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| Soulriding (2099 Posts)
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Soulspeak |
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On 7/30/2001 Mark
wrote in from
(199.46.nnn.nnn)
I was invited over to my brother's house yesterday. He had a graduation party for his
son, who got out a year early (Whoo-Hoo!). My brother's 'hood is all hills and winding
streets, so I'm thinking about which board to take along. These are residential streets
with no driveways, so I'll need a shorter deck to be able to control speed. As I survey
the boards, 17 soldiers all standing at attention, I am overwhelmed with the urge to
ride a genuine Hobie, to carve down these streets as if it were 1965 again. I throw a
few items into the van, make a stop at the mall for some fresh Swiss bearings, and I am
at my brother's. My homemade pico de gallo is a big hit. After lunch I get down to
business: installing the new bearings into the also new eXkate Hurricanes (63mm 76a)
that have been waiting around to be useful. These are fitted onto the Bennett Hijacker
hangars, with ACS 430 (aluminum) baseplates, that had already been attached to the
1965 30" Hobie Super Surfer months before, after it had been sanded and revarnished.
This retro jewel was ready to carve, and so was I!
The first thing I notice, it sits a little high, that's partly an illusion created by
the narrow deck. No grip tape covers this beautiful wood, so I choose to ride it barefoot,
which will give me better grip AND fit the whole retro vibe I'm feeling. With the first
pump, it is obvious these are some killer wheels: grippy and fast. With a few pumps, I
am up to speed and take my carving stance. My toes curl over one rail, and my heels dig
into the other as I begin to make full, flowing arcs down the hill. I can straighten out
my carves to gain speed, or tighten them up to scrub it off. On a flat section between
grades, I take a line and step up to hang five toes over and glide for a bit. Stepping
back, I carve into a 90 degree left that drops away. I dig in deep on the steeper grade,
squatting low and dragging fingertips as I transition from rail to rail. The board is
rigid and offers no flex, but the Hurricanes and the Bennett "big red rubbers" are giving
me a nice cushioned ride. Most of the traffic here is in the alleys, because that's where
the driveways and garages are, which leaves the streets free for carving. I don't see a
single car on my way down, connecting 3 streets, only bottom-turning at the fourth because
of water in the gutter (damn sprinklers!). Walking back up to my brother's house, holding
the little Hobie under my arm just like I did as a kid back in '69, I thought about how
I was repeating the same actions I have been doing since then. Years have gone by, I am
older, and many things have changed, but here I was still rolling down hills and walking
back up them, still getting a thrill from riding the pavement like a wave. That's what got
me started doing this, and it is still why I do it. I decided on a new answer for anyone
my age who asks "Why do you do that?": Because I can. If you could, you would, too.
Mark Colden
Dallas, TX
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On 7/28/2001 Repairman Cam
wrote in from
(208.37.nnn.nnn)
Good Luck Q-tip...once you find something healthy that eases the pain, the battle is half over. Being somewhat unconventional at 42, I know how you feel...I work in retail and I take my bigdaddy 48" pintail out back at work to get a few runs in at lunchtime. It helps me deal with the rest of the day. The only prob I have is once they see you on a skateboard, some folks (AKA management) won't take you seriously. Something boards and bikes I guess. Oh well, beats chasing a little white ball around with a stick...
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On 7/26/2001 Seefavero
wrote in from
(205.188.nnn.nnn)
yea,beatiful day about to turn into an even better night.watchin the clock at work,gonna race home,trade out the car for the motorcycle,strap my skate to my back and head out for the sunset session.shadows getting long,the slides even longer,hoots and hollers,carvin the bowl.summer!cannot get any better than this,too many winters spent hitting the kicker in the garage,too many spring and fall sessions that put the extra sting and pain into every bail.no,this nites not gonna get wasted,its gonne be savored,like every re read of every magazine you ever bought,this nites gonna get all played out.peace,cf
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On 7/24/2001
"Q-tip"
wrote in from
(152.163.nnn.nnn)
Well, you all don't know me but i'm a 16 year old guy and can't dance, don't play sports, don't have a girlfriend. So my life is on the lonely side. But , when i'm out on the blacktop with my afromanproductions 'PimpDaddy' board , it all doesn;t matter. When i get the dropknee carving going on it all gets better, like a release from the cruel world. It probably sounds lame or maybe like i need help but it cures my pain. Carving is the best medicine around and i hope that people younger than myself will keep the dream real for guys like me
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On 7/22/2001
Preston
wrote in from
(63.10.nnn.nnn)
I have been rideing and carving the hills in D.C. since 74', and to this day I'm still lovin' it., Because it is embeded into my soul and everytime that I get out there with my 44inch Fibre Flex with that oldschool feel I get nothing but positive vibes.
