OT: Any carvers who skateboard?

[utahcarver]

There's been the thread here on BOL asking how many of us carvers surf. How many of you ride a skateboard and what discipline do you practice? Pool, park, pipe, vert ramp, street, slalom, downhill, speed, luge, buttboard, longboarding, etc. I don't want to steal any thunder from ncdsa.com but, not everyone who skateboards has access to snowboarding or hardbooting.

My personal disciplines are in order: park riding, slalom, and longboarding. My local park has several 'forever' lines that provide that 'freeride' that most of us crave. Skating cones helps keep the focus on timing and keeping my eyes up. Finally, longboarding is just plain relaxing to ride up in the mountains, or even to get around town.

I know that some of you are slalom addicts and even champions! So, speak up and stop whining about no snow!

[Neil Gendzwill]

Same as you - park, slalom, longboard. I just haven't had much time to get out this year.

[D-Sub]

used to street skate every single day of my life from about 85 til 95-96. ditches, backyard pools, minis. Never really that good at vert skating. I get dizzy.

kinda fell out of it. now all the parks around here pretty much suck

Ive always wondered about your avatar though...maybe theres an explanation?

anyway...I figure if I get somewhere near some good concrete I can re-learn a few things...find some of those "forever" lines

[NateW]

I skated a lot from about 87-93 and then kinda went into remission. But a nice bowl got built about 30 minutes from where I live, and I was going there 2-3 times a week in May and June. Then I messed up my back landscaping. Then I sprained my ankle on a friend's new mini-ramp. Now I'm getting back into it. It sucks being old, but it's nice to have a bunch of new stuff to ride.

I just got back from carving the hill in front of my house. Seismic trucks are just awesome, carving this hill feels a LOT like carving on a snowboard. Cross-over, cross-under, it's all there. There are some other novel truck designs on the market too but Seismic is the only kind I've tried so far... it's such a huge improvement over the classic truck design, it's incredible. Less less wobbly at speed, yet turns 180 in about six feet. Super cool. Might try me some Exkates before the summer is up.

[utahcarver]

D-Sub,

Now that I take a look at the avatar, I think I understand what your question is. I'm kickturning on a spine which seperates two cement bowls. That's why you see two lines of coping. Most skaters transfer back and forth across this spine, I ust like to kickturn on it.

Mark

[Baka Dasai]

I used to skate a lot from the age of about 8 to 12. I lived on a big old hill with beautifully smooth asphalt and almost no traffic. Every day after school I'd be out there with the neighbourhood kids carving the hill. At the top it was so steep that I remember having to bring my turns back up the hill for a short while in order to get my speed down before plunging back down the fall line.

But for some reason I gave it up when I entered high school (I think it was because my board fell in a full pool, and the bearings went rusty).

I realise now that my whole thing with snowboarding has been about trying to replicate my childhood experiences carving down that old hill.

Anyway, after a 24-year break from skating, last year I bought myself a skateboard. I'm carving hills and pumping flats and it's been great except for a bit of lost skin. I'm dying to get back to my old childhood hill to see if it's the same as I remember it, but it's a 10-hour flight away.

[Dave Winters]

Skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, it's all good. Certainly not "off topic".
Childish rancor, computer geeks making up names to post anonymously, name calling,... THAT's off topic. Sorry, my $0.02.
I grew up skating, my first board had metal !!! wheels. A store bought skateboard with metal wheels. Then the composite wheels, we called 'em clay wheels.
I made my own longboard before you could buy them and we used to ride down Rabbit Ears Pass on full moon nights. 7 miles worth of bottom turns.
Now I have a Mountainboard, took the straps off and use it on pavement only. Wow! Wish I had this thing back in the day on the pass.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Expanding a bit... I started skating in 1976. The first halfpipe in our town was in my backyard (thanks, Dad). Went to Canadian nationals in '79 competing in slalom and freestyle, but bailed on the freestyle when I saw the talent I was up against (future pros). Got 7th in the slalom I think. Slowed down skating in the early 80's, then back on it hard around '85. Lots of street, some halfpipe. Published the local 'zine, highlight of which was interviewing Lance and Cab. Got married and moved to Calgary in '88. Nobody to skate with, but the snowboarding was pretty good in Banff so did that instead. Moved back here in '90 and have kept my hand in ever since. I don't skate a whole lot, but as mentioned before I've got park, slalom and longboard setups. Rekindled my love for slalom a few years ago when I found ncdsa. The city operates a small halfpipe in the summers, so I setup a new park board for that. They opened a nice outdoor concrete park here last fall with a little pool, unfortunately I haven't had much time to skate it. When I do, it's strictly all the old tricks - I don't skate enough to learn much these days, and prefer not to rack myself up as I have other responsibilities now. The old tricks are new to the young kids anyways - not too many of them have seen berts and cess slides, and of course my style of grinding is still pure 70s, body even with the lip rather than on top like the younguns.

[D-Sub]

Originally posted by utahcarver
D-Sub,

Now that I take a look at the avatar, I think I understand what your question is. I'm kickturning on a spine which seperates two cement bowls. That's why you see two lines of coping. Most skaters transfer back and forth across this spine, I ust like to kickturn on it.

Mark

heh, actually...no offense or anything, but I was wondering why you used a picture of you kickturning. didnt even notice the coping:)

[utahcarver]

D-Sub,

Much like N. Gendzwill's post says about being older, I'm in the same boat. I've skated off and on since 1975 (since Kona Skatepark's opening day in Jacksonville, Florida) and if I pace myself, I've got many more years ahead of me. The only reason I chose that photo was that it was the only digital photo I had of myself skating recently. Also, I sometimes think we as skaters forget the simple thrill of just 'turning off the top'. That brief moment of weightlessness is very heady sometimes.

BTW, I'm not very good at airs but I really enjoy the oldschool slides and park carving.

Mark

[Ghostrider]

I've been a skater for a while, started back in my teen years (ok..so that was 5 years ago, but you guys are all talkin about back in the day...I wasnt around then...). But we used to wax up curbs and skate right next to the "No Skateboarding" signs. I was even banned for life from my local university for skating on campus...they havent noticed that I'm a student there now...hopefully they dont notice before I graduate.

But I quit for a long time when I tore my ACL and never had the gusto to get back in and work on kick flips and nollies. But just a few weeks ago, I got a longboard (insect w/ seismics and flashbacks) and I LOVE IT! After I got it, my buddy was watching me bomb and carve some hills and asked me if I had ever seen Dogtown & Z-Boys...I never had, so I rented it. The next day I bought the DVD and have watched it way too many times. I cant get enough of it. But I made a goal of doing good berts a la Jay Adams before the summer is over. Do you guys have any suggestions for me on how to do em?? Is there a certain surface that works better or do you just throw them anywhere?

[Neil Gendzwill]

That movie nailed the feeling of the times exactly. When they interviewed those guys who were talking about how Skateboarder Magazine connected all the people to the big scene in California? Yeah, just like that, even in Canada. "The Mag" was it. Now of course skating is global and there are hot riders everywhere but back then California was it. Who knew so many people were having the same experience I was? I was 15 years old, pasting pictures of the magazine on my wall, poring over every word of every article, dreaming of the equipment in the Val Surf ads (no shops where I lived)...

[D-Sub]

Originally posted by utahcarver
D-Sub,

Much like N. Gendzwill's post says about being older, I'm in the same boat. I've skated off and on since 1975 (since Kona Skatepark's opening day in Jacksonville, Florida) and if I pace myself, I've got many more years ahead of me. The only reason I chose that photo was that it was the only digital photo I had of myself skating recently. Also, I sometimes think we as skaters forget the simple thrill of just 'turning off the top'. That brief moment of weightlessness is very heady sometimes.

