Tag Archives: board

Losing Your Board From Under Your Feet

I was skating down the sidewalk the other day, carving and weaving in and out of the throngs of pedestrians, and just generally being a badass, until I hit a small rock. My wheel locked, I went flying forward, and my board went rolling backwards. Luckily I have the reflexes of a housecat and was able to stop myself from falling. My board was not so lucky. As soon as I regained my footing, I turned around to see my board fifty feet away and it kept on moving. A kind stranger was nice enough to stop my board and give it back to me. I sheepishly accepted it, thanked him, and apologized for the inconvenience. I was pretty relieved that my board didn’t zoom off into the street or plow into a group of old ladies. I consider myself a fairly competent skater, but sometimes sticks, cracks, and rocks get in the way of your momentum. Losing your board from under your feet is never a good feeling. It’s like having your security blanket wrenched away from you when you least expect it. You only have a split second for your reflexes to kick in. Sometimes that’s not enough time to recover. It’s going to happen sooner or later. It comes with the territory.

Critically Rated at 6/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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Speed Wobbles

I have a longboard and I love to skate. I cruise the streets and sidewalk surf every single day. And I live in San Francisco in the Sunset District, so there are a lot of huge hills to bomb down at thirty miles an hour. There take certain precautions when you’re going so fast that you can’t stop. You have to choose a street that’s steep but not too steep, with a minimal amount of vehicular interference, and it should be smoothly paved and free from debris and potholes. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, but speed wobbles are what skaters fear the most. Speed wobbles are exactly what it sounds like: wobbles at a high speed. You’re flying down a hill and suddenly your board starts to shake violently, it feels like an earthquake, and it’s easy to panic. But if you panic, you’ll fall off and fuck yourself up. And the last thing you want to do it smack your head on concrete at breakneck speed. The best thing you can do is bend your knees and try to absorb the shocks as they come. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. All you can do is learn from it and tighten up your trucks. You could also buy a helmet, but then you wouldn’t look cool. Speed wobbles. Everyone who skates has a story about speed wobbles.

Critically Rated at 3/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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Running with a Skateboard

I saw a guy running down the sidewalk with a skateboard tucked under his arm. He was panting heavily so I know that he was running for a while. Something about the whole situation really bothered me. It’s probably because the schmuck wasn’t riding his skateboard. He was on a slight downhill, a perfect slope for a skater. But he was running, not riding, and I want to know why. He was obviously in a rush, but he chose to pick up his board and run with it as opposed to the logical choice of riding it. If you’re in a hurry and you have a skateboard, you should fucking ride it. That’s what you’re supposed to do. It makes sense. It’s faster and less tiring. Running with a skateboard doesn’t make sense. It confuses me. It angers me. I’m going to lose sleep over this tonight. Don’t run with skateboards, fucking ride them. Leave the board at home if you want to jog.

Critically Rated at 5/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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