So If there is anybody out there who remembers those old hills like Porter street, or Wisconsin Ave., and you got time away from the family, let's here some of your memories.
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On 7/15/2001 Scabs
wrote in from
(209.86.nnn.nnn)
Soul Carving. Carving soul back into my life.
Forty plus years of fond memories.
Some being lost to higher priorities,
like work, the kid and wife.
It`s way too easy to get caught up in the BS,
To lose one`s mojo, yes even our soul.
We forget what it meant to carve that high line.
or just dropping back into the bowl.
Yet our fabric of exsistance is personally defined,
not by others as so may be inclined.
But by our self esteem of how we picture our self,
so with each carve our burgeoning soul is felt.
Back to simpler times of being carefree.
But more important was the mood you see.
Soul carve, or carve to soul.
Our freedom of spirit, the ultimate goal.
Brady "Scabs" Mitchell
Knucklehead Racing Team since `01
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On 7/14/2001
chris favero
wrote in from
(205.188.nnn.nnn)
things still hectic here in chi town,what a great feeling to be hanging at the park,its dusk,tons of old skaters,the younguns givingprops,but most of all,its still about the session.the sweat,scrapes,slides,double truck carve grinds,banks,basins,g force,and best of all,rersenting the Knuckleheads.peace,cf
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On 7/13/2001
longboardkook
wrote in from
(209.244.nnn.nnn)
Talk about soulcarving some bowls, check out the article on the famous Landsdowne Skatepark in Baltimore. See, Washington City Paper: Cheap Seats http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/cheap/cheap.html.
Landsdowne is one of the few first generation skateparks in the US that is still around. It has some mellow snake runs.
BTW, I'm looking for input to take to the design meetings for the new concrete park to be built next year in Arlington, VA. Send me and e-mail with your ideas. Thanks, DR
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On 7/13/2001
Hizzout
wrote in from
(208.164.nnn.nnn)
DanG,
Hey that was tight! I've got several friends who flow, and that's a damn smoooooth flow. Replicates the moods and feelings of a night time ride perfectly. My helmet is off to you.
Peace
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On 7/12/2001
Ed Economy
wrote in from
(63.28.nnn.nnn)
HEY JOHN GILMOUR !!! Wow I want to tandem ride in the rain with your wonderful girl.(with the white tank top) John email me your complete shipping address. I will send her a custom made big red big ED board so on those nights you are holding on to your board she can sleep with her own big ED. Oh yes Soulcarving I will be in Hawaii on the North Shore for the next couple of weeks. Is there anybody on this site from Hawaii ??? I will be bringing a handfull of Street riders to cruise on. We will be high in the hills Wahiawa. Long smooth and sometimes steep winding roads thru the back roads of Hawaii. About 6 of my local friends already have my boards cruzing the hills. Last Feb we skated Wahiawa and I was the only one wearing tennis shoes slip on vans (locals wear slippers or barefoot) I had to step off at full speed and I was running so fast my knees were hitting my chest, no room for a Coleman on this day. You never saw a fat boy fun so damm fast I did not want to go down on the 1st day can't surf with bloody knees. Later in the week going with Shogo Kubo to the North Shore underground Skate ramp. Hey any Hawaiians on this site email me before Sat. we can skate,drink beer, eat, drink beer, eat more, drink beer then skate aloha-brah
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On 7/12/2001
DanG
wrote in from
(141.150.nnn.nnn)
