My Skateboarding Adventures

Wow, it's been a long time

2008-04-26T23:02:00.001-07:00

So I didn't skate or anything today, but I did read back over my blog and realized how little I've actually skated since Christmas. I have two friends who want to go skating in the next week or so, so hopefully I'll get back on my board soon, but I have been a slug lately. I'm going to need to get back in shape, and, well, hopefully not fall of the board...

Skating and Indiana

2007-12-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

I told my family that I skateboard and even showed them my video. I think perhaps they think I've lost my mind. Let's face it, most of what I do seems to make my family think that I've lost my mind. Oh, well. What's funny is I have two 17 year old step-somethings (I'm not sure exactly what this relationship is-only that they are related to my step mother so they must then be some step relative something to me) who think that I am pretty cool because I wear skate shoes and like the Nightmare Before Christmas and like to skate. One of them doesn't skate, and doesn't think she could but likes that I do. The other has skated, not a lot, and definitely respects an adult who can and does.

Not that I'm really cool, or that anyone who actually skates and sees me skate would think so (Just ask all the Moseley children, who all skate better than I do...)

But, I think it's time to get back to business. Skating isn't more important than my doctorate degree, but it's not so much less important that I should have tossed it aside completely the way I did last semester.

Okay, so as soon as I get back from Indiana, I am off to the beach to skate...

It's the end of December...

2007-12-21T21:11:00.001-08:00

And I haven't been skating since my last post... Very very bad. I fly to Indiana tomorrow, but I may try to get out in the morning, before I do my last minute errands for the trip. I need to skate, especially since I maybe facing that ramp I avoided the last time in the not so distant future. Plus, skating may help get me out of the funk I've been in this week. Wouldn't that be nice?

Skating in Bakersfield

2007-11-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

So, I went with the Moseley's skating at their skatepark in Bakersfield. I brought my skateboard and pads and helmet and stuff (okay, it's been a long time since I've worn any of those...), but at the same time, I was wondering what the point was, feeling pretty confident that I wouldn't actually try anything at the skatepark. Skating at a skatepark seems too much like doing tricks or something, and I know I'm not at that level. Basically, all I do is skate on pretty straight areas, with maybe a few hills here and there.

I skated on the flat parts and watched the kids do the ramps and stuff. With a little pressure from the girls (a lot from Stanzi), I decided that I was going to do one of the ramps and then when I got to the top, I just kept thinking about the last time I went down a hill and how freaking scary that was. So, I wound up not going down the ramp. (Well, I went down sitting on my board. Thank goodness Bill didn't have a camera. And I still wound up falling off my board- I have a bruise!)

I promised the kids that I'd go down the ramp the next time I come up, and while I don't know when that will be, I better get practicing doing some hills. It might help if I skated more than every two weeks. I am determined to get to Manhattan Beach to skate at least once this week, during the week. That might make me less stressed out about my work, too.

Hills are scary

2007-11-05T20:34:00.001-08:00

So after my little issue with speed wobbles, and after talking with Mr. Bill for a little while about how to fix the problem, I decided to go back to the little hill in Manhattan Beach to see if I could get through it without any speed wobbles. I bent my legs, spread my feet apart and started down the hill. No wobbles. However... near the bottom, my board started having a mind of it's own and turning where it wanted, at a pretty high rate of speed. So, I bailed. Going really fast. I was going pretty fast when I hopped off, thinking I would stop, when really I needed to run. My right leg is pretty sore and my board crashed into the wall. But hey, I survived.

It's been a looooong time

2007-11-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

My last blog was in August. It's November. That's about how long it's been since I've *really* skated too, but today I got out there, with a lot of thanks to John. He texted me Friday and asked if I wanted to skate this weekend. My first inclination lately is to say no to anything anyone asks me to do, but instead I said yes. We met up in Manhattan Beach and I was a little worried. I'm always worried about trying somewhere new because while I have some control of my board, if a place is really crowded, I'm just not sure I'll be able to not run into someone.

That being said, it was an awesome day. John has got to be the most patient person in the world. I'm still pretty slow, but John just rides a little ahead, does tricks and tries not to fall right in front of me. (That's a request I've made of him so I don't wipe out too.) Wendy came by too, which is awesome, because it's always good to have another female skating around me, since I see so few of them.

The Manhattan Beach strand is a great place to skate. Wide sidewalks, totally smooth, not very many people and even a few downhill spots to try and get comfortable with some speed. I got some speed wobbles today when I skated, so I need to work on that. Freaked me out a bit, but I'll keep working on it.

