I Just Bought A New Skateboard.

I have to chuckle at the thought of what I just did.

I just bought a new skateboard for a bit of good value fun on the nice quiet smooth roads here in SW France. I am embracing opportunity and very fond memories because I can. It should be here in a week or so from eBay Germany.

Many yeras ago I built my first skateboard in the UK from a plank of wood and a flattened rollerskate, the type you clip to your shoe with an expandable plate and straps with buckles. Perfect!

I made one for a friend too because there was obviously a pair of skates. Oh boy did we have fun.

That was back in 1978 when skateboards were just kicking off in the USA and there was no such thing in the UK.

I was 13 then and must have seen one on tv.

I progressed to a nice fibreglass deck, white with red stripes and a kicktail, Independant trucks and some lovely bright yellow Yankee wheels.

It came from the first skateboard shop in the area where we hung out and eventually worked in building boards for customers. It was great being part of the growth in the UK and it's a special type of freedom I enjoyed that cost absolutely nothing but a few plasters and some missed dinners.

Fast forward 43 years, and it seems I'm still a crazy fearless little kid who accepts no limits and is absolutely prepared to bleed again just for fun.

I feel SWEET and can't wait!

I have an Alien Workshop Abduction board i just pulled out. At 47, at least my Dr will have more than just covid cases!

a reply to: nerbot

I'll offer you the same advice I was given just before I tried the kids skim board. Don't bust that ass.
I watched them throw it, and jump on it, gliding through the surf, and thought, "I can do that", well, I was wrong.
I made the entire beach shake when I fell.

Be safe, and remember your age and the location of the urgent care.

Don't accept people telling you that you can't just remember that you do need to be at a certain level of fitness in order to enjoy what you once did. That's the biggest thing most people in their 40s forget when they get into activities mostly peopled by younger folks.

Make sure your butt is in shape, and mowing the grass occasionally doesn't count.

a reply to: nerbot
Skate and destroy bro!
(But watch those knees!)
I still skate at 45 but hitting the ground hurts more so I just stick to slides/drifts ,although I can still do pop shove its,43's and occasionaly still land a kickflip.

Also being older,it seems the skateboard has lost its "police magnet" capabilities,which is a bonus.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

There is that too. Although I'm discovering that as I get in better shape with better strength through my hips and thighs, etc., that the jumps don't jar as badly on landing as they did when I started out in the activities I'm currently in.

Having sufficient muscle can help cushion you to some degree.

a reply to: ketsuko

That helps for sure.
And knowing how to fall.
Many times a ninja roll has saved me from busted knees

a reply to: nerbot

Fast forward 43 years, and it seems I'm still a crazy fearless little kid who accepts no limits and is absolutely prepared to bleed again just for fun.

I'll get it in early , get well soon nerbot.

a reply to: nerbot

Pics or it didn't happen.

Many yeras ago I built my first skateboard in the UK from a plank of wood and a flattened rollerskate, the type you clip to your shoe with an expandable plate and straps with buckles. Perfect!

Hey, McFly!

I still have two of my "real" skateboards, one from the 80s (Vision) and one from the 90s (Powell, I think that a drunk ass neighbor gave to me after he almost hit me when I was skating at night). I was never really any good, though, since living in the sticks did not afford me a place to ride or practice other than a concrete drive about 50' square. It was fun, and I miss it. Have been thinking about cleaning them up, or hanging them on the wall.

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse

Also being older,it seems the skateboard has lost its "police magnet" capabilities,which is a bonus.

Perhaps you're not doing it properly. Don't forget OUR stereos go to 11.

a reply to: nerbot

I'm in my early 30s and I commend you! I've just traded in my board for a lathe.. lol after decades of repeating childish antics of cky and jackass, my body needs a break from the life of a moron.

a reply to: nerbot

I was pretty hardcore back in the day - got in Skateboarder mag a few times in the mid-70s. Two broken arms and a shattered hip later and I had to hang it up. I spent 17 years gimping around on my bad hip before my insurance would spring for a replacement. Still miss those days of trespassing to skate empty pools, aqueducts, storm drains and the AZ desert pipes.
Take it slow - you're not indestructible anymore and gravity always wins.

you don't stop skateboarding cause you got old. You get old cause you stopped skateboarding.