Flow. That’s what its about. Gliding through the streets whenever with no destination in mind. The freedom and clarity of mind that come when you’re drifting through the streets, with the only goal being to keep the ride going as long as possible. Streetlight to streetlight, carving on the black wave; half in the light half out. Dancing with your shadow, on the deck of your board, which squeaks with every turn. The wave feels warm as you reach out to touch your shadow on the backside turn. Your board, it’s a boat, riding a wave under artificial electric moonlight. Every turn makes it squeak more as the waves hit it from different angles. Up ahead the road gets busy and you turn to the sidewalk. Te te te te te te…. to infinitum. On your train, you can’t turn only speed up, or slow down, and these tracks head strait down hill. It doesn’t matter though, still moving, light to light, this time racing your shadow. He darts ahead only to slow down and be passed. Again, again, and again, faster faster, and faster. Soon it’s a blur, the sound a high pitched machine gun. Shot out of the sidewalk, a bullet with wheels you take to the street again, but this time the only light is from the moon. It’s the only thing that sees you doing drop knee carves down the entire street, always at you side never leaving. Soon, your house comes into view, and the moons still there, waiting. Waiting for tomorrow night. Waiting to go longboarding again.
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On 7/11/2001
Mad Hack
wrote in from
(211.123.nnn.nnn)
"Jungle love in the surf and the pouring rain, everything's better when wet."
In Vancouver, it's the closest to surfing we got. Pulling power slides through the puddles watching the wake spread out off the the cutaway. Drenched to the bone, chilled past. Use what you've got while you can where you are with whoever you can find. Two on a board? even better.
JG, hold on tight and never let that woman get away
MH
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On 7/10/2001 JG + AF
wrote in from
(63.118.nnn.nnn)
Now here's a soulful experience. We are eating at this cafe and it looks like rain. I say "Don't worry it will stay up for hours, if it rains we'll take a cab home" . I've got my Ed Economy Longboard with me and another Old Longboard. Well- it starts pouring, really pouring ...worse than Tammy Faye Baker getting busted. Huge puddles start forming. I figure..."gotta save the Ed Economy!" so I ride tandem on the older deck with my girl (who is wearing a white tank top)it was like Tandem Surfing through some 7 inch deep puddles. The board makes a special roaring sound when it dredges through the puddles. Finally we make it home- wet...soaked to the core. We drop off all our stuff and .....go out for more tandem boarding in the rain. Hard to find women like this- at least you would think so from the stares we were getting riding down Newbury Street in Boston in the rain. My guess for best rain set up? Quiksplits = less hydroplaning.
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On 7/10/2001
B.S.
wrote in from
(216.228.nnn.nnn)
Just had to say...
after riding the lyrical waves that you all have sent peeling forever toward the shore of soulful curiosity, I was inspired...
and without thinking about getting up for work at 7am, or how chilly it was out, or where i was going and how long it might take to return, without thinking at all...
I found myself gliding over a smooth black surface - i guess it was pavement, felt more like air - not a car in sight, soundless night wrapped around the comforting whhhrrrrrr of 4 70mm lovers kissing dark streets...
I passed through a streetlight, then another, and realized- its a heartbeat... quiet, then there it is, then gone again... and its the riders that keep the heart of longboarding beating, if we arent there to pass in and out of the streetlights in a steady peaceful heartbeat, who will?
Anyway... rambling thoughts, your posts inspired me into what turned out to be a 4 hour ride all over the peninsula, my carves found their way through a Motorcycle Festival with drunk men and flashing women to silently sleeping streets I hadnt ever seen before... the constant whhhrrrrr of the wheels: the vibration of satisfied content. Reach down and drag your fingers the next time you turn toeside
B.S.