BTW, I'm not very good at airs but I really enjoy the oldschool slides and park carving.

Mark

yeah...just a slight ribbing.

man...I saw footage of Andy McDonald doing a ONE FOOTED backside smith grind the other day. or was it Bob Burnquist...

either way it was sick. Ive never been an air guy...always loved lip tricks. neil blender, jeff grosso, john lucero...those were the guys I loved to watch on the transitions.

hell I even used to be able to do hurricanes on mini ramps...frontside slide n rolls...

last time I skated a vert ramp I was surprised to find I could still do rock n rolls but aside from some cess slides that was about it. Even turnin frontside felt weird.

wasted youth;)

[Neil Gendzwill]

I think Burnquist does the one-footed Smiths, that's just sick.

[utahcarver]

D-Sub,

I'll take all the good-natured ribbing. Though I wouldn't be caught dead boardsliding a rail, I do enjoy flatland freestyle from time to time. You know, 360 spinners, nose wheelies (nose manual), one-footed nose manuals, nose manual spins, etc. Here's an oldie but goodie, go out on a smooth street in your town and push as fast as you can and swing your upper body, then hips and slide on your heelside with all four wheels sliding and come out switch and keep rolling. Usually works with 85a durometer wheel or harder. I think these used to be called Ty slides, after Ty Page. A longer board (34" or longer) helps, too.

In fact, if you can get good at Ty slides, the feeling will closely approximate what feels like to go back to softboots and a noodle-roni board.

Mark

[northcoast]

I just started skating again after about a year, more important things like snowboarding and then surgery take up a lot of time. I love talking to guys who are older than me (I just turned 30)that still skate talk about "the old days". :p I started skatin' in the '80's strictly street with some launch ramps. When we moved to the sticks when I was in jr. high I was stuck riding on the side of a two lane highway or in my basement with half of pingpong table propped up against the wall on each end of the room. When we finally moved into "town" I was lucky enough to make friends with a kid who had a mini ramp a couple of blocks away. The only decent park was in Seattle 2.5 hours away. Now there are loads of parks including a new one that just opened within 10 min. of home. (Nate, have you skated Woodinville yet?) Hmm.. forgot where I was going with this...oh yeah. How old is too old? It's all relative. To me the future of alpine riding is similiar to the future of skateboarding. As older guys go to longboards in skateboarding it's kind of like people trading in there soft boots for hard ones.
________
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[D-Sub]

Originally posted by Neil Gendzwill
I think Burnquist does the one-footed Smiths, that's just sick.

hell yeah theyre amazing

[D-Sub]

Originally posted by utahcarver
D-Sub,

I'll take all the good-natured ribbing. Though I wouldn't be caught dead boardsliding a rail, I do enjoy flatland freestyle from time to time. You know, 360 spinners, nose wheelies (nose manual), one-footed nose manuals, nose manual spins, etc. Here's an oldie but goodie, go out on a smooth street in your town and push as fast as you can and swing your upper body, then hips and slide on your heelside with all four wheels sliding and come out switch and keep rolling. Usually works with 85a durometer wheel or harder. I think these used to be called Ty slides, after Ty Page. A longer board (34" or longer) helps, too.

In fact, if you can get good at Ty slides, the feeling will closely approximate what feels like to go back to softboots and a noodle-roni board.

Mark

even better yet, throw one of those slides in a ditch or on a mini ramp;)

[NateW]

Haven't been to Woodinville but I've heard it's fun. I just bruised my knee pretty bad tonight but when I'm able to skate again we should hook up.

[joecarve]

My parents wouldn't let me have a skateboard in 7th grade ("you'll kill yourself"), so I was always begging rides on my friend's Hang Ten. Dear god, that thing was squirelly - loosen the trucks enough to make tight turns and speed wobbles arrived alarming early. Aim for the curb and tuck-and-roll in the grass, or try to run off the speed with Superman giant strides? Tough call.

