7/31/04
Today was another life changing day! I met the
NYC crew
just over the
George Washington Bridge for
the normal Saturday session out at
Sayreville.
I was determined to at least make an attempt to grind some coping.
The great thing about Sayreville is that it is great park for beginners and
experienced skaters alike. It's mellower transitions make it easier to get up
to the coping as opposed to the steeper walls of
Tribeca.
On one run I just pushed my limits and got two wheels on the coping. I knew I could get a full on grind if
I just turned my board up higher. And then it happened - that sound - I did it! I had grinded the
coping on a carve for the first time in my life and it was awesome! My bros cheered me and I was so amped to continue the progression. We also met two
new guys Casper and Twan who were great skaters from NYC. They were funny guys and cracked jokes with us about
being old and it was a great day at the skate park. Below is a short video clip of the day at Sayreville. In the video are Me, getting the grind!,
Al with a nice pivot stall, Craig with 2 frontside grinds, Casper with a 50-50, Twan carving the deep end,
Armando with his amazing stylish double carves, and JD with a sweet slash grind. I threw some
Black Flag
in to punk it up a little. Unfortunately
I didn't get any footage of Nelson which is lame
because he does all of the driving. I will do a Nelson longboard feature expose next week...
Mucho fun at Sayreville - learning to grind...
7/29/04
I am really hooked on bowl and pool riding
and now my goal is to learn how to get more speed so I can get up to the
coping on a carve and not just on a straight approach up the wall like on a ramp.
This just comes with tons of practice and learning to acquire speed.
I went down to
Tribeca
after work and hit the bowl. There were a few older skaters but 2 guys in
particular were grinding the beejesus out of the coping. These
dudes were getting so much speed it was crazy! The way to get speed is by
"pumping" or bending your knees and pushing up from you legs as you go
through the corners. It is an extremely subtle art and takes a long time to
master. With the speed gained by pumping properly comes the ability to do
tricks on and above the coping. There is a lot of falling along the way and
the best way to fall is the knee slide which entails falling by sliding
on the plastic caps of your kneepads. When you do this though, your shoes drag the ground
and it wears holes in your shoes right through to the toes. My Vans are trashed
after three short months of hundreds of falls, so I sent Vans a press kit about the film -
maybe they will sponsor it or at least send me a few sets of shoes! They are the defacto
standard skate shoe and there is no substitute for an old school skateboarder...
Look Ma - no toes!!!
7/25/04
Since being thwarted by the skate gods yesterday, I was determined to get some skate time in. I ventured to
Tribeca and decided I would set up my tiny
Canon SD-110
and put it in video mode to capture some live action footage. When I am skating I feel like I am flying but this video shows
that I am really not going too fast at all!!! It was a nice overcast day and I had the bowl to myself most of the time. I did hit a pebble
that was in the flat bottom of the bowl that had washed in from the tumultous storms and crashed enormously. If you have never
been on a skateboard, hitting a small object is the equvilent of
hitting a brick wall in a car. You don't skid very far - you just stop dead and as we know from
Newton's first law "an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force."
In other words, the board stops dead and you keep flying, usually into an oncoming wall of the skate bowl. So anyway, here's the video footage
and as you can see I am far from popping a frontside air but, I having the time of my life. Notice what I call the "Curmudgen Crawl", the way
I exit the bowl because
I don't have enough speed - too funny!! If you are having trouble viewing the video download
QuickTime.
First video on the website! - Man, I am shredding!!!
7/24/04
DOUBLE DRATS!! Rain continues to pour down in so many buckets that I am sure
arc construction company stocks are going through the roof. I mean it is raining man! With the
maelstrom of Satan's tears, comes the inevitible conclusion that the NYC Crew's
weekly trek to the most amazing
Sayreville
will have to be canceled. But Craig, not wanting to miss the weekly gathering, suggested an indoor park called
Drop In, located in Upper Saddle River, NJ. There are so many New Jersey Towns
that they run out of names and this poor community got stuck with Upper Saddle River, hmmmm... Anyway, we get there and there is no bowl
but a pretty nice looking stepped half-pipe going from 5 to 6 to 7 feet. I thought it would be a great rainy day spot. I clunked my board
onto the coping and dropped in only to realize on my first kickturn that the ramp was as slippery as a greased banana peel. I thought
it might have been me, so I gave it another shot, only to realize that with my
Bones SPF Wheels,
I wasn't going to be having much fun. Luckily Nelson brought a Factory 13 deck he had with some
Black Fartz
wheels (the real name of the wheels, I swear) and I was able to ride that with limited success. Days like this bring me down a little because just when I think I am
progressing, I have a really rough go of it. I slammed a bunch of times and now I am all banged up. I did do a few candid "Berts",
a sliding trick named after surfing great Larry Bertleman but overall,
a very tough day at the skate park...
