when did you come to the realization you were hooked?

[skategeezer]

As many of you know, the summer of 1975 is when I started skating. I look back on that time with a lot of fond memories...but there is no doubt that from the minute I got my clay wheeled board, I was hooked.

Yes, you read that correctly...clay wheels IN 75!

Brutal.

Despite this, I kept skateboarding...and I think the moment for me was just bombing down the hill outside my house.

I recall spray painting the deck gold...and going to the hardware store to find "grip tape" (which, if I recall was anti slip tape for the bath!)

I rolled a little bit out of skating back in 81 - hello music, women and well, I won't get into details...

then in 85, I got firmly hooked...until 90...then in 95, longboards took over and I've been in a fog of skateboarding ever since and loving it.

[AngryGumball]

My longboard addiction just started last year so I'm still sort of a 'newb' trick-wise...but for me, it's all about the ride and what seems to be the 'laid back' environment instead of stressing being able to do a trick to be 'cool.' So, here's pretty much how it started...
<<Long Read Ahead>>
My cousin got this old school deck for Christmas when I was like in the 1st grade, and I thought that if you had a skateboard, you were 'cool' as that's what the image seemed to be around here. So I whip out this green platform with blue wheels that was for my Waffle Blocks (Those who grew up in the 90's would probably recognize these building toys) and try to skate on it, though I would mimic that I'm surfing on it.

Long time rolls by, like any other kid, I rode my bike and rollerblades around...

1997 (7th grade) my cousin bought this oldschool flea market skateboard, all of my friends around the block had skateboards, and an old one was given to me...it just needed wheels. If I recall, it was some old Nash board, single kicktail, if it even had one, shaped similarly to the Classic 29. It had this wizard on the bottom of it, that was all chipping off. I put old rollerskate wheels on it and learned to ride it. Several months down the road, my mom surprises me with a shiny new skateboard, with metal trucks. (The Nash one had plastic) Not knowing much about skating and just wanting something new to ride, I thought this board was the best ever. It was a Variflex with PVC wheels. After a while, I kinda took a break from it, maybe a year or so...then one of my friends got into trick skating and knew somewhat how to Ollie. He tought me and skating revived it's self...though getting a decent roll was hard as it had PVC wheels. Ultimate suckage. My friend did a monster ollie on my variflex when I was in the house when I hear this loud 'bang!' sound...even set off the car alarm. In a way, I was glad because my old worn out board was now ready to be upgraded to something better...sorta...

Several years of street skating, and realized my time for skating and learning tricks wasn't there so I stopped for several years, doing an occasional ollie here and there. Finally, my bro comes up to me and tells me that he wants to get a banana board (he was meaning Longboard but he didn't quite know). I decided to get one as well as our sidewalks here now suck for regular street skating on. From originally something to have to get to and from work with became an addiction, and then ventured into making mini's as I still haven't found any place with decent wood to support weight for a longboard. So now, I'm pretty much hooked, still using for transportation due to insane gas prices, but am attempting to learn to walk the deck.

[beestoney87]

i realized i was hooked on longboarding when just one longboard wasnt enough. i now have 6 boards and 2 more in the mail/waiting to be shipped lol. it has become my life.

[nicthekid220]

i got hooked in 3rd grade. i started out on street, but always sucked at it. then around 5th grade i got tired of skating because i wasnt progressing in the "street skating" i started riding my bike more, but i didnt quit skating. so in the 6th grade i started skating again but i still sucked.
then the summer after 6th grade my older brother put together a longboard he had made in wood shop. it had old school ACS 900 trucks (9") that he had pulled off his old santa cruz everslick pool board. and 2 sims wheels in the back and 2 vision "shredder" wheels. the board was 39.5" long and about 6.5" wide. thats where my brother fukkked up. he didnt like the board cause it was too narrow. so he gave it to me. and ive been longboarding since.