Now look what I keep in the trunk of my car, always ready ride. Way, way better than anything I ever set foot on in the '70s...so smooth and stable. And I can even footbrake now. Don't tell my parents.

[lonerider]

I was actually a rollerblader in my youth (90s).


Originally posted by joecarve
My parents wouldn't let me have a skateboard in 7th grade ("you'll kill yourself"), so I was always begging rides on my friend's Hang Ten. Dear god, that thing was squirelly - loosen the trucks enough to make tight turns and speed wobbles arrived alarming early. Aim for the curb and tuck-and-roll in the grass, or try to run off the speed with Superman giant strides? Tough call.

Now look what I keep in the trunk of my car, always ready ride. Way, way better than anything I ever set foot on in the '70s...so smooth and stable. And I can even footbrake now. Don't tell my parents.

Joe, so where do you ride in SJ? Any really really mellow wide roads? I just got a loaded vanguard (http://www.loadedboards.com) and am puttering around my apartment parking lot and the hill near my house.

It's like relearning how to snowboard as even the slightest pitches seem crazy fast to me. I think the lack of footstraps and extreme negative of falling have contributed to this lack of confidence.

I'm going to try Canada road on Sunday (closed to cars) as it looks good.

[NateW]

Joecarve, how do the Randals compare to the Seismics? I have Seismics on two boards and am thinking about trying Randals just for grins.

[northcoast]

Originally posted by lonerider
It's like relearning how to snowboard as even the slightest pitches seem crazy fast to me. I think the lack of footstraps and extreme negative of falling have contributed to this lack of confidence.


That's how I feel about trying to railslides and grinds after surgery. If I only had those hooks that you could mount using the truck hardware. Do they still make those for mt. boards? I know you used to be able to get them with those big Tonka lookin' mudder wheels.
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[joecarve]

Originally posted by lonerider
I was actually a rollerblader in my youth (90s).



Joe, so where do you ride in SJ? Any really really mellow wide roads? I just got a loaded vanguard (http://www.loadedboards.com) and am puttering around my apartment parking lot and the hill near my house.

It's like relearning how to snowboard as even the slightest pitches seem crazy fast to me. I think the lack of footstraps and extreme negative of falling have contributed to this lack of confidence.

I'm going to try Canada road on Sunday (closed to cars) as it looks good.

I mostly kick around on flat streets either downtown at lunch (where it's illegal to skateboard, btw - it's actually a crime) or in open parking lots whenever I find one that's nice and smooth. For downhill, there's a residential street near my house in SW SJ that's the Hole-N-Wall run of downhill skateboarding: just steep enough to get some decent turns in, but mellow enough to kick your way back up...about a quarter-mile in length. I do some pre-season training there in the fall.

Get a helmet and wrist guards as a bare minimum for safety...elbow and knee pads are a really good idea as well. Start skating on something that's dead flat or slightly uphill. It's definitely dicey at first, but keep at it and it will become second nature pretty quickly.

joe...

[joecarve]

Originally posted by NateW
Joecarve, how do the Randals compare to the Seismics? I have Seismics on two boards and am thinking about trying Randals just for grins.

Far better comparisons than mine on ncdsa of course, but nevertheless: I had the Randals first and still really like them. The Seismics are probably more stable for an equivalent level of looseness, but the Randals are easier to adjust. I think the Randals soak up vibrations a bit more through the bushing. Seismics are silent in turning (no squeak like you sometimes get through traditional trucks), but they are a bit louder going over uneven pavement.

Definitely worth having just for grins. Note that you mount them with the kingpins facing out...if you mount them the normal way, they turn the opposite direction in which you lean (generally undesirable).

When you order them, also get yellow Stimulator and Indy bushings to replace the stock Randall bushings, which should be thrown away. Set them up this way (http://www.geocities.com/dpkumph/Randal_Trucks.htm) , which is basically following original suggestions from PSR, I believe. Huge difference. I also use stainless steel fender washers in place of the Randall bushing cups, which also should be tossed (they cut into the bushing).

