10/12/20
Went back to the Newington park to practice more frontside slash grinds today. I got to the park around 5 pm, and there was a sizeable group of tweens there, a mix of skaters and scooterers. I was by far the oldest dude at the park.
The crowd got a bit overwhelming at times too, and I almost took out a number of scooter kids. I had some fun cruising around my line, but couldn’t quite lock in the slash. I tried going over to the opposite corner of the park where there was a quarter pipe and a spine that made somewhat of a mini-ramp.
I got a few slashes on the spine, but mentally it was throwing me for a loop. It’s way scarier when there’s no deck on the other side of the ramp. I did get some though, and it felt good. I did one run where I frontside kick-turned back and forth in the “mini-ramp” to the point where it made me dizzy.
After practicing over there a bit, the crowd thinned out, and I went back to the other side of the park to practice the line I like. Drop in, pump over a hip, carve a quarter-pipe/wallride, carve the big quarter-pipe, then pump over a few features, and slash the ramp where I originally started.
I like it because the quarter pipe is wider and I can approach at more of an angle. I also got ambitious and slashed the wallridey quarter pipe a few times, too. I was feeling flowy, and was getting the hang of moving my body and weight with the ramp if that makes any sense. I would really get my body sideways so that it was perpendicular with the ramp, and I had confidence that I’d ride away. That felt sick, and made my line feel a bit more legit. Now if I can only get up to the coping on the 6′ big quarter.
I got one really good frontside slash on the quarter, and I was pumped. One of the older teens at the park was standing on the deck of the ramp as I went by. I felt my back truck lock in and slide perfectly on the coping. As I rolled away I heard the kid tapping his board on the concrete, a sign of stoke and recognition.
On another attempt, I didn’t make it, but I slid really far on the coping. More of a frontside 5-0, which was awesome. I wasn’t expecting it though, and shortly after I lost my balance to the back seat and kicked the board out.
Fun session. It was fun to watch all the tweens interact and talk to some of them, and after the crowd thinned out I was able to get some good practice in. After an hour it started to drizzle, which worked out nice because it was time for me to go do some adult errands.
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