Rod in the Red and me without my board?
Rod and John
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Photos: Saturday's pics
Bill has a new board
OKC skyline from top floor of my beloved playground
View from backside of top floor
Me fiddling with my Ipod. Rod's on the right.
Blog: Life these days...
I suppose it's time to address my feelings about my new hobby and how they relate to my life today...boyfriend, father, son, among many other distinctions.
I've been rejuvenated by my new pursuit. Out skating with my friends, whether in the parking garage or anywhere else, feels appropriate at this time and place. My duties as a father always come first, but when I'm able to schedule some free time for myself, it seems to revolve around meeting up with Bill and the fellas to go to the garage.
There's been many good by-products of my skating other than the obvious pleasure it brings me. Case in point...would anyone really think I'd even know what power-cleans are? Well not only do I know, but I directly relate their severity and frequency to the harder carving-faster skating I'm now able to do. I regularly find myself on the elliptical, swimming or doing some sort of sweat- inducing activity. I guess what I'm saying is that my skating has lead me to strive to be a better person, physically and mentally than I felt like being beforehand.
Having a hobby makes everyone easier to tolerate. I firmly believe that many relationship problems, whether peer, parental or any other kind, can be prevented by both parties engaging in personally fulfilling pursuits. Whew, try saying that 5 times fast! People with hobbies get more out of life...I'm not afraid to say it. It's redundant.
I do understand the thought that this is some sort of early-midlife-crisis. Possible...I did just turn 30. However, I think that this whole aspect of my life, and by that I mean longboarding, has been a long time coming. This may seem childish in many respects, but I haven't felt so alive in a long time! I guess we all accept growing older differently. It's a choice to become stagnant and out-of-touch. That's not what life is about in the time we live in. Life's about impact...whether to yourself or others. Do something that stands out from the crowd and screams everything that you are about! For some it's shopping, golf, or many other activities that get our blood pumping and help us forget about our troubles. For me, right now-at this point in my life, it's longboarding.
I intend to post concerning last weekends' session, hopefully tomorrow. Quite a bit of fun, including personal injury and a visit from OG&E's finest!
Thanks for reading.
I've been rejuvenated by my new pursuit. Out skating with my friends, whether in the parking garage or anywhere else, feels appropriate at this time and place. My duties as a father always come first, but when I'm able to schedule some free time for myself, it seems to revolve around meeting up with Bill and the fellas to go to the garage.
There's been many good by-products of my skating other than the obvious pleasure it brings me. Case in point...would anyone really think I'd even know what power-cleans are? Well not only do I know, but I directly relate their severity and frequency to the harder carving-faster skating I'm now able to do. I regularly find myself on the elliptical, swimming or doing some sort of sweat- inducing activity. I guess what I'm saying is that my skating has lead me to strive to be a better person, physically and mentally than I felt like being beforehand.
Having a hobby makes everyone easier to tolerate. I firmly believe that many relationship problems, whether peer, parental or any other kind, can be prevented by both parties engaging in personally fulfilling pursuits. Whew, try saying that 5 times fast! People with hobbies get more out of life...I'm not afraid to say it. It's redundant.
I do understand the thought that this is some sort of early-midlife-crisis. Possible...I did just turn 30. However, I think that this whole aspect of my life, and by that I mean longboarding, has been a long time coming. This may seem childish in many respects, but I haven't felt so alive in a long time! I guess we all accept growing older differently. It's a choice to become stagnant and out-of-touch. That's not what life is about in the time we live in. Life's about impact...whether to yourself or others. Do something that stands out from the crowd and screams everything that you are about! For some it's shopping, golf, or many other activities that get our blood pumping and help us forget about our troubles. For me, right now-at this point in my life, it's longboarding.
I intend to post concerning last weekends' session, hopefully tomorrow. Quite a bit of fun, including personal injury and a visit from OG&E's finest!
Thanks for reading.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Blog: Things are more fun in the darK
In the past few weeks my skating has achieved new heights. Thanks to more activity, mainly more skating , but also a few power cleans from time to time, I'm carving tighter and skating longer.
