so this is just a little slice of my life and i want to see so much more of the world. i have loved living here and may possibly end up moving back one day. Sometimes i see something on the news or read about something that is happening in the word and i do want to make a difference. but i need to figure out my life before i will be able to help anyone else i might happen to meet along my life. I really do think the youth can change the way people think in the long run and i will do my best to be apart of that change.
My long-boarding life
So I love to long-board I taught myself to long-board when I was about 12 and have been doing it ever since, I recommend long-boarding to any other mode of short distance transportation because things like skate boards, bikes, and roller blades because they are slower more bulky or harder to take places. I tried to skate bored when I was younger but found that it took more practice than what I wanted to give to learn tricks and were slower than long-boards. Bikes are faster than long-boards but are harder to take on buses or to put into the back of cars if you get rides also you cant take them into stores and must be locked up. I have only used roller blades a few times but I didn’t like that I had to take them on and off when I went places. This is why I enjoy long-boarding as apposed to these other methods of transportation.
There are a few different kinds of long-board decks out there I have what’s called a drop deck which means the trucks are on top of the wood as apposed to having them secured to the bottom through the deck which makes my bored closer to the ground. If your thinking about picking up long-boarding there are a few things to think about, what kind of deck you want. The length of your board because they range from smaller than a skate to as tall as a surf board and it will effect the way you ride, the longer your board the harder it will be to carve and if you get a short board you might not be able to slide as well. It also affects stability, because the faster you go you get speed wobbles and might make you crash. So make sure you get the right kind of board for your type of riding.
I enjoy long-boarding because it gives me a sense of freedom and control at the same time, it also gives me the capability to be places on time without worrying about how Im going to get there its cheaper than driving and it gets me a little workout every day. I also enjoy it because I occasionally get to ride with some of my friends and I know its something we all enjoy. If I need to take a break from life I think long-boarding is a great way to forget what’s making me sad, mad, or confused.
Basic riding consists of pushing, which is self-explanatory and carving, which is just putting your weight into the turns to get more friction between your wheels and the ground, you can also use slide gloves (gloves with plastic on the bottom) to burn off speed by placing your hands on the ground behind you and your long-board in front or down hill. I’m still trying to learn how to slide but I still need practice but my goal is to be able to skate every hill in Glenwood springs in the next two years. There are a few kinds of slides I need to learn, there is what is known as a front-side slide which is keeping your weight on your back wheels (your long-board is horizontal) and keeping your front wheels slightly lifted. There is a backside slide, which is reversing the poses of a front-side slide. And the last slid I need to learn is a pendulum slide which is sliding from the left side of the street to right side of the street while maintaining a slide.
Over all the reason I ride long-boards is it’s a great time, a great way to get around, and a great way to meet people who enjoy the same things as I do. Not to many people that long-boarding is not just something I do it’s a way of life and helps clear my head when its full of thoughts I cant get figured out, it helps me pick one and focus on it. Long-boarding is also something I feel I wont ever master and their will always be something new and exciting to learn.