A poorly executed two-handed "Bert" - no style!
Craig and Nelson in tandem at Drop In
7/23/04
DRATS!! I headed down to Tribeca
only to emerge from the E train hole to a pouring rainstorm. I was so excited to skate but "nay, yee shall not" - the skate gods
hath spake. I turned right around and went home. I cleaned my apartment and other boring stuff and noticed that my elbow
dragger from last session had scabbed up pretty good. Injuries are strange, they really don't look that bad when they happen, but after a few
days your badge of honor becomes glaringly evident. The once clear fluidy scrape is now a bright red pepperoni patch - that's what I think I
will call scabs from now - scabaronis...
Scabaroni anyone???
7/19/04
I am trying to skate now 3 times a week but my body is constantly stiff. My shoulder still aches from
my accident over a month ago, and I seem to keep falling on the same spot. But such is the life of a skateboarder.
My hope is that by going more regularly the aches and pains will leave my aging body. I try to stretch before and after
but the stiffness is a reminder of how sedentary I once was. I am shedding a few pounds and feeling better
and more energetic once the muscle burn wears off, which only takes about a half of a day and not a week like it used to!
Tribeca is my regular spot now. I miss the mini-ramp
at Chelsea Piers,
but it costs $10 a day to ride there and they have no bowl, and with carving being my new addiction,
I need a place that has "roundwall" as skaters call it. Tribeca is also free, so I save some of the precious cash
to pay my extortive rent. It was another beautiful day after the rains left in the morning. I met a kid named Stefan
and let him use my board because his was a beater with soft wheels. He gave me some great carving advice
by bending my knees really low before the corners but, I got so much speed that I shot off! My elbow pad hit so
hard that it slid up my arm exposing unprotected skin. I ripped a quarter size hole in my elbow but I'll take a scrape over
a muscle-pounding slam any day! After the session, I went back to
the observation deck by the volleyball courts, this time being more prepared with 2 Coronas
stashed in a soft cooler
that I brought along, and watched another miraculous sunset. Since seeing this view for the first time 4 days ago, I don't recall ever
just sitting calmly and watching a sunset - it's something that I always seemed to busy to do. Now it's something I can't imagine
NOT doing. I saw
Lady Liberty
on one side, and the Empire State Building
on the other and remembered - "Oh, that's why I pay over half of my paycheck to live in a shoe box..."
Lady Liberty from the observation deck on Pier 25
7/18/04
Today I saw the new Stacy Peralta film,
Riding Giants
and I was totally amazed!!! His last film, Dogtown and Z-Boys
was probably the main reason I considered
getting back on a board again, so I knew I had to see this one. The film details the history of big wave
riding and contains many of the same elements that skaters talk about - the misunderstood lifestyle
that you accept when choosing to ride a board. When I tell people I am 39 and that I am a skateboarder,
they look at me like I am a fool or that I need to grow up. It's ok for grown men to don ridiculous outfits
and whack around a little white ball on a golf course, but you tell them you skate and it's a whole different reaction.
I guess the coolest aspect of skateboarding is that you have to do it to understand it. Carving in a bowl gives you such
an incredible rush that I imagine is similar to the one the big wave riders of the film speak of. My skate bros
and I understand this and we pay little attention to grown ups who mock us. Ironically, the greatest amount of respect we
garner is from the skater kids who see us and say "Man, that's cool you guys are skating, I hope I am still skating when I am your age!".
Greg Noll a big wave rider - a guy with the right attitude.
7/17/04
The NYC crew of Nelson, Craig, Armando, JD, and I are making
Sayreville our weekly Saturday skate
destination. Craig was away on a trip but the rest of the crew was present.