While I'm at it: I've had 3 sets of wheels - 70mm/75a Abec11 Flashbacks, 76mm/75a Abec11 Gumballs, and 75a 3dm Avalons. The Gumballs will roll over just about anything with ease, but take longer to spool up...I think I prefer the Flashbacks for kicking around, but there's extra safety in the Gumballs for hills. I really like the Avalons, though they're better suited for smooth pavement. I've ridden 3dm Avilas on a 44" FibreFlex Pintail - absolutely huge wheels, but kinda cool on a big board...also happier on smooth pavement, I think.

joe...

[lonerider]

Originally posted by northcoast
That's how I feel about trying to railslides and grinds after surgery. If I only had those hooks that you could mount using the truck hardware. Do they still make those for mt. boards? I know you used to be able to get them with those big Tonka lookin' mudder wheels.

Do you mean these (https://www.wsdsecure2.com/secure/freebord/shop/index.cfm?body=detail&catid=2&id=7) ?


Originally posted by northcoast
Get a helmet and wrist guards as a bare minimum for safety...elbow and knee pads are a really good idea as well.

I have all of that... but I'm currently using slider gloves (no back bracing) instead of wrist guards... should I wear guards as well/instead?

For a full gear setup (thanks to the awesome people at
Purple Skunk (http://www.purpleskunk.com) who let you demo pretty much everything before buying (decks, trucks, wheels, bearings). I'm riding 70mm ABEC11 GRIPPINS (81a) which are center cored and supposedly a cross between the flashback and the gumball in feel (and slidable at 81a I'm told). I'm parroting exactly what I was told... but I did try all of the wheel out, including the Avilas on the 44" Fibreflex pintail like you joe. The Avilas was amazingly smooth over rough terrain and grippy... but I felt they would be less versatile. I have180 Randalls with Khiro Blue and Red Bushing. The people are Purple Skunk set it up for me - I there more than one way to setup the Randalls?

So yea, I'm just working up getting up my edge pressure on the turns so I can make a well 180 in the street. Trying to do a drop knee heelside turn withOUT grabbing the rail and pulling the board up.

[joecarve]

Originally posted by lonerider

I have all of that... but I'm currently using slider gloves (no back bracing) instead of wrist guards... should I wear guards as well/instead?


Uh, no - slider gloves are way better, I think...I should switch to them as well.




For a full gear setup (thanks to the awesome people at
Purple Skunk (http://www.purpleskunk.com) who let you demo pretty much everything before buying (decks, trucks, wheels, bearings). I'm riding 70mm ABEC11 GRIPPINS (81a) which are center cored and supposedly a cross between the flashback and the gumball in feel (and slidable at 81a I'm told). I'm parroting exactly what I was told... but I did try all of the wheel out, including the Avilas on the 44" Fibreflex pintail like you joe. The Avilas was amazingly smooth over rough terrain and grippy... but I felt they would be less versatile. I have180 Randalls with Khiro Blue and Red Bushing. The people are Purple Skunk set it up for me - I there more than one way to setup the Randalls?

So yea, I'm just working up getting up my edge pressure on the turns so I can make a well 180 in the street. Trying to do a drop knee heelside turn withOUT grabbing the rail and pulling the board up.

Sounds like you're riding deeper into turns than I am, actually...probably way closer to the pavement than me :D

Purple Skunk rocks.

joe...

[lonerider]

Originally posted by joecarve
Uh, no - slider gloves are way better, I think...I should switch to them as well.

Sounds like you're riding deeper into turns than I am, actually...probably way closer to the pavement than me :D

Purple Skunk rocks.

joe...

I'll stick with the slider gloves then. I only get really low on the last turn when I'm almost out of steam, the the rest of the time I'm pretty upright and tall (still afraid of even tempting to slide the board).

[utahcarver]

joecarve and lonerider,

When the discussion turned to slider gloves I knew the thread is going in the right direction. My first homemade pair blew up the first time I used them. Back to the drawing board!

