Another rant on the non-issue of age...

**skategeezer** · 05-23-2008 06:30 AM

Was going to blog this, but wanted to open it up wide open for discussion..

The facts:

1. your body may feel old, but if your mind is young, you're young

2. with so many folks getting into or back into skateboarding, age is less of an issue - why? because this weekend I met DOZENS of people whose PARENTS are closer to my age than I am to their age. I relate better to most 22 year olds (1/2 my age) than I do most 54 year olds.

end of rant.

**Ogre** · 05-23-2008 06:32 AM

Age is in the eye of the be older.. Or something along those lines.

**elementalzoo** · 05-23-2008 07:23 AM

You're FIFTY-FOUR?!!!!!

Just joking 'kid-o'

What's the difference between 'relating' to guys half your age and just creeping the heck out of them?

Sorry, couldn't resist....the whole non-issue/issue age thing is just too funny..

**mangels** · 05-23-2008 07:52 AM

I can relate. Most of my friends started out as my kid's friends first. The young "mind set" is the key. They say you're only as old as you feel, but I disagree. You're only as old as you THINK. Infirmity has to be THOUGHT before it can be FELT. Growing old has never been something that has ever entered in to my mind. I've kept on doing all the same stuff I've always done, plus I've experienced some new things too as I rolled through my 40's. I just competed in my first ever power-lifting competition last month and took 2nd place in both the bench press and deadlift events.

If I think of myself as an old guy that still does young guy stuff, that's totally mising the point. I'm just a guy that does stuff.

**Ogre** · 05-23-2008 08:01 AM

I'd like to think that instead of being considered "old" . We should be considered "mature" And that no matter our activities and passions, we simply accomplish them with a more learned and wiser way.

**Poseur Pete** · 05-23-2008 08:05 AM

You're not old. You're old school.

**Ogre** · 05-23-2008 08:11 AM

Why,... thank you..... Ya lil' punk! hehehehe.

**retroflyer** · 05-23-2008 09:31 AM

Personally, I've come to the conclusion it's not how old you feel, or how old you think you are. It's how old you act. The minute you start to play it safe and weigh the risks more than the reward is the minute you start to die.

My best friend in the world is 91, and flew fighters as a ferry pilot in WWII (she actually completed pursuit school, so she's a genuine fighter pilot even though women were barred from combat). Two years ago she jumped with the army's Golden Knights parachute team. Last year she hang glided. She's my hero, absolutely.

Funny aside:
Was pushing her out of the hospital in a rules-mandated wheelchair last week. I'd skated over, had to carry my board somehow so she had it laying across the chair's armrests like a tray table. When she saw someone staring at her in the lobby she said, "I came in here on this thing, and I'm leaving in a wheelchair. What does this tell you?"

She's still full of spit. If I'm like her when I'm half her age I'll be doing okay.

**TIMORNE** · 05-23-2008 10:06 AM

I don't think of age as a number,I think time of improvment.
My 68 camero is faster now than when it was new.Im a better/smarter skater now than when
I was 20,just my pool sesh are shorter and not as extreme.My sons friends always ask when Im going skating,cause they always want to join us.
Have You Rode Your Board Today!!!

**TwinTown Skater** · 05-23-2008 01:22 PM

You get old and it's time for the dirt nap. Who knows, maybe Juan Ponce de Leon should have been looking for lean to steer rather than water.

**RastamanD** · 05-23-2008 01:25 PM

dude you guys always get me stoked.

**shadow9** · 05-23-2008 01:29 PM

It's just a number.
I'm in a better shape now (42) then when I was 25, and I climb harder (rockclimbing) I never stopped since 1985. Skating is just something new to learn, actually I took the longboard to keep up in snowboarding shape during summer..then discovered skate parks.

I have friends WAY strong climbers at 46, kickin ass of people half their age. A friend that at 76 sails regularly, sometimes alone, comes to your party and sleeps in his car if he doesn;'t feel like driving back to Sac, and can keep up all night drinking and jocking.

Keep in shape and don't worry about your age...

