Skate: An Old Hobby, Renewed

Sometimes just a sound can trigger the lifting of a burden. When your mind is cluttered and inside you feel the outward pressure that tightens the chest and tenses the airways, that sound is like venting your entire body. An exhale of thought. For me, that sound is the rattling wheels of a longboard skateboard on asphalt, paired with a soft breeze gently disturbing the leaves of the trees that shield my beloved trails from the rest of the world.

When I skate, I feel like myself. I can experience life. It helps ground me in the present. I really believe that everyone has a hobby or pastime like this: something that just makes sense to them. Something that feels like a conduit to the present moment. Sometimes there are even multiple activities that may do this for you. How lucky are you? My hope is that everyone finds “their thing” so they can understand and experience this grounding. I’m fortunate enough to have found that longboarding is such an activity for me.

I was first introduced to longboarding through some friends in undergrad. Years before that, I had tried traditional skateboarding for a while, but never got very good at it and sort of gave it up as a hobby. However, in college, seeing my friends cruise all around campus gave me major FOMO. One of them was kind enough to loan me a board from time to time and I’ve been in love with longboarding ever since. Of course, now I have my own board, and while I started with group skating sessions, I now cherish cruising in solitude most of all.

I’d describe myself as a casual cruiser, but I’ve recently become aware of long distance pushing. This is when skaters kick and push over long distances on their board. It’s sort of like endurance running but for skaters. Discovering this opened a whole new intriguing world for me. I learned there are races around the globe for long distance skateboarding, some of which span several full days of riding. And then, there are the “ultraskates,” in which skaters push themselves to see how far they can ride their skateboard over a 24 hour period. Pretty gnarly. I want to be a part of it.

There’s so much more, too: Different riding techniques, pushing techniques, pumping techniques, and of course all the many variations in board setups to best support those techniques. I’m finding it so fun to dive in because it feels like I’m learning about longboarding all over again. It’s fresh for me and has created so many branches to explore for a sport I already love.

I decided I wanted to start writing about my experience while I train to transform myself from a casual cruiser into a serious long distance pusher. I partly want to use it as a way to chronicle my own progress, sort of as a skate journal. But also, I want to write about longboarding to connect to the larger skate community. Throughout my life, the people I’ve skated with have always been supportive, sharing tips, tricks, teaching what they know, and answering my many questions as a beginner. I want to write to re-engage with that community, to connect with people who want to share their skating experience, as well as entertain and inform people who just simply want to know more about the sport and are interested in picking it up as a hobby.

Thanks for reading. I’m looking forward to sharing my progress on this journey and to connecting with other readers and writers that share this passion for skating.