactly what they're doing. Once again, I feel that people automatically put a stigma on any and all forms of skateboarding.

[longboardingrat]

keep trying.if they still say u cant skate there just protest it put up signs and stuff so people will notice and finaly they will get pissed off and let u skate there.thats what i would do.

[Wendler]

That really sucks, seems like a nice place.

Just write the super intendent an essay via email, or even better, go down there personally and talk to him and explain everything, stress the fact that you do nothing to harm the environment, that some of the rangers don't mind you and have stated so, and you can also go with "I don't think I have anywhere else to go that's as nice as this."

[Brute379]

My best advise...talk to the rangers that are cool, find out when the #$%^ has his shift and avoid those times..

Keep it on the down low for the time being..

[inneedofadervish]

keep trying.if they still say u cant skate there just protest it put up signs and stuff so people will notice and finaly they will get pissed off and let u skate there.thats what i would do.

i am the second skater that skates with sky_net and i have been going here for three months. i dont think that we would do this because this would be obnoxious and would not fly well with the superintendent or ranger rick (bondie) here. our purpose is not to make a scene because they would take this and use this against us saying this behavior and annoyance doesnt belong in the park. also our town is not the town that would really listen to kids like us. we're not even allowed to have a fast food restaurant in our town how gay! but if you mean peaceful protest and a sign here and there to make people aware of our situation then it is a good idea and it seems hard to piss them off because it is a historical place and the rangers are crazy except the nice old lady we met today and mr stache

thanks for the advice guys and keep trying to help us out

[inneedofadervish]

My best advise...talk to the rangers that are cool, find out when the #$%^ has his shift and avoid those times..

Keep it on the down low for the time being..

we actually know when this is and it is part of our plan as of now. we know the cool ranger is in on tuesdays so we are going to ask him tomorrow when ranger rick (blonde guy) is in and how we can avoid him. the nice ranger with the stache also helped us out by saying on the days that he is there tuesday and whatever other days he says, ranger rick leaves around five or six so we would be confined to a parking lot or an outside road until he leaves then we will mostly have the park to ourselves including some bikers, runners, and dog walkers

[snippers]

Since there is a sign posted, I don't see this working out in your benefit. :/

[cord13]

if you do go and talk to the people in person, treat it like a job interview. dress with some class (polo w/ khakis, nice shoes) just try to generally represent your self as a couple of upstanding young men.

[Arcadium]

I love how people say "oh well , we're just concerned about your safety." when we oftentimes are being as safe as possible. it drives me crazy, when i got kicked out of my routine spot that's what the lady said, and after about ten minutes she said it was "really about insurance... blah blah" I can totally understand but i'm wearing a helmet, i move into the grass for cars, and the road was public, with relatively few cars.

I don't know, I think people are more concerned for themselves, and their money than us.try to voice yourself to them as kind as possible in a letter. I don't think it'll work out, because at the end of the day they most likely don't want you there.
Sorry for being the negative ned, but seriously bro! get your spot back! around here i often see dog walkers, and bikers on streets... how are we worse than a potential rabid dog (lol joke) and a possibly uncoordinated biker (again joke)

[inneedofadervish]

once again i skate with sky_net and we are having this problem with our local historical park. it is an amazing place and cheers me up everyday and it is what i look foreward to everyday. the smooth roads and peaceful ambience is what i think about all day while at school. my day was instantly ruined when a ranger came up to us in the middle of our super great first completely dry session in about two weeks. he fed us this bulls**t that we can email the park and ask if we can skate, at the same time interrupting my friend whenever he tried to defend us. also hinting that the email would do nothing... but we should still try. the main thing that made me angry was his misunderstanding of what we were doing there. he kept asking us if we knew any local skateparks. we're not skateboarders we longboard and his lack of knowledge of longboarding and his failure to listen to what we were really doing there and what our sessions consisted of really ticked me off. also we wear HELMETS all the time and never cause a ruckus. we actually have made friends with 50 year old ladies that walk the park haha. so proving we're nice and dont bother people. i am sort of rambling and not making too much sence because this is so frustrating to me and bothers me so much. where will i find other amazing roads like this? why didnt we walk a little slower so that the ranger missed us and drove by? what is so wrong with longboarding in a public park? if anyone has anymore suggestions or advice please help us out our longboarding adventures must go on at this wonderful place that someone is trying to take away from us!

also the cool ranger with the stache is on our side mostly. he said that he worked in love park in philly as a park ranger there for like five years and has worked with skateboarders like tony hawk and other popular names. he understands our situation and says that in philly no one would bother us as long as we dont bother them. he was suprised that our town has such strict rules and he knows were just here for fun. he also said that he used to skateboard and used to have some vision boards and some alligator board or something(real 80's stuff). just trying to give out the facts so if anyone can help and has a great idea dont hesitate to tell us.

ps. ignore the runons and bad spelling i got carried away and babled alot and i hope this kinda makes sense

[DuckyQuaxx]

this happened to me at my local hill we always skate

the police said i couldnt skate there because of street code
i said what is it and what am i doing wrong and he said, if you want to argue you can have a ticket

and if i ride my board 20 feet to get my backpack he will give me a ticket
later i called the station and they told me there so no street code and isnt against the law to skate there

the cop lied to me what a dick

FTP!!!!

[inneedofadervish]

if you do go and talk to the people in person, treat it like a job interview. dress with some class (polo w/ khakis, nice shoes) just try to generally represent your self as a couple of upstanding young men.

we were thinking of doing this and possibly asking for personal passes or something that would allow just us to skate the park. if we can prove we are just there for recreation and fun and if they like us.

[inneedofadervish]

this happened to me at my local hill we always skate

the police said i couldnt skate there because of street code
i said what is it and what am i doing wrong and he said, if you want to argue you can have a ticket

and if i ride my board 20 feet to get my backpack he will give me a ticket
later i called the station and they told me there so no street code and isnt against the law to skate there

the cop lied to me what a dick

FTP!!!!

wow that guy sounds like a real a$$ haha i hope you got to skate your local hill and i hope that cop got caught trying to plant weed on an innocent kid and kicked off the force

[inneedofadervish]

also me and sky_net have filmed a couple of times what we have done. does anyone think it is a good idea to send some of this film to them via email to show why we are there and that we are just there for fun like everyone else that goes to the park..?

[Wendler]

also me and sky_net have filmed a couple of times what we have done. does anyone think it is a good idea to send some of this film to them via email to show why we are there and that we are just there for fun like everyone else that goes to the park..?

Only the clips of you two quietly riding along, no super-fast downhill screaming clips and whatnot.

[Brute379]

I will reiterate...talk to the cool rangers... if they are on your side any presentation, letter etc will go much more in your regard than otherwise.

If stache ranger has worked in other parks with boarders and no issues he can be a great asset in any public dealings with authority.