right so... we done some skateboarding.... and it was bloody superb, and then its suddenly dawned on me just how superb it was. I think that was the best skateboarding i've done anywhere, anytime.
It was everything I enjoy about this life (it's more than a hobby). Great crowd, great hill, progressing and having a laugh. The hard wheels were whacked out pretty quickly. And I've been reminded of how immense they are. You can work on stuff, like for me just simple 180's, and then half way down a run you can go "oh I wonder what would happen if I tried that" and try some silly grab in a coleman, or over rotating it a little bit, or tweaking something or other a bit. Hard wheel sliding distills skateboarding down to its childish, fun nature. I have no fun doing it at Bopeep, its narrow, steep and a funny surface, but on a hill suitable- its incredible. When you're going down a hill and you've done a few slides, you get this funny feeling:
your feet are in the pockets of the board, you're locked in
your mind is above everything in your life
you gain some feeling from the wheels where you dont really feel they exist as wheels, but little points of contact with the hill that allow you to do whatever you want
It's humbling as well, when you can see what some people can do with techsliding it doesnt allow you to have an ego. Mine is dead when im doing this. Theres just as many runs as you want, the only constraint on anything is yourself and your skill and passion. Tomorrow doesnt exist and yesterday doesnt matter. Theres just this moment, right now, being alive and playing skateboards...
on hard wheels, in the sun.
Im gonna do this for ever.
Will
Sunday 17 June 2012
Wednesday 6 June 2012
the setup wobble of faith!
Usually my titles are somewhat shoddy but THE SETUP WOBBLE OF FAITH seems quite a good one. This is on the subject of when you skate like a twat, and begin to doubt your board. Like I have been doing a little lately.
So I get one run in before the racing at peep. I like to take a bit of time to get into the hill and the whole being on a skateboard thing. I put a coleman in near the top. My board doesnt really slide and I come off. I try again with the same result. Im trying to get my back knee down as much as I can but it doesnt seem to help and I mess up a couple more times. I just about keep my feet on the board into Carnage Corner. Im skating like a wanker, and its very, very annoying not getting a chance to go for it when I know im not going to have a chance to skate much that day. I need to know that i'll be able to slide in order to start bombing a bit.
F-F-F-FAILLLLLLLLLLLL
So yeah after that for the past few days, i've been turning various things over in my head.
1.) Maybe it was my board being so high?
2.) Maybe these racey cults are just not my thing?
3.) Maybe a topmount board doesnt suit me?
But all of this is kind of bollocks, because at the end of the day most of my skating is down to er... me. Sure a lower, friendlier board might be worth trying some time, and it might turn out to suit my skating a bit better. But much underated is the ability to man up and just go skate what you have. Once I get back into it, the fun will come back.
Monday 4 June 2012
Crash and Burn weekend...
crash and burn weekend is concluded...
and I shall elaborate on my absolute fucking mare of a time shortly but first there is the much more important need to express how stoked I am for a couple of riders.
First up, Mr Toby Newman. You have been getting more and more "on it" every skate. I feel like we've been pushing our skating for what is it, a year and a half now of bopeepin? and then now you have jumped into an entirely higher league of beastly skating. congratulations dude. it was rad to see you tanking around the final corner at C+B and a 4th place in a very tough junior division is superb.
Secondly, Mr Harry Phelps. You are a machine. Downhilling, bowls, ramps, techsliding, killing everything and enjoying it properly. And to get hooked up with Vandem is well deserved. Keep shredding and smiling dude! More good things are surely on the way.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok so now im gonna elaborate on what I think im going to officially term as like... "wills massive great fucking mare" or "wills failtacular". So yeah... crash and burn.... signed up to freeride, heres what went down.
Rock up on saturday. To be honest, I just want to get on the hill and do the first drop, get a first slide in, because I know after that I can start having fun. And then theres so much waiting for stuff. Getting registered, tech inspection, aimless sitting around... I just want to go and skate.
Later on, I get in an uplift van because the "freeride morning" is starting. Some more standing, this time at the top of the hill. Eventually the crowd thins to my kind of level so I start off down the hill, put my first slide in and a couple more on the way down. All ok so far. Then going into carnage corner, I get overtaken by an inline dude. Im on the outside of him with little room, I have to slide for the corner, and I clip the guy. Takes him right out. I remember looking up for a second as I was sprawled out and just thinking if I were a better rider I could have avoided that with a footbrake. So that was a bit shit.
Cant really remember my second run, think it was fairly crap. Third run im pleased to only slide into the top corner and then just airbrake down to the second corner. my slide into the second is a pile of shit. But I get to the bottom and im fairly stoked on that. Fourth run my slide into the second corner I fuck up. Feel shit and then its lunch and race stuff afterwards. If I stick around I'll get one, maybe two runs in, the parents are getting twitchy from sitting around all day so we go off to eastbourne town.
Now I had one more lift down to peep. I look at the schedule. Im aware that freeriders get to freeride in any available room in the schedule, and looking at it, there is fek all room on sunday, so I elect to give that day a miss.
Im sitting in my house on sunday and it becomes clear there was a last minute change to the schedule and they done freerides ALL DAY. I can't recall a day when i've felt so shit. Sitting there, knowing I've missed out, all down to the luck that I dont seem to have with anything.