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On 7/4/2001
Speedy
wrote in from
(129.8.nnn.nnn)
Hello, everyone! Take some time out of fireworks and hotdogs to remember our founding fathers of the Longboard— Those who first tore apart their old roller skates and nailed them to 2x4s. Those who bolted skateboard trucks to water skis and fence boards. Those who took a common skateboard deck and laminated it with fiberglass and epoxy. Honor their legacy by taking the easyrider out for a cruise. Maybe show a kid how to build the smoothest riding skateboard he or she has ever seen. Bomb a few hills. Do what it takes, but celebrate in style. We are the few! The lucky! The Longboarders!
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On 7/3/2001
psYch0Llyod
wrote in from
(24.148.nnn.nnn)
Sorry about the previous post (it should have been in the Riding Locations forum), I forgot where I was.
Surfing the city is just a an escape from the hard reality of mans encroachment into nature.
It's the minds attempt to free us from the 90 degree edge of insanity.
The glacial basin we call the lake reminds us that it is larger than some oceans, it even offers the gift of fresh water surf.
That feeling...
...is just one ride away.
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On 7/3/2001
psYch0Lloyd
wrote in from
(24.148.nnn.nnn)
...oh yes there are!
Check out the bank at the corner of Ashland and Belmont, it has windows w/bricks set at an angle leading up to their windows.
At 31st street and LSD (Lake Shore Drive) there is a skatepark new as of last year. It has carve written all over it!
For those in the know the "sea wall" over by the museum campus (Aquarium, Field Museum, and Planetarium) is transitioned. We've been carving this since the 70's!
The hills are all over the suburbs but the bridges can offer some vertical drop and the garages are to die for...
...it's hot right now (cops ya know) but we always rode the Picaso, now that's art imitating life imitating art.
Switching to Swerve,
Alan Sidlo
Knucklehead Racing Team (member since '01)
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On 7/2/2001
dane
wrote in from
(64.108.nnn.nnn)
i was just hoping that someone could talk about bank riding and relate it to surfing because i just moved back to chicago, and not only are there no banks, there's no real hills.
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On 7/2/2001
psYch0Lloyd
wrote in from
(24.148.nnn.nnn)
The mind seems to empty as adrenaline fills the void, any sense of style is left for the casual observer...
...no one there, no matter, the body conforms as the ride provides.
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On 7/2/2001
Hunamea
wrote in from
(204.97.nnn.nnn)
What are you thinking when your at the top of the steepest hill you can find..?
Will I carve it tight, or go wide and fall behind..?
It doesnt matter, nobody can have the style you do...
Whether tight or wide, your ride to you will always be true...
LLL
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On 7/1/2001
psYch0Lloyd
wrote in from
(24.148.nnn.nnn)
While we may ride with others we are still alone on our boards.
While we are alone on our boards we are yet still connected in the feeling.
While we are experiencing this feeling, the sense of freedom captures our hearts, our minds, freeing our spirits in the exhilaration of the moment.
I wish I was there too...
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On 7/1/2001
.......
wrote in from
(208.5.nnn.nnn)
I grab the board and go...
As i go down the street I ride with the flow..
Makeing sure Im not going slow...
The first carves are followed by the next sequence...
Feeling free like a bird above a canyon...
Going so fast, turning so smooth, so intense...
Any longboarder would know...
There is nothing like this anywhere you go...
The only thing that I wish is that someone will be there with me...
LLL
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On 6/30/2001
psYch0Lloyd
wrote in from
(24.148.nnn.nnn)
Repairman Cam: Profound words from one who's humbled by the weight of the subject.
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On 6/29/2001 Repairman Cam
wrote in from
(208.37.nnn.nnn)
I would highly recommend the short longboard film at http://play.nikeplay.com/play/play.html As a beginner (at 42!) I can only hope to aspire to such smoothness...those slides are Charlie Parker Smooth kudos to the unknown pilots! (too bad a board gave it's life for the film)
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On 6/29/2001 Repairman Cam
wrote in from
(208.37.nnn.nnn)
a Haiku inspired by a recent midnight garage skate with my son...
boy and man downhill
years apart
joined by gravity's worship
funny, but now that I think of it between mountain biking and skateboarding my son and I are joined by gravity...
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