We were granted azure skies and warm weather by the skate gods. Today I applied my newly learned knowledge of frontside carving to the Sayreville Bowl.
I crashed mildly on the first try but after that I got it down. My next step is to try getting higher on the wall and eventually hit the coping.
It was a good time and most of the kids stayed over in the street area, leaving the cloverleaf bowl to the old guys. One young kid named Adam,
whom we met last week, was able to pull of a modified one-footed Lein to Tail
in the deep bowl. We met another older skater named Bob, who is a great guy and even came to eat pizza after the session. I am still amazed how
many older skaters are coming out of the wood work - we outnumber the kids at Sayreville! Armando and this guy Alan,
who is there everytime we go, were able to pull off radical double carves without
exiting the tight deep bowl. It marked the first time Armando has really skated since he was injured (the day after as my shoulder injury). Poor JD,
recovering from a dislocated elbow, had to sit on sidelines again, but he hung out and supported our progress. Injuries are tough for older skaters.
We heal more slowly than the kids who seem to bounce their bodies on the concrete like unpadded superballs, only to rebound to their feet and
try the trick they missed over and over. Ahhhhh to be young again...
Al on his Buddy Carr killing the over-vert!! Whoa!!!
7/15/04
Wow, what a day! It was another one of those giant leap days for me at
Tribeca. For the first time I was able to carve a
bowl frontside! For novice skateboarders turning backside (your body facing down into the bowl) seems much more natural,
but frontside (your body facing the sky) feels much more surf like. It also enables you to carve around by turning either
left or right giving you more options for your "line" or the path you take while skating. It can be scary because if you
fall while turning frontside, you are falling backwards and are unable to see where you are falling. Today I conquered
this plateau and the feeling was great, especially after having such a hard time with frontside kickturns. I skated from
5p.m. until my legs stopped working and the sun started going down. Instead of heading home I walked a little bit south
by the beach volley ball courts on the Hudson. There was a group of yuppie types hanging out and drinking beers. I begged
them for a beer and after some hesitation they coughed one up and I walked up the stairs to the observation platform that
offers a beautiful view of the Hudson River. There I sat, feeling really great about my progress that I had made that day,
the black water lapping against eroded pilings as the sun slowly sank into New Jersey. I never really understood the quotes
I have read about people saying that skating or surfing is a way of life, but today that notion became exceptionally clear...
A beautiful sunset on the edge of an urban jungle...
7/10/04
I did the pilgrimage over the George Washington Bridge again. The NYC Crew of Nelson, Craig, and Armando,
all met me on the NJ side and we drove in Nelson's car (now called the B.D.S. Intrepid) over to
Sayreville.
Another one of our bros, JD, is still hurt so he couldn't make it. It was another perfect day, maybe a little hot,
but I am getting my carves down a little better so I didn't mind the sun. There were a few kids really ripping
the place and this local guy named Al, who also rides a BDS board, was really shredding. He has the place dialed!
The funniest thing about the whole day was that the kids seemed fascinated by our boards. Old school, big fat decks
with wide trucks and thick wheels. They gathered around the place where our skateboard bags were and questioned us about
all kinds of things. At one point this kid finished his water and just threw the bottle down on the ground. I said
Did you just throw that on the ground? Let me throw that in the trash for you.
The kid obviously felt bad and slouched
over and carried to a trashcan 10 feet away. I have become the very thing I despised as a kid - the booming voice
of authority! It was pretty funny, but I explained to him that Sayreville is an amazing skate spot and we need to do
whatever we can to keep it. No trash, graffiti, or trouble. It's must be so surreal for the kids to see us. 4 or 5
old guys riding skateboards for the fun of it, laughing and having a great time. Maybe they wish we were their dads because
I imagine a lot of them are outcasts because of skating. I wonder if they have trouble relating to their non-skating fathers...
My skate bro (and a father) Craig with his prized Bulldog Ray Flores Model
7/9/04
Having summer Fridays off from work is a great thing!! I am hooked on carving now, so I ventured to
Tribeca once again.
I love their mini-ramp and the bowl but the biggest bonus is that it's free! During summer hours Tribeca is also open at 10am.