So went along to peep today, im able to get in on the first practice run. going down the hill, no matter what I do, I mess up every time I go to slide. Its my first run, so I just want to be able to slide, and I fuck up, every time. On the floor 3 or 4 times. I dont know what im doing wrong. And then almost at carnage corner, I suddenly get overtaken at like 40+ by some of the fast europe dudes. I was second last down, so im confused as hell by this. they were not at the top, where did they come from? And then after carnage corner, I hear something behind me, and in the end one of them mowed right into the back of me. I get up and ask if he's alright (haha) and for a while he was pissed off because I think he thought I was just some random dude on the hill not to do with the event, because I was attired in a hoody and jeans. He apologises later but its all good, I dont blame him for being pissed off when at the time in his mind there was something to be pissed off about.
But yeah anyway I get to the bottom more than a little battered in body and soul. Spend the rest of the day watching stuff. Hertler was cool to see skate, very fast and a funny personality. Juniors was also very cool. Nice to see people having fun, even if im miserable. Manage to not be too much of a wanker and try and be smiley and talkative. It works a little bit. As soon as everything is over I go.
Im not going to hide that I had a shit weekend, due to various kinds of things. But everybody else seemed stoked, and im glad for that.
Sorry to be a dick. Right now I need to sort myself out and start having fun skating again. Then I can keep pushing myself, because thats what I love doing.
Skate somewhere, soon...
(oh I think I might want a low skateboard thats easier to skate, but I dunno)
laters......
I HAD A FUCKING MARE
and I shall elaborate on my absolute fucking mare of a time shortly but first there is the much more important need to express how stoked I am for a couple of riders.
First up, Mr Toby Newman. You have been getting more and more "on it" every skate. I feel like we've been pushing our skating for what is it, a year and a half now of bopeepin? and then now you have jumped into an entirely higher league of beastly skating. congratulations dude. it was rad to see you tanking around the final corner at C+B and a 4th place in a very tough junior division is superb.
Secondly, Mr Harry Phelps. You are a machine. Downhilling, bowls, ramps, techsliding, killing everything and enjoying it properly. And to get hooked up with Vandem is well deserved. Keep shredding and smiling dude! More good things are surely on the way.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok so now im gonna elaborate on what I think im going to officially term as like... "wills massive great fucking mare" or "wills failtacular". So yeah... crash and burn.... signed up to freeride, heres what went down.
Rock up on saturday. To be honest, I just want to get on the hill and do the first drop, get a first slide in, because I know after that I can start having fun. And then theres so much waiting for stuff. Getting registered, tech inspection, aimless sitting around... I just want to go and skate.
Later on, I get in an uplift van because the "freeride morning" is starting. Some more standing, this time at the top of the hill. Eventually the crowd thins to my kind of level so I start off down the hill, put my first slide in and a couple more on the way down. All ok so far. Then going into carnage corner, I get overtaken by an inline dude. Im on the outside of him with little room, I have to slide for the corner, and I clip the guy. Takes him right out. I remember looking up for a second as I was sprawled out and just thinking if I were a better rider I could have avoided that with a footbrake. So that was a bit shit.
Cant really remember my second run, think it was fairly crap. Third run im pleased to only slide into the top corner and then just airbrake down to the second corner. my slide into the second is a pile of shit. But I get to the bottom and im fairly stoked on that. Fourth run my slide into the second corner I fuck up. Feel shit and then its lunch and race stuff afterwards. If I stick around I'll get one, maybe two runs in, the parents are getting twitchy from sitting around all day so we go off to eastbourne town.
Now I had one more lift down to peep. I look at the schedule. Im aware that freeriders get to freeride in any available room in the schedule, and looking at it, there is fek all room on sunday, so I elect to give that day a miss.
Im sitting in my house on sunday and it becomes clear there was a last minute change to the schedule and they done freerides ALL DAY. I can't recall a day when i've felt so shit. Sitting there, knowing I've missed out, all down to the luck that I dont seem to have with anything.
So went along to peep today, im able to get in on the first practice run. going down the hill, no matter what I do, I mess up every time I go to slide. Its my first run, so I just want to be able to slide, and I fuck up, every time. On the floor 3 or 4 times. I dont know what im doing wrong. And then almost at carnage corner, I suddenly get overtaken at like 40+ by some of the fast europe dudes. I was second last down, so im confused as hell by this. they were not at the top, where did they come from? And then after carnage corner, I hear something behind me, and in the end one of them mowed right into the back of me. I get up and ask if he's alright (haha) and for a while he was pissed off because I think he thought I was just some random dude on the hill not to do with the event, because I was attired in a hoody and jeans. He apologises later but its all good, I dont blame him for being pissed off when at the time in his mind there was something to be pissed off about.
But yeah anyway I get to the bottom more than a little battered in body and soul. Spend the rest of the day watching stuff. Hertler was cool to see skate, very fast and a funny personality. Juniors was also very cool. Nice to see people having fun, even if im miserable. Manage to not be too much of a wanker and try and be smiley and talkative. It works a little bit. As soon as everything is over I go.
Im not going to hide that I had a shit weekend, due to various kinds of things. But everybody else seemed stoked, and im glad for that.
Sorry to be a dick. Right now I need to sort myself out and start having fun skating again. Then I can keep pushing myself, because thats what I love doing.
Skate somewhere, soon...
(oh I think I might want a low skateboard thats easier to skate, but I dunno)
laters......
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