Old Guys Who Skate

So it’s been SEVERAL months since my last post.  And the ultimate reason is – quite simply – there’s been no weather for skateboarding… none… zero… zilch… nada!

And you’d think that in an area like Vancouver (just north of Seattle for those of you wondering) – an area that’s famous for rain mixed in with even-more-rain – that there would be a TON of places where you could skate indoors, or at least under cover.  Yet – the only places I’ve been able to find, are either “imaginary” or have closed down… DANG!

Anyway – it’s been a long winter.  We had TONS of snow – which is completely unusual for Vancouver… and *just* as we were starting to realistically hope for spring – it snowed… here… today… in April!  WTF?!?  At MOST, we generally get two snowfalls a year here – and in general, it snows in the morning, and it’s rained away by the afternoon.  And these shenanigans are inevitably done by early February… So snow in April is just plain crazy here…

So suffice it to say, I’m looking forward to some dry weather to start rollin again (we did try riding in the rain… but THAT’s a painful experiment…)

… If anyone has some fun winter skating  tales – lemme know!

Lookin forward to getting back into riding again this year!!

As I said in my last post, I’m following in Ryan’s footsteps when it comes to skateboarding milestones.  But that said, we’re BOTH super stoked about how well we’re riding the park these days.  Here’s some footy of me riding heelside and frontside in the Bonsor Flowpark.  I can’t tell you how freaky some of those frontside turns were – especially as I had some height going as I was learning!  Still, once I got over the head-freak, it all fell into place… awesome!

Here’s me rockin out on the park…  And yes – I KNOW my ending is weak …  :-p

More to come soon!

I’m not going to be anything but 100% honest here… While I may be able to get a little more height on the walls at the park and I might get a little more speed, Ryan has consistently done every single trick that we’ve both mastered, and done it before me. 

Now, it’s not a competition, it’s just the way it is… he’s better at pushing his envelope than I am.  BUT the cool thing for me, is there’s always something to shoot for.  So if you checked out our last videos, you’ll notice that Ryan and I could only really go heelside on our turns.  Turns out most of the reason for this is because they’re WAY less freaky than frontside – especially when you get up on those walls.  Anyway, these videos are a little old, but they’re great footage of us just getting our feet wet (so to speak) with some frontside turns.  SO check out Ryan as he tears it UP!

So the other thing I like to do with my free time is play xbox 360 (not surprisingly, I’ve done not much of either recently!).  And I just picked up EA’s skate game.  I’ve been a huge fan of the Tony Hawk franchise over the years, and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from skate. 

Boy was I wrong. 

The control system they’re using makes use of the right analog joystick.  So to pop an ollie, you actually have to pop your right joystick up and down.  The controls are pretty much intuitive once you get the hang of it.  I’ve had a couple of friends over to try it out, and they’ve picked it up in minutes – even if they’re neither a skater nor a video game player. 

From a gaming perspective, the career mode is pretty good.  It’s fresh, keeps you challenged and pushes you to try new things.  As you may be able to tell, in the ‘real world’, I’m a child of the 80s’, so I’m not as keen on the street-style skating as I am with the ramps and bowls.  And while that’s the same in the video game world, I’m having so much fun with the street style skating, that I’m quickly becoming more intrigued by learning how to ollie, etc. 

The one thing about this game though, is the “reality”.  Now let me explain what I mean by this.  The game is unreal with its realism.  Obviously, you can do a few things that are just not possible in the real world (or rather, perhaps they are ‘possible’ but there are VERY few people who would put their health on the line to try it out!).  You can jump bigger, go faster and spin longer than anyone probably has a right to.  That said, trying to crank out a 900 is a VERY tough job.  The game get’s very real when you miss a trick and wipe out.  The physics engine is amazing in its ability to turn your self-generated skater into a rag-doll.  And when you do a particularly good job at becoming one with the pavement, stairs, or other obstacle, you’re shown a picture of your skeleton and how much damage you’ve done to it.  Real world injuries and wipe-outs with none of the pain.  And – luckily – the wipeouts don’t cost you anything in game terms.  Just an illustration of what you’ve done to yourself.

The maps are great, and there are pedestrians, cars and other skaters everywhere – meaning that it’s never a clear run for you, even in a competition.  Again, this sets up for some fun wipeouts (sorry Granny!).  The music in the game is varied, everything from some old-school hip-hop and rap, so some heavier guitar laden tracks.  And in true EA fashion, you can customize the soundtrack to make it suit your style or vibe of the day. 

Bottom line, if you like these kinds of games, check it out (you can download a free demo on XBOX Live to get a feel for it).  For me – it was money well spent.  I highly recommend it for those days when you just don’t want to blow stuff up.  Check out the trailer…

OK – so last week I thought I’d be skating up a storm.  The circumstances were perfect and I was (essentially) healed from a couple of bails I took at the skate park.  And when I say “essentially”, I mean that the scrapes healed up – I think I may have bruised a bone in my elbow, but it’s essentially inconsequential.  The funny thing is, most of my scrapes are as a result of the pad slipping on contact with me wiping out.  So the pad itself is causing the scrape – I’ll have to find something to change that…. I digress…

Anyway, I went out for a ride around the neighbourhood with my buddy Ryan last night.  He took out his Arbor with super-wide trucks, and I took out my longboard.  I think it may be the 2nd or maybe 3rd time I’ve ever ridden my longboard – even though I’ve had it for years.  It’s like I just figured out that my ‘hood is just right for riding this board! 

Now I’ve got the taste again, I’m looking forward to riding Bonsor.  And to get myself stoked, I found this video on Bonsor on YouTube.  The funny thing is – it was filmed just after the park opened, so there’s no graffiti in the video.  And when I’m riding, I actually use the graffiti as a marker – something to aim for – so it’s kinda funny for me to watch this.  …And no – I don’t go in the big bowl yet… yet…