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yournamehere · 10-15-2009, 04:39 PM

I got two at the same time; a half-dollar-sized circle on my right knee, and an oval, 1" x 2" long one on my left elbow, trying to teach some friends in Ohio how to skateboard.

Now, most of you might equate learning how to skateboard with learning how to ride a bike - i.e, there are pieces of equipment professionally made to help with the process, and safety equipment to wear.
But no - this was back in the old days when life was tough - even in the few hours we didn't spend hiding from dinosaurs.

I had just returned from a family vacation in California, visiting my cousins in Santa Cruz, where the surfers had just started experimenting with combining surfing and skating.
It was new and exciting, and I couldn't wait to share it with my friends when I got back to Ohio. Of course, there were no skateboard makers yet, so we did what we could to improvise - we bought some two-by-fours; cut them to length, and nailed the wheels of our roller skates to the bottom side.

In those days, roller skate wheels were small and made of metal. It didn't take much in the way of debris to bring one of those wheels to a screeching halt, so most of our time was spent sweeping gravel out of the way before we could use our homemade skateboards.

Then, one glorious day, the street behind us got re-blacktopped (The name of the street was Hilltop Drive). We waited until the equipment made it a quarter-mile down the street , and set off down a gravel-free, crack-free, virgin hill of smooth asphalt.

The only problem was (and we didn't discover this until it was too late) the asphalt was still soft. A lot of the kids bailed right away, but since I was, after all, the teacher, I was in front of them all and screaming down the hill in the center of the road; going full speed. About halfway down the hill, as the small metal wheels dug into the soft, warm asphalt, I started to fishtail back and forth; yet still gained speed as I went downhill. At one point, near the bottom of the hill, I knew I was about to wipe out, so I jumped off the board, hoping to run to the side of the road before I fell hard.

It wasn't to be, though, as there was no way I could run as fast as I was going when I jumped off. I hit the road hard, and tumbled and rolled to a stop, just shy of the forgiving grass at the edge of the road.

Oh, the price we pay, we pioneers.

10-15-2009, 04:39 PM	#38 (permalink)
yournamehere Invisible Location: tentative, at best	I got two at the same time; a half-dollar-sized circle on my right knee, and an oval, 1" x 2" long one on my left elbow, trying to teach some friends in Ohio how to skateboard. Now, most of you might equate learning how to skateboard with learning how to ride a bike - i.e, there are pieces of equipment professionally made to help with the process, and safety equipment to wear. But no - this was back in the old days when life was tough - even in the few hours we didn't spend hiding from dinosaurs. I had just returned from a family vacation in California, visiting my cousins in Santa Cruz, where the surfers had just started experimenting with combining surfing and skating. It was new and exciting, and I couldn't wait to share it with my friends when I got back to Ohio. Of course, there were no skateboard makers yet, so we did what we could to improvise - we bought some two-by-fours; cut them to length, and nailed the wheels of our roller skates to the bottom side. In those days, roller skate wheels were small and made of metal. It didn't take much in the way of debris to bring one of those wheels to a screeching halt, so most of our time was spent sweeping gravel out of the way before we could use our homemade skateboards. Then, one glorious day, the street behind us got re-blacktopped (The name of the street was Hilltop Drive). We waited until the equipment made it a quarter-mile down the street , and set off down a gravel-free, crack-free, virgin hill of smooth asphalt. The only problem was (and we didn't discover this until it was too late) the asphalt was still soft. A lot of the kids bailed right away, but since I was, after all, the teacher, I was in front of them all and screaming down the hill in the center of the road; going full speed. About halfway down the hill, as the small metal wheels dug into the soft, warm asphalt, I started to fishtail back and forth; yet still gained speed as I went downhill. At one point, near the bottom of the hill, I knew I was about to wipe out, so I jumped off the board, hoping to run to the side of the road before I fell hard. It wasn't to be, though, as there was no way I could run as fast as I was going when I jumped off. I hit the road hard, and tumbled and rolled to a stop, just shy of the forgiving grass at the edge of the road. Oh, the price we pay, we pioneers. __________________ If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors: "If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too." It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.