I arrived there early to beat the groggy kids coming for their daily sessions. Being my over-punctual self, I was there at
5 minutes to 10 and had the entire place to myself for about 45 minutes - a real treat in NYC! I got some carves going but
most importantly, I am starting to get the feel for frontside turns which will open up a whole new set of tricks.
7/7/04
I decided that after work I was going to hit the Tribeca Bowl.
I had only been this particular park once before and at the time I didn't feel confident enough to drop in on the bowl
and just skated the mini ramp. There is a weird phenomenon among newer skaters, I call it "shredder fear" and I believe it stems
from the child horrors such as being picked last for a playground match of kickball, or not being able to climb to the top of the rope
that seems to be a fixture in every school gym. You know that rope, the one with the coach tugging at the big knot at the bottom in his
Bike brand shorts, Ridell shoes, and mesh hat screaming at you from the bottom to make it to the top. Simply defined, shredder
fear is when you see dudes that skate so much better than you that you don't want to skate for a fear that you will look
like a kook. The fact of the matter is that most great skaters are very supportive and usually give you some excellent tips.
Well, the bowl on this day was desolate; I had the whole thing to myself! I warmed up a little on the mini-ramp and then
approached the bowl. I perched my board on the coping pushed down and pulled it off! I was able to do a few backside carves
and throw in some kickturns. I am trying to get better at the art of carving and it seems much easier at
Sayreville, but I am
trying to learn how to skate different kinds of places. I feel like I will never get the hang of all of these new techniques
and the contorting of my body into unnatural positions, but I remind myself that I have only been skating for three months.
The cool thing is that I'm better than I think I ever was, which is pretty cool.
Fruitbooters (the skateboarder's term for roller bladers) on the Tribeca mini-ramp
7/03/04
Man, today was one of those days that just changed my whole life! I talked to a few of my skate bros on the Bulldog Skates
Message Board and we all decided to meet up and go to a park with this beautiful bowl located in
Sayreville,NJ. I woke up
at 5:30 a.m. and had a big breakfast. I rode the A train up to 175th street and skated over the
George Washington Bridge
where I was going to meet my skate crew. It was the most amazing thing ever - skating over this national landmark, looking
over the urban vista of Manhattan, the place that has been my home for the past 4 years, and now skating into the state where
I was born. I stopped and took a few pictures and remembered the time my brother told me of his magical ride to the GWB as a
teenager on his 10 speed bicycle from East Hanover, NJ (the town where I lived until I was 12 until we moved to Florida in 1977),
so that he could take a Polaroid picture of himself on the famous bridge. The weather was perfect, the foreshadowing of a perfect
day. I got to the other side and was surprised to see my friend Armando at the base of the wondrous structure. It shocked me because
he really whacked his shoulder up about the same time I had my injury, and he thought he was going to be out of skating for three
months, but there he was at the bottom with an Alva long board! We waited a few minutes and chatted and then Nelson and Craig pulled
up. We threw our boards in the trunk and headed to Sayreville. Upon arrival I was amazed at the design of the park. It was built by
legendary skatepark builder Wally Holiday, who also designed the now defunct Cherry Hill park that is still considered one of the best
skateparks ever built. The other guys dropped in and carved around the bowls with ease but I tried to ride the park more like a ramp.
Armando and Craig sensed my frustration and insisted that I not ride by kick-turning but trying to carve (more like surfing style).
Once they explained the principals of carving, and I loosened up the trucks on an old school deck that I brought along, I arrived
at a whole new perspective. Bowls and ramps are two entirely different things! After a few runs I was getting the hang of carving
and had the time of my life. I now realize that I need two different deck set-ups, one for ramps with tight trucks, and the other
with loose trucks for bowls. All of this makes me want to go back to Sayreville as soon as possible and also gives me a whole new
outlook on Owl's Head and the Tribeca Bowl. Another skater, JD, came out just to hang, he had a very bad elbow injury at Owl's Head.
He was dying to skate, especially after seeing Armando ride a few mellow runs with his elevated collarbone. But he held off as if
ignoring the call of the skate sirens. Hopefully this injury thing with the crew will be over soon and we can all get back to skating
and being healthy!
The NYC Crew - (From the left clockwise) J.D., Craig, Nelson, Me, & Armando
A view of Manhattan from the George Washington Bridge on a skateboard!