can i skate?

spring weather

ben (the oldest n00b) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:10:34 +0000

well, it’s warming up. looks like it might be about time to get out and skate. I was thinking about getting some new shoes, but I’m going to hold off until there is a reason other than just wanting new stuff. I should probably set a goal like- I will ollie up curbs before I get new shoes. Also nollie, and fakie ollie, but that might be getting too advanced. Just need to get out and skate. Probably get some new video soon. Don’t know why the site is fucked up. Can’t seem to fix it.

new deck

ben (the oldest n00b) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:44:21 +0000

I got a new deck made by boardpusher.com -

looks good- need to set it up for spring.

also- if you left a comment- it might have gotten erased just now as I deleted over 125 spam comments about tranny grandma insect porn and links to Cialis. Lame.

skate in 08

ben (the oldest n00b) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:10:43 +0000

well anyway- the reason I’m posting is that some people were talking about skating on another message board I go to, and I started thinking about how I’ve neglected to post in months!

After the marathon I only skated a couple of times in the Fall, and now it’s the dead of winter, so I probably won’t be skating for a little while yet. I am still pretty excited about getting out and getting better. I wish I could have a summer vacation and just skate for a few months, but that’s not going to happen unless I loose my job. hmmm….

anyway, a bunch of people posted comments about tight pants and stuff- those have all been approved so you can read through them. I’ll try to get the website working better so it doesn’t look ugly and freak out all the time. see ya soon!

marathon

ben (the oldest n00b) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:54:28 +0000

OK this is kind of sad in a way but… probably for the best in a lot of ways. I am going to be taking the next 2 months off from skating to train for a half marathon. It’s not so much that I think the act of skating would interfere- I think skating is a great workout, and I don’t think my thighs have ever been this ripped- it’s my fear that I would sustain an injury that would slow or stop my tarining to the point that I would not be able to run. Another thing is that I am planning to loose a few lbs during my training, which should benefit my skating (somehow).

The 1/2 marathon is on Sept 23rd. I will resume skating after that!

long time no update

ben (the oldest n00b) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:04:43 +0000

well, it has been a while since I updated- sorry about that! I have been busy doing a lot of things and neglected to update. I’ll post some pics and videos then!

here’s a bruise:

here’s the board:

here’s a pretty typical ollie- as you can see I don’t slide my front foot forward enough to bring the tail all the way up horizoontal. another thing I’m dealing with is the board turning during the ollie. makes it harder to do rolling ollies. I am working that out. anyway here is a typical ollie:

[See post to watch Flash video]

and here is a more successfull ollie - over the huge obstacle of a turned over Gatorade bottle. If you look REAL close you can see the Gatorade bottle.

[See post to watch Flash video]

and if you look even closer you can tell that I cheated and didn’t actually go OVER the bottle, just NEAR it. I was afraid of landing on the thing and slamming. I am still a wuss, but I’m trying dammit.

time to skate

ben (the oldest n00b) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 14:35:32 +0000

it’s Sunday morning. it’s 9:30 am. it’s already 81 degrees. it’s time to skate.

reality of my surroundings

ben (the oldest n00b) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 22:27:10 +0000

today I got in about an hour and a half before the heat was unbearable. It’s like 97 degrees here today. Yuck. Anyway I spent a good amount of time just riding around, doing manuals, riding fakie and doing 180 turns, and practicing ollies. I even pulled a few really good ones that popped and floated and … they were great. I was focusing more on my footwork and it was working. The bad thing is that I can still only do it about 10% of the time. Not just ollie, but focus and pay attention to what I’m doing. The other 90% of the time I totally whiff it. Well, at least the 10% is more than the 5% I was doing a couple weeks ago. so… progress is happening. And it is slow because I only devote a few hours a week. I need to do more. I will do more.

4th of july

ben (the oldest n00b) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:13:27 +0000

I went to the baseball stadium fully intent on hanging around for an extended session. It was already close to 85 degrees, but I had some Gatorade and a stay-dri shirt, so I thought I would be able to hang. I only made it 40 minutes before giving up for the day. Heat is my enemy.

The good news is, I am getting a ton better at rolling Ollies. I am starting to get them more consistent, and I think I have the turning thing figured out too. I just need to get out and practice more and more. I was practicing them on the flat, then working on hopping some curbs. I think it will just be a matter of time before I have them solid. Then I suppose I’ll start working on 180s.

I was wearing shin gaurds for the first half our or so, but I was getting so hot I decided to take them off. Litterally 5 minutes later I landed an ollie on the nose, and the tail of the board sliced into my leg. Damn it hurt bad. I don’t know that the pads would have saved me on that one, but it might have reduced the impact a little. Unknown. Those pads get dang hot though.

80’s videos / curbs / milk crate

ben (the oldest n00b) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:00:57 +0000

WOW - I watched some old school Powell videos from the 80’s. They are amazing. Almost all the footage is pools, street skating those huige old decks, freestyle, and goofing off. It’s awesome.

I can basically ollie a curb 50% of the time. I’m working on my timing and pop. Next step- ollie this milk crate that showed up in the lot I skate at. Also- I am working on some lip tricks on this parking block. Hope to spend a good part of the 4th out there!

summer cold

ben (the oldest n00b) — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:44:44 +0000

I got a summer cold, so now I’m sniffling and coughing like an orphan in one of those black and white crime movies in the 30’s. I ought to be wearing a torn sweater and one of those skally kaps. I’ve been doing zero skating since Sunday, and mostly reading about skating, and watching some clips on YouTube. I’m also downloading some old clips from the 80’s and 90’s, so that should be fun to watch.