My buddy Dave scooped a longboard and it's healthy to have a new person in the crew. Dave was always an accomplished shortboarder, as I presumed he picked it up well. Last Saturday afternoon he, Bill and I all rode the parking garage downtown. Dave picked up the nuances well, however that only led to Dave becoming dangerous. Over 75 runs under my belt at the time and not a fall yet...then came Dave. Dude was trying to squeeze both of us through the tighter turns at the same time, usually without me being aware he was right on my ass! On level 4 he forces me to go too wide and I basically ran between two poles! The worst injury was to the camera I was filming with, but I did stub the hell out of my toe and it bled! Dave ended up doing it again later, which caused me to fall-but not as bad as the first. Dave is smart but when it comes to having that "Hey I actually give a shit" type of attitude, Dave doesn't. He has no regard to safety or any other crap he thinks is lame. He was apologetic though, through his laughter. He finally calmed a bit and we ended up staying for 3+ hours, a ripping session and a great workout!
When you're skating you're not sore, but when you hop off the board to walk you notice how tight you've gotten. Riding and carving is taxing work, don't kid yourself! Combine that activity with my power cleans I'll be putting people in their places in no time!
Since that day I've decided that I'm not falling enough. If I'm going that many runs with no falls I should try to add some new difficulty? I love just cruising down the garage, it's fun even when your not trying difficult maneuvers, however I'm in this for the pleasure and the pain so I should be tasting slightly more pavement.
So last night, after a rousing day on the lake with my buddies John and Reed, John and I had gone to get a few beers and hang out. I'll spare all the details, but phone calls were made, decisions executed and next thing I knew John, Bill and I were in Bill's truck headed to the garage at around midnight.
John has a boarding background but this was his first time on a longboard. The three of us split time riding the two boards we had among us and went about it. John was impressive for his first time at the garage and being at night. Several floors are almost pitch black! You really have to have a feel for the place and I was surprised that John held it together...especially considering the alcohol! Actually, he mostly held it together. He did take a bad spill on the top floor and skinned his palms and knees; he also t-boned me on the 3rd floor but miraculously we both were able to run it off with no fall, so oh well!
Skating the garage at night is one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life! Standing up on the top floor waiting my turn to go again, I was mesmerized by all the buildings surrounding me. They were shining and lit-up and some were so close I wanted to reach out and touch them. I don't know if I enjoyed the skating, the scenery, or the homeless lady sleeping in the elevator the most? Staying until after two o'clock, this was truly an epic session. I cannot wait to go back at night again... I'm hooked!
We now have four of us in the OKC group and we seem to be growing weekly. All it takes is one visit and anybody who can ride a board is hooked! Coolest thing going on in Oklahoma right now...period!
We also have representation in Eastern Oklahoma now, with Jiz picking up his very own longboard. Talk about a big fish in a small pond...he skates alone while people follow him in vehicles...filming! That's cool, hopefully he can get to OKC and the parking garage soon. We'll try to head that way as well.
One last thing. I traded boards with Dave and I now ride a 43.5 " Arbor Koa Pintail. I love the pin shape, it really is the best for carving hard and maintaining speed.
Thanks for reading. Have a happy Father's Day and a memorable week!
My buddy Dave scooped a longboard and it's healthy to have a new person in the crew. Dave was always an accomplished shortboarder, as I presumed he picked it up well. Last Saturday afternoon he, Bill and I all rode the parking garage downtown. Dave picked up the nuances well, however that only led to Dave becoming dangerous. Over 75 runs under my belt at the time and not a fall yet...then came Dave. Dude was trying to squeeze both of us through the tighter turns at the same time, usually without me being aware he was right on my ass! On level 4 he forces me to go too wide and I basically ran between two poles! The worst injury was to the camera I was filming with, but I did stub the hell out of my toe and it bled! Dave ended up doing it again later, which caused me to fall-but not as bad as the first. Dave is smart but when it comes to having that "Hey I actually give a shit" type of attitude, Dave doesn't. He has no regard to safety or any other crap he thinks is lame. He was apologetic though, through his laughter. He finally calmed a bit and we ended up staying for 3+ hours, a ripping session and a great workout!
When you're skating you're not sore, but when you hop off the board to walk you notice how tight you've gotten. Riding and carving is taxing work, don't kid yourself! Combine that activity with my power cleans I'll be putting people in their places in no time!
Since that day I've decided that I'm not falling enough. If I'm going that many runs with no falls I should try to add some new difficulty? I love just cruising down the garage, it's fun even when your not trying difficult maneuvers, however I'm in this for the pleasure and the pain so I should be tasting slightly more pavement.