We've decided to make this little outing weekly, so next week, hopefully, I'm going to get a new video going with my two skater friends. :-)

Skating again

2007-08-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

Today is the first time I've skated in over two weeks. There was nothing very exciting about skating today. I went to the Venice Boardwalk and skated early this morning. It just felt really good to get on my board again. It took me just a few minutes to get back into the swing of things and I'm realizing more than ever that skating is a great stress reliever for me. All the stress of this past week really melted away as I hopped on my board and dodged runners (uh, oh, marathon training has started on Saturdays...). I'll be back again tomorrow.

Huh

2007-08-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, I still haven't skateboarded again yet, but I had to share this. I'm off on a road trip for a few days, up the Central Coast. My first stop today was at Pismo Beach. I spent several hours there today, and then headed to San Luis Obispo. From Pismo, I got on the freeway on-ramp to head the rest of the way to SLO. On the on-ramp to the 101, there was, if you can believe it, a boy skateboarding on the side of the ramp. And not doing it very well. I'm guessing he's not at the level yet where he can go practice at a skate park, even though I've heard there is quite a good one not far from here. (I'm planning on checking it out tomorrow.)

I was silently cursing this kid in my head as he skated near where I was driving. Then I remembered all the signs I had seen along the beach that said "No Skateboarding" along with the municipal code listed below. I wonder if the skateboarding ban is as strict in the rest of the city. I also wonder if that *might* have something to do with this kid risking his life on a freeway on-ramp. Okay, it's not a good idea no matter what, but still...

sigh

2007-08-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

It's been about a week since I've skated and I'm starting to feel really sad about not getting on my board. It hasn't been a week since I've gotten on the board. I keep putting it out on the back porch and going out and standing on it and rocking back and forth. That's just not the same thing however.

The tendon on the back of my foot isn't doing that great, and now I have a few new complications that I hope will go away quickly. I really need to work on some spots to skate around here, though, because once school starts I really don't know where I'm going to skate. I don't want to lose all of the progress that I've made.

Ouch!

2007-08-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was rather proud of myself that I skated further than I ever had in the past. Well, today I paid for it. As soon as I started skating, I felt like something was wrong. I wasn't getting any distance. And then my kicking foot started to really hurt. Apparently, I have skater's foot. (I don't know--is that a thing?) Looks like I'm going to need to take a few days off skating. I just hope I don't lose my skating fans...

Skater chicks rule

2007-08-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to report today. I think everyday I skate I'm skating further, which is good. It seems I'm skating further and it less time, so at least that must mean I'm getting a bit faster. I haven't worked on kick turns in a while, and I know that's what I need to spend some time on next. It's just been so long since I've fallen--I'd like to avoid it...

Apparently, I have some homeless fans on the boardwalk. As I skated by today, I heard, Skater chicks rule. Which, hey, I've got to agree with. They watched my progress for the rest of the time I was out, and would make little comments as I came by.

It's nice to have a fan base. I could use one these days.

Out of my rut

2007-08-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning a bit later than normal this morning, but still determined to get out to skate this morning. Then, I went to where I normally park, and that area was all full. I was beginning to think I wasn't meant to skate today, but I parked down by Washington, meaning I had to walk my board. Then I realized there was a fair (of sorts) being set up as well. I was feeling discouraged, but decided to skate, even though I had to be back to feed my meter in 45 minutes.

So, I went skating, having to maneuver around the people crowding the boardwalk. I decided that today I would try to skate much further down. I think I managed to skate further than I ever have today, back and forth around the full distance of the boardwalk. I know that's not a major feat, but probably is for me. I skated to the place that the boardwalk really ends, and the pedestrian path starts to get all curvy. I actually want to try that soon, helping me to work on my turns. I still need to keep practicing going faster, but it's time to seriously work on some turns now, I think.

A little faster

2007-08-02T10:54:00.001-07:00

I think I got the hang of going a little faster when I skated yesterday. I skated for a long time, further than I've ever gone, again, on the Venice Boardwalk.

Now, I need to try and find a place closer to home, otherwise, once school starts, I don't know where I'm going to skate.

Skating with Wendy

2007-07-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today was a short skating trip. Wendy and I hit the boardwalk at 11 ish today (I know, way later than normal!) There was a lot of traffic on the boardwalk which made me very nervous. I wanted to warn the passersby that there was a serious danger of them getting hit with a skateboard. We tried to wait until there were not so many people around before we did our laps of the less congested area. I'm still working on going faster. I'm trying to lean forward when I kick, but still not sure how to make myself go faster. Okay, I can skate faster than I can walk, but I don't think that's improvement enough.

I actually tried to show Wendy how to do kickturns today, although I still don't have them down at all. I'm going to have to get over my nervousness and be daring...

