Riding a skateboard after many years of not skating at my age of 37 is like never skating at all, ever, but that is for the first ten minutes or so, then you begin to remember little things like turns back and front side and how to pump down the street. Just pushing the board forward while one foot on the board and one pushes the street is challenging at first. I think the long board skate (designed to go down hills and around corners) I have helps that basic aspects of skating like turning, pumping and pushing because the shear size of the board makes it harder to handle than my smaller board. Then I started to try some small tricks on the longboard (shove-it's and no-comply's) which did not work out to well.
The board has a lot of velocity because of its size and weight which makes it very hard to land stuff or get the board to move around. That is why Rodney Mullen's smallish trick board is now the industry standard along with the skate style he represents. Which if you have followed his career then you know that Mullen was a free style skater in the 80's and then revolutionized the sport by switching to street skating inventing a whole new style in the 90's to present. You can find out more about Mullen by visiting him here. So before Mullen reinvented things there were wide boards doing various sloppy tricks that I can do, well, not me at the moment. But wait, what does that have to do with me now. I learned to do tricks on a board that is somewhere in between the longboard and the small Popsicle-stick that Mullen invented but with kind of a wacky shape Like here. My favorite board from that era was the Santa Monica Airlines - Natas Kuapas. I skated several other boards back then at different times but out of all of them the Kaupas boards were my favorite.
After I decided to get an additional board that I could do tricks with I had to decide on a board. I looked at many different models of boards and have actually through the years owned many different variations on the pop sickle stick. I did find a board or two, look at the EVO or the Bennet models, specifically the board dimensions Here and go to products. But the price is ridiculous, $60 for a board that might break because I am such a fat ass. Then finally I am rummaging around Paige Hern's warehouse in Little Rock (where he manufacturers skate decks of all kinds) and he had the Pool Boy laying around, so I picked one up with a few blanks and now I am in business. I copied the pool boy shape and if I need another I just cut out a new one. The blanks cost $13.00 and take about 40 minutes to an hour to cut out, sand, drill holes and seal. Here it is on the right. Looks like a pop sickle but is around the size of the old school boards, has Indy 169's and some Powell wheels, very nice!!
Ok, so I have had my fully build up trick board for five days now and I have not really landed anything notable. except maybe a shove-it or two. I am working on doing a trick and landing back on the board with out it zipping away from under my feet, which would hurt after I hit the ground. So you might see my apprehension in landing just yet. It will just take practice, some balls and maybe some pads.
What do I love most about skating?? Transitions!!! or you might know them as half-pipes, maybe you have heard of a mini-ramp, of course you do. My all time favorite thing I wished for as a kid growing up in Little Rock (16 yrs old) was a skate ramp in my back yard and a girl to make out with under it, which I had neither. So now that you are 37 you could at least have a skate ramp in your back yard, sweet!!! About a week and a half ago I started to research ramp building a little. I figured out that on my 10 X18 ft. back patio slab I could extend one end to 26.5 feet in length by changing the fence and spreading some gravel. These dimensions allow for a 3.5 ft X 24 ft mini ramp to be built. The idea really hit me when I was watching Steve Caballero in a recent skate contest which he competed in the masters and won. After the contest he was being interviewed and talked about how he had to practice by skating late into the night, burn the mid night oil (Steve is 46 BTW). That got me thinking, to skate something like a mini-ramp well then you need access to one at your own disposal to burn the mid night oil. Why not, it is your child hood dream and you know that Steve Caballero has probably five ramps in his back yard.
The cost is around $600 clams, I know how to build the ramp after studying three different plans and deciding on my own variation. The first order of business is changing the fence to accommodate the new dimensions of the patio. My Neighbor said I could use his tools. I just need capital, time and materials!!! There you go....
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