[toro]

I think injuries helped me realize it. I had been on any skateboard for less than 2 hours when I bought my first board, a S9 Luke Nosewalker. A buddy and I messed around for a little bit then went to a decent 20 - 30 mph hill. I had no pads, no helmet, hadn't even tightened the shortboard style trucks it came with. I got up to about 20, got speed wobbles, for some reason leaned backwards and fell off the board. Got pretty lucky, I ruined a crappy shirt and had some decent road rash but that was all. A few days later, after reading about longboarding a bit, tightening my trucks, and rounding up some safety gear I was back out there. The next time I realized I was hooked was after I hurt my ankle. I cut the corner on a sidewalk and the left front wheel (and the board) stopped immediately when it hit the grass. My foot was almost totally sideways so I rolled my ankle hard, straining/spraining my ligament(s). I went to the hospital (on crutches) and got a hard plastic/gel wrap thing. In a week or two I started skating again even though my ankle was still purple/pink/yellow/brown. Defying common sense for a hobby is a good sign of addiction.

[jlmitch]

Defying common sense for a hobby is a good sign of addiction.

Funny, but so, so true.

I was hooked when I didn't even have my longboard yet, but I remembered what it felt like when I was riding four years ago. And I get cranky if I don't ride for a few days.

[Xgecko]

I knew I was hooked way b4 the 80's but it gets re enforced pretty regularly...for instance, last month I gave my 39year old brother a Hypercarve Complete just so it would get used

[TexasBomber]

After selling all my star wars crap to buy a 1984 Powell Peralta Tony Hawk with tracker 6 tracks and Bones III (PP3's). And my older brothers basball cards to buy a 1985 Jeff Phillips Sims Epoxy w/ Gullwings and Bones Mini Cubics. Damn, I wish I had held on to them.

[Justin K]

after trying to learn a cross step i got hooked, now i can cross step all of my boards

[speshlspeclsteak]

it gets reinforced fairly regularly and the most recent was last week when i spent my lunch money on some lemon jimz bushings from karrot. but the big one was when i stopped complaining about having to walk up hills and stuff like that.

[gricco]

after trying to learn a cross step i got hooked, now i can cross step all of my boards

to me, cross stepping just isn't fun
yes, i can do it almost flawlessly, it just still seems boring
idk

[ZampraZ]

first ride

[Alc]

[Chrispy23]

'84, Moved from Jersey to So Cali. No car, so I bought a Santa Cruz Rob Roskoff, Indy's, and slime balls and skated everywhere. Before that I had to deal with paranoid parents even though I skimboarded and played Ice Hockey and broke bones at both.

Other diversions keep me off the board til about 8 years ago when I bough a re-issue of my old board and got hooked again, of course the Fish feeds it.

Wish I didn't "grow-up" in my 20-30's and keep at it.

[SteveC]

About 2 mins into my first ride.
Bought a board as soon as I had the cash. (Think - Joel Tudor)

It's funny though, I think that I've gotten more obsessed with it since I can't get out and do it as much...

[MJKam11]

I started by lugeing on my friends Gravity 43" carver and then I bought my Nosewalker to buttboard on and then I moved on to just riding it and standup DH and all that, and I would say ever since I got my Evo i've been firmly hooked, before that I didn't really pay attention to anything I did. And about a month and a half ago I found out how awesome sliding is and bought a slide deck so now i'm always able to go and learn something.

[SoulRoland]

The day I joined this website.

[claude regnier]

For me it was when I seen it on TV. A few weeks later at a friends birthday party I spotted thing hanging in the rafters and asked what it was.

My buddy said that's a skateboard that's what we we're watching on TV. That was it.

[Fuupoo]

I realized I was hooked when, after not riding a couple of days, found myself sitting on my bench spinning the wheels for like half an hour. One thing I hate is that when you can't ride a new board for a couple of days ( for whatever reason) you feel you might have wasted your money...

[Parallel Man]

Yes, you read that correctly...clay wheels IN 75!

Mike,

That's what I rode for the first time in '75. Maybe it was the same circumstance?

When skateboarding came back Sears & Roebuck had a BUNCH of NOS Roller Derby skateboards in their warehouse that had been gathering dust for 10 years. They pulled them out and put them on sale for like $12.

A friend of mine got one for his 14th birthday. He got the board on Friday and the guy who gave it to him taught my friend to ride. I was at his house on Saturday for his birthday party and he taught me to ride. I've been hooked ever since.

I was so hyped on riding that board that the next weekend I came home from doing something and there was a brand new Roller Sports lexan-decked board laying on my bed. My parents had seen it somewhere and grabbed it for me.

My friend who got the board for his birthday is STILL a good friend who lives here in town. I always refer to him as "the guy who taught me to skateboard" and he always feigns some sort of false modesty at the accolade.