Andy Roddick

2007-07-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

I was having an Andy Roddick Day today. Forgive me, for anyone who doesn't know tennis or who likes Andy Roddick. Andy Roddick is a good tennis player, but whenever he starts to do badly or makes a mistake, he lets it get into his head, and then winds up losing because he can't get himself mentally back. That's how my morning started. I was being really tentative and let myself be all nervous again, like when I first started skating. Funny, though, as soon as I made the Andy Roddick connection in my head, things got much better, and I stopped paying attention to the people around me. I think I'm just about back to where I was before I went on the cruise. Now I need to get back to my kick turns...

At last...

2007-07-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning at 5:30 to get out to Venice. It's been about a week since the last time I skated, and I was quite excited to be able to get out on my board again. Unfortunately, Venice was a little like an obstacle course this morning. There was trash everywhere, trash trucks coming around, pigeons feasting on the trash and a small street sweeper. Not exactly ideal conditions.

I also found that I was making a lot of mistakes that I wasn't making before I left. It's as if I'd forgotten, some of the basics, like the feel of where my back foot should go on the board. There were a few times I nearly fell because my feet were right next to each other.

I didn't even work on kick turns today because I figured that was just asking for trouble. I already feel once today, when I was trying to dodge the sweeper and a man with a hose who was watering rather indiscriminately. I sloshed through the water, put my foot down on the board and had it slip out from under me. My board went sailing into a doorway. I wonder if it's possible to break my board. I'm a little worried that it's taking a lot of damage.

Rain???

2007-07-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

So, I got up this morning at an unreasonably early hour that I won't post here. Hit snooze a few times but eventually dragged myself out of bed in order to try and get down to Venice to skateboard before traffic hit. Got myself all ready, grabbed my board and headed out the door...and it was raining. In July. In southern California. Unreal. I think that's happened maybe twice since I've lived here. I went ahead and got in my car, hoping that if I started my drive I'd find it was confined to this small area. I realized quickly that it was not letting up and that in fact traffic was already bad (everybody knows southern californians can't drive in the rain...) So no skateboarding for me until next Saturday. I think I've decided bringing the board on the cruise may not be worth it. :-)

Maybe One Day

2007-07-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned Robby a few times in my blog. I just had to post the picture of Robby at a skatepark "getting air" (I think that's the proper term.) It's pretty impressive. And it's too bad that in skateboarding, the older you get, the less likely that you'll be able to do any of these cool things. And now I'll go run off and practice my kick turns.

Cruising

2007-07-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

I'm going on a cruise tomorrow and have been thinking about the fact that I can't skate for a week. I'm wondering what would happen if I packed my skateboard in my suitcase... Skating around the ship could be fun. :-)

Skating July 21st

2007-07-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

So, back to Venice today. I haven't skated in two days. It's funny, when I stay away from skating, I get all nervous again when I go back. I started out making all the same mistakes I was and forgetting what I had learned earlier in the week. It took me a little while to remember to turn my foot, and lean forward when I kick. I also started getting tired quickly again. And it's only been two days since I skated.

I worked on kick turns again. And fell again. Not a big fall, but enough that I was a little hesitant to go right back to working on kick turns again. I did, but only briefly.

I was actually going pretty fast by the time I stopped today. I was impressed with myself. I didn't skate a long time, but I'll be back again tomorrow.

Bill will enjoy this... As I was skating near the end, a 30 something guy skated down right in front of me, turned to me and said, Wow, you're out early. I'm assuming it was not normal for him to be out so early, or otherwise his comment was just weird. Then he watched me for a minute and proceeded to carve back and forth in front of me, ride up on the curb (I know there's a name for that, just can't remember) and flip his skateboard in the air. He fell at the end, which made me a little happy. Can't help it.

Oh, and I got another "You're getting better" today. This guy I didn't recognize at all, but apparently he's seen me skate before. That's the good thing at just starting out at something like this. There's really nowhere to go but up. Although, the comments from the passersby at Venice still freak me out a bit. I want to tell them to avert their eyes while I'm learning to skate. I suppose that's unreasonable, but still...

July 18th

2007-07-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

Nothing very exciting today skating. Went to Venice for about an hour. I worked on going faster, which I think I am. I have the foot swivel thing down, although I sometimes forget to do it. I also worked on kick turns. My kick turn to the right is getting better. I am for some reason unable to do the left at all. But I'll keep working on it.

Oh, and I fell last night working on the kickturns. Now my right elbow matches my left. And man does my right foot hurt.

Skating with the gang in Venice

2007-07-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

Today I convinced Tonya and Colette to come skating with me in Venice. I got to the boardwalk at 6:20 so I could practice a bit before they got there. My goal once again today was to try and learn to kick better so that I can go further on one kick. I did pretty okay, but still not moving as far or as fast as I think I should be. I did pass a homeless person who apparently had seen me skate before, who commented that I was doing better.

