With the brakes out on the 49, I wasn't about to venture all the way back to the church parking lot where I took my first Baby Steps int the world of skating last night...I'd have to settle for somewhere I could walk to. Tried skating the streets on the way there, but the cracks wreaked havoc on me...finally scooped up the board and walked a few blocks. It was warm tonight, but not quite as sticky as last night. I dropped the board in a couple level parking lots and tried to get re-aquainted with the whole kicking and riding thing. I just wasn't finding it...I could do it for short runs, but the condition of any paved surface in Michigan leaves ALOT to be desired...which goes for parking lots as well. What about the Big Church? I had noticed the sloped parking lot of this church back when I moved here in 81. I made a mental note of it back then...thinking that if I ever DID learn to skate, that it would be gnarly to try that run. Twenty four years have taken their toll on that lot...it's pitted, cracked, rough and dirty...but it did look interesting. Why not give it a try? Who cares if as of dinner time yesterday I still didn't know how to stand on a skateboard without falling off...I did okay learning to stay on for short coasts last night on level ground...this would just be a little more FUN, right?! The parking lot features a couple different runs, and there's several ways a rider could tackle them. A pro, or even a moderately experienced rider might have an idea, but I really had no clue. I walked to the top and faced down the more gradual, but more drawn out slope. Kicking off, I hopped on for a Ride... Hills are such a rush! Even as I felt myself rolling over the battered, broken pavement, I was lost in the sheer Coolness of it all. Without knowing that I knew how to do it, I managed to steer down the grade and hop off at the end of the ride. I didn't even pause to think after it was over, I carried the board back up to the top for another run! After a few p***es that way, I wanted more. The steeper side of the slope promised much more speed, but it also shot directly into a driveway that led out into the street over a few nasty cracks. However, if you could turn right before the driveway...you could run off down the lot till you ran outta steam. I know if I ever thought about it, there's NO WAY I ever woulda thought to carry the board up the sidewalk to the back door of the church (more speed must be better, right?!) and aim it down the walk, which shoots you down a semi-smooth ramp to transition to the asphalt, then sends you speeding off to try and stick a right hander between the small island in the middle of the lot and the curb along the sidewalk edge facing the street. Sure, a skater with some experience under his belt would probably laugh at the run...and could likely pull a super crisp whip-turn to make it BEFORE the island...but someone with about three hours worth of experience on a skateboard at all, and only about ten minutes worth of hill riding just MIGHT be intimidated by the prospect of trying to swing a wide right banker at Mach 2 over rough and dirty pavement if he were to THINK about it. But, if I've learned nothing else in my twenty four hours as a skater, it's that it ain't about THINKING, you just feel it, and then DO it...hopefully! So, before I realized what I was doing, I set myself up for that run down the short walk that would launch me into the manic head-rush of flying success...or the ******, brutal prospect of Death and Dismemberment! Approaching the turn at Ludicrous Speed, I noticed something of minor significance...there was a sharply ramped tar patch right smack dab in the middle of where I planned to sweep my turn! How nice it would be to hit THAT at Warp Nine, eh? I veered just left of it and bailed just shy of the curb. No way to stick the turn between the Tar Pit and the curb, I reckoned. If I was gonna nail it, I'd have to swing slightly left then alter my approach angle to sail me between the island curb and the Tar Pit. Hell, it MIGHT be possible. Running down the walk again and gaining speed quickly, I shifted my feet and made my play...had to be sure to clear the RIGHT side of the Tar Pit, or it's Curtains, for sure! Did it! sped just right of the pit, but my angle was still wide, and that far curb was coming up fast. Come on...gotta stick it...lean, lean...it's gonna be tight, but I think...we...GOT IT! Running off the speed as the ground leveled out along the curb, I stood relaxed and rode it out. What a feeling! I had to do it again! I spent the next three hours running the different angles from the top of the hill...sometimes going for the longer, straighter, slower run, and sometimes trying that fast right hander! Though the pavement is rough and nasty, I manged to ride out every run without incident...except for once! On one p*** into that speedy right swing, I was wide off the Tar Pit turn, but felt confident that I could still pull it out in time. Nope! Came off the board with my feet sideways, caught the ground and went down hard. Took some skin off and let a little blood out, and it hurt like Hell right then, but I grabbed my hat, ******ed up the board and carried it back up before I could stop to really let the pain sink in. I stopped only to shake the gravel out of my shoe, then set up for another run at that fast right turn! I had to nail it again...couldn't walk home with the wipeout being the last thing I did tonight. Nope, gotta say ya rode the horse that throwed ya! I spent another hour easily after the wipeout...I'd shaken it off right after sticking the turn with lots of room to spare on the next p***, so I wasn't ready to quit by a long shot. I skated that hill in every direction till the lights switched off automatically at I guess 2am. There was still one light at each end of the lot, but that still left you running into the end of each run in darkness. No biggie...I've stuck each run enough to know the angles needed to pull it off...so I skated it each way a couple dozen MORE times before finally, reluctantly agreeing to call it a night and walk home to give my tired, trembling legs, sore knees, and aching back a rest. It had been a completely killer night...I was thinking I still ****ed BIG TIME because I don't do the kick and coast move too well on level ground, but ****...I guess riding hills over tricky terrain your second night is okay, so I walked home satisfied with the night's riding session. What was the problem with my car again? Oh yeah...the brake line or whatever. Gonna maybe hafta fix that one day...it'd be cool to DRIVE to some cool lots to skate each night!!! Damn, I think I'm HOOKED...thanks alot, Guys!!!
awesome man...... wait till,you start falling and before you know it,your back were you started and have fallin like 10 more times...haha..... as far as the "pumping" if you go with your foot on the front,try with your other foot in the middle/back(not too far back,that's bad )......then throw your other one up front....it's called "****o" that's what i always did,and the old skaters did,i got a lotta **** for it,but ill be damned ,it works great.......(did that make ANY since?) goodluck,man........your making me want to skate again,and i physically can't,i'll be back in Pysi. therapy,haha...... Prime.....
The Jalopy Journal