I would hope that being from the bay area and san jose you two might know of your neighbor Cliff Coleman over in Berkeley.

Last fall I picked up Gravity skateboard's DVD, Flow. Coleman (then 51?) is a major player in this no holds-barred video. Sergio Yuppi, a young Brazilian talent, is perhaps the only rider who can upstage Coleman and his brand of very stylish, what I call, Ultrasliding.

If you get a hold of this disc, don't be swayed by (Brad) Edwards' park play which is briliant followed by his sliding with great aplomb (he uses a plastic Pepsi crate as a slider for hellssakes!). Coleman and Yuppi are still the standouts in this release from the Gravity team.

Lotsa Flow in this DVD for off-season jamming.

Mark

Oh, I shouldn't forget Cabbage (from the east coast) who rips things up back in Maryland and Lansdowne park.

Even some footy of my old home park, Kona, too.

[Jim Callen]

Anyone have any good insights as to how to teach yourself how to slide? I need a more efficient way to stop, as the hills where I live scare the hell out of me, and dragging my foot just takes too long. I've got myself setup with the Mad Bomber II that I won at ECES, and it truly is an awesome board.

[Baka Dasai]

Originally posted by Jim Callen
Anyone have any good insights as to how to teach yourself how to slide?

Read <a href="http://www.geocities.com/sk8sanjose/sliding.html">this</a>.

Hasn't done me much good - I still can't slide, but I haven't tried much after one of my earlier attempts ended with a highside.

[joecarve]

Originally posted by Baka Dasai
Read <a href="http://www.geocities.com/sk8sanjose/sliding.html">this</a>.

Hasn't done me much good - I still can't slide, but I haven't tried much after one of my earlier attempts ended with a highside.

Highside...opposite of fun. Ow. But watching a good slider is very cool.

I've been hesitant to pursue sliding...seems like it reinforces a bad habit of looking downhill (across the board) on a traverse, which took forever to break myself of on snow. Pumping, on the other hand, feels an awful lot like really fast hardboot turns...

joe...

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Is that what you seek?
I still see them from time to time. I have a number of sets that I am saving for that elusive Lonnie Toft 10" to complete the Flying yellow banana "Ski-board". Very handy for jumping the bigger boards too. The "almost mt board" type skateboard set ups.

[NateW]

I was into sliding for a while but I kept putting flat spots in my wheels so I gave it up. As I write this, I realize that I now have multiple boards, so if I screw up the wheels on one board I can ride ramps with another board... Hmmm....

But anyhow, what I meant to say was that instead of sliding I now ride hills using very turny trucks (Seismic), and I keep my speed in check by making lots of turns. These trucks will turn 180 using only half the width of the road in front of my house so I can do the whole hill without gaining any more speed than I want. One section is steep enough that it took me a few sessions to get up the nerve, but it works - turning sheds enough speed. It's really fun, feels kinda like carving a snowboard.

I'm using Power Paw 64mm 'Super Grip' wheels, which actually slide noticeably (but controllably) during my turns. It's not the extended-sideways sort of sliding though. Maybe with better traction it might be harder to keep my speed down, but I'm going to stick with this setup for a while. Maybe graduate to some bigger/wider/softer/grippier wheels when I start wanting more challenge.

[utahcarver]

This past weekend we had a skateboard competition at our local cement park. As I was skating, I heard the usual chants encouraging me to skate hard and win. But, I also heard someone's voice in the crowd say, "Hey, get that old guy outta there before he hurts himself."

It was all I could do to keep going because I was laughing so hard. That's the most fun I've ever had in a skate comp.

Mark

[NateW]

I was skating at a local park once and my girlfriend told me she heard one two kids talking:

"That guy's pretty good."
"Yeah, but he's so old!"

And that was about 1996.

It didn't bother me until the time I handed someone their runaway board and got a "thank you, sir" for doing so.