So last night, after a rousing day on the lake with my buddies John and Reed, John and I had gone to get a few beers and hang out. I'll spare all the details, but phone calls were made, decisions executed and next thing I knew John, Bill and I were in Bill's truck headed to the garage at around midnight.
John has a boarding background but this was his first time on a longboard. The three of us split time riding the two boards we had among us and went about it. John was impressive for his first time at the garage and being at night. Several floors are almost pitch black! You really have to have a feel for the place and I was surprised that John held it together...especially considering the alcohol! Actually, he mostly held it together. He did take a bad spill on the top floor and skinned his palms and knees; he also t-boned me on the 3rd floor but miraculously we both were able to run it off with no fall, so oh well!
Skating the garage at night is one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life! Standing up on the top floor waiting my turn to go again, I was mesmerized by all the buildings surrounding me. They were shining and lit-up and some were so close I wanted to reach out and touch them. I don't know if I enjoyed the skating, the scenery, or the homeless lady sleeping in the elevator the most? Staying until after two o'clock, this was truly an epic session. I cannot wait to go back at night again... I'm hooked!
We now have four of us in the OKC group and we seem to be growing weekly. All it takes is one visit and anybody who can ride a board is hooked! Coolest thing going on in Oklahoma right now...period!
We also have representation in Eastern Oklahoma now, with Jiz picking up his very own longboard. Talk about a big fish in a small pond...he skates alone while people follow him in vehicles...filming! That's cool, hopefully he can get to OKC and the parking garage soon. We'll try to head that way as well.
One last thing. I traded boards with Dave and I now ride a 43.5 " Arbor Koa Pintail. I love the pin shape, it really is the best for carving hard and maintaining speed.
Thanks for reading. Have a happy Father's Day and a memorable week!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Blog: Shout out to OKC Longboarders!
Thanks for reading my blog. Hopefully if you've found me you are into longboard skating.
One of my buddies and I have recently rekindled one of our favorite old hobbies, skateboarding! However, older and wiser, our boards are now longer, wider and faster. Of course we both were skaters as kids, ollie'ing down stairs, grinding handrails and the like (some of us better than others, me being the worst) but somewhere along the way we grew up and left skating behind.
Well, I personally moved to San Diego with some buddies in 1998 at 19-years-old to learn to surf, specifically, and basically transform myself into some sort of extreme-west-coaster that used cool words like "gnarly," and "sick." Move accomplished, transformation complete, I was broke as hell and had no ride to get my butt down to the beach to surf! Being the "outside the box," thinker that I was, I decided to pick up one of these "long-ass skateboards," that I'd been seeing people ride. Seemed like the next best way to get around besides a car.
(For all my Oklahoma brethren, I would have chosen a bicycle but around North San Diego county, a young person riding a bike or rollerblades is risking serious bodily harm!)
Anyway, I shelled out about a bill-fifty and picked up a 3 1/2' Sector Nine and set about learning not to kill myself!
Long story short, I ended up enjoying my new transportation about as much as surfing (who am I kidding, notice the "about"), and in time became pretty adept at handling speed, carving down steep hills, and riding about 2 miles to work and back everyday. Looking back I really felt free, if I was going far I could take the bus, whenever I hopped off I was instantly mobile and looking for "pavement waves." Anyway, I loaned that board to a buddy once and never saw it again. A few months later I was back in Oklahoma to finish college, my longboard an ever-increasing distant memory.
Fast forward 7-8 years.
Back in Oklahoma, I increasingly found myself missing surfing and boarding like I did back in San Diego. I'd seen kite-boarding and it looked cool. However, as a young, new father I'd had trouble justifying enough cash to get set-up, take a lesson or two, and go out and not get tangled lines and have to resort to fisticuffs!
(I remember being 21 and learning to surf, Extremers are territorial and not necessarily welcoming to newcomers,"watch your ass kook," is not an uncommon thing to hear in the water and fighting on the beach just goes with the territory.)