Colette and Tonya weren't terribly impressed with the boardwalk, but both of them got on the skateboard and did really well, despite the fact that they were wearing flip flops. That's something I haven't even attempted yet. I think both of them were a little nervous about it, but I have to say, they did better than I did the first time I hopped on the board.

Bill and Robby joined us for a bit, and we got to watch Robby do tricks. I'm still amazed at how good Robby (who is seven) is. Absolutely fearless. I know a little bit of fear is healthy, but I want to move closer to Robby's level of fear. Robby was awesome, when everyone else was standing around talking, he came to me and said, "Come on. Let's see you skate."

I worked on kick turns with Bill and Robby. I'm still a little freaked out about lifting the board up, but I have to say the tips from Bill make them seem much more doable. My goal is to have them mastered by the time John comes back since that's what he was trying to teach me.

Doh!

2007-07-16T10:33:00.001-07:00

My plan this morning had been to get up and go skate in Venice. However, i did a little entertaining last night, and plans changed. So instead, I got up a bit later and went to my mall parking lot that I've been skating. I was already feeling groggy and not really into it, but had to skate a bit to make myself feel better. I was out for about 20 minutes before Security pulled up to me and told me I couldn't skate there. The guy I talked to was actually really nice, and told me I could skate until 10-- just for today.

I tend to follow the rules, so I have a feeling that despite the fact that the other security guys have just let me be, I'm going to need to find somewhere else local to skate. I like Venice, but I can't drive there *every* day.

Early morning skating in Venice

2007-07-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

I got up at the crack of dawn this morning to go skate in Venice. I really wanted to avoid people as much as possible. In addition, I decided I wasn't going down Washington again, since I carried my board part of the way last time. There were fewer people this morning and I got to park much closer.

Today, my goal was to work on going faster and going longer on one kick. This was sort of a frustrating challenge because I had to keep stopping myself to see how I was doing, or what I was doing wrong. I worked on this for about an hour and a half today, and I think I saw some improvement. I'm working very hard on not putting my whole foot down, but instead just putting my toes. I know, even now, when I put my foot down I know I'm partly stopping myself when I do that.

There is a slight hill near the skating area, and I went down that today. At the end of it, was an enormous mud puddle. Halfway down, I started going way faster than I wanted to, and jumped off the board, then watched my whole board get covered in muddy water. My board was unhappy with me.

It's amazing to me how much effort goes into skating. I didn't really realize that it really is a very physical activity until I started doing it. I notice it especially in Venice, where the sidewalk I'm traveling is pretty flat.

No injuries today. :-) And only one onlooker comment- asking me if I can do tricks. :-) Uh,no.

Why I'm skating

2007-07-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

I didn't just decide to skateboard, like it would be some fun thing to do and I should try it. I don't think I put a lot of thought into it at all. Bill bought me a gift-certificate to Arbor, a skateboarding store at exhibitions this year. He told me that the store sold clothes too, so if I wanted to, I could just use my gift-certificate there. I think he told me I could do that if I was a sissy, but no matter, I don't think I would have gone that route, no matter what.

It's important to note here, that just a week before exhibitions I had been released from the hospital. I'd been in the hospital for an intestinal infection that was bad enough I had been ill for week sand in the hospital for five days. I'd never been in the hospital before and it was a big deal to me. It was one of the most frightening experiences I'd had in my life, even though I knew that I was going to get better. But I think the stay in the hospital made it clear to me that I was not invincible, that life is short and that frankly my priorities are screwed up.

I know how cliche and trite all of that sounds, but I felt all of those things really strongly for the first few days I was home from the hospital. Even though I started to become me again as I got better, I was still very aware that I wanted to approach life differently. So when Bill gave me the gift certificate, it made perfect sense to me. Despite the fact that I'm a 34 year old woman. That I've never skated before (except when I was very young and would ride my big brother's skateboard around the driveway.) Despite the fact that I generally don't like things with wheels.

My friends almost all told me I was crazy, some in nicer ways than others. At first, that annoyed me. I did soon realize that the people who were worried about me getting hurt had some basis for their concerns. I have gotten scraped up a bit.

The fact is doing something physical that's totally out of the norm is liberating. yeah, people look at me like I'm insane. But the only people I know who skateboard have all been super supportive and have all given me tips and lessons on skateboarding.

Besides all of that, I'm having fun. I wouldn't keep doing it if I weren't. I love the challenge of learning a little bit that's new everyday. I may never do a skating trick (although, who knows?) but the journey is fun.