It was a nice morning today – cold but dry – so I thought I’d grab a quick hour at the park before work.
I think my relative success on my last trip got to me a bit and I found myself pushing faster and working harder, and this took it out of me forcing me to call it a day after just 45 minutes.
It wasn’t all bad though – cruising around felt more natural and I felt more confident adjusting my foot position while riding. I was able to do my flat-bank kick turns with ease, a little faster and a little higher than last time. And I was able to ride down the funbox to give me some speed and to help me get used to adjusting my balance. I’m still not getting enough speed to get up the funbox but that feels like an objective for another day.
I even started to practice some ollies – holding on to the edge of a ramp for some extra balance given my new centre of gravity. I went until my knees were about done and I reckon I managed to land a solid 50% of the attempts.
That’s when the tiredness really hit – I was puffed out, knees burning, feet hurting, and just generally feeling old and tired. And the more tired I got, the more frustrated I was that I wasn’t picking it all back up quicker. That’s when I knew it was time for home.
Anyway, here’s one of my favourite video parts from Danny Gonzalez back when he was skating for Globe, this part is taken from Opinion released in 2001.
He’s always been one of my favourite skaters – creative, fun and smooth with some incredible manuals – until a series of injuries and industry disputes forced him to retire a little bit.
Skateboarding