short story: 1st run in 20+ years,ouch!

[goofy-foot]

[BASSCLEF_40]

[woodcock longboards]

Amen Brothers! At 42 with 1 in college and one 17, I am an amusing spectacle for my boys. The only thing I have going for me is, as a wrestling coach I can roll pretty easy. I built that nice board for the build off and was dying to try it. I have not skated much in 20+ years, that said, I decide to try it out in a small park nearby. I had put a little bit of time in on one of the other boards I built, so I am feeling pretty confident. My son drives us over, and makes a driving error, I over react and so we are both pissed at each other. Pulls into the parking lot and I jump out. He is not interested in getting out with me (he hates me for the moment, worst dad in the world, yada yada yada) I quickly walk to the top of the little hill and step on. You may have noticed in the pictures that I used a very non traditional layou for the trucks and shape. Well it steers non traditionally also. I find this out as I plummet toward the dirt and rock and hard left near the begining of this short run. Now I realize that I am not going to make the turn and try to out run it. Not going to happen. I quickly tuck and roll and pop back to my feet. tada! My son is half watching his stupid dad and sees me go by fine, looks down, looks back up, and only sees a cloud of dust and me standing like I am ready to tackle somebody (good body position). Two skinned knees, one sore wrist, one brush burned shoulder , and one laughing son (who was pissed at me just a moment before) priceless. The board is very mildly dinged up sadly.

[dragonfly67]

honey your gonna kill yerself

ah, but one will die happy. an' goofy foot, you were in pain, but you kept on going because you "were so happy"..i think that was a good sesh. you only get better if ya keep at it. as bassclef says, "i love to ride". so ya got to figure you are in good company. we feel your pain & and your longboard love..do we not? and i am starting to suspect that no matter how ace one becomes the pain & love don't go away.

[bean-a-reano]

Sweet, give yourself time to heal, and get back on. Wecome to the fish.

[hagendolch]

Were I to make a suggestion, I would suggest that if you have not already, you buy good bearings and fast wheels. Every time I do not buy Bones Swiss Labrinth (sp?), I have been disappointed. I usually go out and buy some after the fact anyway. Ditto on the wheels. For my money, both upgrades are well worth the money.

D

[tork]

The only thing I have going for me is, as a wrestling coach I can roll pretty easy.

i notice that too, like, my wrestling helps my longboarding, my longboarding helps my wrestling. Its a beautiful relationship. plus, if you think about it, a good offensive nuetral stance, when tweeked a bit, becomes the perfect tuck.

[goofy-foot]

[BASSCLEF_40]

[DEAthBYNoseRIDe]

no school like old school!!!!!!

[nick]

How I learned to coleman:

On a mellow section of hill, one where I would go ~15-18mph, I just started putting my all into real sharp turns.

The big number one to get into your head (was for me at least), is not only to put your hand down (with gloves on!) but you really have to put your weight on that hand!

Start the turn dragging your inside hand, then really lean on that hand once you're in the turn.

It's one of thosee things that only come from persistance.

Hope things go smoothly!

[dragonfly67]

cooooooooooool man ......

Chris what a wonderful post.

in all essence my youth...[&]...in my time growing up

I still am young, and in many ways I am still growing up. I have covered a lot of territory, but the road (blessedly) still curves a long way off into the distance.

(it was complete freedom).

And still is, this is one of the reasons I fell for skating. (aye! a pun!!)

i love.riding no matter how good or bad i am

Yup, the bottom line.The final word. Full stop (or, if you prefer, period). And mayhap a new signature....

[goofy-foot]

[leadfoot]

[Crappysurfer]

for me, skating or surfing makes the pain go away, even if the sport itself induced it

[funkyphreakout]

[flowboarder]

[leadfoot]

stretching exercies will help.....so will yoga! look up a video called Yoga for Surfers Vol I by Peggy Hall. Losing flexibility with aging is only half true, go with your mind and your body will follow.

Yeah man, Martial Arts also! I do Hapkido. We do alot of stretching, rolling and breakfalls, as well as wrist and joint locking (it hurts but ultimately strengthens your bones and joints). If it wasn't for HKD I wouldn't have had the strength or confidence after all these years to get back in Skating.

[Muttlips]

Yeah -- old dudes!! I'm right there with you -- I'll be 43 in a couple of weeks, and I've just gotten back into seriously skating this year. I skated as a teenager in the 70's, gave it up for a couple of decades, then I got a longboard (44" Fibreflex pintail) about 5 years ago and did a minor amount of casual cruising. Then this year I got into slalom racing, and I'm now totally hooked. I have about 10 boards at present, and have learned so much in this last year, and am having more fun than I could imagine. Skating is the best feeling.

At first I was very cautious, well aware the that my 42 year old bones won't bounce off the pavement with the same resilliance they had in days of yore. But full pads & helmet are very confidence inspiring, and I've managed to roll out of most of my falls pretty nicely (those 2 years of Aikido back in college must have helped!). And now I work hard to imporve my form & increase my speed. One thing I've learned from slalom that has helped my longboarding (ie, carving/bombing) is to significanly loosen the front truck for good turn initiation, and tighten the rear for stability. Helps a lot.

Skate hard, fall easy

[bpz]

Were I to make a suggestion, I would suggest that if you have not already, you buy good bearings and fast wheels. Every time I do not buy Bones Swiss Labrinth (sp?), I have been disappointed. I usually go out and buy some after the fact anyway. Ditto on the wheels. For my money, both upgrades are well worth the money.

D

Actually, bearings don't really matter. Convince yourself of this and your mind will stop playing tricks on you.