I have an old pair of Xsjado rollerblades sitting in my laundry room. Every time i see them I think about replacing the missing bolt and taking them for a spin. But I know that would make me want to get back into grinding ledges and rails again. I then decide I've come to enjoy having my epidermis connected to my body instead of left behind on the pavement.

originally posted by: nerbot
I have to chuckle at the thought of what I just did.

I just bought a new skateboard for a bit of good value fun on the nice quiet smooth roads here in SW France. I am embracing opportunity and very fond memories because I can. It should be here in a week or so from eBay Germany.

Many yeras ago I built my first skateboard in the UK from a plank of wood and a flattened rollerskate, the type you clip to your shoe with an expandable plate and straps with buckles. Perfect!

I made one for a friend too because there was obviously a pair of skates. Oh boy did we have fun.

That was back in 1978 when skateboards were just kicking off in the USA and there was no such thing in the UK.

I was 13 then and must have seen one on tv.

I progressed to a nice fibreglass deck, white with red stripes and a kicktail, Independant trucks and some lovely bright yellow Yankee wheels.

It came from the first skateboard shop in the area where we hung out and eventually worked in building boards for customers. It was great being part of the growth in the UK and it's a special type of freedom I enjoyed that cost absolutely nothing but a few plasters and some missed dinners.

Fast forward 43 years, and it seems I'm still a crazy fearless little kid who accepts no limits and is absolutely prepared to bleed again just for fun.

I feel SWEET and can't wait!

a reply to: nerbot

Cool! Great move!

I did some skateboarding in the late eighties and early nineties. Tried, practiced, practiced and tried ollie. No. Not one inch of airtime. Neighbors must have loved me. Clank! Clonk! Clank! sounds all day every day for a long period of time.

There was not much googling going on back then. I had a book or two about skateboarding. I still kinda remember the basic idea of how an ollie is done, but i could not do it and frustration made me stop skateboarding, but i still admire skateboarding as an artform and as means to move around.

At 56, I can skate, but I can't do vert.

Olde School.

have you guys ever see a turtle turn?
its a pretty sick skateboard trick.

originally posted by: FlyingFox
At 56, I can skate, but I can't do vert.

Olde School.

I never got to do much vertical stuff or anything beyond being a speed freak and messing about on flat surfaces.

Outside my gate is beautiful flat smooth main road with gentle slopes and hills all along and plenty of areas in the village and surrounding areas to create a small unpredictable projectile playground.

I WILL start off easy and I'm looking forward to the excercise too. Motorcycle gloves ready and I think I have a pair of floor laying knee pads but the kid inside will probably just think about them not bother.

I should get a helmet I suppose, but if I die or get stuffed bad at least it was doing what made me smile.

I will be able to do some good slalom and downhill racing too and will pop round to see friends in the area just to surprise and inspire them.

Just had flashback....my brother's school summer fair august 1978. "The Logans" skateboard team from the US was on tour and THAT may have been my inspiration. They had a half pipe and a large flat area for tricks.

Incredible how the old grey matter keeps sparking the same things it can from such a long time ago.

I want my board! I want my board! Oh well, German post is super quick usually.

originally posted by: MapOfNowhere
I still kinda remember the basic idea of how an ollie is done, but i could not do it and frustration made me stop skateboarding, but i still admire skateboarding as an artform and as means to move around.

It has never been about showing off for me and all the fancy trick stuff never really appealled.

You mention travelling and I think that was the true key. A different type to that of being on a pushbike or on foot though and it was the best of both worlds because you can travel far under your own steam but jump on a bus to anywhere too and enjoy the view to a new ride spot or start point of a new adventure in unknown lands.

Yes, I was ferral. Thankfully.