Anyway, my buddy, let's just call him "Bill," who had never really gave up shortboard skateboarding, showed up at my house one day with something I had not seen in years...a long skateboard. Now his Sector 9 wasn't near as yachtlike as the 4-footer I'd had back in my Cali heyday, but it was alot more like what I used to ride than anything I'd seen in awhile. "Didn't you ride one of these when you lived in San Diego? Let's look for some hills this weekend. " Just like that I was in... I was "going to look for some hills to bomb this weekend." Two months shy of 30-years-old, older, fatter, less tan but who cared, I was about to get back to being that 21-year-old kid, riding his board to and from work!
That was about two months ago. Since then I got my own board, (a sick 4' Arbor that could have been cut from my old Sector 9 template!) from Chris at Flip'd Action Sports in Edmond. "Bill," and I have been riding every weekend since! We started out at Lake Hefner, found it too flat and moved on; now we search every weekend for new places to skate. Mitch Park in Edmond has some hills and wide trails, its pretty good for crusing around, but other than that, OKC has few accessible hills that aren't out in traffic! Like I said I'm 30 and a father, I can't afford to fall down and get my head ran over like Phil Leotardo in Sopranos!
Luckily I'm in sales and spend my days driving around to appointments, so I 'm able to basically be in constant search mode. I say "luckily," but my search has brought me anything but, OKC is flat, flat, flat!
Over Memorial weekend I ripped a few biggies while in Tahlequah where I went to school (my buddy, we'll just call him "Jiz," took a nasty palm scraping spill; I don't know how he didn't crack open his head going 40 mph!) and I was more psyched than ever to find some new thrills to quench my longboarding thirst.
Saturday May 31, "Bill," and I went out like we do every weekend looking for places to skate. Finding few options, we decided to head downtown and look for hills, maybe skate a few parking garages. Oh brother! Did we find the OKC longboarding mecca! We found an 8-story parking garage downtown that on the weekends is completely empty! 50 yards wide all the way down, 35 degree angle, basically perfect! Even better, we start on the 8th floor right by the elevators and end up in the basement directly 3 feet away from the same elevator! It's like my own mountain right in my backyard complete with lift!
We took about 15 runs, each time getting braver and braver and trying to go faster and carve harder! We figured out that you can really carve hard and make it down in about 2.5 minutes or you can bomb the bitch and make it down in the exact length of "She," by the Misfits (thank god for Ipods!) 1.2 minutes!
So, my intent for writing this blog is to find other OKC dudes that like to ride longboards. "Bill," and I have recruited a couple buddies who are going out with us this weekend, but we'd like to find other like-minded skaters to go carve it up with, share favorite spots, tricks and the like. I'd tell you in this blog where to find my parking garage, but I'd rather save it for those I end up skating with!
We really think it would be fun to meet in groups, grab a couple of cases, and go find places to skate! We've dedicated our summer free-time to doing so. Last night I could barely sleep in anticipation of going back today and I am constantly wanting to go skate. Not just in the garage, but at the park, the lake, wherever; every day, every night, all the time!
If you too enjoy longboard skating and would like to join our "OK Skate Club," please read and respond to my blog. I nominate myself (and "Bill," seconds it, although he doesn't know it yet) as honorary chairman and I will take care of getting word out to the group as to where we will be and so on and so forth.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope some people search for "OKC Longboard skateboarding," and find my blog. If you do and you want to go skate, hit me up and I'll get back to you.
One of my buddies and I have recently rekindled one of our favorite old hobbies, skateboarding! However, older and wiser, our boards are now longer, wider and faster. Of course we both were skaters as kids, ollie'ing down stairs, grinding handrails and the like (some of us better than others, me being the worst) but somewhere along the way we grew up and left skating behind.
Well, I personally moved to San Diego with some buddies in 1998 at 19-years-old to learn to surf, specifically, and basically transform myself into some sort of extreme-west-coaster that used cool words like "gnarly," and "sick." Move accomplished, transformation complete, I was broke as hell and had no ride to get my butt down to the beach to surf! Being the "outside the box," thinker that I was, I decided to pick up one of these "long-ass skateboards," that I'd been seeing people ride. Seemed like the next best way to get around besides a car.
(For all my Oklahoma brethren, I would have chosen a bicycle but around North San Diego county, a young person riding a bike or rollerblades is risking serious bodily harm!)
Anyway, I shelled out about a bill-fifty and picked up a 3 1/2' Sector Nine and set about learning not to kill myself!