**thatlondon** · 05-23-2008 01:38 PM

The whole age thing is just a whole load of carp (not the fish but misspelled). I have much more fun skating now I don't have to save for a month to buy new bearings or shoes.

The majority are just damn boring who have forgotten what its like to have fun, they use age as an excuse. I'll be riding a board as long as I'm able and screw anyone who says I'm to old.

Nic

**breamo** · 05-23-2008 01:45 PM

You don't quite skateboarding because you're old....

....you're old, because you quit skateboarding.

**Mile_High_Mark** · 05-23-2008 01:45 PM

It is a non-issue.

Move along people, nothing to see...

**Slim** · 05-23-2008 04:06 PM

I used to think it was all about feeling young, but have recently been shown that negative effects of age can't be controlled by just thinking I'm young. Age was certainly a factor in being breaking my arm: when younger I never would have fallen in the first place because I rarely if ever messed up a frontside grind and if I did my recovery skills (i.e. getting my feet under me and regaining balance) were so much better that I would have been able to just run it out no problem; and even if i'd have fallen I doubt I'd have broken my arm. But a 40 year old body isn't the same as a 20 year old body. Especially after all the wear and tear I've put on it.

I'm certainly not giving up surfing or skating, but I'm no longer under any illusions that I'll be as injury free as I once was.

**shadow9** · 05-23-2008 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by thatlondon

The whole age thing is just a whole load of carp (not the fish but misspelled). I have much more fun skating now I don't have to save for a month to buy new bearings or shoes.

The majority are just damn boring who have forgotten what its like to have fun, they use age as an excuse. I'll be riding a board as long as I'm able and screw anyone who says I'm to old.

Nic

Exactly my point.

**shadow9** · 05-23-2008 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by thatlondon

The whole age thing is just a whole load of carp (not the fish but misspelled). I have much more fun skating now I don't have to save for a month to buy new bearings or shoes.

The majority are just damn boring who have forgotten what its like to have fun, they use age as an excuse. I'll be riding a board as long as I'm able and screw anyone who says I'm to old.

Nic

Originally Posted by Slim

I used to think it was all about feeling young, but have recently been shown that negative effects of age can't be controlled by just thinking I'm young. Age was certainly a factor in being breaking my arm: when younger I never would have fallen in the first place because I rarely if ever messed up a frontside grind and if I did my recovery skills (i.e. getting my feet under me and regaining balance) were so much better that I would have been able to just run it out no problem; and even if i'd have fallen I doubt I'd have broken my arm. But a 40 year old body isn't the same as a 20 year old body. Especially after all the wear and tear I've put on it.

I'm certainly not giving up surfing or skating, but I'm no longer under any illusions that I'll be as injury free as I once was.

Absolutely..that is why I spent about 130$ in pads...stay away from trick and learn slowly, without pushing it.
Went trought the same pattern with snowboarding 4 years ago, but again...snow is softer than concrete

Right now if I feel sketchy on something I just bail...I avoid small parks and have the luck to have the san Jose one at 20 min drive...Huge features, a lot of time to plan what to do..and the head to quit when you feel tired, that as in snowboarding, is that when you risk to fall the most.

But then again...we're not playing bocce...

**elementalzoo** · 05-24-2008 07:37 AM

I really feel like this topic has been done to death on so many levels. It's a continually recurring topic anywhere old schoolers hang out. The groms don't sit around talking about this stuff.

Look, in this sport, like any sport with a high risk to pain ratio, you'll never be what you were at twenty. Everyone gets that.

I love seeing this one old dude still surfing but it's even better that he's totally comftorable with the fact that he is an old dude and isn't worried about trying to be accepted by nor in competition with the young guns. He doesn't nag them with 'back in the day' stories or try to coach them or anything else that smacks of,"Hey look, I can ACT young and so I'm cool still..". And when he does pull the occasional sick manuever, it stands out that much more.

At a certain point it's better to add a little class to your repoirtoire vs clinging by your bare knuckles to any year prior to the age of 25

The guys at the park who are most snickered at when they're out of earshot are the ones who are desperatly trying to keep up with or ingratiate themselves to the younger shredders.

Now, is the horse finally dead yet?