Skating has become a big thing in my life – it’s really helpful that my other half Wendy is very supportive of it! I’ve been riding a longboard for around 10 years now, mostly just for getting around and cruising but recently I’ve taken to hitting some hills on it. For the past six months or so I’ve been teaching myself how to skateboard.
What’s the difference between the two? Well a longboard is a much bigger board, generally wider with bigger wheels. It’s designed for urban streets to easily ride over cracks in the pavement, stones, twigs etc. They’re best for cruising around on – sort of like surfing on the streets.
Skateboards are generally smaller with much smaller wheels. They’re not designed for long distances on streets, not great at cruising around on but are for doing tricks on – whether that’s using obstacles found in urban areas or skateparks.
Now that is a very generalised description and of course there are sub-variants of the two and you can have cruiser set-ups for skateboards and trick set ups for longboards but I think you get the idea.
I was discussing in a Facebook group that I’m in the other day about how I feel about the differences between the two and I was reminded of doing martial arts. For me the longboard is like the stretches, the form work (Kata in karate) and the post-session meditation whereas the skateboarding is like the sparring, the punching and kicking drills and the tournaments. Two sides of the same coin and both as valid as each other. I am finding myself more drawn to the skateboarding side of things these days – I’m enjoying the challenge if the skatepark. I’m loving the fact that I can now do some very basic tricks (some of the time!). For the first time I’m attempting to skate on quarter pipes, ride ramps and generally experience a mix of fear and exhilaration that I’ve rarely had in life.
Longboarding is a very different experience for me, I generally skate early in the morning before the roads get filled with traffic. I have my music playing and I just go where the road takes me. It’s very relaxing for me – even though it’s still quite tiring – almost a mindful time.Not saying that it doesn’t have it’s moments though! I’ve still had to take my lumps and had my fair amount of road rash in my time but it’s the exception to the rule. It’s the opposite at the skatepark on my skateboard , I hit the concrete every single session without fail.
You might ask why I do it? I know that I’m going to hurt myself sometimes, I even joke sometimes when I limp in through the door that I found new ways to hurt myself. It’s tiring. I feel a bit daft wearing the pads and helmet sometimes and it’s a bit of drag hauling myself out of bed in the mornings.
But it’s freeing. All of life’s other worries disappear when I kick off – on whatever board I’m on. The sense of accomplishment and joy I feel when I do a proper 180 kick turn on a ramp or when I finally make THAT corner without having to bail is almost unparalleled.
That’s why I skate. That’s why I’ll keep skating until I can’t skate no more.
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