Long story short, I ended up enjoying my new transportation about as much as surfing (who am I kidding, notice the "about"), and in time became pretty adept at handling speed, carving down steep hills, and riding about 2 miles to work and back everyday. Looking back I really felt free, if I was going far I could take the bus, whenever I hopped off I was instantly mobile and looking for "pavement waves." Anyway, I loaned that board to a buddy once and never saw it again. A few months later I was back in Oklahoma to finish college, my longboard an ever-increasing distant memory.
Fast forward 7-8 years.
Back in Oklahoma, I increasingly found myself missing surfing and boarding like I did back in San Diego. I'd seen kite-boarding and it looked cool. However, as a young, new father I'd had trouble justifying enough cash to get set-up, take a lesson or two, and go out and not get tangled lines and have to resort to fisticuffs!
(I remember being 21 and learning to surf, Extremers are territorial and not necessarily welcoming to newcomers,"watch your ass kook," is not an uncommon thing to hear in the water and fighting on the beach just goes with the territory.)
Anyway, my buddy, let's just call him "Bill," who had never really gave up shortboard skateboarding, showed up at my house one day with something I had not seen in years...a long skateboard. Now his Sector 9 wasn't near as yachtlike as the 4-footer I'd had back in my Cali heyday, but it was alot more like what I used to ride than anything I'd seen in awhile. "Didn't you ride one of these when you lived in San Diego? Let's look for some hills this weekend. " Just like that I was in... I was "going to look for some hills to bomb this weekend." Two months shy of 30-years-old, older, fatter, less tan but who cared, I was about to get back to being that 21-year-old kid, riding his board to and from work!
That was about two months ago. Since then I got my own board, (a sick 4' Arbor that could have been cut from my old Sector 9 template!) from Chris at Flip'd Action Sports in Edmond. "Bill," and I have been riding every weekend since! We started out at Lake Hefner, found it too flat and moved on; now we search every weekend for new places to skate. Mitch Park in Edmond has some hills and wide trails, its pretty good for crusing around, but other than that, OKC has few accessible hills that aren't out in traffic! Like I said I'm 30 and a father, I can't afford to fall down and get my head ran over like Phil Leotardo in Sopranos!
Luckily I'm in sales and spend my days driving around to appointments, so I 'm able to basically be in constant search mode. I say "luckily," but my search has brought me anything but, OKC is flat, flat, flat!
Over Memorial weekend I ripped a few biggies while in Tahlequah where I went to school (my buddy, we'll just call him "Jiz," took a nasty palm scraping spill; I don't know how he didn't crack open his head going 40 mph!) and I was more psyched than ever to find some new thrills to quench my longboarding thirst.
Saturday May 31, "Bill," and I went out like we do every weekend looking for places to skate. Finding few options, we decided to head downtown and look for hills, maybe skate a few parking garages. Oh brother! Did we find the OKC longboarding mecca! We found an 8-story parking garage downtown that on the weekends is completely empty! 50 yards wide all the way down, 35 degree angle, basically perfect! Even better, we start on the 8th floor right by the elevators and end up in the basement directly 3 feet away from the same elevator! It's like my own mountain right in my backyard complete with lift!
We took about 15 runs, each time getting braver and braver and trying to go faster and carve harder! We figured out that you can really carve hard and make it down in about 2.5 minutes or you can bomb the bitch and make it down in the exact length of "She," by the Misfits (thank god for Ipods!) 1.2 minutes!
So, my intent for writing this blog is to find other OKC dudes that like to ride longboards. "Bill," and I have recruited a couple buddies who are going out with us this weekend, but we'd like to find other like-minded skaters to go carve it up with, share favorite spots, tricks and the like. I'd tell you in this blog where to find my parking garage, but I'd rather save it for those I end up skating with!
We really think it would be fun to meet in groups, grab a couple of cases, and go find places to skate! We've dedicated our summer free-time to doing so. Last night I could barely sleep in anticipation of going back today and I am constantly wanting to go skate. Not just in the garage, but at the park, the lake, wherever; every day, every night, all the time!
If you too enjoy longboard skating and would like to join our "OK Skate Club," please read and respond to my blog. I nominate myself (and "Bill," seconds it, although he doesn't know it yet) as honorary chairman and I will take care of getting word out to the group as to where we will be and so on and so forth.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope some people search for "OKC Longboard skateboarding," and find my blog. If you do and you want to go skate, hit me up and I'll get back to you.
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