I'm Learning To Skateboard
So yeah, if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you’ll likely have seen my posts about learning to skateboard, so this blog post will come as no surprise to you. But, you probably won’t be aware of the journey I’m on that has led me to do so. That my friends is what I’m going to be talking to you about today.
There have been many things in my life that I was interested in, to some degree, that I never pursued. The reasons being varied, but mostly coming back to people in my life telling me I couldn’t or shouldn’t do it, and/or fear. So, I just carried on doing what was expected of me, and being the person the people around said I should be. And let me tell you, living on someone else’s terms is no way to live a happy life. If I could give young people any bit of advice it would be to try and experience everything in life that interests you, even if society tells you that you can’t or shouldn’t. Obviously within reason. I mean hello, I’m not advocating doing illegal things. But what I am saying is this… if you’re a girl who finds skateboarding (or whatever else it is) interesting, give it a try! Don’t let them tell you it’s a boy’s sport.
Anyway… last week I was thinking about the things I had found interesting in the past, but had never tried because of the aforementioned reasons. I started making a mental list of these things, and came up with a few right off the bat. I then made a reel about them, of which no one has really seen because I’m a small fish in a very large ocean. But oh well. It encouraged me to get started with the first thing on my list, which was skateboarding.
And by skateboarding I mean using a cruiser or longboard to get from point A to point B. I’m not trying to injure myself at a skate park trying to do an Ollie or a Halfcab. I know my body’s limitations. I do however want to learn to use a skateboard for transportation and recreation. So, my intent was to buy a long board, and practice until I was good enough to take it out and about. And I did buy a cheap 31” from West49 to get me started. And then a few hours later I happened upon a Hurley branded penny board style 27” board, as known as a Nickel, and bought that too, as well as a second one I found at another location. So yeah, I have three boards to learn on. #BoardCollector!
Without any adjustments to the trucks, I immediately preferred the Hurley board to the other, because it actually turned when you wanted it to turn. But both were pretty smooth, and the larger 31” has a nice sized deck, that gives you a firm footing. After some adjustments to the trucks on the larger board, I quite like it, as it seems more stable. But the smaller Hurley board is still smoother and takes less pumps to get you up to the speed you need to cruise.
Anyway… my goal here is to be able to be confident enough on my board to use it to get from point A to point B. Also, to get comfortable enough of a regular skateboard to maybe move up to a Boosted Board, which looks like it would be amazingly fun to ride and definitely get me to places much faster. But yeah…
So far, this is me…
Just trying to stay on the board, and laughing a lot! But whatever, I’m having fun, getting exercise, and conquering a fear. I’d say that’s winning in my book. And bonus, I’ve gotten my husband out there with me, and he’s loving it too. He even goes out by himself when I’m at work!
In the end, if nothing else comes of it, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed this learning process thus far, and are excited to continue on with it.
What’s something new you’ve learned to do lately? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time… be loving, be kind, be better!
Nerd knowledge! Half Cab is also the name of a type of Vans shoe. Named after Steve Caballero. People would cut down their high tops sneakers for better flexibility but maintain the protection of a high top.
But learning to skate has been fun.
OMG this is awesome! I grew up a skater and have always wanted to get back to it although I was never good because I'm goofy footed and had trouble learning by watching others because of it. Check out John Hills YT chan for some inspiration. As well as Braile Skateboarding for tutorials. Thanks for the inspiration! Oh, and you got this Brandon!